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bike riding as therapy during crisis

babanff

Out on the slopes
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Nov 12, 2015
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277
My bikes have been saviours. Last year I think I rode maybe 3,000 km the whole year. Since start of the pandemic between my mtb and roadie I’ve already notched over 3,200km, 37,000 metres of climbing and even pulled a 220km ride in mid-May. To top it off the park has a 30km section of highway that has been closed to cars since April and was conveniently repaved in the spring... so we basically now have the greatest bike path in N.America to enjoy all summer.
 

crgildart

Gravity Slave
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Nov 12, 2015
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16,321
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The Bull City
Yes, counts!
About five years ago when our four kids ranged in age from about 20-30 my wife and I got all of them to come with us for one last family beach vacation (Chincoteague Island, VA) before everyone grew up :P or spread out around the country and it got much harder to do things as our own nuclear family. On that vacation we all rented scooters for two days. It was one of those things (like skiing) that was so fun and cool that it brought even adult kids back into a family activity and made us all feel young. Nobody got hurt either, even though none of us had experience with scooters before.
We actually bought it right before the pandemic because the kids started working part time jobs ramping up for summer. But, when the work from home hit, kid with job across town takes the car more than the bike since I'm not using it... and rain.. and working til pretty late some nights. So, I use the bike when the kid has the car.. or just when I feel like getting in the wind. Other kid's job is right up the street so she walks.
 

crgildart

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The Bull City
Still not a single adult sized bike at Walmart. Heard bike shop inventory isn't much better. If you didn't already have bikes, starting now could be a bit spendy due to limited supply.
 

markojp

mtn rep for the gear on my feet
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PNW aka SEA
Still not a single adult sized bike at Walmart. Heard bike shop inventory isn't much better. If you didn't already have bikes, starting now could be a bit spendy due to limited supply.

On that note, there seems to be a good supply of spendy road bikes. :roflmao:
 

Jwrags

Aka pwdrhnd
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Nov 17, 2015
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Portlandia
From yesterday’s therapy session.

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Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
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Team Gathermeister
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Nov 14, 2015
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Maine
From my road ride yesterday in rural Maine, courtesy of @Wending. Classic old New England meetinghouse with - WTF??? - sandhill cranes calmly browsing in the yard. I have never seen these birds here before. :huh:

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Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
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Was just thinking about this. Haven’t touched my road or gravel bikes this year. Just not settled enough to spin. The MTB, on the other hand, is getting quite a bit of saddle time. Seems to feel much more in the moment. View attachment 106140
This pic has a certain "look" to it that says northern New England boondocks to me. Could easily be in the Sugarloaf / Saddleback area.
 

markojp

mtn rep for the gear on my feet
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Jwrags

Aka pwdrhnd
Skier
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Nov 17, 2015
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2,001
Location
Portlandia
Had another therapy session today and rode with my 18 yo. The central Oregon people will recognize the Cascade Lakes Highway loop. Photos include Mt. Bachelor and South Sister.
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Jim Kenney

Jim Kenney

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Took a quick ride along Wasatch Blvd today. This is looking south to the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon, UT, pano shot, click to enlarge. BTW, this is the area where they talking about putting in a gondola base for a long ride up to Alta/Bird.
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Inside the canyon looking at south wall.
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Jim Kenney

Jim Kenney

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Today I took @Rudi Riet 's advice and stayed off local bike trails on a Saturday morning.
I rode on residential streets around my neighborhood in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Wash DC and enjoyed a nice quiet ride on my hybrid bike.

About 20 years ago I relocated my family to a spot only about 2-3 miles from where I grew up in McLean, VA. Today I rode by the home my parents owned near McLean High School from 1959 to 2005. My boyhood home is the last house on the left.
old home mclean.jpg

Some real estate trivia about this part of Virginia's inner suburbs; my folks bought this 4 bedroom, 3 bath single family house new in 1959 for $24,999. It was a nice home, but not particularly outstanding for the area. They sold it in 2005 for $675,000. It's now worth about $850-900k. Although in this photo you see three of these tract homes in more or less original shape, not far outside the frame are several new and much larger homes on the same street. Redevelopers are tearing down the older homes in this area as fast as they can and replacing them with houses in the $1.5-2.5 million range.
 

NZRob

Skiing the Rock
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Oct 8, 2017
Posts
407
Location
New Zealand
I will never forget the weeks riding my road bike along deserted highways and city roads during the New Zealand lockdown in April/May. It was so cathartic in a worrying time. I stopped on one of our main arterial two-lane roads and ambled out to the fast lane and took a photo....not a single car for over a minute (it's a road that in normal times is never really quiet). I loved riding through the suburbs and not having to worry about tight gaps and busy shopping areas, reversing cars and pedestrians, etc.

Back to normal now, so back to seeking out quieter back roads.
 

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