Riding a bike after 37 yrs!

"just us" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

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Well today I took a friend on a bushwalk, what do you ask does that have

in

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relevance to the bicycle newsgroup? Well it has plenty! We park the car,

get

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the bikes off the back and she gets on and says "where are the brakes?" as
she peddles madly in reverse!

I have a friend who has been riding for many years. He insists that changing
down to a lower gear when going downhill slows down his bicycle. Hey, maybe
he's right! Am I missing something???

Henry.

OMG she then admits she has not ridden for 37

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yrs... LOL at 46 yrs old her last bike was lost at the age of 9.
Anyway, she got on, and rode to the first slope, rather gingerly, then I
tried to tell her what gears were - she did try, but failed and fell off.
Not to be beaten she got straight back on the bike again and we rode for

12

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kms before leaving the bikes in the bush and setting off through the bush
back to the car!
What a hero, she fell off once, her bum was screaming for mercy, but she
persisted and is now so excited about actually being able to ride again

that

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she wants to go out there and buy a bike!
The moral of the story? We are never too old to get out there and ride a
bike 🙂
Kathy.

"hemyd" <[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

I have a friend who has been riding for many years. He insists that

changing

Quoted message said:

down to a lower gear when going downhill slows down his bicycle. Hey,

maybe

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he's right! Am I missing something???

Assuming it's a freewheel hub on the rear (most bikes are)
then changing gears wont do anything to slow you down.

If you change to a harder gear and pedal faster/harder
you will move faster. Changing to an easier gear will
simply mean you have to pedal faster to put any power
into moving forward, or, you can just stop pedaling and
coast along.

Your friend either has a very strange bike or they
forgot to take their medication.. ;-)

hippy

hippy said:

"hemyd" <[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

I have a friend who has been riding for many years. He insists that

changing

Quoted message said:

down to a lower gear when going downhill slows down his bicycle. Hey,

maybe

Quoted message said:

he's right! Am I missing something???

Assuming it's a freewheel hub on the rear (most bikes are)
then changing gears wont do anything to slow you down.

If you change to a harder gear and pedal faster/harder
you will move faster. Changing to an easier gear will
simply mean you have to pedal faster to put any power
into moving forward, or, you can just stop pedaling and
coast along.

Your friend either has a very strange bike or they
forgot to take their medication.. ;-)

hippy

Or they need to stop lubricating their rear hub with marmalade. I suppose that comes back to the medication bit really.

hemyd said:

I have a friend who has been riding for many years. He insists
that changing down to a lower gear when going downhill slows
down his bicycle. Hey, maybe he's right! Am I missing
something???

No, he's just wrong.

Reminds me of the group of elderly ladies I met in Brisbane who
left lights and appliances turned on all day because "the nice
nman from Energex" explained to one of them that the more
electricity they used, the cheaper it gets.

John