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an attitude of us vs them and want to try and convince everyone that they should be riding a 'bent. Can't we all just get along??  I started riding a Browning back in 1974 (back then it was Can't we all just get a bong? ) after being talked into it by my younger brother who needed a riding partner.  I first told him no as I never could afford a car back in high school so I had to ride a bike.  Got made fun of a lot (it mattered when I was young) and decided never to go back to a bike once I got my first car.  My brother insisted I at least take a ride on the Browning to see how much different a light-weight was from the old Varsity I had before. Well, one ride was all it took!  I remembered how much fun I'd had on a bike when nobody was making fun of me so I ended up buying one from the bike shop where my brother worked.  I remember riding my first 60-some miler and just couldn't believe how easy it was to ride that far.  As time went on I got older and fatter and the ol' Browning became sort of uncomfortable.  Most of the other cyclists snubbed me because of my old bike but I didn't care.  I love to ride! I decided to get a mountain bike to see if it would be any more comfortable and it seemed to be even worse, although riding trails was really cool.  I was shopping for a new road bike as they'd come a loooong way since the 70's when I spotted some recumbents in Bicycling Magazine and started doing some research.  Ended up buying a Vision R-44 USS and have been pretty much bent ever since. Took it to the Hilly Hundred last year and if I had a dollar for every time I was asked How are those things on hills? ...  One guy asked me that while I was really having a hard time climbing and I was too out-of-breath to answer at the moment so he asked me again.  Before I could answer he looked over to my son (also on a Vision) and said Is he deaf? .  My son replied No. Are you blind? I still ride the other bikes sometimes because like I say, I just love to ride.  My brother can keep a 20 mph pace with me on his mountain bike with no problem.  I don't try to talk him into a 'bent.  I let him choose what he wants.  Besides, if he rides his road bike I can't keep up with him very well but on his mountain bike we're pretty much even.  I may still buy a new road bike but the recumbent is what I will mainly ride.  The bottom line is I don't care what other people think or what they ride.  I'll leave them alone and I'd like them to leave me alone and let me have a good time!  Whenever I hear a rider say I smoked a wedgie on my 'bent the other day I want to say That's illegal in most states but I hope you got a good buzz! Keep on Truckin' Gary

Anyway, let's all try to be good ambassadors to the public and to other benters. Jeff, Come on out to Bellevue and ride with me. I'm so dang friendly, a 90 minute ride sometimes takes a full two hours. I've learned there is one particular rest stop I dare not stop at if I want to get home on schedule. The yellow P-38 acts like a magnet. Norm

: I was once told by my dad, swearing shows your inability to express yourself : in intelligent terms . Subtract the swearwords and many people are saying very : little! I sometimes wonder if they eat with the same foul mouth.         What, intelligent people don't use profanity?  And many people who never use profanity still say very little... profanity's just a way of hiding the fact that you're saying very little.  Talking quickly and interjecting `like' are often used for the same purpose, but don't seem to receive the same condemnation.  Not that I mind you being offended, but realize that the offensiveness is an attribute added by you.   Patrick Alexander         `There is no cure for life and death save to enjoy the interval.'                

In article < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it says... - Term wrote in message ... - - Folks who spend so much time worrying about what is between their legs - have way too many problems to waste time thinking about... - - Lead by example and never look back... - - Well, that's YOUR opinion....... - At least he has one.  I thought that is what this forum is all about.   What 'Term' has said makes sense to me.