Help The Helpful Thread

[theBlob]

With all the goings on on the forum in the last week or so, with people criticizing each others work and stuff. I started to think- Where is our community going? So rather than just let it go down the toilet i've decided to take a positive step for TCC and Tokyo's foreign cycling community and create the "Helpful" thread.

Of course there are a lot of people that need help out there, and I'd just like to say to you people feeling lonely and in need. I'm here for you. So post up your questions, anything you need help with and I will do my best to give you the answers you need to get you on with your day.

And don't be shy, if you have the answers, or just warm words, jump in and be helpful, do something good, pay it forward, be a decent bloke. No rules, except no criticizing.

Owen, please sticky this and lets make it a community project.

 

[Sibreen]

Nice idea!

 

[theBlob]

Thanks, someone had to stand up for the good people on the forum.

Anyway I see there is no question mark at the end of your sentance so no help I can give on this one except to say that please post up any assistance you might need in the future and I or someone else will be happy to assist.

 

[kiwisimon]

Why do wives insist on keeping crappy videos of school and kindy functions when everyone watching them can only criticise the cameraman for missing all the good action and any that is caught is way outta focus even though the cameraman asked the wife to bring a monopod but she said it would be "meiwaku" and "hen"? Why do I need to buy another storage device to keep all these memories when all I have from my kidhood is three kodak instamatic prints, two colour and one black and white? Why do the oldest kids get all the cool toys and the rest get "whatevers"? Oh and finally How did I get here? What is that beautiful house? Where does that highway lead to? Am I right, am I wrong? My god, what have I done?

 

[theBlob]

Good questions Simon, can I call you Simon? Let me try and answer your questions as best I can.

1) Wives like their kids better than their husbands. It's just a fact of life, please try and understand her needs above yours.
2) see above?
3) Older kids get all the cool toys because they learn to share quickest and thus the cool toys become everyone's toys with time.
4) please take your oversized suit off and take a Valium, I think it might help.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.

Why do wives insist on keeping crappy videos of school and kindy functions when everyone watching them can only criticise the cameraman for missing all the good action and any that is caught is way outta focus even though the cameraman asked the wife to bring a monopod but she said it would be "meiwaku" and "hen"? Why do I need to buy another storage device to keep all these memories when all I have from my kidhood is three kodak instamatic prints, two colour and one black and white? Why do the oldest kids get all the cool toys and the rest get "whatevers"? Oh and finally How did I get here? What is that beautiful house? Where does that highway lead to? Am I right, am I wrong? My god, what have I done?

 

[kiwisimon]

Hey this works. I don't even need a valium anymore, cheers.

 

[bloaker]

@kiwisimon - the answer is clearly that there is water at the bottom of the ocean, Remove the water, carry the water, Remove the water from the bottom of the ocean

 

[theBlob]

Thanks for helping Bloaker, I'm putting you in the top bloke category.

 

[GrantT]

How do we beat @leicaman on a hill? Everyone talks him up on this board, I imagine in the hope he'll eventually grow too confident and forget to be way faster than everyone else (me too, see this post), but I'm not sure it will work. Any better ideas?

 

[kiwisimon]

He takes great pleasure in beating everyone so deprive him of the pleasure. As he sets forth in the 52X11 combination he favors, drop back and have everyone return to Tokyo. After a few weeks of this, as sure as Pavlov had fleas in his bed, problem solved. Then the ultimate joy, tell him, ( by phone) to meet at a time that is 30 minutes later than everyone else. As you all get to the top of the hill start calling and asking where he is.

How do we beat @leicaman on a hill? Everyone talks him up on this board, I imagine in the hope he'll eventually grow too confident and forget to be way faster than everyone else (me too, see this post), but I'm not sure it will work. Any better ideas?

 

[kiwisimon]

Does he? He is always the perfect gentleman on group rides.

If that were true he'd let you go first.

 

[GrantT]

If that were true he'd let you go first.

Haha! TCC has been called a girl. Because gentlemen only open doors for girls.

Anyway, I like the idea a lot, though the main flaw seems to be we will never get the chance to feel truly superior as he might get so annoyed as to never ride in the group again. Also, is 30 minutes enough of a head start?

 

[kiwisimon]

Also, is 30 minutes enough of a head start?

Good point

Why don't you come out on a ride with us all, and you will be able to experience first hand just how much of a pleasure it is to ride with @leicaman and indeed the rest of the regulars who ride out from Tokyo every weekend through the riding season.

Where was TCC 20 yrs ago? I would have.
these days I think the pleasure might not be so much as cough up my lungs and lament an extra 15+ kilograms.

 

[theBlob]

The answer to that is simple Grant T.

You don't, but better than that is not caring. Sure he is fast but being fast isn't everything. He can't be the slowest up the mountain, I guarantee no matter how hard he tries he cannot be the slowest up the mountain. So he has his own slow mountain to climb metaphorically speaking. No-one can be everything and that goes for Liecaman too.

Extreme bokeh specialist-Yes!
Fast runner - Yes!
Monster on the bike- Yes!
Slowest up the montain - NO, not ever. Useless!

My advice practice being the slowest everywhere and you will have him begging for your secret. Anyway with your injury you are a long way there so you are in a win win with this new way of thinking.

All the best.

How do we beat @leicaman on a hill? Everyone talks him up on this board, I imagine in the hope he'll eventually grow too confident and forget to be way faster than everyone else (me too, see this post), but I'm not sure it will work. Any better ideas?

 

[theBlob]

Just a twinkle in Thomas's eye, and now look twenty years on we are a growing stain on the unwashed mattress called the internet. We have certainly come a long way.

Thank you Thomas, You are in the top bloke category as well.

Where was TCC 20 yrs ago?

 

[joewein]

My advice practice being the slowest everywhere and you will have him begging for your secret.

It's not going to work. @GrantT will never catch up with the likes of me and @theBlob's grandma, who have been practising slow cycling for years!

 

[theBlob]

Thanks for your positive words, Joe, It is always good to hear from a man who has mastered his craft.

It's not going to work. @GrantT will never catch up with the likes of me and @theBlob's grandma, who have been practising slow cycling for years!

 

[Musashi13]

Thanks to the extremely amicable nature of this thread created by @theBlob I feel supported in asking a couple of questions the like of which may garner derision elsewhere.

Firstly, regarding Shimano 11 speed components: what, if any, compatibility do they have with Shimano 10 speed components?

Secondly, I distinctly remember riding around non-handed for the majority of my youth on my Raleigh Burner but now can only occasionally pull off this feat of control and balance on a road bike. What's that all about?

 

[Malte]

I propose to @TCC that all threads from @Franz become sticky. That would be helpful as well.

 

[theBlob]

1) Yes, Musashi I can see your why you are in fear of posting this question to the mocking hordes of critics and belittlers.

Please forgive me as I address the cause not the symptoms to this problem like any good Dr. should….

Like you I watched spinal tap in my youth and laughed deliciously at Nigel Tufnel failing to grasp the fundamental relationship between the numbers printed on his amp and its actual audio output. Well the same principals apply here.

Yes, it might go up to 11 but, replacing 10 speed components with 11 speed parts will not make you faster, it will just mean you have more numbers.

I hope this helps.

2) Ha ha ha! The good ole days! Yes, it certainly was the cool thing to do when we were twelve and BMXs had just been released. The mark of a young man going places. Full of life and hope and joy for the future. Nothing could go wrong, nothing could touch us! Now, alas we are MAMILS, laughable to the rest of the normal world. Locked in our bathrooms sweating up a storm, studying our FTPs and interval outputs. There is nothing cool about us, not one bit. Nothing, Zip. Basically we have lost the ability to do cool stuff. Riding no handed is cool, and sorry that isn't us anymore.

But although I paint a bleak picture, it is not totally black, and through the MAMIL mist I can see and hear the call of the wild, the howl of youth rising forth. Our kids, there is hope, we can follow the age old pathway trodden by parents through the ages and live life through our kids. Regain our cool by the actions of our kids. So my advice is simple.
Do not allow your child to become a ひきこもり. Only allow them to do cool stuff, and as a basic rule of thumb. If you(parent) think its cool then it isn't, and you should encourage them to do the opposite.

Following this simple philosophy you may not regain your ability to ride no hands, but you will be able to say "That's my boy!" When your son does.

Hope this cheers you up, and thanks for your questions. You are in the top bloke category as well!

Thanks to the extremely amicable nature of this thread created by @theBlob I feel supported in asking a couple of questions the like of which may garner derision elsewhere.

Firstly, regarding Shimano 11 speed components: what, if any, compatibility do they have with Shimano 10 speed components?

Secondly, I distinctly remember riding around non-handed for the majority of my youth on my Raleigh Burner but now can only occasionally pull off this feat of control and balance on a road bike. What's that all about?