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This is Sixthreezero's My Journey, My Experience Podcast, stories from Sixthreezero riders about their lives and time in the saddle. I'm your host, Dustin Gyger.
Hey everyone and welcome to the first podcast for My Journey, My Experience, the Sixthreezero Podcast where we hear stories of our actual riders, their life adventures, their life experiences, and of course, their time in the saddle on a bike.
We want to hear the stories, hear how bikes have affected you, and also how you spend your time adventuring in other areas of your life.
Today, I am super excited. We have our first ever guest, our rider Di, our most dedicated rider out there, always atop the leaderboard on the Sixthreezero app. If you don't have it, download it, Jodi. Jodi, how do you say your last name?
Ziesmer.
Ziesmer.
Ziesmer. Yes.
Thank you so much for doing this with us today. You're a legend in our company. Everybody knows you, Jodi, like just all the miles you log. We're excited to get to know you.
Wonderful.
I guess the first question. I haven't looked at the app recently. Are you in Green Bay, outside Green Bay?
The mailing address is considered Green Bay, but we're in the Village of Ashwaubenon. It's a west part of Green Bay.
West part of Green Bay. Have you been there your whole life, or in adulthood?
No, I was born and raised in Fond du Lac, which is about 70 miles south of Green Bay. I lived in Rosendale which is east of Green Bay, just a little bit for about 15 years. Moved up to Green Bay in the late '90s for my husband's work. We've been here since 1998.
Got it. Do you know the story of Sixthreezero and why it's called Sixthreezero?
No, I'm glad you brought that up because I tried to find it and I don't know.
Okay. I'm actually from Chicago, and I was raised in Naperville, and the area code there was 630. I obviously have been to Wisconsin more than a few times, so I'm also a Midwesterner. Yeah.
Wonderful. Okay.
Yeah. Let's get a little bit into your riding. I think everybody in our company and other people ... I'm just curious. So, take us back to, when did you start riding a bike? Have you always been this dedicated to riding a bike? Then, how often are you riding a bike now?
Okay. I actually learned to ride a bike, I was a little older. It was a 24-inch bike. I'm thinking I was around 12. The reason I wanted to learn was because there was a younger neighbor who was learning to ride a bike, and I didn't know-how. I figured I have to learn.
As an adult, I got into riding, I'd say that I was in my late 20s or early 30s. I got into riding road bikes, the lightweight road bikes. A 50-mile ride was a training ride. The gal that did my hair at the time, but wanted to do a century ride, and I said, "Sure. I think, maybe I can do that."
We didn't have kids at the time, so we could spend a lot of time outside of work, bike riding. That took a backseat when I had my kids. I had my kids later in life. My daughter is going to be 27, four days later I turn 67.
I couldn't really do the road biking once we had kids. It was just very difficult. That went by the wayside. I picked it up again, I'd say, around 2012 when I got myself a Schwinn.
You were how old when you stopped riding, or you took a pause on riding?
Well, I was born in 1955, so do the math. It was in 2012, I think I started riding. I stopped riding at about 40 and then started riding, I was probably 50 or better.
Basically, about 15 to 17 years, roughly you were ... Were you on a bike at all during that point, or not at all, like zero riding?
No. No.
Not once?
No.
Wow. What prompted you to, all of a sudden get back into riding?
We were getting my son a bike, and I thought I could get a bike. I didn't do a lot of riding back then because you have to work it in with the kids and work. I worked part-time. I went back to work part-time in 2012. I just recently retired. It makes it a little easier to get out more often too, to ride.
Yeah. How old was your son at the time then, when you got him a bike?
Oh, gosh. We went to Toys“R” Us. That had to have been ... He was born in ... I'd have to ask him. I don't know. He was, maybe 12, 13, something like that.
Okay. Then you said, at that time, you got a Schwinn. Is that what you said?
I bought a Schwinn. Yeah. I had a Schwinn. I think it was 18 speed at the time. I actually had that until I got my Sixthreezero bike.
Wow. So you had that ... When did you get your Sixthreezero bike? What year?
I've had it a year.
Okay. The Schwinn, at the time, you bought then, that was more of a road/mountain hybrid-type bike, I'm assuming?
Yeah. I don't know. I think, probably more of a hybrid bike because it had a little bigger tires.
What drew you, because you were on road bikes, obviously in your 40s. What drew you to that particular Schwinn bike at the time?
Maybe it was the price, the look. We are at Toys“R” Us. This is what they had. You know?
Yeah. Yeah. When you were riding road bikes, you were obviously riding a more expensive bike, I'm assuming, or a nicer bike?
Yes. Yes.
Then you've looked at it more as a recreational item, didn't want to spend as much as you got back into it with your son?
Yes. Correct. Actually, I rode myself, but he was getting a bike so he could go and ride out with friends and such. I rode ... I've always been into fitness, so I wanted it for exercise.
When you had that bike, were you logging a lot of miles per week then as well?
No.
No?
No.
Okay. Then that was about 10 years ago. Then you got the Sixthreezero. What led you from the Schwinn to the Sixthreezero?
Okay. My Schwinn, the previous season, I started to have problems with the gears shifting. I would be out and I was seeing ... It was about the distance, but I think it had more to do with the miles I was going, how long I was out.
I literally, it had the handlebar turn shift just like my Sixthreezero does, and I literally could not downshift. I could upshift but downshift. That becomes problematic when even a slight incline and you find yourself in 14th gear and you can't do it.
We couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. My husband did some work on it. By the end of the season, and I didn't get a chance to ride it, to see if the gears were going to work. Then the first ride out that next season, it did it again. I said, "I'm done. I'm ready for a new bike." I had that one about 12 years.
Might have been able to take it in to get it fixed, but I wanted a new bike.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Then what, ultimately led you to the Sixthreezero?
Well, this was at the height of COVID. I looked online. Our Toys” R” Us have closed. I looked at Walmart, trying to see what was available for bikes and I really couldn't find anything.
I, initially went to Amazon and I found a bike, and I believe it was actually through your portal for ordering. I ordered it in early April. It was set to come at the end of April. That date came, and I went back in, and it said it was on backorder with no date available. No for-sure dates.
Then I went to your website directly and I looked for bikes that were in stock.
Got it.
This was actually a different bike than I originally was looking at, but I'm glad it worked out the way it did.
Because you're riding the Women's Cruiser, the teal Women's Cruiser, right? The Beach Cruiser. Yeah, 7-speed?
21-speed.
21-speed. Okay. Got you.
I wonder if you still make them.
Great question. We will and we plan to. Yeah. As you just touched on, COVID has sent us for a major loop in that, we had to concentrate our orders on some specific bike models in order to get the inventory.
That particular model ... Actually, the bike you're riding was the original bike in the lineup of Sixthreezero. Back in 2006, when we started making bikes-
Wow.
... that particular frame, not that color. That color came, maybe two years later, but that particular frame was the original OG Beach Cruiser frame that we did.
We have had major supply chain interruptions. The bike you have is the first model we ever made. Unfortunately, we've been out of stock. You probably got one of the last ones, honestly that, we had available. We haven't seen that product since about the end of 2020.
I'm hoping at this point we will have more into 2022. There are still some supply chain issues and other things plaguing the inventory.
Yeah. Back to you and your riding. I'm curious, what was it that led you to choosing the Sixthreezero? Color, price, speed, or just general availability at that point because nothing was available.
I'm pretty sure I checked the reviews on it, and the reviews were very good. I liked the style, kind of a retro look to the old Schwinn days. I think that was it. I got my bike, I've had it for a year. I actually got it in April of 2021.
Oh, okay. Okay.
Yeah. It was because the other one was online, it wasn't available. I just went, to look to see what was available. The one I was originally ordering was only a 7-speed because I thought that would be enough for me. What I have is a 21-speed.
Are you enjoying the 21-speed? Do you wish you had the 7-speed?
No. I'm enjoying the 21-speed. I mostly ride in the middle gears. At the very beginning, I was down on, I was on the one to six, but it didn't take long for me to move up.
I actually go into the third sprocket at times. It depends on the conditions that you're riding in.
Like when you're trying to go faster or-
Yeah, or if you're going downhill and you don't want to coast. My terrain is pretty level, what I ride on. There isn't a lot of major hills. They're just gentle inclines.
What you enjoy the most about the 21-speed? Is it just the fact that you have a big range, so it gives you the ability to do different things?
Well, I had my other bike, my Schwinn, which was a 21-speed. I think I am glad that it worked out the way it did because the initial order I placed was actually through you, but it was through Amazon. It was a 7-speed.
Then when it came time, it was a month out that I was supposed to get it. By the time that it ... I don't know. I just decided that a 21-speed's probably going to be better.
I was going to get the EVRYjourney, is what it was. That was more of forward peddling, and I thought at my age, maybe that would be a better riding position.
Yeah. Initially, though, why did you think 7-speed? Just simpler? Was that the thought process or that was only what was available on Amazon?
I think I just thought that I didn't need a 21-speed. That a 7-speed would be enough for me. I don't really recall availability on Amazon, what was there and what wasn't.
Got you. Tell us then a little bit about your riding habits now, over the last year. How many miles do you think, could you estimate? We could check the app actually. I don't have that on hand, but how many miles do you think, on average you do a week when the weather permits outdoors?
When I first started riding, of course, I wasn't going as far or I wasn't being out as long. I worked my way up to doing 20 miles, but when I look back at the app-
A week.
... app came out right about the same time I got my bike. That was-
That's probably correct.
... last year, wasn't it? Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
I think it was September before I got to do 20 miles.
In a week or a day?
A day, a ride.
A ride. Okay. So when you started though, what were you doing per week? Any idea, like five miles, 10 miles?
I would go out every day, trying to go out every day, weather-permitting, and I think I started out with eight miles because you don't know what you can do. I hadn't been riding consistently. This is last year. Right?
I got my bike in early May of last year. She had her birthday.
Happy birthday. Does she have a name?
Yes. I never named my bike before, but I'm part of the Facebook group. When they name their bike, I said, "Okay, I can name my bike." I even got her a license plate with Wisconsin, a Wisconsin license plate I found on Amazon. Her name is Lady Tealia.
Lady Tealia. I like it.
It's a teal bike.
Yeah. Well, and if you're listening at home and you have a bike, don't be afraid to name your bike. It's fun. It just makes the experience that much better.
So, Lady Tealia. You started out eight miles a ride. By September, you worked yourself up to 20 miles a ride. What are you doing now? It's usually about 20 miles, and seven days a week?
Yeah, weather-permitting. Yes.
Every day, same time, same routine, same route?
It's the same route. My route and I think this is a good suggestion for somebody who wants to go farther, but they don't know if they can go farther.
My route, when I look at what it looks like on your app, it's like this little dot. That's because I'm never more than five miles away from home. If the weather changes on me, I can go home.
There would be a certain part where, okay, if I go home now, I'm home in a mile and a half, or I can keep going. That's how I work to add miles to my ride.
I worked up to 15 and pretty much stayed at 15. Got myself to 17 and then I went to 20. I actually did a couple, a 23 and a 25. I think I did that this year already because I think I can go farther, but the weather conditions have to be good. I have to have a bathroom to stop at if I have to be able to refill my water, because if I run out. Yeah.
You're doing a loop then, I assume, or some kind of loop? Are you doing a loop? On your bike ride, is it a five-mile loop or a 10-mile loop, or is it just one route?
It's a route that takes me in different directions.
But you'll never be five miles from your house on that route?
Right. Right.
Dustin Gyger:
That's so smart. Yeah, so you can always get home if you need to.
Right.
I guess the worst case is in a torrential downpour, while you're still going to be about 20 minutes from your house, 25 minutes even if you're at full pace.
Right. Funny story on that. I was out one day last year. The weather was good. It was raining, but it wasn't windy, it wasn't thunderstorms. I was probably at a point, maybe three miles from home. I messaged my husband. I said, "Bring me my coat." I said, "See you." I kept going. I finished the ride.
Nice. How cold do you think it was at that point?
Oh, that was mid ... It was not cold.
Oh.
It was a spring jacket. It was a raincoat, so I had a hood up. I told him how much I have to go yet. I don't know if I was up to 20 miles at that point yet because I didn't get to 20 miles last year until September.
Case in point, I wanted to continue riding through the winter, so I bought myself a trainer that you mount the whole bike on.
I saw pictures in the Pedalers Group.
Yeah, I had this funky seat I put on it because it's harder to ... I thought, "Why don't I just buy a padded seat cover?" which is what I have now, that was
Anyway, so I rode during the winter, but I only did ... It's a lot harder riding indoors because you're not getting up off the seat. You're not really getting up to stretch, or you coast down a hill. I did an hour every day. I took Sundays off from indoor riding.
When I got back into riding in the spring, I brought it upstairs and brought it out in early March because we had some nice days. My first ride was 15 miles. In my first ride, it probably took me a month to get to 15 miles last year. I was able to pick up where I left off. Last year, it took me to September, to get to 20 miles.
I did that on my second ride out. Second or third ride out this year.
You've only been back, riding, what, a month now, outdoors?
Yes. I did get a couple of rides in, in March. It's all weather-permitting. The best I'll do is 45 degrees and sunny. Then I'll go out.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah. It's just been consistent, just real recently.
I'm just curious when you're riding indoors, what are you doing? Are you looking at a TV or are you just riding and thinking about life?
I'm watching TV. I'm watching a show on Netflix.
I have the same setup in my gym actually. Yeah, it keeps me occupied. It's a lot better to be outside looking at the scenery, I'll say that much.
Yeah.
I'm curious then, you're doing an hour. How many miles? Did you have any idea of the mileage, or no, because you're just riding for an hour and it is what it is?
Indoors, I bought myself a sensor that, they went on the ... I had two of them. One would measure the speed, for the cadence and the other one measured the distance. I would attach one to my pedal, and then I forget where the other one went to. I don't want to give the brand names out if you don't want me to.
Oh, sure. You can. You can. That's fine.
Wahoo sense. W-A-H-O-O sensor.
Yeah.
I had that put on and it was pretty accurate.
What would you-
Yeah.
Indoors, I was on for an hour, which was tough because you're sitting for a lot longer. Then you can't get up and coast and such. I did about 10 miles.
Wow, that's really good.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. When you're out riding 20 miles on average, how long is that taking you?
Two hours.
Two hours.
Two hours. I have regular stops if I need them. There's an outhouse at my 12-mile mark which I've been taking advantage of. I have to bring enough water with me, and so forth because you got to stay well-hydrated.
What's enough water, I'm just curious? How many ounces, or two water bottles?
My bike has not come with water bottle cages. A lot of the bikes will have those little, two little screws to attach them to. I bought a Velcro one, and it's a super-wide Velcro. I actually had to upgrade because the ones I had last year kept falling off on me. I have two, 22-ounce water bottles.
Since it's been extra warm, I added a third one because I went out ... We've had unseasonably warm weather. It's like 85. That's warm for Wisconsin this time of year. I was rationing my water at the end. I thought, "Okay, that can't be." I have another bag that I attach to my handlebars, and that one was full too. I freeze them. I freeze the bottles.
Before you go for the ride?
Before I go for the ride. I have three water bottles. Two of them are filled, almost to the top, allowing for expansion. The other one, I fill just half full because I'm putting an additive in the water to help with the extra salt that you might ... You might need that little bit of extra as you're sweating.
Wow. You're a very well-prepared rider. That's amazing. At this point, normally you're going through about 44 ounces of water on a two-hour ride. Because of the heat now, it's probably another 20 ounces. 60 ounces of water.
Yeah, and I pretty much, drink almost all of them. The one bottle was half full, but it was lukewarm. I switched to the one that was, and I have an insulated bag that's on my handlebar. I still had a little bit of ice in that when I was done. It was 85 degrees out. I thought, "Hey, that works pretty good."
Yeah, yeah. I'm just curious then, outside, so is bicycling your primary form of exercise at this point?
It's additional. I don't want to plug another company, but I do work off to DVDs.
Oh, that's fine. You can mention anything. Yeah, no problem.
I got involved in that. This is another story entirely. When my son started ... I had kids later in life, so my daughter first. My son, he started school, started kindergarten, and I got back into regular exercise. I ordered DVDs off of a infomercial through Beachbody. I've been doing those, and now I just ... I do a workout there in the morning, and weight-based.
I've learned that even though cardio, sometimes could be more fun because you feel like you need to [inaudible 00:23:33] going.
Yeah, yeah.
You need to get ... I'm 66 years old. You got to have the muscle tone, the muscles as well. I got back into doing more muscle stuff about a year ago.
Wow, that's amazing. You, obviously dedicate a lot of time to your fitness, which is incredible.
I'm retired so I have the time now, too.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I'm just curious, what are your plans for the summer in terms of riding? Any goals? Are you trying to stretch your limit? Do you want to get 30 miles on the bike? Do you think about that kind of stuff?
Yes. Now my husband retired in February of this past year, and so he didn't get a whole lot of biking in last year, but he is now, this year, he's got to work his way up.
We are planning on traveling to Wisconsin. I had somebody tell me from the bike shop, where I took the bikes in to get them tuned up this year. They said some of the best trails are in the state.
We have one week we already have planned, going up to Minocqua. He said the best trails in the state are up in that area. We're going to bring our bikes. We got the hitch-type for ... He drives a Prius. You can't get two bikes on a Prius, so we bought a hitch-type rack. I don't know where I got that idea from if somebody in the Sixthreezero group had mentioned that.
Well, that's a five-day trip. We're going to be up there five days, and then we have ... There are two weekends that we have planned that we want to go out for sure and just drive for a day, an area where there are some trails, do the trail. Then the next day, ride out and figure, well, 20 miles.
He does, I think, 10 now. He's either going to be waiting for me, or he'll work his way up. We actually just scheduled one. There's an Elroy Sparta bike trail in the State of Wisconsin and there are other trails from that same area. We're going to do one of the little legs, just bike out and bike back for the 20 miles. Then we'll go a different trail that has a trail head right in that same area.
You think you'll track all these rides on the app?
Oh, yes. Yes. I actually run two apps. I have a Fitbit.
Got it.
I run my Fitbit app as well as the Sixthreezero app.
Awesome. Yeah, I was just thinking, I would love to see some photos of all these adventures, as I'm sure, all the Pedalers would. I'm curious if you can, post some pictures, and show us the trails, that's amazing. I mean, sounds like a lot of fun.
That's what I said, when we do these trail rides, now it's like, go out, you do your 20 miles and you come home, you're done. That's more of a vacation, where you're going out, you're doing your ride, you see some ... There are things along the route you want to stop and see. It'll be more leisurely.
It's not like, "well, let's hurry and get this done." Let's enjoy the process.
Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. You guys are going to rent a cabin up there or something, or a little Airbnb?
We booked a hotel. The first one ... We just did this in the last couple of days, because it's only a day. This is the one for the Elroy Sparta Trail. We're only there for a day.
When we go to Minocqua, that's the week, is it July? That's the second full week in July, and there we were going to ... I don't want to do a plug for a place if you don't want me to do a plug for a place.
No, no. You could say anything you want.
We're going to Blue Lake Pines up in Minocqua. We were there a couple of years ago and just stayed in one of their suites. This time, we have a full cabin. They were actually renovating that cabin when we were there the last time.
Costing us a little more, a minimum stay is five nights, but he's retired now, too. He retired in February of this last year. So we're just going to go and have fun.
Is this the northern part of Wisconsin?
Yes. It's way north. If you look at the state, it's got that little curlicue, it's just below that little curlicue. When we were planning this trip, I think it was somebody at the bike shop, said that some of the best trails in this state are in that area.
That's when we started to look into it, it was within 30 minutes of Minocqua.
Yeah. Yeah. For anyone that's listening that's, never been to the Upper Peninsula Michigan or Norther Wisconsin, it is absolutely beautiful, especially in the fall, just the trees and the beauty up there.
Yeah, that's exciting. I would love to get back there and spend more time in Wisconsin. Transitioning, I'm curious. Outside of biking, are you an adventurous kind of person? Are you always traveling, looking for new adventures? I get that sense from you, but maybe you're shaking your head, no. I don't know.
No.
You seem very ambitious.
No. No, I'm an introvert actually. Yeah.
You don't come across that way today, I'll say that much. Well, it's funny. A lot of people, it's interesting because biking, obviously there's a lot of time to think, to yourself. It feels like, a lot of people, typically introverted like to be on bikes.
There's a lot of time to be with your own thoughts and almost like a meditation, in a way, right, like another form of meditation? In one sense, that doesn't surprise me because I feel like, a lot of cyclists I know, especially if you're going to be on a bike for 100 miles, you have to really be okay being alone with yourself.
I mean, of course, you can ride in your group and you can talk to some extent, but there's going to be a lot of time to yourself also. So, well that's-
I listen to music too. I have a Bluetooth speaker, so I listen to music. I crank that up. You got the wind blowing. I wear hearing aids. You got the wind blowing, and if the wind's blowing, sometimes those hearing aids will actually turn your head so you can hear your music. Yeah, I listen to my music.
Yeah, yeah. I'm curious then, what is everything else that you bring on your bike, on the ride? You said you bring your water, you bring your music. What else are you taking with you on the 20-mile ride?
Okay. I have the two water bottle cages. I added a third one that's more of a pouch. There's an insulated pouch that goes on the handlebars. I have a bag that you can actually double as a fanny pack. It has a strap on it.
That bag used to be the only bike bag I had last year, and that goes on the handlebars. Then when Sixthreezero came out with your bike bags, I bought the Pannier bag that sits on the frame, and there are two sides that come down.
I used that one by itself last year when I got it, and I put the other one away. I brought the handlebar one back out only because it's higher access and it's easier for me to reach because I keep my snacks in there.
I'll bring an RXBAR depending on, or I bring fruit, prepared fruit. That's in my bag, and that gives me easier access. The Pannier on the bottom, it's Velcro. Every time I would open up the side, my gloves would hit that Velcro because I wear-
Oh.
... gloves, and it was snagging up my bike gloves. I actually closed them up, so the one side, I wouldn't need it. Now my Sixthreezero bag just has my emergency kit.
It's got my ID in there, it's got a bag if I need a bag for anything. It's got personal contact information in case something should happen, you have an accident on your ride. It's got tools in case I should need to have to fix anything when I'm out.
Do you bring an extra tube with you?
Actually, no.
No? Okay. What about a pump? Pump, no?
No.
No? Then you said you put a padded cushion on top of the seat. You put that on your seat?
I put that on my bike seat. Yeah. I have a pretty wide, it's a pretty wide bike seat. Just this year, I bought a top for it that goes, actually over the seat. I actually ordered two. Ordered them from Amazon. I ordered two just in case one didn't work. My husband uses the other one on his bike. I was going to send it back. It's easier to return things from Amazon.
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. No shame and this doesn't bother me. You actually replaced the seat, the bike came with?
No. I have that seat.
Oh. Oh, you have the same seat.
I still have that seat, but I needed more ... I wanted something that gave me a little bit more cushion while I was riding because I am out there for a good two hours.
Totally. Do you wear padded shorts at all or not?
I do, but what I do, I buy the ones that are liners. I really have my regular street clothes on, and then I have padded shorts that, more go underneath your clothes.
Yeah. Underneath. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Those help a lot, actually. If anyone's never tried those, I think that ... A lot of cyclists say, "Get padded shorts before you get a padded seat." The other thing I-
I didn't-
Go ahead.
I didn't get them, initially last year. Somebody that I see that, does sports medicine massage therapy more than just massages. He said, "You really should wear a padded bike seat, padded shorts."
That's when I thought, "All right. I'll go out and I'll get myself a pair."
Yeah. They've helped, do you think?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah. That's great. Something I was going to touch on too is, you have a cruiser, or what we would traditionally call a Cruiser. You have a set of 21 speeds, but you're going to take your bike on a trail. You're going to take your bike out there, you're riding 20 miles.
I just want to put that out there, of people that are listening, because I think there's also this opinion that a cruiser can't go a certain distance or a cruiser is only a single speed.
Obviously, our foundation is in cruisers. It's refreshing to hear somebody who's logging the kind of miles you log on a weekly basis, on what is a cruiser because it looks good. It's got a comfortable riding position and yeah, you can. You can get out there and put 10, 20, or 30 miles on a cruiser.
You've been riding a year. You've had some issues with the rear wheels, which I know we've been trying to help you out with, with spokes breaking.
That's been all taken care of. I haven't had any problems since then.
Yeah. Yeah. Also, with the kind of miles you're logging, I think there's always going to be some level of maintenance or upkeep that's going to be required.
I'm glad to hear, yeah, you're still out there and riding. This has been amazing.
I have a question for you on that, on the maintenance. What is actually recommended for how often you clean and relube the chain? How many miles?
Great point. You know, in my opinion, it's not as much a mileage thing as it is, how does the chain appear and how is the bike running because there are other factors that are going to affect the chain and the lube and just the overall performance of the bike.
Miles logged is one thing, but what kind of conditions is the bike being stored in? What's the humidity of the air like? In Green Bay, obviously, it's going to be very humid in the summer.
You may want to get it lubed once or twice over the summer, which is something you can do yourself, but it's also going to be a feel thing. You can do routine maintenance once a year, which is probably typical. Just like a car, if something doesn't sound right, if something's not going well, my suggestion is, just throw a little more lube on there and clean the chain.
If the bike's running well, then just stick to your once-a-year maintenance schedule. I might also recommend, before you put it into storage, actually lube things up because the interesting thing is, in many places on the bike, like the pedals and the handlebars and the seat post, the lubrication is actually put there so that it doesn't seize up.
If you put metal to metal contact and you leave it there, over time the metal will actually seize to each other. In your case, you actually kept riding the bike. If you're not going to ride the bike for a long period of time, it might not be a bad idea to actually service it before you put it into storage just to make sure it's properly cleaned, properly lubricated, and you avoid rust and stuff like that.
What parts are you saying that there are other parts besides the chain that you should lubricate every year?
Not necessarily every year. Places that need lubrication are the pedals, where the pedals thread into the crank, where the stem goes into the handlebars, which you want to lubricate that, and where the seat post.
You actually want to lubricate the seatpost into the seat tube just because you want to be able to move those parts easily and freely. Sometimes if they're not lubricated, you go to loosen it and pull it out, it might be impossible.
Is that something that, when you take your bike in for service ... We took them in, in March, I think. Is that something that they would normally do, or do you have to ask for that?
Well, I can't tell you specifically what every bike shop would do. I would certainly believe that if you said, "Hey, could you lubricate these parts?" they would do that, no problem, is my guess.
Okay.
I think every shop is going to have whatever they do in terms of their plan. All of those points that I mentioned, except for the seat post, the stem, and the pedals will come pre-lubricated from us, from the factory. Again, over time, that'll wear out.
You've only had your bike, for a year so I don't foresee those things being issues now. Again, over time, the grease may dry up, for two, three, or four years. If people have a bike for 20 years and they keep it in their garage, that's where those things really start to become an issue.
Yeah, the more preventative maintenance, the more lubrication you can do, obviously the longer it will last, you know?
This brings up another question. I don't remember if I saw it in the Facebook group. It's probably where it was. They were talking about how often you should replace the tires, the actual rubber tire of the bike.
It said 1,000 to 1,500 miles. I did 2,000 miles in one year last year. Am I supposed to be replacing the tires already? The tread, they look fine, or is it the conditions that you ride in?
Yeah. My opinion on that would be the same, right? Car tire places are always going to tell you, "Oh, you have to replace your tires at 10,000 miles. You have to replace them at 15,000." They do that as a general philosophy to make sure that you're not wearing the tread down.
My thought would be, if your tread looks good, keep using them. If the sidewalls still look intact, then keep using them. Sometimes, over time the sidewalls can get tears and that might make you more susceptible to a flat.
If your tires are holding air and the valves are fine, keep using them. If the tread starts to get worn down and you ride frequently in, maybe wet conditions, or there's, not salt, but sand or something on the trail that may make it more slippery, and you'd feel more comfortable with new tires, then go ahead and do it.
Yeah, if the tread looks fine, I think just keep using them. I would definitely look at the sidewalls because that's something I have seen before, over time, is sometimes the sidewalls start to split. Like I said, what can happen, actually is the tube can start to seep through the sidewall of the tire. Before you know it, it might pop right out and you have an explosion.
Okay.
Yeah. Yeah. You can just check that, make sure your tire is properly tucked into the rim and there's nothing exposed. That's just a quick, 30-second eyeball examination.
Yeah, and I think in this day and age, I'm seeing a lot of people with e-bikes who are replacing tires much more frequently because the wear and tear people are putting on e-bike tires is far greater than on regular bikes.
Generally speaking, because they're going faster, they're going farther and they're just, generally riding them way more aggressively. I'm definitely seeing the need to replace e-bike tires much more frequently.
Like I said, people are taking turns at 20 miles an hour and that's dangerous if you don't have a really good tread, you know? Yeah, there are a lot of crazy e-bike riders out there these days.
Jodi, this has been amazing. I've learned a lot. I've been loving, hearing about your riding habits. Honestly, it's inspiring. I'm sure you're going to inspire other people who are listening to this. That's what this is all about. Really hearing about everyone's journeys and experiences, and your journey, your experience, and the miles you log.
We appreciate having you in the Pedalers group and on the app. To everyone else at home, if you don't have it, join the app. You can follow along with Jodi and see how she's riding on her adventures. Yeah, we look forward to seeing your photos from your summer rides.
Okay.
Seeing your miles get logged on the app.
Yeah. We have one other trip that we, literally planned, going over to the Elroy Sparta Trail just in the last couple of days. We also want to go over towards Door County. There are some trails in that area that come from the Sturgeon Bay Area.
After that, we just got to figure. We figured we want to see our state before we go other places, you know?
Well, we're going to follow you wherever you go. Keep logging your miles and keep posting in the Pedalers group. We'll be excited to follow you.
Wonderful.
All right, Jodi. Well, thank you for joining us and we'll see you soon on the Pedalers-
Thank you for having me as the first one.
Absolutely. Don't forget, Jodi, it's your journey, your experience.
Right.
Enjoy the ride.
That's right. Thank you.
All right. Thanks. Have a good one.
You too. Bye-bye.