Manatee Monkey Mentors SHUT (Poptart or pet pic bribes considered) (Page 38)

My bike rides in my back seat.  It fits pretty nicely if I take the front tire off, and have the fork resting on a towel.  It's a lot quicker for me than a bike rack, and nothing is really getting dirty or damaged.  I do have a bike rack that I use for my mountain bike.

I think a lot of bike racks will adapt to fit on hatchbacks.  But the ones that go into a hitch are nice (I saw one on a civic a couple days ago), and there's no way it'll damage the care.

I just use the back seat as well. Both wheels off and it slides right in. I don't have to worry about other people though. I have used a few racks before though. The hitch mount is nice. Easiest to put on and felt it held the bikes the best. Slide it in and attach the bolt. But it was also the most expensive as I had to get the hitch mount plus the rack.

Yeah, mostly it take some practice and becoming familiar with things. I don't recall what type of bike it was, mostly if it was a road bike or a tri/tt bike (or something else). Basically know that your left hand will control the front. Both for braking and shifting. Front brake is on the front wheel. Front shifting is by the cranks (or pedals). The right hand controls the rear brake and rear shifting, both on the rear wheel. For shifting, most of the time you'll be using the rear, so your right hand. Since you seem so new to this, I usually recommend just leaving the front on the smaller chainring and getting used to using the rear for a bit. If your bike has 3 rings up front (instead of 2), my guess would be to use the middle one more often, though some may need to use the smallest one.

In looking the first post over again, are you still having trouble moving the chain each way? Each shifter can move the chain both directions depending on which of the levers you use or which direction you move the lever. The method depends on the type of shifter, and for that it's helpful to know what the bike is. I think it would get confusing to write out the several methods and then figure out which it is as the amount of info may be a bit overwhelming.

There's a deal on one of these today on woot.com if anyone is interested.

Total Immersion is good, and will work very well for you.

I have a Honda Fit with an after market trailer hitch on it.  I sometimes fold down the back seat and put my bike in (usually take off the front wheel for this).  More often I use a Thule hitch rack. 

I drive a Dodge Magnum so the bike fits nicely in the back, with the wheels on

However, we have an after-market hitch and a Thule T2 for when we have more than one bike or more than two people. I like the way it holds my bike securely without damaging the bike.

I ran into these last week. They are quite nice, if you can afford them.

http://www.industrynine.net/

I haven't looked around in awhile, but have been using a pair of Ksyrium Elites the last 5 years with no issues. I opted for those over the Ksyriums specifically because some of the areas mentioned were built up a bit beefier.

http://www.vueltausa.com/vuelta-bicycle-wheels/vuelta-road-wheels.html

I have a set of ZeroLites on my "other" bike. They seem OK, but I really can't endorse them until I get more mileage on them. They seem to be a bit lower in price than some others. And reviews looked good for the most part on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Vuelta-Corsa-Lite-700c-Clincher-Wheelset/product-reviews/B006GOH20A

Or there is this type of option: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=518147&posts=6&page=1 But I look at this as a short term holdover type of thing.

Sometimes I wonder if too many options is really a bad thing.

Way more triathlon talk than usual in here.,,

I know, right?

Some wheels would be nice, but I think the next bike thing I do will be jumping from the road bike/aero bar combo to a tri bike.  Although, I want to keep the road bike, so who knows, maybe I'll get new wheels for it eventually.

Yeah, something's wrong!  Let me get us back on track with regular Manatee stuff.

I'm doing an Alaskan cruise in August.  Anyone done one?  If so, what excursions did you love/hate?  I'm booking mine now and my head is swimming (there back to triathlon talk ) 

Yay, Debbie!! Great to hear that your first lesson went so well!!  It's always feels good to make some tangible progress right from the start.  Although there are some in this group who enjoy their love/hate relationship with their coaches (not it!!), I think it's good at the beginning to have somebody you really click with and feel encouraged by until you gain a little confidence.  Keep up the good work!

What's all this tri talk going on in here??   

My parents did an Alaskan cruise and the one thing they really liked was doing a helicopter tour over the glaciers.  

Okay, time to run so that I get go swim... (See? I can add to the tri talk too!!)  

I have terrible motion sickness too, but if i use the prescription patch it is all good.