Last Saturday I got Karen to go to the LBS with me to look at bikes...And after looking at all sorts of bikes I finally ordered a Trek 1.5 with the 60cm frame. Took a while to pry the credit card out of her hand but finally got it.
The guys from Kingsbury Cycles in Elmira NY did a great job of fitting the bike to me which was a real tough job. If you remember I am 6'2' and weigh in at 262 and an OFG. The bike arrived on Wednesday and was ready for pickup the next day...Now I need to ride it a bit before the Tour de Cure on Saturday.
The Tour de Cure was a ball even if I only rode 10 miles. The longest I had ridden was 26 miles so I was unsure if I could step it up to the next level of 35 miles.. Still was fun..
In the days after the ride I rode a 24, 12 and 7 mile ride... not so much..Today I woke up and said today is the day of the long ride (for me) I rode 34.8 miles at an average of 10-11 mph. Doesn't sound like much but for an OFG it was a victory. I forgot my bike lock and when I stopped at Micky Dees to P and there was a state trouper eating lunch. I walked over to his car and asked him if he would would watch my bike while I went inside...He was a little reluctant but finally agreed I bet he never had that happen before..
Well I am home now resting my sore butt but all in all it was a pretty good week..
Friday, August 26, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Clear out the crap
As I ride my 14 year old bike I have come to realize that that is old and it was not a high end bike even when it was new..Being a semi-broke retired guy I have pondered on how to upgrade without cutting back on food or beer..
The answer was right in my garage, I have so much crap that is left over from projects and toys I no longer play with that I can sell off some of the excess. I put a bunch of antique tools on craigslist and people started e-mailing me within minutes. Next I have to haul all the scrap metal left over from my blacksmith days to the scrapyard. Then I will sell off some of the ham radio gear that has been collecting dust. Maybe somehow I can gain some cash and free myself from all this clutter.
I have no idea what kind of bike I will be looking for maybe something in this century and it will be a road bike. My hybrid is ok for town but it is so heavy and clunky out on the road I want something a little lighter and maybe faster.
The answer was right in my garage, I have so much crap that is left over from projects and toys I no longer play with that I can sell off some of the excess. I put a bunch of antique tools on craigslist and people started e-mailing me within minutes. Next I have to haul all the scrap metal left over from my blacksmith days to the scrapyard. Then I will sell off some of the ham radio gear that has been collecting dust. Maybe somehow I can gain some cash and free myself from all this clutter.
I have no idea what kind of bike I will be looking for maybe something in this century and it will be a road bike. My hybrid is ok for town but it is so heavy and clunky out on the road I want something a little lighter and maybe faster.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Longest ride yet
Yesterday I got up and had way to many cups of coffee. I was feeling I could conquer the world. Karen was going to see her mom in the old folks home and then shopping so I knew I had pretty much the whole day to do whatever I wanted. I got out the old Peugeot and headed down the road. My sister lives about 13 miles away in a little town so I figured if my math was correct round trip would be 26 miles..Did I tell you I have never ridden more than 17 miles before... apparently my brain didn't remember that so I set off. The first 13 miles went by in a flash. After loading up the water bottles I headed back home. I actually enjoyed the next10 miles lots of hills and valleys. After mile 10 on the return trip things started to get kind of dicey my legs were hurting and it felt like me and the bike weighed 20 more pounds than when I started. I made that last 6.95 miles not in record time but when I pulled in front of the garage I felt like I really had accomplished something. 26.95 miles total...Today I am a little sore but I think tomorrow will be a twenty mile day.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Trip to Western NY
Karen was starting to get antsy working every day to support my retired butt so she declared it was time for a mini vacation. We loaded up the bikes, car, and food into the RV and banished the dog to the kennel. The campground we stayed was Chautauqua Koa a very nice place but odd in that over half the campsites were year round with their campers being these things that looked like half way between a camper and a mobile home. Maybe Tim TPC can enlighten me on what this was all about.
Anyway I will spare you all the boring stuff about drinking beer and eating way too much like we always do when we camp. I might explain that Karen's idea of camping is staying in a bad Holiday Inn. But she loves the motor-home. for one thing it is nicer than our house. And if we keep making payments for about ten years after I die it will be all mine..Ahh the American dream..
By now you realize that I have zero writting skills and jump form subject to subject at will..Ya just have to put up with me.
Ok what I really wanted to talk about was riding my bike around the Chautauqa Lake area. The road from the campground was really cool, seemed almost straight down. By the time I got to the stop sign I was going about 30 pretty fast for me. I was thinking maybe the whole ride will be down hill...not really. As you wind around the lake the road is constantly changing elevation. It did seem like more up than down but I managed to climb all the hills and roll down the valleys. As you may remember I usually only ride 10-15 miles a ride as I am old and fat and not quite in shape ( oh wait round is a shape). After I got out about six miles I thought maybe I should turn around as I do have to get back to the campsite sometime before dark...Holy crap the trip back seemed all uphill. And if you remember the 30 miles per hour section starting out was just a killer going the other direction. I have to admit I got off and walked for the last half mile, my legs felt like they had been run over by a truck. I did make it back to camp in time for happy hour and those cold ones tasted extra good...
The next day we went and did touristy things. We stopped at a place called Panama Rocks. The guy running the place said the trail is about 1.5 miles long and should take about an hour and half to finish. I was thinking even I could walk faster than that..maybe not. It was really cool with all these huge rocks that formed caves and passageways that were too skinny for me to squeeze through. I looked up and Karen was standing on top of a rock about 30 feet above me. She says why don't you climb up here too. By now I was soaked in sweat and puffing like a steam engine..no honey I think I will just sit here and have a hear attack..I guess if you stayed on the trail it might be a mile and half but if you explore the rocks it seems like 10 miles. Even Karen was sweating and she never sweats ( she is the exercise queen).
So what do you do when you are sweaty and your ankles and legs are burned...go to a bike shop and dream of all those cool bikes that you won't own. The sales guy was pretty nice he only giggled a little when I told him my current bike is a 14 year old hybrid..He was dying to show someone the new bike he had just sold. holy crap it was almost all carbon fiber. He said pick it up, I could pick it up with one finger. I'm thinking wow cool I need one of these. A couple of things stopped me from pulling out the plastic, first was it had a 250lb weight limit. Well I am loosing weight but I am still 14 pounds too heavy...bummer. then he told me it was about eight thousand dollars I think my shocked expression made him realize that he would not be selling the second one of those to me and all of the sudden he had something important to do on the other side of the store.
Well that's the end of that adventure...
While
Anyway I will spare you all the boring stuff about drinking beer and eating way too much like we always do when we camp. I might explain that Karen's idea of camping is staying in a bad Holiday Inn. But she loves the motor-home. for one thing it is nicer than our house. And if we keep making payments for about ten years after I die it will be all mine..Ahh the American dream..
By now you realize that I have zero writting skills and jump form subject to subject at will..Ya just have to put up with me.
Ok what I really wanted to talk about was riding my bike around the Chautauqa Lake area. The road from the campground was really cool, seemed almost straight down. By the time I got to the stop sign I was going about 30 pretty fast for me. I was thinking maybe the whole ride will be down hill...not really. As you wind around the lake the road is constantly changing elevation. It did seem like more up than down but I managed to climb all the hills and roll down the valleys. As you may remember I usually only ride 10-15 miles a ride as I am old and fat and not quite in shape ( oh wait round is a shape). After I got out about six miles I thought maybe I should turn around as I do have to get back to the campsite sometime before dark...Holy crap the trip back seemed all uphill. And if you remember the 30 miles per hour section starting out was just a killer going the other direction. I have to admit I got off and walked for the last half mile, my legs felt like they had been run over by a truck. I did make it back to camp in time for happy hour and those cold ones tasted extra good...
The next day we went and did touristy things. We stopped at a place called Panama Rocks. The guy running the place said the trail is about 1.5 miles long and should take about an hour and half to finish. I was thinking even I could walk faster than that..maybe not. It was really cool with all these huge rocks that formed caves and passageways that were too skinny for me to squeeze through. I looked up and Karen was standing on top of a rock about 30 feet above me. She says why don't you climb up here too. By now I was soaked in sweat and puffing like a steam engine..no honey I think I will just sit here and have a hear attack..I guess if you stayed on the trail it might be a mile and half but if you explore the rocks it seems like 10 miles. Even Karen was sweating and she never sweats ( she is the exercise queen).
So what do you do when you are sweaty and your ankles and legs are burned...go to a bike shop and dream of all those cool bikes that you won't own. The sales guy was pretty nice he only giggled a little when I told him my current bike is a 14 year old hybrid..He was dying to show someone the new bike he had just sold. holy crap it was almost all carbon fiber. He said pick it up, I could pick it up with one finger. I'm thinking wow cool I need one of these. A couple of things stopped me from pulling out the plastic, first was it had a 250lb weight limit. Well I am loosing weight but I am still 14 pounds too heavy...bummer. then he told me it was about eight thousand dollars I think my shocked expression made him realize that he would not be selling the second one of those to me and all of the sudden he had something important to do on the other side of the store.
Well that's the end of that adventure...
While
Thursday, August 4, 2011
On the road again
Karen had some vacation days to burn so we decided to hit the road in the RV. The place we are staying is a KOA campground in Dewittville, NY almost to Lake Erie and next to a lake I have no idea how to spell.
The trip out was pretty normal except for the last section of I 86 which is so rough I was pretty sure the RV was going to just self destruct. When we arrived we noticed that the pin that holds the tow dolly in the loaded position had decided to leave us. Could have been real bad and I am pretty sure Karen would have been mad if her car went bouncing down the road by itself...
I was planing on a ride last night but it rained so hard the campground road was the consistency of snot so there is always today. I feel kind of antsy not riding the last two days. My last ride was 17 miles, I know that doesn't seem like much but I started out a few weeks ago at 2 miles. I was hoping to get up to 35 miles by the Tour de Cure but I think that maybe a little nuts. I may have to keep with the 10 mile loop I am signed up for.
The trip out was pretty normal except for the last section of I 86 which is so rough I was pretty sure the RV was going to just self destruct. When we arrived we noticed that the pin that holds the tow dolly in the loaded position had decided to leave us. Could have been real bad and I am pretty sure Karen would have been mad if her car went bouncing down the road by itself...
I was planing on a ride last night but it rained so hard the campground road was the consistency of snot so there is always today. I feel kind of antsy not riding the last two days. My last ride was 17 miles, I know that doesn't seem like much but I started out a few weeks ago at 2 miles. I was hoping to get up to 35 miles by the Tour de Cure but I think that maybe a little nuts. I may have to keep with the 10 mile loop I am signed up for.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)