Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Had to take the Cross-Check in for some service. I have a tick in the fifth and sixth gear that I can't fix. Erik thinks it might be in the hub. We'll see. In the meantime, I've had to sub in a new commuter. First day went with the road Bianchi and a backpack. Love riding that bike. Hate that backpack. Today went with the Big Dummy. Nice ride. Just a little slow but no backpack. Think I'll stick with the BD for the week and see how that goes.

In other news, it looks like the Corps of Engineers, while messing up pretty much every alternate route I have, are getting ready to pave the north levee on the skunk. This area has not previously been paved but it's a great route into Midtown if you're brave enough to jump on the Westward Ho bridge. TEchnically, it's probably their property but the former mayor once told me not to worry about it. So I don't.

Here's a shot from the levee.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Road bike

I haven't been riding my road bike much, really at all. Since Tour de Kota, I did the triathlons but I think that's about it road bike wise. Need to change that. I ride nearly every day but if you don't get out and roll for long distances you lose the ability a bit I think.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

The next stage

I've had a pretty active spring. I've done a 10k, my fourth Tour de Kota and three sprint triathlons since April. I think I'm breaking down a little bit. Good thing I'm going on vacation next week so I can heal and gain about 10 pounds.

The benefit of all this activity is that my weight is down to what it was many years ago. It's generally been the case that I get lighter after TdK and such and then start gaining back during the summer vacations. Thus is the natural cycle of life. I'd like to avoid that this time around. That probably means doing more running during the vacations, which is a tough thing to maintain.

But the big question is what to do next. There are some tris coming up but they're mostly in towns a bit of a drive away and I'm not a big enough enthusiast to spend the night in Watertown or Chamberlain just to do a tri. I'd rather go on the coffee and donut ride or the Something for Everyone ride.

There's a half-marathon in Sioux Falls in September. That seems like a decent goal but I have to see how it works with the golf trip schedule. So many social engagements... Training for the Half would be good though, as it would keep me engaged and really work that weight down.

I also have another bike project in mind. I'm probably going to tear down the Xtracycle and sell the free radical and then rebuild the old Boardwalk into a single speed or maybe internal three speed for tooling around on the train and such. I've got the Big Dummy now so I don't need the Xtra and it's unlikely that anybody would buy the entire unit.

Anyway, lots of things to think about.

Cheers.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

up at Elm Creek


Good ride today in the Elm Creek Park nature area in Champlin, Minn. It's a fabulous area with great bike trails and hiking area and some single track. I need to bring the 1x1 up here some time.

Here's a couple vids....



Saturday, April 17, 2010

Did my first triathlon today. It was a short one, 300 yards swim, 9 mile bike and 2.25 mile run. Still, I can see why it can be addictive.

My goal was to finish in under an hour. My transitions were horrible, which didn't help. Thought I would be strongest on the bike, which didn't really pan out. Here's the breakdown if you're interested. I wasn't horrible on the bike but I didn't hammer it either.

I ran hard the last mile or so to make the sub one hour and ended up at 59:46. Very pleased with that. But I can see where it's possible to find time to get that down to near 50. I believe that's possible between transitions - essentially having the right gear - and making something happen on the bike.

I swam well I thought and I lost a little time passing people.

The only person who passed me all day was right out of the transition to the run and after about a half mile I passed him back and never saw him again.

All in all, very happy with today's performance with identified areas of improvement.