Commuting, a random squeak, and a broken screw.

Had a chat with my friend Erik today (who just finished his first half! Congrats!) and he reminded me of my much-neglected blog. Fear not though, I'm still out there - just not online so much these days. My stubborn attempt at spending less time on the computer has resulted in a tan and a host of new activities - go figure.

I've been commuting to work about 4 times a week this month - usually something comes up so that I'm unable to bike one day because of an after-work plan or something, but it's been working out well. I've stopped trying to be the fastest at the commute, and am enjoying the ride now - averaging between 19 and 20 km/hour on the way. I guess you could say the thrill of the cycling computer has worn off.

I've become a master of the clipless pedals, and don't know what I'd do without them. It's a little annoying when riding in traffic (like driving a standard car I imagine) - but that is a small price to pay for the efficiency gained.

My calves have returned to being solid muscle, and my quads are on their way, working from the outside in. I think my legs have gotten thinner overall, at least according to the capri's I've been living in all summer, but I have yet to find the miracle that melts away the inner thigh. Hope springs eternal.

This weekend is Cyclon --- a trip with the Toronto Bicycle Network to the Niagara area for 3 days of biking and socializing. I've been on a couple of the TBN local rides so far and everyone's been pretty friendly, so I'm looking forward to it --- it's always a little odd to go hang out with strangers for a few days. I've been spending some time fixing up my bike in preparation, have yet to find the cause of the newly developed squeak in the drive-train though -- I think I'm just going to end up lubing and cleaning EVERYTHING in the next few days.

That's about it. I learned my lesson with cheapo bike parts the other day when the plastic screws that were holding my portable pump in place (that came with it) broke off at the head. I'm off for a $6 screw extractor tonight in the hopes of digging them out. Definately annoying.

Cycling is Awesome!

So in the past week I've managed to get used to my new clipless pedals, and love my new saddle. It's totally awesome. I've also decided that I really don't care how dumb it looks, but I NEED a cup holder for my bike handlebars -- -- they have them at Urbane for $20.

Anyways, here are the developments of the week.

1. I'd like to give a shout out to my favourite cycling shops: Urbane Cycle, Mountain Equipment Coop, and Community Bicycle Network. Because they've been great at helping me out.

2. I cut my work commute time from 18 minutes to 15 minutes, with a best milage of 23.4km/hour.

3. Today I went on a ride with TBN - a 35km Easy Roller/Tourist ride. It was great! Such a friendly group. All in all I did 60k on the bike today at an average speed of about 18.5 km/hour (incl. walking the bike up Colbourne Lodge Road at the end of the day, and along the pedestrian bridges).


I signed up for Cyclon. It's in a few weeks, looking forward to it.

Cycling!

So I've become one of those cycling geeks. I give myself a small amount of credit because I resisted buying the stupid looking "Road Shoes" (instead opting for a much more subtle Touring Shoe) -- but I realized this over the weekend as I got out my pretty new bike and kitted it out with Shimano clipless pedals, a female-specific seat, and a cool little computer that leads to all sorts of geeky excitement.


This whole cycling thing game from a desire to get back in shape when I don't have the physical ability to run the same distances I once did. I started out on "the Beast" (an affectionate name for the old Raleigh Road bike I fixed up last year, and have been riding since --- and recently upgraded to a much lighter, 55cm Aquila racing bike.

The Aquila is also an older model, with index shifters on the downtube - but is exactly what I was looking for in a bike. It's lugged steel frame offers me a pretty solid base, while also being alot lighter than the Raleigh. The index shifters were actually something I was looking for, as self-sufficiency is important to me in my bike at the moment, I know how to fix them -- and don't know how to deal with fancy STI shifters. My only real complaint about it is that the racing drops force me to lean forward more than I had to in the Raleigh drops to brake effectively -- my plan is to ask the bike shop to raise them about 3/4 of an inch to help compensate for the pressure this puts on my shoulders.

Otherwise, I've been debating which wheelset should stay, and which should go, but that's pretty minor.

I've been riding to/from work alot lately --- averaging about 10-15 km a day on the bike minimum -- with a cruising speed of about 20km/hour. Not so bad!


Today's Ride Stats:
To work:
Maximum Speed: 42km/hour
Average Speed: 20.9km/hour
Time to Work: 18 minutes


P.S. -- Yes, my plan is to run again..... I'm just trying to get back in shape before dragging my heavy carcass out and putting all that pounding on the road.