New Frame

The frame when we pulled it out of the box (note the box and the old bike in the background. 980grams. Meow

Saying goodbye to the aluminum frame - putting it on the rack to move parts over


When we hit the speedbumps. Needed a new stem, and seatpost with a new seat clamp.
All the snafu's have been adjusted now and I rode the bike today. Man, they weren't kidding when they said that carbon is the way to go. It was lighter, and felt so easy/less struggle. I loved it.
I'm still a little over-extended on the bike, so I think I'll need a shorter stem or just to simply move my seat up just a bit. But other than that - she rides like a dream. :D
And Sean Connery and I rode over the bridge again this morning. I'll give you more details on that later.
Also - will make better photos of the bike this weekend with the 'real' camera.

Goodbye Trek

Sold the Trek Alumunium frame (and fork and seatpost, which were carbon, and seatpost clamp) yesterday for 120.00 via Craig's List.

It actually went to a cycling buddy of D's who found it on there and is making the bike up for his girlfriend.

So it's getting a good home :).  

Tomorrow I ride the carbon frame for the first time ever.  Going to take it out tonight when I get home to make sure everything fits just right.

Back on Track for Team Skinny!

P.S. It's AUGUST now - and while I am shocked that the year is flying by - I am also glad as it makes it closer to cooler/better weather for us here in sweltering Florida.

Week 2 - Team Skinny is still on board

This is seriously the first time I have ever been this motivated to do this in the two and a half years I have been riding. I don't know what has gotten into me, but I hope I can keep the momemtum up.

The past week I have ridden over 50 miles...rode 5 days out of the week and one day for two hours.

This week is already starting off great - as I 'graduated' in the cycling passion.

How you ask?!

For the first time ever, I woke up this morning, got on the bike and had ...NO IDEA of where I was really going (with the exception of having to stop by a friend's house between 8:30am-9am to pick up something).

I just got on the bike and rode ...which ended me up at Coffee Pot Park, and I found other little trails through St. Pete, which I thought was pretty freaking cool.

I met up with other cyclists while on my ride. It felt nice - everyone smiled and waved as I rode past and said 'Morning!" :) Very Good Morning it was indeed.

This week looks like I will be riding to work on Wed/Thurs due to weather.

And me incorporating Yoga into the Team Skinny Goals.

Thanks to two totally awesome ladies who let me borrow a beginner Yoga DVD for a bit, I am getting a great start today with this goal as well.

I only did 10 minutes, but holy crap did I learn a lot in 10 minutes. Such as

I AM NOT FLEXIBLE AT ALL...

But the Yoga will def work that and I'm looking forward to it.

I shall be doing this on my 'off days' from the bike on the weeks and also one extra 'freebie' day when I feel like I could use a good stretch and centering.

If I keep this up - I might actually end up going to Six Gap this year with Brendan and Dimitros..AND participating.

OFF DAY

I had all intentions of waking up and going riding to work this morning (and back of course) - the weather was perfect for it today.
However, since I have kept up with my ride regime for a week now, and was pretty exhausted..my body said NO and I SLEPT through my alarm...
Ah well - today will be my off day and I'll just jump on the bike this weekend. No worries.
I rode for 27 miles yesterday (2 hours) so today should not be abused/taken for granted. And this is the first month of getting back into it - the schedule should be normal by August.
And I made a cycling friend while on the bridge yesterday (another fellow cyclist). Awesome.

It's July - and the temp this morning was 73 degrees..with 47% humidity

That is a blessing to us Floridians on days like this.

Even if it gets up to 90 degrees later today (it's actually going to get up to 96), the fact that the humidity is down and there was a slight 'chill' in the air when I was on the bike is just heaven when you're used to sweltering humidity and sun/heat.

The fact that this area is nothing but a concrete jungle only increases the heat when you're own black asphalt. I seriously think I have felt my skin start to burn off my legs when I'm at a red light just WAITING for the light to turn green again.

The bike ride this morning in was nice - the water was peaceful and the chill in the air made for little if no sweating, except where my heart-rate monitor was of course. It felt damn good to be on my bike and not be in my car.

This afternoon will be brutal - the weatherman stated it's going to climb today and fast. The humidity will still stay low (for this time of year) but it's still not going to be a fun day on the bridge over. It never is. I cannot wait for October and the cool days all day long. Will definitely make me want to ride more to work than just once or twice a week - that's for sure :)

Progress of Team Skinny is going well. It's been four days of me waking up at 5am (even my off day I woke up to get used to the schedule). My legs are starting to have muscle soreness from the riding schedule and my brain is starting to become confused due to the sleep schedule and me taking control of it.

The plan was to take Saturday as my next 'Off' day, but that might change due to the weather. Might just not take it off at all. We'll see.

Team Skinny Day #3

Yesterday was my 'off day' for the week.
Weather does not look to be very promising for the next couple of days (something about a cold front...or maybe a hurricane...whatever, it's Florida).
Humidity is terrible right now. If I just STOP on the bike to take a breather, it envelopes me and thus makes it where the sweat doesn't dry up.
Meh.
Luckily, Dimitrios bought us a trainer last year...




One of the best trainers on the market actually.
So he set that up for me last night - in front of the computer.
I can happily watch Hulu now in the mornings and catch up on my TV programs I like to watch while getting my hour in the morning.
And 30 minutes in the afternoons.

Team Skinny Take 1

I did good this past weekend. I had plans to start on a training schedule and was worried that going out of town (I had planned to start it on Monday) would screw with my schedule (meaning I would be lazy and not get my @$$ up and ride the bike that I dragged all the way to Jacksonville/Orange Park). But luckily, my aunt has Banty Roosters who decided that 4:15 was the appointed time to start crowing at the sun (that wasn't out yet) and since I'm not used to them, it woke me up. I could be annoyed/pissed at this, but I actually saw it as a 'Thank you', as I got up and did my hour and a half ride..and got to see the sunrise on my ride (one of my favorite parts of my biking)





Today is my 'off day' but for the rest of the week I have to be on the bike for at least an hour to reach this goal I am attempting. The weather here in Florida, has..for lack of a better term, sucked monkey balls this past week and it sounds like it is going to continue to do so (it's been like Portland down here...meh). So I am going to set up the trainer tonight so I can at least ride in the morning should it be icky/unacceptable...
I am also going to seriously look into doing yoga. Stretching is good, and would probably benefit me by a lot.

Awesome

There's definitely something to be said for having the wind at your back, pushing you across the bridge in the afternoons.

Made it over the bridge in 45minutes thanks to that. God Bless TailWinds :)

40% chance of rain tomorrow - I think it'll still be good to ride in again...

Updates

Dimitrios and I have been biking a lot more now that the weather is pleasant. We took our steel frame/commuter bikes this Sunday and rode to Target and got items we needed (put them in our pannier set), had a nice lunch and then rode back. About a 10 mile ride for the day. Dimitrios is also riding for everything now. His car has not been moved from the parking space since November 7th, when we got back from our Atlanta/The Jesus Lizard trip. It's been pretty cool. And it's not like the miles are going on my car, cause my car has pretty much been parked with the exception of the usual 1-2 days a week I drive into work.

We also rode to his mom's house for Thanksgiving dinner. That was really nice too. Ended up getting a night ride in (as it was about 11pm when we left her house), and the roads were dead. Very different and very odd for a Thursday night in Largo; but very beneficial for us as we weren't bothered by any motorists. People driving that did pass us didn't even seem to be in a rush, which is a nice change.

Rode the commuter bike to work as it was Monday and I didn't want to work up a huge sweat. D then suggested we go to his mom's for Turkey Soup (which was delicious). I suggested he meet me at work and so we rode from my work to his mom's - had a nice dinner and left about 8pm, we headed home and a mile away from the house, my pulley broke on the derailer, causing no inertia/pull. D went back to get the pieces and then pushed me the mile left that we had home! Got home and ordered the part - thank goodness only a 4 dollar part. So, my commuter bike is out of commission for a bit - no big deal. Should be back in working order by this weekend.

Been riding three weeks now two days a week an hour before I am expected to go into work. It's been nice. I think next week I might bump it up to 3 days a week. Mondays are just going to be commute only days; as I can't get my @$$ up to save my life on Mondays.
And I came up with an 'epiphany' this past weekend while staring at my car parked in the parking spot. I think on the days/weeks I have appointments I'm just going to drive the car into work on Monday mornings and keep the car in the parking garage at work all week and just bike to and from work. I mean...why not?? That way on my lunch appointments I can drive to them and make it - and IF it rains, then at least the car is here for me to use and I don't have to try and find another alternate route/plan (even though 75% of the time I just ride in the rain cause I like to). Then on Friday, just drive the car back home. Easy Peasy. And I will still be able to get most of my riding in during the week.
So that's the update ...I'll get better at posting on this now that I'm riding more often. And I'll be sure to post my stats as well soon as I haven't done that in awhile either

Discoveries

I'm not as young as I used to be. I need sleep - and a decent amount of it in order to function. The days of drinking and being retarded, crashing out and then getting only 4 hours of sleep to wake up the next morning and go to work are done/over. I'm 30 - it doesn't work that way anymore.

Also - setting any...WORKOUT goal on a Monday morning (or a biking goal for that matter) ain't gonna happen for a bit. I wanted to start riding in the mornings before I head to work - at least an hour before -- twice a week for starters. I THOUGHT Mondays would be perfect for that, but they're not, as I want to sleep in until I absolutely HAVE to get up and get my butt on that bike.

I went to bed at 10pm last night. It was kinda hard as I usually want to fight to stay up as late as possible (EFF THE MAN), I had to use two glasses of champagne in order to just make me sleepy - crashed...and amazingly - woke up on my own at 4:52am (alarm was set for 5:15). I laid there...kinda surprised by all the noise that goes on outside my window/in the parking lot of my complex (I had no idea that many people went to work at that time) until the alarm went off, then got up - started a load of laundry and got ready for the bike ride before work.

Headed out of the house @ 6am -- rode until 6:50 in the neighborhood behind my work, and then headed into work at 7am.
So I now know that:
a) I HAVE to go to bed by 10pm if I'm going to get up for this ride by 6am
b) I CANNOT DRINK the night before a ride day. Or..really ever again for that matter. I'm sure I will have certain weekends that I will drink but that whole hangover shit?! yea, not happening anymore.
c) The 6am ride is awesome. There's hardly anyone on the road and the people that are?? Leave you the hell alone. Plus seeing the sun come up in the morning and all the colors over the horizon - ah-MAZ-ing! I'm going to have to get my handheld back from Chris and take a photo one morning while I'm riding. :D
d) The awesome thing about being short is that you can take legwarmers that are supa-cheap at Target and use them as arm warmers as well and nobody is the wiser. My total warm gear on my bike (without my coat as I felt it would make me too hot)....about 5 dollars (the sets of legwarmers were 2.50 each last year). And they just look like sleeves...awesome.
e) Bike riding makes me feel better - so I need to not let it fall astray and continue it.

Those are my discoveries for the week - well - that and the Jesus/Gun Truck I mentioned earlier today

8-9 seems to almost be better than 7-8

Need to ride more.
So decided that even though I couldn't get up early today - I would head to work 9-6 on my bike.

I've always considered that time to be the 'bad' time. People seem more on edge in their cars, even more in a rush than the 7am crowd cause most of them are usually late and the whole 'zen' of the morning traffic is just - NOT.
So I tried it today and...

It wasn't that bad. Yes, more cars passed me - but they didn't seem to be nearly as 'angry' as some usually are and they also didn't seem to mind that I was there. Traffic lights were also a bit more kind to me as well - meaning I didn't need to stop for too long and wait which I like even more.
It's a relief - and now that I know that if I can't get my booty up in the mornings (something I've been having a problem with as of late), I can actually have a relaxing morning and get ready on my time. As long as I leave by 8:20 - I'm gold!
At least until the afternoon showers come in full force. Those usually seem to happen in August, by 6pm everyday. But even still - a slight drizzle in the rain feels nice!

'Resting Pace' increase

Hopped on the bike this morning and started going my usual route to work. I don't usually pay attention to speed or anything at this time as I figure it's my warm-up/resting pace or whatever. Today, I looked down though on my computer to see what it said.
I was up to 17mph and not even breathing heavy.
...

I can remember like a few months ago where it would kill me to be that fast. I can remember when I started biking my 'resting/getting started pace' was only 12-13mph.
So after one year of the sporadic riding that I've been doing (basically just meaning that I'm not able to ride as much as I would like cause of school etc) I have increased that much.

Ego-Boost = WIN!

Things that are awesome in May (so far)

* I got to ride in Tallahassee on hilly/canopy roads.
* I'm riding the Trek more.
* I have a Tuesday night group ride with "The Skirts' that I get to look forward to every week.
* Riding into work 4x a week
* Riding to friends houses if they are close from now on.
* GOT A CO-WORKER MOTIVATED ENOUGH TO RIDE INTO WORK AS WELL! His distance is way farther than mine (17 miles) and he still did it! WoO HoO! We will take over the company as cyclists! :)
* Awesome bike schwag coming in the mail left and right
* I now own a car that can hold bikes for road trips/excursions on the bike, AND she'll start reliably as well (unlike my previous car).
* Dimitrios got a mountain bike
* Turning the Storage room by the Patio into a 'Bike Room'
* Planning on doing 200+ miles on the bike this month.
* Chris and his Swine Flu awesomeness (<---).

April Stats

Since riding my bike/using Map My Ride:

Green Stats

Total Workout Days: 143
Distance Traveled: 1,587.69 mi.
Gas Saved: 88.21 gallons
Money Saved: $306.95
Carbon Offset: 1,707.6 lbs. of CO2


Now, for just April's info:

Total Distance:172.05 mi.	Total Calories:609 (kcal)	Weight Change:2.0 lbs.
Average Sleep:n/a	Average Morale:n/a	Min. / Max.:125.0 lbs. / 127.0 lbs

Stitches will be removed on Friday

But I'm not letting that keep me from riding!! :-) Now that I have conquered my fear of falling, tonight.. I am conquering my fear of group rides. I will be joining these lovely ladies tonight for a group ride in DT St. Pete. http://www.stpeteskirts.blogspot.com/ Full Report tomorrow :-)
Also - the day D did his Crit Race in DT Tampa, I brought my commuter. She's quite a beaut -->