SIgns that Fall is coming

You have to change your ride route so that the North wind is providing a nice resistance at the start and a nice push on your way home :)

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.

Yesterday morning

On my ride in - I got to 'pace' a pelican while on the bridge.  

He was slowly flying..(well about 15mph actually) and i was able to ride up right next to him while he scanned the water underneath for fish; thinking he was 'clear' of the cars/bridge/people on the bridge.

When he realized I was there (I sped up 1mph more to try and get a better look at his face) - he flapped away, surprised that I had snuck up on him and broke the 'allowable space' he had created between him, the cars and the bridge.  

I could hear his wings through the air when he moved over a bit to get the space back.

THAT is what makes riding so awesome :)

Sunday Ride

I <3 my Sunday Rides

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 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.

HONK!! HONK!!

I don't know who determined it was ok for people to HONK at cyclists on the road, but seriously, it's not doing your case any good. I'm a cyclist..in the road, not swerving. I am aware of my surroundings. You don't think I can't HEAR you car coming up behind me? You don't think I can tell how fast you're going or which lane you're in. My job is to be on GUARD at all times so as not to get clobbered by a car. YOUR JOB IS TO PASS ME - GIVING ME THREE FEET OF SPACE BY MOVING OVER (Required by law) and to not disrupt my ride. Honking your horn while passing, only STARTLES THE CYCLISTS and thus MIGHT cause them to weave. OR definitely/for sure make them your worst enemy for giving them that scare.

Now I on the other hand, have taken a different approach - just so you jackholes don't ruin my day. I have decided that instead of honking to just either a) let me know that you're there (even though I CAN HEAR YOU COMING FROM 5 MILES BACK) or b) cause you're upset that you have to move that steering wheel over just so to give me room...I have determined that you are my cheering squad. So if you hear me yelling WOOOO YEAAAAAA GO TEAM MEEEEE!!! when you HONK and pass me - sorry if that's not what you wanted, but I'm not going to let stupidity ruin my day.

I am on top of the world when I am cycling, there is nothing you can do that can ruin how good cycling makes me feel.

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

Sited while doing my hour ride before work...

A Ford F-150 that has a sticker of the Head of Christ on it (with thorns) and then gun shot stickers all around the Jesus Sticker and the truck. What kind of symbolism is that?! I want to Shoot Christ? I've been shot for liking Chirst? I'm just a retard?! WHICH ONE?!