Saturday – Slept in and rode to Halters with Mandi to pick up some tubes. The way to the shop was a nice and kind of just kept a mellow cruising pace. Showed up at the shop and bs’d a tad. Heard some rumbles of thunder and decided to eat a little snack and the bagel joint. Eventually it started to rain even more, and we waited it out as much as we could. Even after some waiting out, getting completely cold and started to shiver. I told her to saddle up, we have to get going. Mandis first ride in the rain on the road

It wasn’t too bad, it was coming down a little bit more than I would like, but it was still a nice drizzle. It started to die down by the canal and eventually was completely dry. Even the road was dry.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/203981264

No casualties.

After this we cleaned up and headed over to a BBQ for one of Mandis cousins graduating law school. We ate half of the time, and then the other half we spent jumping around in the pool like 10 year olds. Man that made me really tired.

Good BBQ and lost of food.

Sunday – Headed over to the Cannondale demo day after sleeping in. I rode my cross bike and we caught up with Bill and Lou in the twisties a little. Barely rode but spent most of the time BSing with friends and just enjoying the day. Plus some burgers/dogs from the grill at the tent. Good times. Eventually we left and cleaned up and headed to another BBQ.

Deliciousness in a bun. – Bacon Cheeseburger with Sweet Baby Rays, Pickles, Ketchup and Jalapenos. Mmmmmm.

Then more Olympics. Addicting Olympic games.

Whoa, I actually have to have two open windows to address everything. I’m glad Chris has some sort of knowledge of this bridge jumping stuff. The bridge wasn’t too high, which made me feel like it would be safe. I don’t think you’d hit the water at mach speed, which would help. I would like to give it a go one day, with my phone already dialed at 9-1.

I did not goto a strip club with Mandi… While camping and pounding diet coke, Luke told a story that every time he is at work, he checks all his friends into the creepy sex shop on the corner. I’m going to do this more often.

Manville Main Street and the surrounding area really isn’t too bad. I think because it’s a smaller area, you see the sections that are really bad more often than not. If I could afford to buy a house in this area, A couple sections of Manville are perfect photos of middle class USA. Sadly I cannot afford a home anywhere in this state, so the discussion stops thurr. Sadly Manville is just a town that people drive through to connect to Bridgewater/Franklin, so it just seems like a mess.

One thing I forgot to mention about Wednesday was that Lou had to goto the bathroom to wash his hands, and someone must have died on the pot. For at least 25 minutes that room was locked. Not sure if they ever recovered the body.

Riding in a group is much faster, but you also work much harder. Let me see if I can explain this and be correct at the same time. I still have a lot to learn about riding in a group and being conservative (See Tuesday’s effort), so maybe my point of view will interest some. When you are sitting in your heart rate could easily be 10 BPM lower than it would be if your nose was in the wind at the same pace. At the same time, the pace might also be 25MPH already, which hurts any way you slice it. So 25 in the draft vs 20 by yourself may feel very simliar.

I just looked at Tuesdays ride after I got picked up by two other stragglers and looked at my HR chart, check this:

Where I highlighted, (after I stopped in the mini-mart from hell) You can obviously see where I was pulling vs sitting in. Earlier in the “ride” it is harder to see, because the effort sitting in was extremely hard for me. The portion I highlighted was rather tame, and all three of us just wanted to get home. You can also see where I popped in the ride right before the hour mark

I don’t know the math behind it, but I probably wouldn’t have been able to push that by myself over that loop at the same effort. Just sitting in by itself helps, but knowing how to conserve your energy and work the group plays the biggest part. Once I figure that out I will let you know

Thursday
So I didn’t end up going Espos in Raritan. Mostly because I didn’t have any cash on me. The heated debate about this place just made me all worked up for some good food. Jeremy even chimed in and mentioned it was good. It says they have take out. I didn’t want to sit on a table and be waited on, so I passed. It would have made for good blog material, but I was pretty run down and lazy today.

I decided instead to goto this little Mexican store that I found on Yelp called La Costeñita. I had to copy and paste to get the “ñ”. I was jerking around on that site and found it. It has good reviews. Mandi later realized a couple of her friends have recco’d the joint. I got these flautas and housed them.

Yes, I did it it all. and I had a Pepsi in a glass bottle, aka Mexican Pepsi. mmmm. I felt good after I ate this, not too full, not greasy, and dare I say healthy? I will be back for some other treats, as it was delicious. Not much more to say. Legit Mexican spot with Telemundo on the TV as well. And they take credit cards!

After my delicious meal I went home and just relaxed. I knew the storm was coming and it kind of ruined the rest of the day for me. I watched some tube and chilled with the cat. Once Fred mentioned the CRCA “races” I decided to bother him about it. Curious on how they work and how different they will be from the PFW rides.

I think this will do.

 

Don’t be fooled, riding in a pack makes a big difference. I just did a quick search and I’ve only done 20mph average efforts on short less than an hour rides. It also helps with a good tail wind sometimes

Wednesday just happened to be beautiful. I went into work early and it was chilly and cool. It didn’t feel humid, which I was excited about. The plan was to head out with Lou around the hood with the Boss and do some sight seeing.

I figured the ride would be uneventful from start to finish, but a couple of factors made it fun. I’ll try and keep them in chronological order

-Down Old York Rd we see another fellow riding at us, it was none other than Carson! He turned around and cruised with us for a tad. Nice to chat with him.

-Crossed over as many covered bridges as I could find. On the second one we saw some kids jumping off of it. I asked how deep it was and they said “deep enough”. Noted. Lou said he wish he had friends growing up that were this adventureous.

-We were passed from this point on by a multiple of TT riders. I figured after the 3rd one, a little backyard TT was going on. Another 15 minutes later I see a couple roadies on the side of the road (GO FIGURE) and it was Big Sean and Dan Larino. Chatted with them for a bit. They confirmed the TT. They also mentioned some sort of road race that they do on Thursday (or just tomorrow/today?) I wonder how that would go :hmmm:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/203140816

Kept it light and easy and my legs enjoyed that. I hurt a little more than I expected from yesterday.

After we rolled home we quickly changed and enjoyed some Manville Pizza. Lou and I housed the infamous chicken parm sub and Mandi discussed joining the police force. Always good laughs.

This week Manville has its carnival. Food and games and stuff. It’s also across the street from a strip club, which I took a page out of Luke’s book and check Mandi and I into. Does this sound weird to anyone else? Right across the street booty sweat is being flung across the room, and on the other side a 3 year old is sliding down an inflatable slide. :hmmm:

Monday I didn’t ride, but packed my the Rig for shipping to Michigan. Goodbye! I finally have completed the flip. It took a while, maybe a little too long, but things went well considering. I’m now down to 1 MTB.

Yesterday I packed my road bike up for some PFW action. I haven’t went in a month or so, so I figured I was due. I was also ready to switch it up after riding the MTB for three days.

Anyway, I make sure I drink enough water all day and all that good stuff. Stop by Knapps and talk to my homie Drew for a tad. Get to the lot nice and early to get the parking spot in the shade, but someone else took my idea. Damnit! I packed three bottles because I figured I would need them. I talked to Max and Rick before we went off and ended up bailing on the third one in favor of looking pro. See Ben and a bunch of other familiar faces in the lot before we go off. Ben and another gentleman have told me the ride has gotten really fast. I didn’t think much of it, and off we went.

Nice easy roll out with a tail wind to make it even easier. Sit in behind Ben most of the ride. Eventually it kicks up the pace I’m familiar with and we start rotating. I feel in control at this point and not dying. Eventually about 40 minutes in, the yo-yoing of the group is starting to hurt. It feels like we are doing sprints, from 15 to 30 for 20 seconds. At one point I get to the front and slide over. Ben says “You’re going to pay for that” I nod my head as my heart is beating out of my chest as we coast through a stop sign and turn right. I hide back in the group and wait my turn.

Apparently Myles almost runs over a dog, as word spreads through the pack. I didn’t see it which kind of scares me. I would have been flying through the air clipped in my pedals if he ran over some dog.

We now venture onto a longer route and roads I don’t know, which was a surprise. I figured it couldn’t get that bad. I hit a pot hole that I couldn’t see behind someone in line and feel my water bottle falling out of my cage. It’s leaning against my leg and I end up saving it. Phew. Myles gives me props. It was going up a slight up hill, so I sprint to catch back on to the main group.

I’m starting to hurt at this point. I’m familiar with this feeling, and I know I can push through it. We head into the Turkey Swamp that I heard about in the parking lot. This is a nice twisty road and the pace is picked up even more. I’m not having too much trouble pulling through, with whatever pain hole I’ve put myself into.

I’m in the advancing line and I hit another pot hole. Hard. Bigger than the last one. I stop pedaling peeked down and see if my bottles were both in the cages. Nope. One is missing.

I just Capered my water bottle.
My FULL water bottle.
I have no water left.

I try to figure out WTF just happened. I don’t hear any carnage behind me. I feel the wind let out of my sails. I was 90% in the hole at this point, and this is just the icing on the cake. How am I going to finish another ~25 miles with zero water? I’m still in the advancing line at this point and complete my rotation. I can’t stop thinking how much this will hurt and how dead I will be if I don’t have any water.

I can feel my whole body start to hurt and I eventually pull the plug. I pull out of the retreating line and wave the rest of the group past as I ride the yellow line to the back.

59 minutes.

Ouch. I slow it down a little and try to regain my composure. I’m about 1 minute back at this point, and can still see the group. I’m praying for a stop sign, bumpy road, something. At the same time I’m not. I can’t keep this up. I see 2 turns they make and follow. Maybe I will latch back on. Maybe I will see an oasis of cool water that I can fill my remaining bottle up, drench myself and turn the pedals over and over again and feel amazing.

It never comes. I lose sight of the group and come to a 4 way stop. That’s it. I’m on my own and probably at the farthest point of the ride, again. Meh. I start to follow the compass back home. I’m looking down more than up at this point and get a little sketchy. I’m pondering how bad this will hurt on the way back. I turn the pace down to my cruising pace and just cruise around. I see farmers watering their crops and it makes me thirsty. Arg. I think about how I have to be at work early and how much it will suck.

I find myself on Stagecoach Road, which is familiar to me. This makes me feel safe. It doesn’t help its windy as shit, but being on a homey road makes me feel comfortable. Out of no where, A angel arrives on my rear tire. Another rider I recognize from the ride found me. I’m sure I cut the way they went somehow, but none-the-less we are together. We pick up the pace a tad (from 17 to 20) and rotate around a bunch of times. He (Dave, I think) has a skipping chain so we just want to get home in one piece. I tell him of my projectile water bottle and he alerts me of a Mom and Pop orner store ahead. I tell him I have my phone but no wallet, and he tells me to just use the bathroom. Great idea. I’m good at acting like I own the place. I stroll in with my lonely water bottle in my jersey pocket. I ask Old Man Rivers where the bathroom is and he directs me. It looks a little dingy as I walk into the back, but whatever. Water is water. I see the bathroom door and open it. It looks like a scene from a horror film. It has to be 2×2, no shit. No pun intended. I turn on the sink and nothing comes out. I almost throw up. I immediately run out of the bathroom and try and figure out WTF i’m going to do. I see a commercial grade sink right at the entrance and give it a shot.

The water is cold, and good. I fill up my bottle 1/3 of the way and down it, followed by filling up the rest of it and high tail it to the door. I normally wouldn’t drink out of something that looked like that, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

We head through Assunpink and holy hell, the wind is horrible. Leaves and branches are down all over the road. We both don’t fight the wind either of our turns.

We eventually see another fellow from the ride about 10 miles from home, which makes the ride home even easier. Even though the wind doesn’t. About a mile from the lot Dave is done, but at this point we can’t leave him behind. We sit up and just stroll back to the lot.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/202823584

I learned a lot today. Need to learn how to hide and not put myself in the hole so early. And find some better water bottle cages. I also need to do these more frequently, that time off really hurt me from remembering my inner roadie technique. I for sure would have been dropped on this ride, but I would have hoped to last just a tad longer in the main group. I also know that this is a fast freaking ride, and I’m just a beginner “roadie” roadie. All good in the hood. Just makes me hungrier for more.

I also got a really good mosquito bite from talking to Ben after the ride. :mad2:

Raystown Trip #2

Okay, I could write a book on this weekend, but I will just sum it up.

Drive up to Roth Rock was a little soggy, but the radar looked good once we got to this area. Stopped by The Bicycle Shop in State College to confirm the trails were fine. Ate some good pizza at Faccia Luna Pizzeria. They have a little inn you could stay at in the same lot. Noted.

Roth Rock – Imagine if Allaire and the Sourlands had a baby. Allaire type soil in spots, and Sourlands toned down a bit. Just did a short loop here as we detoured to Raystown. Did the infamous Tussey Trail as per RU’s suggestion. Found a GPS loop that just shoots straight up a logging road and into a trail called Tuxedo > Tussey Ridge > Camp Trail. Ted liked this. Ted was made for this trail.

We got to see the view every once and a while, but most of the trip was foggy. The rocks were dry and the trails soaked up the rain just like Allaire would. The Camp trail downhill was gradual and fast.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/202143381

I will be back to this place. The terrain and views are amazing and everything was rideable. Nothing too extreme. I’m sure parts of this trail system are, but this was a great taste!

Got changed and drove the 45 minutes to Raystown Lake to meet Robin and Lance who were setting up camp. We put our tent up and headed into town for some eats at Boxer Cafe in Huntington as per Paul at EMS’ recommendation. This was a great spot this far away from “civilization”. Kind of reminded me of Cheers. The bar and all the seats were jam packed and we were lucky to get a seat. Must hit for a night out. Apparently they have good beers.

Then we hit Walmart for some essentials and people watching.

Man this place is the epicenter of awesome in this town. Back to the camp grounds to meet Luke and Capers as they pull in to camp in the darkness. I tried to stay awake as long as I could, but eventually had to be the first to retire.

The next two days were filled with Raystown riding. The clouds were out the first day and low temps were pretty comfortable. Total near death experiences day 1: Three. Luke flats and fixes it with a rubber band

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/202143377

Day two brought the sun and a quick time to drop the hammer for 1:30 before we headed out. Kept my “go down hill as fast as you can, crawl up the hills” pace. Man this place is too fun.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/202143360
Near death experience counter: 2, for a total of 5 near death experiences.

Packed up, Cleaned up and hung out at the lake for a tad. Doc and Tron went swimming with Luke. Not in the mood after a nice shower and kind of beat, I opted for sitting under the tree with my lady.

We all left at the same time and had discussions about meeting at Chiptole on the way home. I followed the GPS perfectly and was sent down Big Valley Pike. Seemed like a weird road for driving home, but we went with it. We were blessed with 5 of these:

The roads were covered with shit and had grooves in them from the buggys. Cray.

Eventually we all made it to Chiptole within 5-10 minutes of each other. It was pretty well organized, except for Doc who had to stop and eat something on the way, hence being later than everyone else. Robin and Lance’s first time at Chiptole somehow, but they seemed to enjoy it.

The rest of the ride home was uneventful. The car started to smell really bad and the dirty clothes were even worse.

It was hard to get up Today, but I did. My car didn’t smell like hell, which was great great news. Looking at the calendar for the next weekend I can steal.

The peeing in a tent thing was a joke when we were in high school. We had a friend who we called “Homie” and he got wasted. Well everyone was wasted, except me. He passed out and we put him in his tent. We woke up the next morning and the tents were a little dewy and wet. We convinced him that he pissed the tent and all over everyone elses stuff. He tried to deny it but we all just jumped in on him and told him he did. He was pissed. Pun intended. It’s been probably 8 years since that happened, we should bring that back up…

Yesterday I wasn’t in the mood to wait around for the PFW ride, I really didn’t want to ride at all. It was just disgustingly humid and hot out. I started driving back home and eventually found myself sitting at home, eating sour patch kids and drinking soda for dinner. I was content watching ESPN and hanging around with my cat. Mandi gave me an errand to run (pick up cat food) which I waited until almost 7 to do. That kind of got me out of my slump.

I headed home and geared up for a quick less than an hour ride. I found this one loop on Strava that looked promising to hit. It was called the “Don’t be Lazy TT”. Right up my alley!

Sadly I didn’t start/stop where the user made the loop, so it didn’t count on Strava. My legs felt suprisingly good after the Fair Hill race, so I kept on the gas the whole thing. I think I crushed it. I’ll have to do it again. I went up a couple of segments that some groups hit uphill at 25MPH which made me feel slow, but thats the whole group/solo effort thing.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/200412006

Nice cool shower and enjoyed some TV with the Boss; Housewives of Orange County’ Reunion. I fell asleep halfway through Teen Mom doe.

Fair Hill – Cat 1 19-29

Packed up the wheels for swapping out the tires. I just swapped the ones that were on the SS onto the Scalpel. The front Wolverine swapped and sealed fine, but I had a little bit of trouble trying to get the rear to seat. Well it would seat, but the valve would leak, bad. I tried for a good hour at work until I finally said F this and bothered Larry at Halters. He retaped the rim and it worked fine.

Needless to say, all this stress and annoyance made me want to do nothing but relax. Which killed my steak for July. Which I’m okay with. I came home and thought about what I would do to ride, and nothing seemed to excite me. So that is over.

Saturday
Woke up nice and late and rolled out from home to Six Mile. Just did the Canal side to test the tires out with Mandi. All worked well. Larry handled dat! Bike feels good on the tires I’m familiar with and I don’t think I missed the Racing Ralph at all.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199120392

Sunday, Sunday!
Mandi was NOT happy to be waking up at 5am for Fair Hill. Sadly it was her choice to do this race! Saw a car accident on the way in the middle of 95. Not a good morning for somebody!

Saw Dana and Bill and Larry the CPuncher getting ready for the 50. May the force be with them!

Hung around until the Endurance racers went off with Mandi, Jocelyn and Monte. I Got geared up to watch Mandi and the rest of the Cat 2’ers take off. There was a crash at the beginning of the 30-39’s that was pretty nasty. Mandi heads off 2nd to last on the prologue, just like usual.

So now I’m rolling around by myself. Didn’t want to warm up TOO much, but didnt need to explode. Saw some kid (less than 12 years old) knock over the Road Closed sign by accident. He just kept rolling around. Another kid the same age rode over and picked up and fixed it. I was close so I went over too and said “You are a good kid.” Feel like I made his day.

On the road I was warming up I could see where part of the course was and people were gathering. I hung around and saw Mandi come through. She let me know her front wheel was loose, again. WTF?! Can’t figure out whats going on with that. By this time it’s just about time to line up.

The start goes off and I’m maybe third/fourth from the back. Over 20 people in our class. I know how this road starts and I’m content with sucking wheels. Well actually it was sucking dust. It was so damn dusty and I couldn’t see a damn thing. I was just praying someone didn’t pile up. I had my eyes closed part of the time. I felt in control and not out of my element at this point. We head into the ST and I’m still with this little group of 4-5 people. Has to be 10-15th at this point? Cool. Someone already flatted so +1 for me. I feel at home at this terrain and It plays into my favor. The ground was a tad dry and the potential for washing out was high. Not worth taking the risks at this point. We head over the first water crossing with a little wooden bridge. I can hear everyone slowing up and we catch up to everyone riding over this bridge. One guy goes around the bridge which is another 10 feet additional trail, but a safer bet. I take this way and end up losing that 2-3 bike lengths I needed. Darn. I reel the group back in a little, but it hurts.

It seems like 45 minutes into the race I’m finally feeling it. I figure out my gearing, I figured out my pace and I’m just chugging along. I know people are behind me, as well as the other categories, and no one has passed me yet. This is a huge accomplishment for me, minor for ya’ll. I actually start picking off people that went too hot in the beginning. What? This is new. I pass a couple of people and actually make it stick.

Each water station I take a nice sip of water an dump the rest on my back.

Feelsgoodmannnnn

The first obstacle after the first water stop is a steep hike a bike section. I’m behind someone and say “Many my GF is 4’11, she was probably PISSED!” The volunteer laughs and said she actually crushed this section. Must ask.

I come up to the super twisty section that I remember from last years race. I sit in behind someone from my class and just get my shit together. Nice and easy, reminds me of the Six Mile-ish section of CR on top of the lookout. Rooty, twisty and fast. I could go faster, but I’m just pacing dudeman. This guy I’m pacing stinks on the downhills, so I wait until a safe spot comes up and make a move. It was a good move with a little but of a climb, followed by a nice downhill. Don’t see him again. Fyeah.

Couple of these climbs before the sport/expert split were rough. I’m using the people around me to judge the pace/gearing and I feel good. All systems are working at their best potential. I’m not hammering up these climbs, but maintaining. Feel good.

We come up to the split for Expert and Sport and We head right. I knew we were close, but the next 7 miles brought rumors of big hills. I turn right and look up and BAM. Here it is. This is a long one. Once again I pace myself and make it top the top.

I’ve been battling with one guy back and forth at this point. He has a great pace going uphill and I try to match it, but I can’t do it for too long. I would pass him on the DH and he would catch and pass on the uphill.

Eventually I start losing steam around mile 23. I can’t keep it together anymore and have to slow down. I get chicked by the Elite Women winner, which I was hoping to avoid. Meh!

I lose 2-3 spots while this meltdown occurs, but I still have a race on me. Still the climbing/spinning guy I was pacing earlier (I think) I have one last little kick in me. I hammer myself up this one little climb and open up a little bit of a gap. The trail then merges with the Cat 2 class, making a mess of whos who. I’m able to put 2-3 Cat 2’ers between me and dude. I give any last bit I have left of me on the last slight uphill to open up whatever gap I could hold. The road goes downhill and then the slight uphill over the bridge to the finish. I don’t see him anymore and cruise in.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199721661

I finished 15th out of 20, which is big for me. I felt like I raced a good race and stayed within my limits. I should have raced this way at the Six Pack

Met Mandi, Forrest and Monte at the finish line and hear the stories from them. Some good food afterwards and Mandi won a cycling cap! Woo!

Lou let me cop these bars for him for a tad until his MTB comes back in. Figure I would give them a shot. Width is spot on me thinks.

The Water Co Trails were MINT yesterday. Everything was perfect. Usually a couple muddy spots, but today was bone dry thanks to this drought we’ve been having. I felt on point all day on todays ride. Everything I tried on the tech stuff worked. Every line worked. Nothing tripped me up. I one-taked just about everything I would try.

We head over to the Greenway and I try to lay it down. According to RaceShape, I was within a couple of seconds of Kevin, but not faster than him at any point, but I didn’t know that at the time. I felt like I was smoking.

At some point I hear a pissing sound and realize I’m going to have a flat. I notice the Stans isn’t spraying on my legs, so I know the side wall is F’d.

Capers comes up behind me about a minute later (he dropped a bottle) to see me like this:

Hulk Hogan tightened the valve stem on, so my day was over. Capers rode back to the Barn and picked me up. In the meantime I looked at the sidewall of this thread.

Cursed at this for a while.

This is what the sidewall of this tire looks at 30 miles. Crazy! I didn’t think tires aged this fast. It looks like 100 miles on this thing. Oh well.

I had to walk out with my Garmin on to have the segment count, so I can see where I was. Man that was a long walk

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/198613773

Slammed some pizza with Doc and Tron afterwards.

Today I packed the Fit full of tires that I will be swapping at some point at work.

Holy Crap. Tuesday was the first ride on my new bike. Met Woody and Jeremy at CR. The pace was dialed down a tad, but still a push for me. I was able to keep these two fools in site most of the time, which was good. This didn’t compare to the last time I did last Tuesday.

We did every trail on yellow each and every way. Still got my butt kicked on those. Those still hurt and are tough for me to clean every time. I noticed that these tires are kind of meh. I think it has to do with how dry CR was, and a little bit of playing with the pressure. I couldn’t find the edges for shit, or maybe we were just going way too fast. Eventually I dumped some air out of them.

Woody rode across the river/dam feature, which he told me was a first. So that was big. We run into Kirt and ride back with him to drop of Jeremy. Woody picks up the pace up red and we keep flying around. I can’t keep track of where we are are one point. Either way, no throw up and no crashes.

We loop back to see Carson at the lot and 1:45 of CR goodness already in the books. We hang and wait until Carsons crew assembles and head back out.

Up the fire road to the look out and man that hurt.

Kirt looking dreamy.

Pretty much rode straight back to the lot from here.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/197989202

This was a great way to spend almost 4 hours of my Tuesday afternoon. I’m glad I was able to ride for this long on the new bike. Feel like I got a couple of the bugs out of it and dialed it in a tad. The whole ride I had a smile on my face no matter how much my body was rebelling against me. I feel bad that I have waited this long to get this bike.

I dropped off Red Head Ted and picked up mine. Larry and Leslie are the next ones in line to use RHT, so I’m sure smiles will be had in that camp. In and out of Halters in a jiffy with the first brand new bike I’ve ever ridden! WOO!

With the Crest wheels it weighs 27.5 pounds. Not too bad. Seeing as the demo weighed 29 something, this will be a huge improvement overall.

Jet home before I spend anymore money to a nice dinner Mandi made. Sat outside for about 5 seconds until we realized the bugs were going to eat us alive. Damn flies.

Gear up the ice cream bike (well Mandi left her cruiser at work, so she was on her CX bike) and off to cruise the strip. Quick detour to Mandis Grandmas and then to grab some ice cream. As we are sitting in line I hear this loud sound of air escaping. It sounded like a car noise or something, but I looked over at our bikes to see the handlebars moving. I go check on the situation and see that my rear tire is flat. WTF? Who flats on an ice cream bike? Either way, We enjoy our ice cream and head over to Mandis work to grab her cruiser bike. This means I rode home on her CX bike, which fit me pretty good:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/197630901