Now I know why I don't have a girlfriend

Ok this is not exactly a bike post but it kinda is.  You see I received a call from a friend earlier in the day and we decided she would come over for beers after work, great, I haven't seen her since before I left for Las Vegas. My bike finally arrived today, after waiting like forever! The UPS driver pulled up as I was working in my front yard at around 1705, YAY, I was so happy and anxious to see how my bike survived. About 2 minutes after my bike arrived I received a call from my friend saying she was on her way and would be here shortly. 

My bike is in it's case, in the living room and I need to run to the liquor store to buy beer. As I come in the back door my friend is coming to the front door.  Hello, how are ya? Come in, we chat, we laugh, we have a nice evening; the entire time I'm thinking about my bike in the case, in the living room, how did it survive?  Is it OK? Is there any damage? I am not a bike fanatic but riding is one thing I can do. My neurologist says it's OK, my physical therapist says it's Ok and most importantly my body says it's Ok. Needless to say riding a bike is very important to me. There was a time when I was told I would not walk, so riding a bike really means a lot to me. I don't have to win any races, I don't have to be the best I just need to be able to do it. So anyway, here I am entertaining a friend of mine and all I can think about is whether my bike survived the trip from Las Vegas or not. At around 2100 she says she needs to go, I'm thinking Yes! I can check on my bike.  No hugs, no kisses, bye see ya later, drive safe. 

I don't think she was at the end of the driveway before I was opening the case and checking on my bike.  Twenty minutes later I had it put back together and on the trainer to see if everything worked.  That is when I realized; this is why I don't have a girlfriend. My last one would have understood, she was a competitive cyclist, don't know if I will find another. Think I will have to add this to the list; must understand the need to ride my bike. 

I know you're all waiting... Yes, my bike survived, it works! 

Bike update

Received a call from UPS this morning; my bike it due to arrive on my doorstep Friday, August 29, 2008 between 8 AM and 7 PM. Let's hope for an 0800 arrival. That's a huge time frame. Oh well, tomorrow's yard work day anyway.

I'm anxious to see how they deliver, if all goes good, I may use them on my next trip as well.  I have a cousin who owns a house in Laughlin, NV and she says I can use the place anytime so I'm thinking a winter bike trip is in order. I've never been to Laughlin but I know from past experience that the desert in the winter is beautiful. Especially when the flowers are blooming.

Where's my bike?

Ok, I dropped my bike off at the UPS store located in the Flamingo hotel, Las Vegas, NV Sunday afternoon. I know, I know I went to the dark side, used the men in brown instead of the USPS but the USPS does not take a package that big.  Besides we have deals with UPS and FedEx, they use us we use them.  Anyway, I dropped the bike off Sunday and it's due to arrive at my house this Friday.  For $20 more I shipped it instead of flying it back home with me and it's insured so if they lose it or break it they pay me and I buy a new road bike. The flight out to Vegas was not bad, I checked in easy enough the only trouble was maneuvering the big case along with my regular suitcase but I managed. And it was much easier to drop it off Sunday at the Flamingo location than to cart it to the Tropicana Hotel then to the airport on Tuesday. I knew once I met up with Rhory and Diane there would be no more bike riding in Las Vegas. 

I just checked the UPS website tonight and my bike is in Commerce City, Co, it's getting the scenic ride home. 

I have the Chequamegon Fat Tire race coming up next month so I need to spend lots of time on my mountain bike.  I only have about 3 weeks to get ready and I am no where near ready for this race.  I bet I gained 10 lbs in Las Vegas, I had high hopes of dropping 5 pounds but it is nearly impossible to eat healthy when you are living in hotels and they give you free beer. The rest of this week will be dedicated to purging my body of all the junk food I ate this past 11 days.  I have a fairly healthy diet and when I deviate from it I pay the price. I am off work until Sunday so that gives me three free days to ride. Damn I could use a trainer, any volunteers????

Better Morning Route

Ahhh, the beauty of an early morning start. There is nothing, well almost nothing I like better than watching the sun rise in the morning. Today I was on my bike before 0600 and cruised East on Flamingo Rd. The traffic was light and I stayed on Flamingo until just before Interstate 515 (93/95) where I caught Annie Oakley Dr. South to Harmon Ave.  I went East on Harmon and had a sweet ride until it ended at Jimmy Durante Blvd.  I followed Jimmy until Tropicana Ave where I turned around and went back to Harmon Ave.  Both Harmon and Jimmy have designated bike lanes.  I followed Harmon West to Mountain Vista St, I turned left (South) on Mountain Vista St. thinking I would catch Hacienda Ave and ride that back. When I got to Tropicana for some reason I thought I had missed Hacienda so I turned West on Tropicana, big mistake!  The traffic was nasty and I don't just mean busy, I had a guy in a white pickup truck try to run me off the road and one woman in a white car intentionally make a right-hand turn in front of me, nearly hitting me. I know she saw me, because I saw her, we made eye contact and she still cut me off, BITCH! As soon as I was able to I turned North to get off Tropicana. I believe it was Sandhill Rd and it also had a designated bike lane. I rode back to Harmon, turned left and stayed on it until Las Vegas Blvd (the Strip). I was a little nervous about riding on The Strip, but what's a trip to Vegas if you don't ride your bike down Las Vegas Blvd? It was actually a great ride down to my hotel. 

When I returned to my room I mapped out a route, which I plan to try tomorrow morning, then it will be time to pack the bike and ship it back home.:(

Las Vegas traffic

Well alright I finally got out on my bike today.  I'm not sure how far I rode but it was fun. I can say people in Vegas are not used to sharing the road with us. I don't think I have been honked at so many times in all the years I have been riding. I jumped on my bike at 0600 trying to avoid the serious heat of the day, after making a few adjustments to my brakes along the way I was off. The route was flat as a pancake the only thing I had to contend with was traffic, the heat and a tiny headwind from the southwest (desert). I have heard the phrase "it's a dry heat" and have used the phrase myself but when you are riding in triple digits it really does not matter whether it is a dry heat or not; it's HOT! I really enjoyed the ride and found two bike routes and plan to explore them more tomorrow. I'm going to try to hit the road a little earlier and watch the sun rise.  

Travel Case

Wednesday instead of mountain biking a few of us went for a road ride, which worked out nicely as I needed help to get my pedals loosened. We met at Penn cycle, went for a ride and afterwards the shop guys loosened my pedals for me. I felt much better after they informed me that it took two of them to loosen the pedals, I'm not as wimpy as I thought. 

Thursday I took my bike apart and packed it in the travel case, a pretty simple process.  I was also able to pack my shoes, tools and a couple accessories into the case. Friday I was off to the airport, this was the first time I had taken my bike on a plane so I was a little nervous about it. I went to the airport early in case it would take longer to get checked in but to my surprise it was simple. When I arrived in Las Vegas I expected to have to pick up the bike up in the area where golf clubs and skis are picked up but no, it came down the carousel shortly after my suit case. The only difficulty I encountered at all was maneuvering both the bike case and my suit case around people and through doorways. 

After arriving at my hotel room it took less than 45 minutes to put the bike back together. I have not had a chance to ride yet as I have had to attend to work business but it looks like Tuesday morning I should be able to get out for a ride.  I spoke with a security guy today and found out the safe places to bike.  Now if we can get the temperature to drop below 100 degrees that would be nice.

OK, I'm off to Map My Ride

Pedals are not fun

I'm leaving Friday to head to Las Vegas for 11 days, yes I know that's a long time to be in Vegas but I have a convention I have to attend and some friends meeting me out there so it's going to be business and pleasure. Anyway, my game plan is to take my road bike with me so I can ride in the early mornings before my meetings start. I have spent the better part of an hour working on my bike, I can take it apart and put it back together again no problem, that is except the damn pedals. I have the proper tools I just don't have the strength to break them loose. I believe if I put the bike up on my trainer and stabilized it I could probably get them off but I wont have my trainer with me in Vegas so I need to get them off and back on again without using it. I guess I'll need to talk with the guys at the bike shop tomorrow and see if they have some tricks of the trade. I'm thinking if I squirt some liquid wrench on them and let 'em sit for the day they should come loose.  Otherwise I'm going to take the bike in and have the guys at the shop break them loose, then I can pack it up and put them back on. If I tighten them, I should be able to get them loose again when I need to pack up and come back. 

Great River Energy-Mesabi Trail Tour '08

On Friday Margeaux and I convoyed up to Virginia, MN to participate in the Mesabi Trail Tour.   We made our first stop at Gordy's Hi Hat in Cloquet, MN, Gordy's is by far one of my favorite places for french fries and strawberry milk shakes. After eating lunch we headed to Carlton, MN and the Jay Cooke State Park for some hiking.  While at the park we picked up a GPS and did some geocacheing, that was a new adventure for the both of us.  We found the test cache fairly quickly but the second one took us a while. After locating the cache we did some hiking along the St. Louis river. What a fantastic way to spend the afternoon. 

After leaving the park we traveled back to hiway 33 and on up to Olcott Park in Virginia. Once we arrived at the park we picked up our ride packets and dropped off the bikes.  This is the only thing I did not like about this ride, I hate not having my bike with me.  You need to drop your bike off the night beforehand and they transport it to Marble, MN where the ride begins.  After taking care of business we headed to our friend Julie's cabin in Biwabik, MN.  We chilled at the beach and went for a boat ride then drove to Julie's mom's house where we would stay for the night.

Saturday morning we were all up early and off to Olcott Park to catch a shuttle to Marble to begin our ride. The ride started at 0900 and Margeaux and I crossed the start line about 0915.  After about 10 minutes into the ride we hit our first hill, lots of people having issues.  Things flattened out after that until the first rest stop.  We made a quick stop, grabbed some snacks and on our way again.  The next stop was Hibbing, MN where we spent a little more time, lots of snacks and music.  The halfway point was Buhl where we took a nice long break.  Kayaks were available so we each took one out and paddled around for about 45 minutes, very nice, relaxing and quiet. This stop also had ice cream, mmmmmmm. We skipped the third stop and cruised on into Virginia around 1430.  We relaxed, ate lunch, listened to music and picked up our t-shirts. Afterwards we packed up our bikes headed back to the house for a quick shower then back over to the cabin to spend the evening.  

Margeaux says this was her favorite ride so far this year, I rank it in my top 3.  It certainly has a lot of beautiful scenery, lots of hills and curves to the trail.  I did not encounter any riff raff on this ride but did see one man peeing in the woods, I could have done without that, YUCK!  The open pit lakes were spectacular, the bluest water you can imagine. I plan to do this ride again next year and would love to take a road trip up there this fall to see the leaves change. 

So anyone up for some riding this fall let me know, I'm in.

Whew! Lotsa Water

I went for a super nice long ride today, started about 0930, my plan was to get started much earlier but just could not get motivated. Anyway, I grabbed the Gateway Trail off White Bear Ave and headed East to Pine Point/Hiway 55/Norell Ave, whatever you want to call it. I took that North to Square Lake Trail then headed East to May Ave. I turned Right (Northish)  on May Ave.  About 1/2 mile into it I discover May Ave is no longer paved, OOPS! I had to make a decision to turn back and find a different route or just keep going. I decided to "go for it", the road was hard packed dirt and rocks and fortunately it was not too dry so the riding was not as bad as it could have been. This would have been no problem with a hybrid or mountain bike but I was riding my road bike with skinny tires. Not much for traffic only three SUVs and one orange bobcat (the heavy equipment type not the animal variety)beautiful area, lots of trees, ponds and wildlife, well worth the dirt. After about 4 miles I hit 170th and turned Left, saw a wee little snapping turtle, that I wanted to take home with me.  

At Manning Ave I turned Right and headed North, experienced a little headwind but nothing bad. While traveling on Manning I observed one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time.  I saw a horse plop down on it's side, wiggle in the dirt, turn onto it's back, wiggle in the dirt, turn on the other side, wiggle in the dirt then get back up again.  I had to laugh out loud, it was just like my dog. 

A few miles on Manning and I came to Scandia Trail, took a Left, then a Right onto N. Shore Trail and headed North around Forest Lake.  I traveled along the Eastern and Northern part of the Lake, very nice, lots-o-money in Forest Lake. Not much of a shoulder so I had to be careful of the cars.  When I came to Hiway 61 I crossed over and headed South.  

I stopped at Big Apple Bagels for lunch, nice people and the manager gave me directions to the bike trail that runs along Hiway 61. After lunch I caught the bike trail and shortly after getting on the trail I spotted two fawns. At first I didn't think they were real, they were standing so still but as I approached them they moved, they were no more than 10 feet from me, I wanted to take them home too. 

I followed the bike trail to Hugo, turned Right on Hiway 8/Frenchman Rd and continued East till the end. I encountered lots of road construction around 35E. Hiway 8 brought me to the Lino Lakes area; I had a little trouble finding the bike trail and rode a few cul-de-sacs before locating it, that sucked! I traveled along the Rice Creek-Chain County Park bike trails not really knowing where I was and hoping it would take me to where I needed to go. I missed my sharp left turn and had to turn around and finally found Black Duck Drive. I zigged-zagged my way around to Centerville Rd and took that South to Hiway 96. Next time I think I will take Otter Lake Rd, it looks much more scenic. 

I headed East on 96 into White Bear Lake, took a wrong turn again and ended up going around the North side of the Lake instead of the South side.  What really sucks is I can't blame anyone but me, I should have been paying attention but I saw a bike path and just took it. Thank you so much to the man at the bait shop for giving me directions. I had to turn around again and catch the trail around to S. Shore Dr. A Right turn on McKnight and I was on my way home.

I had planned about a 65 mile ride but I'm sure I went beyond that with my mishaps.  You can check out this ride at map my ride. I think I'll tweak it a bit the next time I go out.

This was a really nice ride, I have to remember to bring sun screen next time, I was bakin' out there.  I discovered several more routes I want to explore. 

There's nothin' like a day on my bike.