Allianz Twin Cities ride 2010

Last night I received a text message from two people who were supposed to ride with me this morning, they were wimping out because it was going to be cold! Seriously! We are riding to raise money for people who at times cannot even walk and you want to quit because it's going to be cold? I couldn't believe it. Anyway, OK. Fine. Wimp out. I'm still riding. 

At about 0630 this morning I received a text message from another person who was supposed to ride with me, she didn't get a good night sleep! Come on people! Whatever. I'm still riding.

People can be so disappointing at times, I think I'll stick with my dogs, they always want to play. They don't care if it's cold, rainy, windy, hot, dry, they still want to go to the park and play.

I was up around 0600, got a load of laundry in the washer, fed the dogs, grabbed a bite to eat and made decisions on what to wear.

I checked the temperature at 0730; a balmy 33 degrees with 85% chance of precipitation. I went back and forth trying to decide on which bike to ride, I finally decided at the last minute to take my road bike instead of the mountain bike. The saddle on my road bike is much more comfortable than the mountain bike and with 30 miles of riding ahead of me I opted for comfort.

I tossed on a pair of biking shorts, tights and my Endura cargo pants just in case it started to rain. A couple shirts, water resistant jacket and my Sugoi vest. I was out the door around 0745, it was a little chilly to start out but by the time I got to Aldrich Arena to check in I was warm. I received my riders packet, grabbed a chocolate donut and a cup of coffee. Once I was finish with my snack I hit the road, by the time I got to the snowman in North St. Paul I was toasty warm. 

I was going to blow through the first rest stop but my bike developed a squeak and it was driving me crazy, I was also having some shifting issues. I could only use a couple gears and if I went out of the middle ring the chain kept jumping. I pulled into the first rest area and went to see the bike mechanic. He added some lube to the pulleys on the back derailleur and that stopped the squeak. He then made some adjustments to my front derailleur to fix the shifting issue. 

I left the first rest area and discovered that the adjustment made my shifting worse. Now I'm limited to the big ring and only one gear. Bummer! Oh well, the next thing I knew I was at the halfway mark. The sun was out and I had a tailwind when I hit the hills on Norell Ave. That was a great help, the hills would have been a lot worse without the tailwind. 

A right turn on Dellwood and I was heading back to the Gateway trail. In no time I was at the last rest stop and on my way to the finish line. The sun was shinning and I was actually breaking a sweat. Riding in the big ring with only one gear makes for a great workout. When you can work up a sweat at 35 degrees you know you're burning fat!!! YAY, I have plenty of fat to burn. 

I crossed the finish line, stopped to pick up my t-shirt, a slice of pizza and another cup of coffee. It was a great morning for a ride. Yes, it was cold outside and yes, the wind was blowing a little bit but I was dressed for it and had a great ride. I did not get cold at all, the tailwind saved me on the hills so when it became a crosswind for a couple miles I did not mind. The Gateway trail is pretty well protected so while riding on the trail I didn't have any wind issues. The only thing I would have changed is that I would have taken my mountain bike instead of the road bike, I would have had more than one gear :)

I have another ride planned for tomorrow evening; a couple friends are meeting me at my place and we'll ride from here. I need to plan a route; so for now, Happy Trails!

The Basics of Riding in a Group

Tomorrow I will be riding in the Allianz Twin Cities Ride 2010 to raise money for the MS Society of Minnesota. I received a packet in the mail yesterday with ride information; one of the brochures has information on riding in a group and I thought I'd pass it along.

Group riding takes practice. Riding with other cyclist all around you may cause you to feel trapped. Relax. It is most important to create your own safety zone. This may vary depending on the speed and ability level of the people you are with, so be flexible. Let others know of your anxiety - they may also be new at this.

Your responsibility in a pack includes:

• Be aware of others around you.
• Communicate well in advace. Use gestures in combination with verbal commands.
• Ride with your head up. Look down the road; not at the person in front of you.
• Maintain control and speed of your bike, even going downhill.
• Know your limits. Crashes can occur when inexperienced riders do not have bike-handling skills to make quick decisions in a pack.
• Safety starts with you. Group mentality is not always safe. Stop at all red lights and stop signs - it is the law! * Each cyclist is responsible for verifying that the intersection is clear.
• Adjust your safety zone to fit the conditions of the road, weather and traffic. Always plan an escape route.
• Never overlap your wheels with another cyclist
• do not use aerobars in a pack.
• Be aware of how weather will affect your bike. Riding in wet conditions requires slower speeds and greater braking distances.
  
• Be respectful of other riders. Help others when needed.
  

* Effective April 16, 2010 Minnesota amended the law so that cyclist along with motorcyclists can now go through a red light. ONLY AFTER they have stopped, made sure the coast is clear and waited a reasonable amount of time. This amendment was put into place because cyclists cannot trip the lights. Be careful when doing this. It does not give us the right to blow through intersections.

ABC Quick Check

All cyclists are responsible for keeping their riding equipment in good working order, so get into the habit of checking your equipment before every ride. Small adjustments can make a significant difference in your experience. The "ABC Quick Check" is an overall, yet brief bicycle safety check. 

A is for air

• Check your wheels for worn tires, loose spokes, warped rims and tires for proper inflation
• Check your handlebars for looseness at the headset and stem

B is for brakes

• Check brakes for function, cable tightness, worn pads, frayed cables, and alignment of the pads with the rims. 

C is for cranks, chain and cassette

• Check your pedals and cranks for tightness
• Check for chain looseness and bad links; clean regularly. Lubricate with bicycle chain lube.
• Check the derailleur for worn cogs and adjustment. Check that your gears change smoothly.

Quick is for quick releases

• Check to ensure that the wheels are clamped securely in the drop-ours before each ride.

Check

• Check your helmet for cracks and make sure it fits properly. 
• Check your shoes for tight cleats and straps and buckles in good repair.
• Make sure your bicycle saddle is the right height and the bolt is tight.
• Mirror (helmet or bar-end type)

Urban MTB

Took the mountain bike for a spin through the city on Saturday. A friend of mine wanted to go for a ride and so I met her at her house in Brooklyn Park and she led the way. We cruised to Minneapolis and biked around St. Anthony Falls and did some sightseeing.We had to go to battle with the wind for most of the ride. Part of the reason we decided to ride to Minneapolis was so we would have a tailwind for the ride home. Well, that tailwind never showed up! We had headwind, side wind, gusts of wind but NO tailwind.

But even with the wind it was a super fun day! The sun was out and it felt great to be pedaling again!

Commuting

I decided today that I'm going to start riding my mountain bike to work. I've been commuting on my road bike and it's getting boring. So tonight I'm taking the lights off the road bike and putting them on the mountain bike.

Another reason I've decided to switch to the mountain bike is that downtown St. Paul is under construction. I have to pedal several blocks out of my way in order to avoid it. If I ride my mountain bike I can ride through the construction zone. They are not actually working when I ride to work so I don't have to avoid the area it's just that dropping 6 inches onto gravel on my road bike is not fun and trying to pop back out on the other side is just not going to happen. With my mountain bike it's not a problem.

I won't be dressed like this when I ride to work but I sure am ready for some hot summer days!

Ya Gotta Watch This! :)

New bike

OK, so I was in Seattle last month and stumbled upon a bike shop! Well, wait let me back up. I was in Seattle last month and fell in love with the city. There were bikes everywhere! All I could think about was where can I rent a bike??? I googled it and came up with nothing. I went to Happy Hour every night in the hotel we stayed in and chatted up the bartender in hopes of a bike recommendation. He told us that there was a place to rent bikes at Union lake. Kristin and I went for a 12 mile walk to Union Lake and back with no success; we could not find a place to rent a bike.

On our last night in Seattle we are strolling along and stumble upon Davidson bikes. They had the best bikes, road bikes, touring bikes, everything. I talked with the woman working and found out that they custom make their bikes. They are beautiful bikes.

I had already decided that I was going back to Seattle to take a glass blowing class with the Seattle Glass Blowing Studio so now I'm also going to have a custom touring bike built. I've been dreaming about a touring bike, I've been researching touring bikes online and I've been checking out all the local bike shops. The bikes in the Davidson shop were beautiful, I absolutely fell in love with them. Steel frames, custom built to my body and my color design! I get to pick the components and everything! My goal now is to spend the next 6 to 12 months saving money and writing down everything I can think of that I want in a bike. Then I'm heading back to Seattle taking my glass blowing class AND having a bike built! I'm so excited I could pee.