Excitement!

1. My cog arrived yesterday and was waiting at the door for me.  Got the Glow Worm set up Ferris wheel style and ready to grind the Snake.3 this weekend.

2. We actually had a Tuesday night group ride yesterday!  The first lap was a nice pace and let me see just how nice the larger cog was at low speed climbing (social pace). I did have to play with saddle height as the EBB was completely different with the new set up - but sit and spin was all that was really needed that first lap. 

The second lap I picked it up a bit and things were still feeling good. Of course the spin out threshold is quite low with the larger cog, but the Glow Worm remains responsive through the tight and punchy. With the Snake being mostly up or down I don't have to worry too much about spin factor. 

3. Much fun was had after the ride. Fried banana peppers?  YES!  Narwhal on tap - SWEET!

4. All of this reminded me of one VERY important aspect of biking - riding your bike can erase your entire workday.  Oh how I've missed riding!  As the weather continues to improve, trails open, and the sun hangs out with us a bit longer each day I know the rest of the year will be all right. 

yeah... I don't know...

Come on USPS

As of this morning I'm still without my Snake.3 cog. Delivery date was and still is yesterday!

We are finally getting a chance to have our group ride again tonight (as long as the trail cooperates and is open to ride).  Since I work pretty much next to our intended ride spot I was looking forward to getting there early to get the legs used to residing in spin city with the new Ferris wheel installed. But since USPS has it's head up it's ass it looks like I will run home, install the new cog (assuming it shows up today) and haul ass back out to the trail. 

Whatever. 

Today has already started all screwed up. I dreamt that I hadn't set my alarm and I woke up 10 minutes before my secondary alarm time - set that alarm and went back to sleep. But it was one if those completely real feeling dreams, so I was wicked surprised when my alarm went off at 5:00. Sweet. I reset my alarm for the back up time and went back to my crazy dreamland.

Bring on today - I've already time traveled.

Lets hope the postal service doesn't push me to see what other superpowers I can get my hands on if they don't get me my cog, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry...

still wearing a helmet...

I'm exhausted.
I had a great weekend of biking, grabbing food and playing games with friends, and heckling. Even though I have stuff to share, my energy level is low so I don't feel like getting into it. Perhaps because it's going to be a long week. Perhaps because I have to start formulating plans for this weekend (Snake.3 and a trip to Athens).

In any case, I'm keeping it short and light today.

In case you aren't aware, people like to argue on the internerd.
Sometimes it's entertaining. Sometimes people take things a little too far and their ignorance and/or intolerance starts to show. I was following one such "debate" and just couldn't take it anymore. The level of insanity that people were going to with their statements was unbelievable so I reached out with a neat little skill I think everyone should practice while perusing the net. 

Remember, we are all entitled to our views, no matter how asinine you think someone's point of view is, it's their life - they are free to live/ruin it any which way they please. After all, nothing they are posting on Facebook has any bearing on the real world so just let it go and move on. And in all reality, the internerd is not the appropriate setting for an effective debate. 

Wonky Links

Got my Ferris wheel in the mail yesterday!  But, it was the wrong Ferris wheel. It looked strange when I opened the package...

then I rechecked the order - somehow the drop down for the mountain bike single speed cog connected my order for a track cog...  No fit, no likely.

The good thing, great customer service. I called (and I HATE talking on the phone) and within minutes I got a return code with a new correct cog on it's way to me. BIG sigh of relief as I was figuring they would have to receive my cog back before they were going to send the new one. So I'm happy things are moving quickly to remedy the situation. 

I'll likely have to run out and get a new chain for the new cog. So I'm anxiously awaiting it's arrival as I need to get used to spinning my ass off on this thing before Snake.3 is here!!

So, big thanks to the guys at Tree Fort Bikes for quickly fixing the mistake. I do like no mistakes the first time, but I should have also reviewed my order instead of assuming it was correct, so I get some blame there for sure. Just super glad they know how to make things right!  

Lunch Tray

An old friend of mine used to always say "you know it was a good workout when you leave and your arms are stuck like you are carrying a lunch tray."  Welp, I had a good workout.  Although, I guess at this age it's a little less "lunch tray" and more like batgadgets.

So day one of doing stuff is in the books.  It felt pretty damn good to be back in the gym - even though it was small and crowded... but I was working out and that was awesome.

I did jump on a stationary bike to start my workout and I suppose I picked the hardest program on there.  I did a hill climb and really put my legs to work.  I concentrated on keeping my cadence high so inevitably my legs were burning and I was a sweaty mess!!  I did come to realize something while on the bike - I give up pretty easily when I'm out riding.  Not so much in terms of actually riding the trail - but pushing tempo.  Not far into the "hill" climb my legs were asking for me to back off the tempo.  Seeing how far I had to go in the workout it was tempting.... but I didn't.  This was a "no fail" situation so why should I back off??  Worse comes to worse I can totally drop difficulty and spin out - so I pressed on.  Further and further into the workout I kept pushing back the "deals" I was making to myself to let up a bit.  Before I knew it I was on the "backside" of the "hill" and my workout was coming to an end.

Even though it was a silly stationary bike workout, it was profound.  I don't need to give into my legs so quickly - even though they whine, they can still produce so I need to keep pushing those pansies.

I should be getting my ferris wheel cog today so I'll get that on the Glow Worm... with an easier gear and the knowledge that I need to ignore my crying legs, this round of the Snake could be a good one!!

We survived!

Well, we survived the storm. Had myself a nice 5 day weekend, because of which I'm back at school today (pre-snow, we would have had no school today).  As crazy as 3 days off because of the storm sounds, it was a good call. Before I got the call that Friday was cancelled I was sure we would be back for Friday. Since my day was cancelled I went out to shovel a bit. I was shocked when I didn't go through the snow as I walked outside - everything had frozen solid. All the side streets (which had never seen a plow) were now rock solid rutty/icy messes. I sent Annie to work in the pterodactyl. Not that it's 4-wheel drive would do anything on ice, but that it would better manage the ice ruts versus her civic. Once she got on main roads everything was completely clear and dry.

Having the snow days also coincided with a bit of a stomach bug for me, which I suppose is fortunate because I hate missing work. This way my illness didn't prevent me from work, since you know, there was no work. The time off is going to be hell on my schedule though since we are in the middle if junior meetings - all that rescheduling has taken over the first week of March. Ah well. 

The time off has allowed me to think a little more about my season. Especially my fitness. So much so that I actually jumped on the trainer. Did you know a bike stand makes a wonderful iPhone holder while you spin?

It was nice being back on the trainer I suppose. Only bummer was that my speed/cadence wasn't getting picked up. The sensor was indicating that it was registering the magnets, my garmins sensed everything, but no stats. So my ride was focused on heart rate rather than cadence. Suppose that's ok. 

Anyway. Today after work I'm hitting the gym. Haven't been working out at all, in forever, so it's time to get back into shape overall. Now don't you get worried, I'm not getting on any strict/no-fun training regime here. But I am going (to try) to get a little more focused on doing more in terms of fitness and riding. Taking bets on how long that will last...

There Is No Place Like Home

Were you able to come to any conclusions as to what my new bike shoes would look like from the picture from yesterday?

old bike shoes + my red sneakers = my new shoes

Giro Privateer MTB shoe(s)

When I first dreamt of next pair of bike shoes, even before needed new shoes, I had a thing for the yellow. But let's face it, I'm not fast enough for yellow shoes.  Red quickly replaced yellow as I got TONS of compliment on my red sneakers whenever I walked around a bike race. I like my red sneakers (which themselves need some replacing soonish) so why not red bike shoes?  As luck would have it Cyclocross.com was having a sale and BAM - they had red shoes!  

Um... why were you on Cyclocross.com you might ask?  Fair question. As part of my Demon Spawnsorship with Asylum I get a sweet discount over at Cyclocross.com - so there is that. My question to you is, why haven't you been over there?  They have some pretty sweet deals!!  And to be honest, the deal I got on the shoes straight from their site was better then my sponsorship deal, so get over there and reap the savings fool!

Color - Glowing Red/Black. Hell ya!

Of course I did my due diligence and researched the hell out of them. Reviews were great. People compared them to much higher priced SIDIs in both comfort and performance. And then there was the fact that they are RED!  Sold. 

They feel amazing (walking around the house). I'm psyched that for the final race down in Georgia I will not only be able to sport my Team Glow Worm kit (got it back last race all fixed up), but I'll have snazzy new shoes and a friendlier cog in the back. If nothing else, I will look better as I collect my belt buckle!!

These shoes may not be as magical as Dorothy's, but they will get me home - I'll just have to pedal my way there...

Oh, keep your mitts off of them, they are mine!