Am I burnt out? It seems to take me about two thirds of my commute before my legs begin to feel lively. Come on, 40 minutes to warm up . . . and in 70 degree temperatures no less . . .?
I don't think it is anything actually physically going on with my body as I feel absolutely fine in every other aspect, aside from the usual minor mid-life aches and pains. My energy level seems high, I'm sleeping well, rising early so I don't think it is burn out. Shit maybe I'm just fading away . . . my my, hey hey.
My weight is up a little. I had it down to around 170-172 a month or so ago but it has been creeping back up over 175 lately. I think it may be related to alcohol consumption as I can think of no other reason. I'm riding as much or more than ever, I'm not eating any differently. I mean its not that I'm a booze hound or anything. I don't drink everyday. Some days, on the weekend, I may have three or four beers. But when I had my weight down to 170, I wasn't drinking at all thus this unscientific and purely speculative theory.
I suppose I should curtail all my alcohol consumption and see if my weight drops again and then I will have a more definitive explanation. But in the face of a four day weekend perhaps I'll postpone the temperance movement until next week.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Hi-Ho-Hi-Ho, Its Off to Work . . .
I certainly have a mundane life and for this I should be and mostly am thankful however a little drama might provide some blog fodder. As it stands I've not much to really report upon which in the world of bicycle commuting is a good thing I suppose, "no news is good news".
My commute has been great lately. I've had no skirmishes, minor or otherwise, with the hulking beasts belching acrid fumes with which I share the road or more specifically the occupant/operators of said beasts since, after all, "cars don't kill people. . . ".
Perhaps the abbreviated work weeks I've been enjoying the last couple of weeks have contributed to the phenomena. It could also be that school (the university) is out, the snow birds have all flown north and Tucson's population has returned to a more reasonable number for the summer. Whatever it is I should be happy yet I complain about the banality of my life.
My commute has been great lately. I've had no skirmishes, minor or otherwise, with the hulking beasts belching acrid fumes with which I share the road or more specifically the occupant/operators of said beasts since, after all, "cars don't kill people. . . ".
Perhaps the abbreviated work weeks I've been enjoying the last couple of weeks have contributed to the phenomena. It could also be that school (the university) is out, the snow birds have all flown north and Tucson's population has returned to a more reasonable number for the summer. Whatever it is I should be happy yet I complain about the banality of my life.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
One Down - Two Left
So one month is under my belt in the Car Free for Three saga. I've used up three of my four credits (I gave myself four credit days for the week of riding leading up to the "official" start of my car free campaign).
I burned one credit day for a quick run to the bike shop while I was building up the 1x9 version of my bike a few weeks ago. Then I used two credits in one day yesterday. The first was a trip to Ace Hardware to procure some hardware necessary to mount my new Axiom rack (more on that in a few). Then I drove to my eye doctor appointment yesterday afternoon. I know I should have combined the two trips but I forgot about the doctor appointment until after I made the Ace run plus I needed to get the hardware to mount the rack as I didn't want to wait until the evening to be working on the rack in case things, as they tend to do, went awry.
Fedex dropped off my Axiom Streamliner Road Rack yesterday so with all the joy of a child on Christmas morning, I ripped into the package and began the installation process. I'd been shopping around for racks and was pretty much facing the fact that I'd be paying upwards of one-hundred large for a rack that would work on my frame when lo and behold I stumbled upon the Axiom which seemed to be exactly what I was looking for with a 22.95 price tag at ebikestop.
I must say that, while ebikestop does take their time shipping, their prices are extraordinary so if you can wait a few extra days (I've always received my stuff within a week Fedex ground from Colorado to Tucson) I highly recommend them.
While the rack was designed to mount to the brake caliper mounting hole in the seat stay arch it was fairly evident from the start that this was a flawed design and was not going to happen. The mounting bar included with the rack was only about 12 inches too short to span the distance from the rack to the frame. Thus I was forced to improvise. Taking my cue from some of the other rack systems I'd been perusing, I purchased a length of steel from which to fabricate the mounting supports, a few band clamps, screws and nuts. First, I positioned the clamps where I needed them on the frame and on the rack. Measuring between the clamps I cut two pieces of steel to fit. A quick "dry fit" gave me the drill marks for the screw holes. After drilling and another quick dry fit, I filed the rough edges and, for purely cosmetic reasons, rounded off the square ends of the steel supports. Then I painted the newly fabricated supports a matching flat black. Total time (excluding paint drying time) 2 hours, total cost (rack and hardware) 34.95, savings approximately $100.00 over the competition.
The final product seems to be a quality, sturdy rack (much sturdier with my improvised mount if I do say so myself . . . as if someone else were going to say it . . . ) which should serve me well on my PCH Adventure. I like that the rack sits lower and farther to the rear than some other rack systems affording plenty of heel room when pedaling. It has a rather narrow profile as well, keeping the weight close to the bike for a seemingly more stable ride. Although rated at 110 lbs capacity, I rather doubt that to be the case but I should need a only a third of that anyway.
I burned one credit day for a quick run to the bike shop while I was building up the 1x9 version of my bike a few weeks ago. Then I used two credits in one day yesterday. The first was a trip to Ace Hardware to procure some hardware necessary to mount my new Axiom rack (more on that in a few). Then I drove to my eye doctor appointment yesterday afternoon. I know I should have combined the two trips but I forgot about the doctor appointment until after I made the Ace run plus I needed to get the hardware to mount the rack as I didn't want to wait until the evening to be working on the rack in case things, as they tend to do, went awry.
Fedex dropped off my Axiom Streamliner Road Rack yesterday so with all the joy of a child on Christmas morning, I ripped into the package and began the installation process. I'd been shopping around for racks and was pretty much facing the fact that I'd be paying upwards of one-hundred large for a rack that would work on my frame when lo and behold I stumbled upon the Axiom which seemed to be exactly what I was looking for with a 22.95 price tag at ebikestop.
I must say that, while ebikestop does take their time shipping, their prices are extraordinary so if you can wait a few extra days (I've always received my stuff within a week Fedex ground from Colorado to Tucson) I highly recommend them.
While the rack was designed to mount to the brake caliper mounting hole in the seat stay arch it was fairly evident from the start that this was a flawed design and was not going to happen. The mounting bar included with the rack was only about 12 inches too short to span the distance from the rack to the frame. Thus I was forced to improvise. Taking my cue from some of the other rack systems I'd been perusing, I purchased a length of steel from which to fabricate the mounting supports, a few band clamps, screws and nuts. First, I positioned the clamps where I needed them on the frame and on the rack. Measuring between the clamps I cut two pieces of steel to fit. A quick "dry fit" gave me the drill marks for the screw holes. After drilling and another quick dry fit, I filed the rough edges and, for purely cosmetic reasons, rounded off the square ends of the steel supports. Then I painted the newly fabricated supports a matching flat black. Total time (excluding paint drying time) 2 hours, total cost (rack and hardware) 34.95, savings approximately $100.00 over the competition.
The final product seems to be a quality, sturdy rack (much sturdier with my improvised mount if I do say so myself . . . as if someone else were going to say it . . . ) which should serve me well on my PCH Adventure. I like that the rack sits lower and farther to the rear than some other rack systems affording plenty of heel room when pedaling. It has a rather narrow profile as well, keeping the weight close to the bike for a seemingly more stable ride. Although rated at 110 lbs capacity, I rather doubt that to be the case but I should need a only a third of that anyway.
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