I had an action packed weekend. Friday was just an average evening. I had a good bike ride home and prepared for the group ride on Saturday. Debbie and I decided to go to the ride together so I had to be up extra early to make to her house on time. The ride itself was a good one. We rode 20 miles around the Chesterland area and I have to admit that I haven't rode my bicycle on hills like those in 20 years. The bike is working just fine but I suspect I'll eventually have to replace the rear wheel. It wobbles slightly from where I broke the spoke. I don't notice it much on the way to and from work because the road is so bumpy but on a flat road it gets annoying. It's nice to get to ride and get to know some of the people on the team. I was extremely proud of everyone.
Saturday afternoon I went to a friend's house who's been selling candy for me and dropped off another box to her. It was nice to see her and her husband. They were putting up their pool. I need to go over there more often this summer! :) Exciting news! Tammy, one of our team members who happens to be battling cancer was cleared to ride with us! We're all excited.
I was a little bummed on Sunday morning. I hadn't finished anything I wanted to at my house so i started early. I managed to do some laundry, then I pulled the jungle of weeds out of my "flower" garden in the rain. The weather cleared up later in the day so I mowed the lawn. Managed to get my clothes on the clothesline dry. I even managed to take care of some weeds and de-bug my vegetable garden. Now I just need to finish cleaning the rest of my house! Not really that much left to do!
Had an uneventful ride to work this morning. I actually caught a couple hour window to dodge the raindrops on the way in. I fear I won't have such luck for the ride home. No matter. Today is supposed to be a 10 mile hill ride. We'll see what the weather is like after work. If I feel good I'll probably hit the park in Garfield Heights again. I may just ride up and down the hills to get my work in.
Heroes
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
6/26
Today is Shelby's birthday. Happy birthday Shel-Bell! A little overcast this morning but a decent ride today. I was a little tired this morning and didn't really feel like riding in to work today but I made it alright. Looking forward to our 20 mile group ride tomorrow. Gong to take it easy on the way home tonight and just relax this evening. The weekend will be packed full of yardwork and we'll see what other trouble i can get into.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
6/25
Rest Day! LOL today is a designated rest day. So I had a little extra time this morning. I watered and weeded my garden (yes at 6:00 in the morning!) then put my screens in my windows and put in my window A/C. Yes I'm usually much more motivated to get stuff done in the morning! Plus I had a hard time sleeping last night because I was just too hot.
I had a good ride home yesterday. Pretty uneventful I rode 12 miles and took a nice look around the neighboring streets. I rode 22.7 miles for the day yesterday.
I had a good ride home yesterday. Pretty uneventful I rode 12 miles and took a nice look around the neighboring streets. I rode 22.7 miles for the day yesterday.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
6/24
Today is supposed to be an "easy" day. Yesterday was a pleasant ride. I rode 17 miles after work which was my "hill" day. I rode in the park at Garfield heights. I love that park. They have a 2 mile trail that includes 2 hills (one up and one down) one steeper than the other. I chose to ride up the longer (and less steep) of the two. I figure it's better to spend more time on the uphill trek. :) I averaged 14.8 miles/hr for that ride so hopefully I'll be able to get to an average of 15 + for the Seagull. My ultimate goal would be 16.6 mi/hr. That way I could do the ride in 6 hours. Hey we all need goals right?
For my "easy" day today I figured I'd just take it easy to and from work but sometimes my body just won't cooperate. I get get going in a rhythm and my body says GO! GO! GO! regardless for how my legs feel or can take it. I will gear down for my ride home tonight to make it much more pleasant.
*6/23 I had a good ride home yesterday. My legs are still a little bit tired from my "20 mile" ride on Saturday so I took it very easy and felt really good when I got home. My bike seems to be operating within acceptable limits which is always a good thing. :) Today is supposed to be an 8 mile hill day so I might consider doing a little extra on the way home. I'm not sure how to work that because my ride home is a steady gradual 10 mile climb. Is that considered hill? I guess it won't hurt to do a little extra as long as I get my rest days in. It pains me on rest days because I just itch to get out and ride. I guess those would be good days to work my upper body. Update on the weight loss front: I've lost a total of 33 lbs since January. Still trying to shave off that extra weight.
*6/22 I had a great weekend. It started with what was supposed to be a 20 mile ride on Saturday morning. I decided to ride on the towpath because i get tired of dealing with traffic on my daily commute and it's the only trail I know of near my home that I can ride for any length of time or distance without having to dodge cars (but I do have to dodge chipmunks!). Well it has been raining lately. The path is only paved in certain places the rest is a very fine sandlike gravel over a clay base. So the beginning of my ride it felt kinda like running in sand. I didn't think I would make it 20 miles in those conditions. But I continued on so when I reached the 10 mile point I was feeeling pretty good so decided to trek on. When I reached the 20 mile point I decided enough was enough and turned around. I had a great ride back to the parking lot. I averaged 14.8 mi/hr over the 40 miles . I felt good about that considering the riding conditions. When I returned to my car I realized that my legs were completely covered with mud, I then took my helmet off and realized that I had mud caked all over the helmet. You couldn't even tell what color it was supposed to be! So I put a blanket down in the back for my bike and used my handy LLS fleece throw for my seat. Everything has cleaned up nicely :). Another positive note: My ride was nearly completely silent. Not a peep from my crank . We'll see what it sounds like after my ride home. All that shaking and jarring to and from work seems to change the condition of my bicycle rather quickly. Saturday night I met up with some dear friends from college and had a fabulous time.
*6/19 OK I woke up this morning and let the dogs out at 5:30. It was beautiful outside. The sun just over the horizon , nice and cool. I figured i could get a good ride into work this morning. Then I looked at the forescast. Holy cow so much lightning in Indiana and on its way here. I deferred to better judgment. Had a good ride home last night. The creaking has returned (grrr). But I suppose the good news is that I've figured out what is making the noise. It's nothing that would hinder my bicycle mechanically. It's just annoying. last year the bolt that holds the crank arm on fell off. Yes the crank arm fell off and had to pedal another 5 miles home with just one pedal. In the process the crank arm was mangled and I had to replace it. It turns out that the square part of the shaft that holds the crank arm was mangled slightly and rounded off some. When I put a lot of pressure on the crank arm it creaks against the shaft. So it's not really hurting the bike but I'll proably have to replace the whole crank to alleviate the problem.
*6/17 I took a nice ride after work yesterday. I did a 22 mile hill ride. I rode on a metroparks path so I got a chance to use my new bell. I bought that particular model because it was cheap ($3) and the only model they had. It has a compass on it. Now I realize why it was so cheap. The compass reads backwards. The magnet must've been installed backwards because when you're going north it says south. It was a good ride. I have some crreaking going on so i'm going to have to take the crank assembly apart and clean the other side and re-grease it . But it's still a lot quieter than before! My overall mileage for yesterday was 32 miles. It was raining a little on the way to work this morning but otherwise a pleasant ride . I have a feeling I'll be riding through a deluge on the way home. Here's hoping that I'll be able to dodge the raindrops! :)
*6/16 OK good news abounds :) I had a nice quiet ride in to work this morning! No Scraping, grinding, horrid sounds coming from any part of my bicycle! OK the ride wasn't completely quiet. I did get beeped at. There's a woman in a blue Ford Focus that gives me a polite little beep every morning on the way to work. My mind must have been wandering because this morning her beep scared the bejeebers out of me. I got a good chuckle out of it though.
*6/15 Good news! I had absolutely no bike issues yesterday or today! Ok, so I couldn't ride yesterday or today. Had my son for the weekend so that inhibits my opportunities to ride. :) Tonight I'll be singing the national anthem at the Indian's game with my church choir so that doesn't make it feasable to ride today either. I'm looking forward to riding tomorrow but of course there could be rain in the forecast tomorrow so we'll have to see. Hopefully the bike holds up.
*6/13 Got to go on my first group ride today. It was fun but frustrating. I'm stll having issues with my bike. I thought I had them ironed out but when I hopped on the bike and started moving the aweful grinding sound from my pedal re-surfaced. As it turns out it's not my pedals at all but the bearings on the left side of my crank. So I rode the whole ride grinding and creaking and heavily favoring the right side. I was worried that i would cause damage to the bearings if i put a lot of pressure on it. We had a minor spill on the ride but everyone is ok. I spent the remainder of the day working on my bike and I think I've finally got it in working order (knock wood) . I removed the crank, cleaned it out and re-greased the bearings so it shouldnt cause me any problems anymore. Now if I can just get those gears adjusted! LOL
*6/11 The bike issues continue... I took my rear wheel to be fixed and they wanted $35 to change a spoke in my wheel. A little pricey for me but I needed to get it done before Saturday so I guess beggars can't be choosers. While he was replacing the spoke he suggested that I get a new wheel because mine is so old. I asked how much for a new wheel, he said $45. Plus another $35 to install it.(UUUGHH!) So I complained about their prices and told him to forget it. He gave me my wheel back after he had replaced the spoke and trued the wheel and said no charge. Excellent So I took the wheel home and put it on my bike. The next morning I had a flat tire. As it turns out, when he changed the spoke it tore the tape that goes around the inside of the wheel hence poking the inside of the tube. So much for slime :) When replacing the tube I found my spare also had a hole in it! I ran out of tire repair stuff so I was up the proverbial creek. Off to the store for tire repair stuff. I repaired the tubes and tried to put one back on the bike and it kept leaking. I mentioned before how diffcult my tires are to get on and off. I changed my tire 5 times before I actually got it to hold air. I received my new pedals and switched those out. They had no grease on the bearings and didnt want to turn so I had to take the pedals apart to make sure they stay in working order. I changed the brakes on my bike as well so I should be all set for our ride on Saturday. All said and done it took me about 7 hours to get everything working right. (I didn't even mention the toe clip issues I had with the pedal :) )Oh and since I had so many issues I had to take the day off from work so I managed to get the rest of my garden in too!
*6/10 Today is the day for bike issues. I noticed that my rear tire has experienced an abnormal amount of wear on it so I bought a new set of tires. I installed the new tires and now have blistered thumbs to prove it! It's really my own fault. I was reading about the tires before I bought them and evidently they are notorious for being difficult to install (and they are!). The bonus about them is that they have a kevlar lining in them to try to prevent flats and I "slimed" them as well as an added protection. I noticed on my ride this morning that I had a slight wobble in my rear wheel and thought I might have a bubble in the tire but it was a broken spoke instead. Finally I have a bearing (or 5!) that has gone bad in my pedal and have to replace it. Unfortunately I don't think I'll have it until after my first group ride on Saturday. So my apologies to my team members ahead of time for all the racket my pedal makes.
* 6/7 OK i have a lot to catch up on. Thursday I went out of my mind and decided to do a longer ride after work. I rode 34 mi and worked hills in to boot. I was totally wiped out afterward but it felt good. I had a class Friday night and all day Saturday so I missed my first group ride. Took a nice 13 mi ride today that was just what the doctor ordered. :)
*6/3 it would seem that the weather really doesn't want to cooperate with me. I had a good, chilly and wet ride into work this morning. I got a new day-glo yellow shirt so i feel a bit more comfortable riding in traffic. I went to a training session at the Q last night. I'll be working concessions at events to raise money for LLS. The donations continue to come in and I'm going to do anything I can in order to raise money for this cause. I'm so grateful to all those who donated. Every bit counts!
*6/1 I want to give thanks to all the people that donated so far. I especially want to thank My friend Miriam for helping me work a table at my church . I'm a little bummed that I'm not going to get to ride much this week. I have a meeting for a fundraiser on Tuesday then I have class on Friday night and all day Saturday. I'm going to miss my first training meeting and ride :(
*5/29 OK well my initial impressions of yesterday were a little bit skewed. We got some pretty heavy rainstorms and thunder/lightning but luckily it cleared quite a bit by the time I rode home. It rained on me but that's about it. I did manage to get some extra work in. I went to the park in Garfield Heights and circled the hills for about an hour. Got a good 20 mi in which would make 30 for the day. Not going to be able to ride this weekend but hopefully I can at least get some work in on the treadmill.
*5/28 Warm ride this morning. Summer is definitely approaching. I'm liking the new computer on my bike. I can actually know what time it is when I ride. It has some nice features my old one didn't. For one thing it works! LOL I'm looking forward to the ride home this evening. I think I'll do a little extra to start working on the stamina.
*5/24 What a beautiful day. I can't believe the weather. Finally a nice holiday weekend! Went for a great 20 mi ride with some of my fellow team members. We rode out at the Maple Highland Trail in Chardon. What a great path! The scenery is beautiful with some covered bridges to pass through. After the ride I was able to spend some time with my folks and then met up with some dear friends for an evening of laughter and comradery.
*5/20 going through some issues today. Taking a mental health day from work and hoping to get nice ride in today. Answer:4000
*5/19 I was a little tired this morning and thought I'd take it easy on the way to work. I ended up catching all green lights and made it to work faster than I've ever made it. I went 10 miles in 25 mminutes! I'm getting in better shape . I can't wait for the real training to start :)
*5/14 I seriously contemplated riding to work today. It was dry when I woke up but I relented to better judgement with t-storms in the forecast. I guess I'll have to settle for beating myself up at the gym today! I might actually get some grocery shopping in this evening as well. With the rain, I guess the jungle I call a lawn will have to wait again.
*5/12 Had a really good day today the ride to and from work was good. I love it when the weather cooperates. :) Had a meeting for Team In Training. Then came home to watch Biggest Loser. What an inspiring show. I can't believe the weight those people lost. On a personal note I've lost a total of 29 lbs since January.
*5/6 Fun ride home in the rain
*5/5 Excellent couple of days of riding to work and back.
*5/4 Had a nice short ride yesterday. Shaker Lakes is beautiful!
For my "easy" day today I figured I'd just take it easy to and from work but sometimes my body just won't cooperate. I get get going in a rhythm and my body says GO! GO! GO! regardless for how my legs feel or can take it. I will gear down for my ride home tonight to make it much more pleasant.
*6/23 I had a good ride home yesterday. My legs are still a little bit tired from my "20 mile" ride on Saturday so I took it very easy and felt really good when I got home. My bike seems to be operating within acceptable limits which is always a good thing. :) Today is supposed to be an 8 mile hill day so I might consider doing a little extra on the way home. I'm not sure how to work that because my ride home is a steady gradual 10 mile climb. Is that considered hill? I guess it won't hurt to do a little extra as long as I get my rest days in. It pains me on rest days because I just itch to get out and ride. I guess those would be good days to work my upper body. Update on the weight loss front: I've lost a total of 33 lbs since January. Still trying to shave off that extra weight.
*6/22 I had a great weekend. It started with what was supposed to be a 20 mile ride on Saturday morning. I decided to ride on the towpath because i get tired of dealing with traffic on my daily commute and it's the only trail I know of near my home that I can ride for any length of time or distance without having to dodge cars (but I do have to dodge chipmunks!). Well it has been raining lately. The path is only paved in certain places the rest is a very fine sandlike gravel over a clay base. So the beginning of my ride it felt kinda like running in sand. I didn't think I would make it 20 miles in those conditions. But I continued on so when I reached the 10 mile point I was feeeling pretty good so decided to trek on. When I reached the 20 mile point I decided enough was enough and turned around. I had a great ride back to the parking lot. I averaged 14.8 mi/hr over the 40 miles . I felt good about that considering the riding conditions. When I returned to my car I realized that my legs were completely covered with mud, I then took my helmet off and realized that I had mud caked all over the helmet. You couldn't even tell what color it was supposed to be! So I put a blanket down in the back for my bike and used my handy LLS fleece throw for my seat. Everything has cleaned up nicely :). Another positive note: My ride was nearly completely silent. Not a peep from my crank . We'll see what it sounds like after my ride home. All that shaking and jarring to and from work seems to change the condition of my bicycle rather quickly. Saturday night I met up with some dear friends from college and had a fabulous time.
*6/19 OK I woke up this morning and let the dogs out at 5:30. It was beautiful outside. The sun just over the horizon , nice and cool. I figured i could get a good ride into work this morning. Then I looked at the forescast. Holy cow so much lightning in Indiana and on its way here. I deferred to better judgment. Had a good ride home last night. The creaking has returned (grrr). But I suppose the good news is that I've figured out what is making the noise. It's nothing that would hinder my bicycle mechanically. It's just annoying. last year the bolt that holds the crank arm on fell off. Yes the crank arm fell off and had to pedal another 5 miles home with just one pedal. In the process the crank arm was mangled and I had to replace it. It turns out that the square part of the shaft that holds the crank arm was mangled slightly and rounded off some. When I put a lot of pressure on the crank arm it creaks against the shaft. So it's not really hurting the bike but I'll proably have to replace the whole crank to alleviate the problem.
*6/17 I took a nice ride after work yesterday. I did a 22 mile hill ride. I rode on a metroparks path so I got a chance to use my new bell. I bought that particular model because it was cheap ($3) and the only model they had. It has a compass on it. Now I realize why it was so cheap. The compass reads backwards. The magnet must've been installed backwards because when you're going north it says south. It was a good ride. I have some crreaking going on so i'm going to have to take the crank assembly apart and clean the other side and re-grease it . But it's still a lot quieter than before! My overall mileage for yesterday was 32 miles. It was raining a little on the way to work this morning but otherwise a pleasant ride . I have a feeling I'll be riding through a deluge on the way home. Here's hoping that I'll be able to dodge the raindrops! :)
*6/16 OK good news abounds :) I had a nice quiet ride in to work this morning! No Scraping, grinding, horrid sounds coming from any part of my bicycle! OK the ride wasn't completely quiet. I did get beeped at. There's a woman in a blue Ford Focus that gives me a polite little beep every morning on the way to work. My mind must have been wandering because this morning her beep scared the bejeebers out of me. I got a good chuckle out of it though.
*6/15 Good news! I had absolutely no bike issues yesterday or today! Ok, so I couldn't ride yesterday or today. Had my son for the weekend so that inhibits my opportunities to ride. :) Tonight I'll be singing the national anthem at the Indian's game with my church choir so that doesn't make it feasable to ride today either. I'm looking forward to riding tomorrow but of course there could be rain in the forecast tomorrow so we'll have to see. Hopefully the bike holds up.
*6/13 Got to go on my first group ride today. It was fun but frustrating. I'm stll having issues with my bike. I thought I had them ironed out but when I hopped on the bike and started moving the aweful grinding sound from my pedal re-surfaced. As it turns out it's not my pedals at all but the bearings on the left side of my crank. So I rode the whole ride grinding and creaking and heavily favoring the right side. I was worried that i would cause damage to the bearings if i put a lot of pressure on it. We had a minor spill on the ride but everyone is ok. I spent the remainder of the day working on my bike and I think I've finally got it in working order (knock wood) . I removed the crank, cleaned it out and re-greased the bearings so it shouldnt cause me any problems anymore. Now if I can just get those gears adjusted! LOL
*6/11 The bike issues continue... I took my rear wheel to be fixed and they wanted $35 to change a spoke in my wheel. A little pricey for me but I needed to get it done before Saturday so I guess beggars can't be choosers. While he was replacing the spoke he suggested that I get a new wheel because mine is so old. I asked how much for a new wheel, he said $45. Plus another $35 to install it.(UUUGHH!) So I complained about their prices and told him to forget it. He gave me my wheel back after he had replaced the spoke and trued the wheel and said no charge. Excellent So I took the wheel home and put it on my bike. The next morning I had a flat tire. As it turns out, when he changed the spoke it tore the tape that goes around the inside of the wheel hence poking the inside of the tube. So much for slime :) When replacing the tube I found my spare also had a hole in it! I ran out of tire repair stuff so I was up the proverbial creek. Off to the store for tire repair stuff. I repaired the tubes and tried to put one back on the bike and it kept leaking. I mentioned before how diffcult my tires are to get on and off. I changed my tire 5 times before I actually got it to hold air. I received my new pedals and switched those out. They had no grease on the bearings and didnt want to turn so I had to take the pedals apart to make sure they stay in working order. I changed the brakes on my bike as well so I should be all set for our ride on Saturday. All said and done it took me about 7 hours to get everything working right. (I didn't even mention the toe clip issues I had with the pedal :) )Oh and since I had so many issues I had to take the day off from work so I managed to get the rest of my garden in too!
*6/10 Today is the day for bike issues. I noticed that my rear tire has experienced an abnormal amount of wear on it so I bought a new set of tires. I installed the new tires and now have blistered thumbs to prove it! It's really my own fault. I was reading about the tires before I bought them and evidently they are notorious for being difficult to install (and they are!). The bonus about them is that they have a kevlar lining in them to try to prevent flats and I "slimed" them as well as an added protection. I noticed on my ride this morning that I had a slight wobble in my rear wheel and thought I might have a bubble in the tire but it was a broken spoke instead. Finally I have a bearing (or 5!) that has gone bad in my pedal and have to replace it. Unfortunately I don't think I'll have it until after my first group ride on Saturday. So my apologies to my team members ahead of time for all the racket my pedal makes.
* 6/7 OK i have a lot to catch up on. Thursday I went out of my mind and decided to do a longer ride after work. I rode 34 mi and worked hills in to boot. I was totally wiped out afterward but it felt good. I had a class Friday night and all day Saturday so I missed my first group ride. Took a nice 13 mi ride today that was just what the doctor ordered. :)
*6/3 it would seem that the weather really doesn't want to cooperate with me. I had a good, chilly and wet ride into work this morning. I got a new day-glo yellow shirt so i feel a bit more comfortable riding in traffic. I went to a training session at the Q last night. I'll be working concessions at events to raise money for LLS. The donations continue to come in and I'm going to do anything I can in order to raise money for this cause. I'm so grateful to all those who donated. Every bit counts!
*6/1 I want to give thanks to all the people that donated so far. I especially want to thank My friend Miriam for helping me work a table at my church . I'm a little bummed that I'm not going to get to ride much this week. I have a meeting for a fundraiser on Tuesday then I have class on Friday night and all day Saturday. I'm going to miss my first training meeting and ride :(
*5/29 OK well my initial impressions of yesterday were a little bit skewed. We got some pretty heavy rainstorms and thunder/lightning but luckily it cleared quite a bit by the time I rode home. It rained on me but that's about it. I did manage to get some extra work in. I went to the park in Garfield Heights and circled the hills for about an hour. Got a good 20 mi in which would make 30 for the day. Not going to be able to ride this weekend but hopefully I can at least get some work in on the treadmill.
*5/28 Warm ride this morning. Summer is definitely approaching. I'm liking the new computer on my bike. I can actually know what time it is when I ride. It has some nice features my old one didn't. For one thing it works! LOL I'm looking forward to the ride home this evening. I think I'll do a little extra to start working on the stamina.
*5/24 What a beautiful day. I can't believe the weather. Finally a nice holiday weekend! Went for a great 20 mi ride with some of my fellow team members. We rode out at the Maple Highland Trail in Chardon. What a great path! The scenery is beautiful with some covered bridges to pass through. After the ride I was able to spend some time with my folks and then met up with some dear friends for an evening of laughter and comradery.
*5/20 going through some issues today. Taking a mental health day from work and hoping to get nice ride in today. Answer:4000
*5/19 I was a little tired this morning and thought I'd take it easy on the way to work. I ended up catching all green lights and made it to work faster than I've ever made it. I went 10 miles in 25 mminutes! I'm getting in better shape . I can't wait for the real training to start :)
*5/14 I seriously contemplated riding to work today. It was dry when I woke up but I relented to better judgement with t-storms in the forecast. I guess I'll have to settle for beating myself up at the gym today! I might actually get some grocery shopping in this evening as well. With the rain, I guess the jungle I call a lawn will have to wait again.
*5/12 Had a really good day today the ride to and from work was good. I love it when the weather cooperates. :) Had a meeting for Team In Training. Then came home to watch Biggest Loser. What an inspiring show. I can't believe the weight those people lost. On a personal note I've lost a total of 29 lbs since January.
*5/6 Fun ride home in the rain
*5/5 Excellent couple of days of riding to work and back.
*5/4 Had a nice short ride yesterday. Shaker Lakes is beautiful!
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