Tag Archives: Friends

Bonk!

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I went on a ride last night with a friend of mine. We rode about 27 miles around the bulk of a regular route of mine, minus the crazy hills on Johnson Drive just west of Renner. It’s a good thing too. I bonked hard at around mile 18.

Contributing factors to the bonk include, and may be exclusive to, improper eating throughout the day (light breakfast, light late lunch at 3:30), near complete lack of exercise since a 20 mile ride around the Wheeler Airport on May 27th, and opting for my heavier bike with its 700X37C tires. The lack of exercise, combined with poor eating habits since before the Wedding is, I believe, the primary contributing factor. I blame myself entirely. Also, we fell prey to the “excited to be riding in the first fantastic weather we’ve had in weeks” syndrome. Instead of pacing ourselves, we rode hard and fast for the first 10 miles or so. That was just dumb.

So, on to the ride…

The first 7 miles was fairly eventful. At 6.25 miles in just before the 435 junction on 95th St., I got a flat. A long, jagged and evil looking piece of plastic reached out and stabbed my rear tire. Bah. I’ve had one other flat while out on my “training” rides, and that was with the same buddy. Maybe I need to reevaluate my riding partners. No matter, I was prepared both times and the flat was fixed in little time. However, I knew something was still dreadfully wrong the instant I got rolling again. There was a distinct “thump thump thump” coming from that rear tire.

Stopping again just beyond the 435 junction, I looked at the tire, spun it, and there was an obvious flat area. Apparently, we hadn’t hadn’t set the tire properly, and an 8” section opposite the valve was sunk too deep into the rim. Very. Very. Strange. I’d never seen that before in 30 years of riding. So we deflated it again (thank the Gods for CO2 cartridges) worked the tire to it’s proper seat, and were off again. If it weren’t the tires that came stock with the bike (Continental CountryRide 700x37C), I’d say they were too big for the rims (Rigida ZAC19SL). I’m inclined to say that anyway. For now, though, all is well, and I’ve made a mental note to verify the seating the next time I get a flat on this bike. Or any bike, for that matter.

The rest of the ride, bonk notwithstanding, was fun and relatively uneventful. At 15 and a half miles, we made the decision to skip out on the Northern Sisters, and bypass Johnson Drive entirely. It would cut a few miles, but something told us it wasn’t a great idea. That was the right call. As you can see from the easy to read charts on Garmin Connect, at around mile 18, everything really slowed down. I was all over the place prior to that in terms of speed (KS is not, contrary to popular opinion, flat and the Dew Drop is a heavier bike not built for speed), but at that point it became a slow steady climb to the house, and I just lost all strength and go-power in my legs. “I got nothing,” as I told Jon at around mile 23. But, having no choice, I dug deep (and used some energy boosting disolvey tablets in my water bottle), and made it home. It was a tough 9 miles.

I am clearly and woefully out of shape.

All’s well that ends well, though. My gorgeous wife had a hot meal waiting for me when I got home, too… how’s that for awesome?

A Busy Saturday

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Following my recap of Sunday, I move on to Saturday…


09:00: House Showing at the North House

We were up at 7 to give us time for some last minute cleaning for the 09:00 house showing. No feedback on the house showing. This is both relatively common and somewhat disappointing. It’s always good to get feedback, even if it’s just “This just isn’t the house for us…” Oh well… there will be more. There has to be.

11:30: Lunch with Friends at The Legends Cheeseburger in Paradise

Lunch was with friends of mine from St. Louis who couldn’t make it to the wedding. They’re a very nice couple, the female half of which I befriended in college, and have stayed in contact with over the years, albeit infrequent contact. They have two gorgeous children, a boy and a girl in elementary school. Jami could relate quite well to them, as well as the parents. It was a nice lunch, though it wasn’t long enough. The boy is young enough that sitting in a booth in a restaurant for 2 hours left him quite restless, and he was very excited to see the bee hive at the KU Museum of Natural History.

17:00: Wedding in Baldwin City at the same church we were married

The wedding in was very nice… then again I’m a little biased. It was very similar to ours, with only a few minor changes. That is to say, it was beautiful. I think it may have been even shorter, though. The only thing really lacking was all the fun music blasting the sanctuary as the crowd is dismissed by the Bride and Groom.

18:00: Reception at Abe & Jake’s in Lawrence

The reception at Abe & Jake’s Landing was fantastic. I didn’t realize they’re only open to private parties and events. Last I heard it was your standard bar. Of course, that was 6 years ago. Things have, apparently, changed. It was a great location, though, and almost everyone had a really great time. The food was great (same caterer that we had – same MENU, in fact), the drinks were flowing freely, and the dance floor was never without plenty of dancers. It was big and spread out enough that there were places for everyone, regardless of how they wanted to spend the evening. Again… similar to ours, with the only difference being that it was inside instead of out.

Afterwards, we hung around and helped clean up as things were winding down. It was the least we could do, since the bride’s family helped us so much at our wedding, both during set up and during clean up.

24:00: Back home at the North House

A 45 minute drive back into town, and we were back home and in our beds, looking forward to a relaxing Sunday, and the previously mentioned introduction of Elliott the Cat into the South Home…

First Fridays

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I’ve recently started up something I hope will eventually take on a life of it’s own. I’ve pulled together a few people from where I work to get together informally on the first Friday of every month to talk about… well… things.

It was spawned from the desire to learn more about the other side of banking. I’ve been in the financial sector for over 10 years now, but it’s always been in the technology and security side. I know next to nothing, even after all of these years, about the business of actual banking. My interest is more professional and out of a sense of responsibility than it is passionate, but I am interested nonetheless.

What I would like to see happen, that is to say, my vision, is that it become a slightly more formal, if generous and forgiving, discussion where a given topic is chosen and presented, then discussed, each month. The goal is to learn. It’s really that simple.

I was part of something very short lived and similar to this years ago in college. I vaguely remember it being inspired by yet another similar undertaking by one of the Founding Fathers, though I cannot, for the life of me, remember who, or by what name (if anything) it went.

Today was the first First Friday. It was an informal get together at a local restaurant with no real direction, or topic or goal. We talked about our own histories a bit, and shared stories, and generally let the conversation evolve as it wanted to evolve. The four of us enjoyed it enough that we decided to let it continue.

Topic ideas are, at this point, the average weight of tulip stems through the ages and how it relates to climate change, the height of the Empire State Building and what it reveals about the industrial trends of the 18th and 19th centuries, the state of the economy today and what we can learn from the rise of Rome as a superpower, whether Enid, OK has a reasonable chance of becoming the site of the 2020 Olympics, the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow, and how we drive in traffic and what it says about us.

Anything that spawns healthy debate is welcome.

Triple Bypass Registration Closes in Record Time… Again.

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In less than 48 hours, registration for the Triple Bypass has closed. This beats the 11 days of last year by… oh… many days, or a lot of hours, depending on which makes it more dramatic for you.

I waited until the 2nd this time, which could easily have proved my undoing, apparently. It’s a good thing both myself and my brother made it through in time. We’re both in for July 11th, as are two other, as of yet to be named riders who were inspired by our participation last year. It’s going to be another great ride!!

Hammerfest to Lawrence and Back

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I just joined a fellow Defined Fitness Training LLC member, and two others for a quick out and back between Shawnee, KS and Lawrence, KS. It was a last minute invite yesterday, and since I was planning (and needed) to get out for a ride, it fit the plan perfectly.

Now… when I mean quick, I mean just that. We rode hard and fast nearly the whole way. I was hard pressed to keep up… in fact, I didn’t. Had they not slowed the pace a bit, taking mercy on my lack of riding lately, it would have changed from a group ride, to a solo ride for me.

I’m a little confused by the stats reported on motionbased.com… my Garmin shows a moving time of 3:54:18 and an average speed of 18.82mph vs. the 4:53:35 time and 15.6mph average the site recorded. I’m going to go with what’s on the Garmin itself, thank you very much. ;)

Normally when I make the trek to Lawrence from my house, I’ll stop a couple times… typically once on the way out, and once on the way back. Not so much this time. It was hard spinning from our rendezvous point at 47th and K-7 to Wheatfields Bakery?, where we (finally) took a break and had breakfast. Their English Breakfast is pretty good, as are their cafe mochas.

The new Dew Drop should be here next week… I’ll pick my riding back up again when it arrives, and all will be right in the world. I drove to work all last week… it was nice not having to plan ahead with the clothes, and being able to get home more quickly, but losing the stamina really isn’t that hot, nor is not having the extra time to myself.

The Fire Mountain’s Last Ride

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Well, I’m going to have to call it. Time of death: 06:58.

Now, a few words…

You were a good bike, and carried myself, as well as several others, through some lean times, some fantastic trails, and finally back into the wonderful world of commuting by bicycle. But, as with all things, both good and bad, it’s time to lay you to rest.

It’s for the best. You’re simply not safe to ride. I’m sorry, but it’s true. Every full stop is a moment of fear… will your chain slip again this time, throwing both feet, undignified and sloppy, to the ground? Will your cables finally snap with this change of gear? You’ve been fantastic, but your rings are shot, and your cogs are squeaky. Your cables frayed and your headset shows signs of rust.

But I don’t blame you. It’s not all your fault. I’ve been woefully lacking in taking care of you. I’ve not held up my end of the deal. You’ve given more than I ever had any right to ask of you, and only recently have you started complaining. I understand. You’re old. You’re tired. You’ve never asked for anything, and to my discredit, I’ve given you far less, for all your wonderful years of faithful service, than you deserve.

You’ve had a good run. Over 15 years and you’re still the same girl you were when I first bought you. New tires, a new seat and new bar ends are the only things I’ve changed. You’ve held up damn well, and I thank you.

But worry not. Like a Phoenix, you shall return. This weekend I will remove all those things that ail you, and take you down to your most essential… all that will remain is your frame. From there, I will rebuild you. I have the technology. I can make you better than you were. Better… stronger… faster.

Fear not, you will not be replaced. You will have your place. You won’t be discarded.

Rest in Peace, Oh Fire Mountain. You’ve lived well, and deserve a rest.

The Giant is Gone

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Friday after work, a mere day and a half after posting it on Craig’s List, my 1990 Giant Perigee was sold to a young couple looking for their first road bikes. Before they came over, I took her for one last spin around the block to make sure everything was, in fact, working the way it was the last time I rode it. She felt good, but since I’ve only ridden her about a mile in the last three years, it was time to let go.

I talked with the buyer via e’mail and phone prior to them arriving at around 7:00pm, and then the three of us, the buyer, her husband and I, chatted on the driveway for a time before they took her away. I probably babbled a little in a last minute attempt to prolong the moment. She’s new to cycling, but he has a lot of BMX experience. They’ve both been looking for reasonably priced (cheap) road bikes for a while. I’m glad I could help out.

I was genuinely sad when I watched them drive away. I hope they treat her well, and she comes through for them.