Tuesday, July 16, 2013

bike cobwebs

After all the running I did earlier in the year, I decided to drop the miles back down. Actually I didn't decide, my body did. I started to have a few minor aches and pains. I still feeling pretty good in the pool. I am maintaining fitness by running around 30 miles and swimming 11000 yards every week.

The weather has been so nice lately that I decided to dust the cobwebs off the bike and finally take the bike outside last week. First I had to make sure everything was in working order. I had a buddy, who recently finished bike mechanic training, check it out. Everything looked good except the rear wheel. I found a decent set of wheels to use for training. I finally have a dedicated trainer wheel. No more switching the tire back and forth. I tried to turn on the QUARQ power meter, but no power meter present. I started to unscrew the battery cap and it broke. I grabbed the cap off my wife's bike and still nothing. I tried her batter too and still nothing. I bought new batteries to make sure there wasn't a bigger a problem. I guess the batteries were dead. I contacted QUARQ and explained what happened. They sent out a new cap the next day. Awesome customer service!!! . Once I set the new battery with cap, the bike was ready to roll.

On Tuesday, I took the Lynskey for 2 hours. I wanted one of the athletes I am coaching to ride a hillier route. We rode from Dupont thru Steilacoom, University Place, and turned around at the top of 6th Avenue in Tacoma. The last time I sat on the bike was back in March, but that was indoors. The last time I took it outside was October. It felt great to be back on the bike.

Two days ago I went out with a few friends for a longer ride. We rode from Dupont Forza thru JBLM, Yelm, Ranier then back home. I felt pretty good for most of it except the last few miles. I am definitely lacking some bike fitness. I finished just shy of 57 miles. I spent more time on the bike Sunday then combined for all of 2013. It's time to start riding the bike more.