Flat tire epidemic

Between cold and wet days We have had some good rides. Saturday I met a group of about 12 for a 60 mile tempo ride at 16/17 pace with one short rest stop. The ride was good but the rest stops were frequent due to a total of 5 flat tires, none of which were mine.

During the ride an unknown (to us) rider joined our group and had an accident, he seemed like a good rider but caught a wheel and fell cutting his forehead. After getting off the road I bandaged his head and he said his name was Jerry. Jerry will be fine and was not hurt bad.

My new wheel is working out good and is said to be a bullet proof wheel. After the 5 flat tires Saturday I used a Birthday gift card to put a new set of tires on the Trek as a preventive measure and went on an afternoon ride Tuesday afternoon. At mile 24 of my 25 mile ride on my Birthday around my neighborhood I had a flat tire, I guess maybe I should have left the old tires on instead of installing new ones. I found no debris in the tire but a small hole in the tube possibly from a thorn.

Another Birthday, another trip around the sun, older and wiser but still feeling young.


Dennis
Less is really more, you'r things are no who you are.

Lonely Boat

I finally got out to the boat, it was a cold and dreary day but i still messed around and cleaned up a little. There is some truth to the saying that there is nothing better than messing around in your boat.

I was also able to get in a ride around White Rock Lake and did all the hill climbs in the area for a good hard 34 miles.

Some words to live by Less is really more, your things are not who you are

sunshine

The sun finally came out on Sunday and I met up with a group that does an afternoon ride of 32 miles with some good hills and at a good pace. There were 12 riders and the weather was perfect after all the ice and cold, I was glad to get the ride in because it has been cold ever since. Speaking of cold I have picked up a cold bug and am feeling lousy and am in no condition to ride, all I have been able to do is what little work that has to be done. Hopefully I will feel better Wednesday and can slip out for an afternoon ride.

Cabin Fever

Cold and ice, more cold and ice, enough already, I need some normal weather, is 40+ degrees to much to ask for. This weather has limited the bike rides to the indoor trainer. On the bright side I got a training DVD for Christmas called Spinervals 5.0 and have worked out to it twice. Its a good workout and is 90 minutes long with constant shifting and some off the bike work that makes the time seem to pass quickly. On the last workout I burned 1200 calories rode 26 miles and found my max heart rate is 186 ( not bad for an old guy).

Needless to say I have not even seen the sailboat in weeks but have read a sailing book Chesapeake Reflections, it was a nice read but probably a little dated. It is a documentary type about a summer cruising the bay and makes me want to use the new trailer to go there when it is finished.


I have managed to work a few minutes on the trailer but have been busy with work and its hard to get motivated to work when its only 30 degrees in the garage.

Night rides and trailer welding

I have been busy with work and could only ride on the night rides on Tuesday and Thursday and what a weather change, 40 on Tuesday 70 on Thursday. On the Thursday ride team assasin (a racing team) showed up and we had a fast hard ride only 23 miles and I was spent. This may be the last ride for a while as a winter storm is blowing in as I write this with lows in the 20's for the next week.

On the sailing front I worked a little more on the trailer, its moving along slowly but I only work on it in my spare time a few minutes at a time. I sure hope it works out well and I can fit it to the boat well.

This is the link to my old journal

http://journals.aol.com/svrisingstar/cycling-and-sailing-with-dennis

Hiking and Biking in Brady Texas

Thursday I was invited to go to a large ranch in Brady Texas with Gerald, a good Friend of mine. We went down Friday afternoon and we hiked and mountain biked all around this ranch, we saw tons of deer and wild turkeys and a lot of nature. This is rough and rocky country and is hard riding, it was even muddy but all the wildlife was amazing. It seems like all the plants have thorns so I had to ride in extra layers of clothes and even then the cactus and brush was hard on the skin.

While exploring what looked like an old homestead I found this old well and took a photo of the inside, makes me wonder whats down there.

I got the Trek road bike out of the shop with a new back wheel and chain, I could get no help in resolving the Bontrager wheel problems so I went with a Mavic wheel that is the same weight but is stronger and the people at http://www.bikemart.com/ were great and did give me a considerable discount as well as my 10% GDB discount. http://www.gdbclub.com/

Happy New Year

I hope everyone has a great 2007 and gets out a lot. I added up my mileage log for 2006 and had 5721 miles total and did 3 centuries (100 mile rides), 176 of my miles were on the trainer indoors when I couldn't get outside to ride. I think my 2007 goal will be 5000 miles with a run one time a week for cross training.

We started the year off right with a ride of 28 miles and a cool clear day, friends Gary and Lugay came over for lunch and we all 4 then rode to the Starbucks at Snyder Plaza and back.

I got in maybe 2 hours work on the sailboat trailer, at this rate is should be done by Summer. That is the plan anyway, sail all Spring and early Summer then haul the boat during the heat of Summer and for the winter of 07. We will miss the fall sailing but the next spring we will travel to some new places and be able to take the boat with us using it like an RV on the way, at 27' it has a bathroom and galley and works for short term living.

Sprocket the dog likes to sail too, he is 8 months old and is an SPCA dog we rescued.