Ok, so I lied

I truly did think I would be back on the bike on January 1st.

It only took 4.5 months to really get going. There were a few false starts, a lot of that owed to bike, hip, and knee pain (arthritis sucks) but it took signing up for the DetermiNation Cycling Classic to get rolling. I'm not sure why it worked, but once I'd taken a few (shortish) rides, the want of getting on the bike more often took hold. I set a goal of 200 miles to be done between April 16-May 16, and hit that yesterday.

I might have gotten closer to 300 if not for several days I just wasn't home to ride; we took some time off work and did fun things together, so no regrets about it.

I had hoped I'd have the Trek I ordered last September for this ride--it was expected end of April--but that's been pushed back to next January. By then, I may not want it. I mean, I will want it, but there's no need to buy it, really. Mostly because I stumbled onto a Domane+ ALR and it's got everything I wanted from the AL5. And more.

Yes, it's technically an ebike. But the beauty of this thing is that it rides like a dream without using the pedal assist--you don't even need to keep the motor and battery on the bike--and it's balanced well enough that the additional weight isn't a big deal even if you have the battery in place.

I'm doing 99.5% of my riding without using the assist. That remaining .5% is when I turn it on for the sheer fun of it. Thing is, I don't really go any faster, it just takes some of the drag off my legs. There's no throttle, so there's also no getting away without pedaling.

Why did I think this was a good option?

The aforementioned arthritis. I have it in my spine, hips, neck, and at least one knee, and it's not going away. This way I have peace of mind knowing that if I get into trouble 10 miles from home, I can turn it on and get home.

And damn, my HR gets up no matter what I do. Even riding with some assist, I'm hitting 150. I struggle to get that on my other bike...probably because I'm not spinning as fast.

So we'll see. But so far I am super happy with the decision to get it, and I am having a freaking good time riding again.

Ok, now, I really have NOT been riding...

Not long after my last post, life took a nosedive into an emotional hell, and I could not make myself get on the bike, not even to just sit on it.

Just a day after I wrote the last post, one of our cats began horking up his toenails, and a couple of days later he was diagnosed with lymphoma. Life became about trying to make him comfortable and getting him to eat, and my focus shifted from anything outside these four walls to both cats. Buddah, who was dying right in front of me, and Max, who was 19 years old and nearing the end as well.

Nine days after his diagnosis, we had to let Buddah go. I might have been able to get back on the bike after a few days, but then Max started peeing all over the house. I thought it was a UTI and I wish so badly that it had been...but instead we discovered he had a soft tissue sarcoma, and had weeks to live.

We lost Buddah on October 7th; Max died on November 13th.

Friday the 13th in 2020. I should have expected it.

In any case, between the need for constant care in the last days of their lives, and then the brutal emotional aftermath--and it was brutal for me--I just did not give a flying fark about riding.

But I'm ready to get back to it.

Somehow, I still managed to meet my minimum 2020 miles goal for the year, but I fell a little short of my 2300 goal. 

For next year, the minimum is 2021, and I'm shooting for 2300 again...knowing that if I had kept riding I would have pushed past 2500, so I know I'll have that in the back of my head and I know I'll want to hit that.

I ordered a new bike, an upgrade from my Domane AL2, a Domane AL5. It's a significant jump in the groupset, from a Shimano Claris to a 105, and is quite possibly the last bike I'll need. Oh, I'll want an Ultegra I'm sure, but I won't ever need it. And I opted for an aluminum frame over carbon for the same reason. I don't need carbon. I'm just a recreational rider, never will race or even go on group rides, so it's good enough.

So. Back at it on January 1, 2021.

Here's to hoping next year doesn't suck like this one did.

I really have been riding...

 Writing here, not so much. Riding, though, yep. With the fires blanketing much of California I've done way more miles inside on the trainer than I wanted--enough that I started to hate it--but in the last couple of weeks I was able to get outside.

Today, though...smoke. Ugh.

All through the summer I did a couple of virtual riding events just to keep me going, but September was dedicated to riding for the Great Cycle Challenge, raising money for childhood cancer research and treatment. I set two goals: raise $2500, and ride 300 miles. For most people, that 300 miles might not seem like much, but it was a stretch for me and I honestly wasn't sure I could do it.

But

Yesterday afternoon--following a 25 mile ride in the morning--I finished off the last 5 miles on a brand new single speed. 

I also surpassed my fundraising goal, hitting $2800 last night.

So September was a decent month on the bike for me. For October I've committed to a 150 mile virtual to raise money for the American Cancer Society, specifically for breast cancer. Normally I would walk a multiple day event for Komen or (as planned this year) Pledge the Pink, but with those events canceled, I am really digging the virtual events.

I'm thinking about doing as many of those 150 miles on the single speed as I can. The gear ratio on it is just a tiny bit tougher than the gear I normally zip around town in on my Domane, so it's a decent workout. And it'll make those 150 feel like 200 or more, so, bonus.

And that Trek FX I bought in May, the shiny carbon? I think I've put all of 50 miles on it. It's just not the comfortable ride I hoped for. It's not that I dislike it; I'm ambivalent about it. Ambivalent enough that I'm seriously considering selling it.

I gave the Townie to a friend who will love it as much as I did, so I'm down to 4 bikes. Well, 4 and a half, but I'm thinking about selling the Halfbike, too. 

Onward to October...

Back to inside...

I had this set up for my indoor put-put rides. Teh trusty Townie 7D, not really meant for fast fitness rides but more for cruising and with baskets on it, shopping.

My intent was to just pedal slowly and watch crap on TV, but then my hip seized up on it, reminding me that recumbents do not like me and the crank forward on this is, apparently, like a recumbent as far as my body is concerned.

It's been fine for shorter rides and tons of fun outside. But after 20 minutes...ouch. And that was an ouch that lasted for over a week and kept me from riding at all.

So, I parked it in the garage and brought the road bike in. This week the weather is turning HOT and I am a delicate flower, so I presume my riding will be done inside to prevent my death or from me curling up in a tight ball at the edge of the road while I cry like a little girl.

What I did not expect?

This is so much more comfortable on the trainer. And quieter. I still need a mat under it because it rocks a bit when I really get going, but this morning's test ride was quite nice.

Part of that might be owed to slapping a slightly wider seat on it. It's not at all cushy, but I don't feel like my sit bones are being massively wounded while I'm on it.

So, yeah, I clearly have a fat ass.

One short 25 minute ride is not enough to really decide that this is THE seat, but I didn't feel like squirming around and didn't hit 5 miles and wish for either a magical fairy to sprinkle numb-butt dust on me nor did I decide holy hell I need a break.

Along with swapping the seat, I added speed and cadence sensors so I at least have a better idea of how fast and far I'm going. I was just timing it on the Townie and I know I was off by quite a bit, simply because I don't think I was pedaling fast enough.

After about 5 minutes I also put a fan on the floor in front of the bike, because inside riding is hot. Go figure.

I did about half an hour just to test it out, and will probably do another half later. Or longer. I have a whole bunch of series to binge and I am years behind on most of them.

Yep, I did it again

After a leg injury that kept me off the bike for a couple of weeks, I picked this up:

Trek FX Sport 4 Carbon.

I decided I wanted a fitness type bike, one that won't be the ride-as-fast-as-I-can thing, but the one I'll ride when I'm out with the Spouse Thingy. And when I'm not trying to sprint.

New Bike Day is Best Day, so of course when I picked it up, as soon as I got it home the skies opened up and it rained like a mofo. On one hand, argh. On the other...time to put on the bottle cages and Gramin mount.

I've now had the chance to put about 40 miles on it. It's still a bit breezy out but unless I'm heading right into it, not too bad. It took a few miles and getting off and back on to get the seat angle and height right where I wanted, but now that it's dialed in...not too shabby.

It rides quite a bit like my road bike, which is a good thing. I wanted that same feeling but with a flat bar, which gives me a fair shot at figuring out which one I like the most. And while it's way too soon to tell, right now, it's pretty well tied up. I like them both a little too much to be natural.

The fitness bike is a little slower, though part of that right now is trying to ride with the wind pushing at me--and I can feel it. But even when riding where I'm blocked from the wind, I can feel how much the change in position (which is surprisingly not that much) puts me into a but more resistance.

And oddly, my hands hurt more on this, but that might just be a matter of getting used to it. The grips are ergonomic and cushioned, but my hands don't get to move around as much (though I did switch up and use the inner part of the handlebar for a while today, gave me a little relief.)

What I haven't done is swapped back and forth between the two bikes yet, and I won't for about a week. I want to give this one a good breaking in...and also want to change the saddle on the road bike.

I've had a Specialized Power Pro with Mimic on it, and at first it felt all right, but over the miles I started having some serious pain right where my left sit bone hit the seat. This wasn't even a get-used-to-the-seat thing; this was agonizing and left me literally bruised. I spent a few minutes describing the pain to someone who knows a thing or two and who works for the company, and he thought I had a saddle too narrow for the distance between my sit bones.

Now, I was sitting there groaning internally because it's not a cheap saddle. And I wasn't about to pony up for a new one. But because he's the one who hooked me up in the first place, he arranged to have the next size sent, and when it gets here I can send the other one back.

If that doesn't work...well, the one on my fitness bike is (seemingly) comfy so I can order one of those.

In any case, I'm digging the new ride and am now pouting because tomorrow it's supposed to rain. Hard. With a lot of wind. I could ride in the rain, but I don't want to on a new bike and besides...I'm delicate. Tomorrow's miles will be done inside while I catch up on The Crown...which I am WAY behind on.

Priorities. I has them.

I go zoom

Yesterday I discovered the joy of sprinting. On the bike, I'm still not a runner and have accepted that I never will be. I'm still not fast by any stretch of the imagination, but I hit a speed higher than I ever got on the screaming neon pink electric bike using pedal assist 3 in 7th gear--and to me that felt like I was flying.

Just to get some fresh air, we pulled the bikes out of the garage yesterday afternoon and headed out for a short ride, and after a bit the thought poked at me: go faster. Or at least try to. Let's embrace the notion of high intensity interval training and just...go.

So I went.

Normally I ride at about 13mph, which is a vast improvement over the 8 mph I started at last year when I bought the gray hybrid. And again on the little blue Townie. Like I said, I'm slow. Thirteen feels respectable to me, and it's a casual kind of riding. Just enough to get my HR to about 140. I figured I have some wiggle room with the HR now and can push to 150-155 without worrying that my heart will explode, so I pushed up to 15. Then 16. And that felt pretty freaking good...until I changed gears and realized the chair was rubbing against the front derailleur.

Bollocks.

The Spouse Thingy suggest I move off the little chain ring to the big one and play with the rear cogs to find the same ration...but I don't have the same sweet spots there. Still, I switched gears and headed off again, and did the same sprint/slower/sprint/slower thing. Just as I was running out of gas--a 180 calorie lunch is not enough, boys and girls--I looked at the bike computer to check my HR and saw the speed.

19 mph

Yeah, not FAST for most riders, but fast for me. I literally have not topped that on the pink beast, even using pedal assist. My top on that is 17. I could go higher; I could use the throttle and hit 24, but never wanted to. I got a weird little thrill out of hitting 19 under my own power, even if it was only for a bit over a quarter mile.

Now I need to see if I can adjust that front derailleur so that the chain doesn't rub, and if I can't I'll have to take the bike in and pay someone else to turn a few screws (I should be able to, it's a matter of patience and paying attention to tiny gaps, and I'm not sure I have that kind of patience.) If I don't and try to ride on the little cog, I can totally see the chain coming off when I shift, and with my luck it would startle me badly enough that I'll wipe out.

And apropos to nothing...that new saddle is amazing. Between it and switching to the Pearl Izumi Pro shorts, I'm now super comfortable on the bike.

The downside...I have outgrown the pink beast, and honestly, it makes me a little sad because it was my absolute favorite toy of all time. It's not going anywhere; it's still fun to ride for kicks, and once DKM is ready to start riding, it'll live in her garage for a while, so she can play with it and decide if she even likes riding.

Now if only today's rain would let up and the wind would die down...

Happy New Saddle Day

Ok, I gave the stock seat on my Domane a good 300 miles, and while it was okay, I couldn't do more than 10 miles at a time before I had to get off for a bit. And even during that 10, I found myself moving around a lot, trying to alleviate pressure points.

So I spent the bucks and got a Specialized Power Pro with Mimic, and holy fark, what a difference.

(Yes, I put a Specialized saddle on a Trek bike. I'm evil like that.)

I put it on this morning, and as soon as I headed out, I knew there was going to be a huge difference. I usually start out with an "ouch" that settles into, eh, okay. This time I just sat and rode. My sit bones hit where sit bones are supposed to, I didn't feel pressure or pain, and didn't move around at all.

I gave it 7.5 miles, kinda slow, just getting the feel for it and a new pair of gloves. By the end of the ride I knew I needed to lower the nose of the seat about a millimeter, but other than that, yeah, this seat is worth the cost.

Tomorrow's ride will likely be twice as long to give it a good test; I've already adjusted the nose and am ready (presuming I don't go out here again this afternoon...) but I have a feeling it's going to be a fairly comfy 15.

=click=

I didn't get back on the bike until yesterday. My shin was all kinds of ouch, feeling like a sunburn being rubbed by sandpaper every time I took a step, so pedaling was probably going to drive me a bit nuts. I listened to the little voice in my head that said to wait--which was helped out by several days of heavy wind--but yesterday was bright and beautiful and I just kinda had to.

It felt good. But I got a few miles into it and noticed a click that occurred with every pedal rotation. My first worry was that I'd done damage to the bike when I went down last week. My second was that if I kept riding, something was going to give and I'd eat asphalt again. So I stopped, and spent some time slowly back pedaling to see if it was the chain or the cogs, or what.

I noted one little blip on one cog, one tooth, but wasn't sure. So I ended the ride at 5 miles, which was fine for the first one after a week.

This morning I put the bike up on the work stand and tried again. I didn't know if I'd be able to figure it out--I'm still way too much of a newby--but I hoped I would at the very least be able to get some video and articulate to the bike shop what the issue was. And I found that same little blip, but I could not replicate the click.

I rotated the pedals forward, backward, fast, slow...no click.

So, I too the bike down, decided to go for a ride to see what was what, and right at 10 minutes, the click started again. It was with every full rotation of the chain, I thought, but when I stopped and tried to back pedal, no click.

Curious.

I decided to take a minute, think, get a drink. And as I held the metal water bottle, turned a little, I heard it. Ice cubes against the metal... click...click...click.

I'm a moron.

Ouch

A couple days ago, while we were out on a planned 10 mile ride, I tried to go up a sloped curve--the kind typically found at the entry to someone's driveway. I've gone up this exact spot a couple hundred times over the last 3 years, no problem, but this time I didn't quite approach it at the right angle, the tire caught, and I went down like a sack of potatoes.

Just =boom= onto my left side.

It was a good thing I wasn't alone, because I needed help getting up. Getting old, it sucks. If not for the bike still begin firmly between my legs I could have just rolled over and crawled up onto my knees and then up, but I was kinda stuck. And everything hurt. But, the Spouse Thingy helped me up, I made sure I could still move essential body parts, and we then slowly made our way to Dutch Bros where I could sit and assess how I really felt.

Nothing was broken, but my entire left side was not happy with me. And in that moment, more importantly, the bike was okay. We took fifteen minutes, shared a drink, and then finished the last 3 miles of the ride.

Got up the next morning and holy hell. Ouch. All over. And as the day progressed, the bruises began to show. My right index finger must had gotten caught under the brake lever, because it's a lovely shade of red. My left shin must have hit the ground first, given there's a nice softball sized bruised rearing its lovely head, and it's a bit swollen to boot.

My left shoulder, left hip, and my neck are all reminding me that they, too, were unhappy with meeting the ground.

Still...I was mostly miffed about not being able to ride. I mean, I could have, but it wasn't a great idea.

Now today I'm sitting here, looking outside because it's a gorgeous day, trying to decide if it's worth getting on the bike and piling onto the pain. My left shoulder especially is telling me it's still not happy, and my shin hurts every time I walk.

But I kinda wanna.

We'll see.

Oh, and I still keep reaching for brake levers that aren't there. Muscle memory is a hell of a thing.

Hm. Well.

Something I hadn't considered before buying the new bike (not that it would have mattered) was the whole kickstand situation. I knew it wouldn't come with one, but I have a spiffy kickstand sitting in the garage and figured I would just slap that sucker on and be done.

Yeah. No. It doesn't have the mounting plate I expected. Now, I can get a kickstand that works with it, but now I'm thinking, eh, why bother? This is a bike I don't plan on leaving anywhere except the garage. It's a ride-to-ride bike, straight out of the garage back into the garage. I'm not putting a rack on it, won't carry a lock unless I feel like I have to, no baskets or saddlebags... Just ride.

Of course, today it was cold and rainy, and I'm not confident enough to ride this bike when it's wet, so I took a little bit to put a bottle cage and Garmin bracket on, and then stare outside like I was personally offended by the weather. Tomorrow should be better and I'll get my first real ride on it. I did a short, check-it-out ride yesterday, just 5 miles, but it was enough to tell me I'll need time to get used to the weight of the bike--holy cow it is light--and using my core better.

One thing I kept reaching on my short ride yesterday for was something I haven't used in 38 years:

Suicide brake levers. The few times I had my hands on the flat part of the bar, old muscle memory expected them to be there. I don't expect to ride in that position a lot, but there's a tiny part of me that wishes they were still there, even if they weren't the most effective way of braking.

I'll get used to it.

So, fingers crossed that tomorrow's a great day for riding, because I'm a few kinds of excited about it.

HAPPY NEW BIKE DAY TO ME!

 

2020 Trek Domane AL 2

This is going to be so much fun

A Smidge Over 60 in Two Days...

Last year I was supposed to participate in the Komen 3 Day Walk in San Diego. Sixty miles walked over the span of three days; it's kind of brutal, there are HILLS, it hurts, and yes, it forking hurts.

The surprising thing is that anyone does it more than once. But, there are hundreds who do it every year, and I've done it several times. But last year I was unable to go, and after having raised over $2000, I felt as if I owed my donors those miles.

It's happened before; I've walked the miles later. But those miles are not as hard, because I have control over the environment and don't tackle those huge hills. I have comfortable places to stop for breaks, instead of the quick grab food and go pit stops, and I can have lunch anywhere I choose instead of sitting on the ground trying to make myself eat another Panera sandwich.

To make up the miles this year, I decided I would bike them. And instead of three days, I'd do it in two.

I had serious doubts about the number of miles I would be able to do in one day. I was fairly sure I could do 30, if I took several breaks. I doubted I could do more than 40, even with those breaks. Still, the 40-mile range is what I was shooting for, thinking I could do the rest the next day, likely very slowly.

I set out around 10 am on January 11th, and took my first break right at 20 miles. And I felt good. I wasn't pushing it too hard, so my legs weren't screaming at me, but the most surprising thing was that I wasn't screaming at my saddle for biting me in the asterisk. I sat an an outside table at Starbucks for about 15 minutes, then hopped back on.

By this point I was confident about 30 and hopeful about 40, but didn't even consider more than that.

At 40, I was tired. My knees were starting to mutter things at me, but I wasn't spent. So I kept on. I was getting looks from people who had seen me ride by a dozen times--it's a small town and there are only so many routes I can take--but I felt like I had five more miles in me.

At 45, the idea that I probably could do all 60 began to settle in my brain. That was only 15 more. Another hour. Of course I could do that.

But then I got to 48, and the knees were screaming instead of muttering, and my backside was crying. At 50 I was only a few minutes from home, so common sense won out.

I stopped at 51.55, and thought that was enough. If I'd walked in the 3 Day, I probably would have jumped in a sweep van a few times, and only done 50-55 miles. The number of miles felt fair, and I called it done. After that, I was certain I would wake up in a ton of pain, barely able to move, and riding again wouldn't just hurt, but HURT.

But...I got up on Sunday and felt fine. A cycling friend recommended that I do a short ride even if I hurt a little for no reason other than to push the lactic acid out of my muscles, so a short ride it would be.

I did a squidge under 11 miles.

So, really, I did it. 60 miles in two days.

No, I don't think I'll do it again. I think I got lucky this time, with energy and low pain levels, and I didn't burn as many calories as I thought I would...but damned if I wasn't hungry as if I had. I wanted to eat ALL THE THINGS for the rest of the day, and I took in as many as I burned.

I'm not even sure my future charity endeavors will require the racking up of miles.

Either way, at least I know I can do a long ride if I feel it's important. And doing those miles was important to me. Those who donated did it for the charity, but still.

Now that it's done, I'm looking forward to this:

Trek Domane AL2. I ordered it last Friday and it should be here by Monday. This will be my first road bike in 40 years. The last one I owned was a Schwinn Continental that I bought in 8th grade and sold my junior or senior year of college. I loved that bike and still have regrets about letting it go. I dig my pink bike, I dig my little Townie, I dig the hybrid...but I've been itching for a road bike and decided to get an entry-level Domane.

I have a feeling 10 miles on this will hurt a little at first.

No worries, though. Give me a couple months, it'll be fine.

Okay, so, I have been riding...

I had a goal to hit 2,000 miles by the end of 2019, and I squeaked into that in November. I think I ended the year with 2300 or so, but I forgot to check on the 31st and by midnight, the ticker had rolled over to a big fat 0 for 2020.

On the plus side, I'm already at 40 for 2020...which is also my goal for this year. 2020. Mostly because I signed up for a run-the-year challenge and hope to get a lot more than that, but 2020 seems like a good goal to shoot for.

On the minus side...yeah, that pretty white bike I bought in August just isn't going to cut it. I mean, it's a fun ride, but it feels like being on my pink bike, and if I'm going to experience that ride, I'll just take the pink one.

The one I really want...

And the half bike...eh...the learning curve is such that I'm more worried about hurting myself than I am in mastering it. So next week I'm putting both up for sale, with the idea that the funds from that will go toward a road bike. I've been itching for one the last couple of months and have my eye on an entry-level Trek Domane AL2, though I'd really like the Domane SL5. Major price difference, though. So we'll see.

$900 versus $3000 is a pretty steep difference and it would be a no brainer if I already knew how well I would take to drop bars. But if I get enough for the two bikes, and possibly the Street Strider and Flex bike...hell, I might go for it.

But first...I have a 60 mile ride to get done, miles owed for a missing charity event. Fun times.

I need a bigger garage.

Townie Commute 27D

Okay, this happened.

Like, it happened the day after I last posted, though I had to order it to get it at the shop I wanted and in the color I wanted.

Townie Commute 27D, which brings me up to, ah, 5 bikes? Or actually 5.5 bikes, because this also happened:

Not dying on the Halfbike

It's a sucky picture, but I snagged it from a short video Mike took while I was trying to learn to to ride it.

It's a Halfbike 3, a toy I was lucky enough to win, and a toy that is so forking hard to learn to ride. It looks like it should be easy, but it's the opposite of easy and I just might kill myself on it.

I haven't spent much time on it because there's a lot of stumbling involved, and we agreed that we would not take it out alone until we both have the hang of it. There hasn't been a lot of time to play with it, owing to heat and Real Life, but next week the temps are suppose to cool down and we have no other plans, so... yeah, we'll find a nice flat place and go play with it. After we finally get it, I may ride it a hell of a lot because it's one hell of a workout.

In the last month I have been riding, just not as much as I like. I missed a week due to pet sitting (could have taken my bike, but am not yet comfortable in that neighborhood) and some rides have been cut short because of the heat. I had really hoped I would acclimate better to the heat, and I have a bit, but not as much as I need to ride during the summer here.

Right now, the pink beast is in the shop getting the brakes checked over. The pads were replaced a couple hundred miles ago but the squealing returned, along with a rubbing sound. The rubbing worries me more than the squeal; it might just be out of alignment but it might be the disk...and my up-close vision isn't good enough to really see what's going on.

It's not like I don't have other bikes to ride. This morning I took a couple of them out, swapping out every 2 miles or so because I really want to see which of the Townies I enjoy the most.

I was surprised.

Townie 7D

The Commute is solid, but heavy, and I feel every bit of those 40 pounds going up a hill, but other than that, it's fun. I'm not at all speedy on it, but I'm not racing so it really doesn't matter. The 7D is lighter and I notice that when I'm riding, but I'm not really any faster...yet it feels like so much more fun.

The more I ride them, I'm pretty sure the Commute will become the grocery-getter. The baskets fit on it and it's got a nice front rack; I could haul an entire weeks' worth on it, no problem. The 7D is the fun bike, the one I'll ride just to get a ride in.

And I went back and forth on selling the Marin, but if I'm honest with myself, I just don't want to. I want to figure out how to make it work for me. I'm putting the flat bar back on it and ordered some ergonomic grips, and we'll start there. I have the spiffy Terry Butterfly seat my friend Char gave me for my birthday, and if everything else dials in, I'll get another Kinekt seat post for it.

The main reason for selling it was space. Our bike storage space is 90% of a single car stall, and we had a big scooter and motorcycle in it along with the bikes. I sold my scooter, and we're going to try to sell the motorcycle next week, which will open up all kinds of space. I can put a rack on the wall for the bikes not in rotation, and keep them...until I find something else. I don't need or want to keep the Raleigh Venture, but at some point I'd like to get another electric to add to the stable, so that Mike and I can take them places and ride where there are hills.

With autumn sneaking up, I think I'll get more miles in. And hopefully get fully back on track to crush my 2000 mile goal for 2019.

Oh and I still have this.

It's been in the storage shed for a long time, because it kills my knee, but...

I'm in better shape.

I might be able to ride it now.

I freaking love having options.

And damn...I hardly had any tattoos when that picture was taken and it looks kinda...wrong.

I'm getting behind...

I set a 2000 mile goal for the year, but with 600 to go I think I'm a little behind schedule.

Part if it is spending so much time fiddling around trying to make the hybrid fit. Part of it is too many uber-hot days that I haven't been able to ride in.

I've tried acclimating to warmer rides, but given that I overheat easily, there's a threshold I don't dare cross, and it's right in the 95 degree range.

But, I'm looking at another bike tomorrow, and I've removed most of the extras I added to the hybrid in preparation to sell it. I really hope the bike tomorrow will fit well; it has a moderately crank-forward position--not as much as my Townie, but closer to my Pedego--and it's a 27 speed so hills won't be as much of an issue if I encounter them.

I doubt I'll buy it tomorrow, but I might put some cash down if they don't have the color I want and can get it. It comes in white, and I kinda want that. Other choice is black, and...meh.

I'll take black if it's all I can get and the bike is perfect.

But...I gotta get out more. I don't want to get too far behind.

Frustration

I've got the seat height on the Marin dialed in, I think. The new seat still hurts but it also still has that feeling that once it's broken in, it'll be awesome.

It's still not perfect, and the more I ride, it's nowhere near great. I swapped the bars out initially because I had a lot of shoulder and back pain, and now that I'm not hyper-focusing on my knee, I can feel the same tugging between my shoulders and the same lower back pain.

I took it out for a short ride today, trying to pay close attention to the things that bother me, seeing if I could figure it out without bugging a bunch of other people. If I can get more upright, it eases up. If I lean forward more--as if I were riding with drop bars--it eases up. Yet if I change the bars again, I may be back to square one, dealing with my knees because the overall geometry will change.

I've hit the point where I kinda want to sell this bike, and sell the older Raleigh, keep the Townie, and look for a more upright bike with more than 7 speeds. The downfall of the Townie is the gearing and its weight; 99% of the time it doesn't matter, but if I hit a hill, I'm gonna have a bad time.

After the short ride on the Marin, I grabbed the pink beast and headed back out, and it was nothing but fun. I need that, but without the motor.

I've been eyeing the Electra Townie Commute--upright and 27 speeds--but I have to clear garage space before I can even think about it.

Aces!

My birthday is near the end of the month, but I've already gotten a gift from a couple of my close friends.

Unlike the stock seat, this is female-specific (I bought a men's frame. And as I leaned, the seat kinda matters in terms of gender) and it matches my bike, with extra splashes of pink and blue (if you know me, you know why I dig hot pink.)

It's the 4th seat for the gray hybrid. I tried the stock for a while, a well-reviewed seat off Amazon, a Pedego memory foam, and now this. I thought the Pedego would work; after all, on the ebike it's super comfy. But I didn't account for the wider seat with a standard pedal position. The Pedego has a very mile crank forward position, about an inch to an inch and a half. It makes the wide front portion of the seat a non-issue, but on my hybrid, that tiny bit of extra seat dug into my thighs and was seriously uncomfortable.

So I put this one on this morning, leaving the new Kinekt seat post in place, made some adjustments, and then took off on a short test ride.

Zero knee pain.

That's mostly from the changes in the seat height, I think, but combined with this seat? It works. At least for the time I was on the bike, five miles, it worked.

The seat definitely needs to be broken in, but my gut says once it does it will be terrific. I didn't feel squirmy until mile 4, and most of where it bothered me can be taken care of my pointing the seat down just a tiny, tiny bit. The rest will come from breaking it in.

It was a good test for the seat post, too. I intentionally rode over a street surface so bumpy that it generally makes my teeth rattle, and the vibrations from it render my side mirror useless. I didn't feel a thing going over it today and had a stellar view of the idiot driver of a car coming up behind me at about 25 over the speed limit.

So far with this bike, I've swapped out the flat bar for the Surly Open Bar, lessening my reach, which helps with my back. Added the rear rack and Topeak tail bag. Kinekt seat post. And now the Terry bike seat. Really, I think the only things I now need are splashes of hot pink to make the bike seat look even better with the gray bike.

I also have a bit of a conundrum now: which bike to ride on any given day. This bike is fun. The Townie is fun. The Pedego is seriously fun, though harder to get my HR up now. What do, what do...

So, maybe...

The joys of the Internet. There are a frakton of knowledgeable people who are willing to let newbies pick their brains, so I did.

What the hell else can I try to make my bike work for me?

They asked all the questions I expected--what have you tried, what's different about the bike since purchasing it, has the pain increased or decreased--but then I got a question that made me go, "Huh."

Is the knee pain in the same place as it was before changing the seat and post and then moving the seat back?

Well, no. Thinking about it, no. The pain was on the front of my knee, which is why others had told me to move the seat back. Now it's on the lower left anterior portion of my knee.

The place where it hurts when I climb stairs. Or ladders.

Yeah, you need to see a doctor about that.

It sounds like I have addressed the problems with the bike fit. Now my problem is a decades-old issue that's been getting worse over the last couple of years. It just hadn't really occurred to me. All I thought on the bike yesterday was that my knee still farking hurt, and I want that bike to work. I like that bike. A lot.

So now I need to suck it up and go see my doc, and hope he doesn't dismiss it as the aches of a fat older woman. The last time I had it looked at, that's exactly what happened, though I was much younger and the doc was mostly, yeah, lose weight you fucking cow, of course your knee hurts.

It was the attitude, not the actual words.

My current physician has been pretty decent and very supportive when I've mentioned the things I do to stay active, and he took me seriously when I had shoulder issues related to over-swimming.

Maybe that's why I'm reluctant. He'll take it seriously and I'll end up in an MRI machine, and I am a wee bit claustrophobic, especially when I have to take my glasses off.

Until then...I have the townie. I have the pink beast. And it occurred to me today that I have a lovely little stationary bike that I can plop in front of the TV; outside it's hotter than Satan's left testicle, and I didn't want to brave the heat, so I did an easy 10 miles on it.

Despite the photo, it's not great for putting a computer on (though that's why I bought it and was annoyed when I realized it's hard to type while you pedal) but it's excellent for reading or watching TV. And I wore a HR monitor while I was on it, and the calorie burn over 10 miles on it was only slightly lower than 10 on the Townie. So it was good enough for today, and I might get back on this evening just for the hell of it.

But yeah...my knee. At least now I know the hybrid could still be a keeper. Unless something better comes along. Something shiny and bright. I like shiny and bright.

Well, dangit...

Kinekt seat post, super comfy

I swapped out the seat post and saddle on the gray bike (I'm not really sure I can call it a hybrid anymore, I've changed enough that it's more like a city bike) and adjusted the post height, hoping that would ease the knee pain, but... nope. I did two miles and it hurt from start to finish. I went home and grabbed the Townie, and did another 10 with zero pain.

So, I dunno.

I'm going to put the old seat post and stock saddle back on, wear some bike shorts, and then see what happens. I'm struggling to remember if I had as much pain before I changed the seat; I only remember that I changed it because my asterisk hated it and I'm not thrilled with having to change into bike shorts before a ride.

Cripes, I've only had it for three or four months. I should remember.

It shouldn't matter, really. I like the Townie, but it is slower. I don't really care about that if I'm just headed out for groceries and the like, but for a dedicated fitness ride, I'd like to be faster. Yesterday's 12.5 miles took an hour and fifteen minutes, which is only about 10 minutes longer, but still. I felt slow, and I struggled to get my heart rate up. I averaged 122bpm; on the hybrid I average 10-12 higher.

I shoot for a 500 calorie burn. If I'm going to spend an extra fifteen minutes in the saddle, I kind of want an extra fifteen minutes worth of burn.

Logically, I'm not sure why I want to be faster. I'm having fun, I enjoy the ride, and that's the important thing. But I'm four months into a plateau, I don't think I can cut my calories any further--I'm already at 1200-1300--but I also don't think I can spend that much more time on the bike every day.

This would be nice...

A friend advised I get back in the pool to mix things up, but the only pools are a town away and historically, after a few weeks, I start loathing the drive out there. And I have a perfectly good treadmill at home, and a killer rowing machine...I should make better use of those before joining another gym.

Now, ideally, a pool in the back yard would be nice, but I don't see that happening for a while.

Soon, probably next week or the week after, we're moving stuff around the house so that the treadmill and rowing machine are in the otherwise unused living room, or even where my office currently is. The problem with those being in the spare bedroom is that it's easy to forget that they're even in the house, and it doesn't help that the room is hot and gets hotter when someone is working out.

But damn. I have to figure out something to break this plateau. I honestly thought that by now I would be very close to my goal weight, but I'm so far off it's discouraging.

And I know, this is about being healthy and not focusing so much on my weight. I'm doing pretty freaking good at the eating better and exercising well, but I'm not happy with my weight still. I'm not comfortable. Were I comfortable, I think I'd be happy with it.

And fuck it, I just want to wear a tight t-shirt and not feel all self-conscious about it.

 And apropos to nothing...I was going to take that cup holder off because none of the lidded cups I had fit it well enough. Then yesterday as I locked up at Starbucks, one of the regulars was getting out of her car and stopped to ask about the new bike and was geeking over it. She's quite a bit older and loved the crank forward position, the idea of being able to get her feet down at a stop.

In talking I mentioned taking the cup holder off, and why, and she told me to wait. She was inside the store for a couple of minutes and came out with this cup and told me to try that out. And it fit perfectly. And damned if she hadn't bought it for me, and had the barista rinse it out so that I could pour my tea into it.

So I'm keeping the holder for now, because I seriously enjoyed the ride home having the cup right there.

It's the little things...

...and now I need to go shopping...

The new bike arrived a week ago--just in time for me to leave to go watch the Boy's pets for a day--and by the time I got home the temps were an unpleasant Nope and I was already dead tired, so I didn't get any riding done beyond an inaugural 3 miles to see how it rode.

Those 3 miles were pleasant enough, but not any real test of how my giant asterisk was going to like it, nor how my knees would hold up. But I was happy enough and looked forward to the next ride.

Friday I ordered a couple of nifty pannier baskets that slip right over the rear rack, and a basket that apparently doesn't play nice with the baskets but will otherwise be great for carting small stuff. I also grabbed a phone holder, bottle cage, and cup holder for the handlebar, and when it all arrived on Monday--direct from Trek, I am impressed--I pulled the bike into the house and started putting things on.

Today I took it out for what I hoped would be 10 miles, but the heat got to me and I was home at 8. Still not too bad, and if it cools down a little this evening I can go back out.

The good: it's an easy bike to ride. I felt comfortable the whole time today, with zero knee pain and I didn't hit 5 miles and wish for a better seat and tougher backside. Shifting was smooth (and I didn't expect that given that this is a kind cheap group set) and the rim brakes are solid. I had a ton of fun and for hauling stuff around, I think this will be a winner.

The cup holder will be removed; it won't hold any of the bottles or cups I carry, but the spiffy kitty-bottle-cage will.

The not as good: it's slow. I mean, I'm slow as it is, but a little slower on this. I was warned it was a slower bike because of the weight (doesn't really feel heavy to me) and geometry, but when you ride at a solid 11-12 mph, how much slower can it be?

2-3 miles slower, it seems.

Still, I'm not at all unhappy about that. If I'd done the full 10 I'd planned on, I think the calorie burn would have been right where I wanted it, 500 or so.

I also need to find a better way to secure the side baskets. They're made for this bike and hook right onto the rack, but without anything in them, the left one lifted a little bit, even with a bungee wrapped around it. I'll figure it out.

All in all, for the 11 miles I've been on it, it's fun and will work for me.

Next up, though, is changing the seat post and seat on the gray hybrid, then rechecking my leg extension. I'm pretty sure I can address the knee pain this way, and I still want to use this bike for rides where I don't intend to stop for anything more than a drink at Starbucks. It's lighter and with the new seat, I think it'll be comfy.

My pink beast is probably going to be the least ridden of the bikes, even though it's still my favorite. And I feel kind of bad about that, like the bike is even going to care.