Getting Your Money's Worth

I think I got my money's worth out of these tires. This happened about 30 minutes into my ride yesterday:



That's from the outside, and this is from the inside:



Amazingly I was able to boot it with a pair od dollar bills and it got me home. I pumped it up to 50 PSI and it got me there. Last night I put new shoes on it.

My Crazy Child

Variousness

Here's what the world looked like when I got on the train this morning:



It was a nice morning, bright sun, cool and crisp.

ChrisG

"I say do what is gonna give you the most return on the time you put in. Riding the trainer with purpose is better than sleeping in, if getting fitter/faster is a goal."

It's weird, I admit. And I know that part of you has to be like, "This guy is nuts." But I think we're all odd in whatever way, and this is just how my brain works. I respond better at 4:50 am to the idea that there's work I need to do as opposed to it being time to go have fun, as fun at that time of day is defined by more sleep.

BikNBen

"Trainers are off limits until the clocks change."

Last year I was better, but this year I'm just not motivated to ride in the dark before work. I also don't have a rear blinkey at the moment as 3 of mine blew up last year. While they're not very expensive it gets annoying having to replace these stupid things routinely.

Terren

"Thank you Norm. This should be read by everyone on the planet, even people in Antarctica."

I will print out the letter and send it parcel post to those people.

Walter

"its the same people that say, "It's not the heat, it's the humidity""

It's not the heat, it's the stupidity?

Dump Truck

Terren sent a cool ass link of slo-mo lightning.

Tuesday Confession

Last night it was raining when we went to bed, and it was already about 62 degrees. So I said to myself that I was going to hit the trainer this morning instead of the road. It's really early in the season to be hitting the trainer but then the reality struck me at what exactly is going on here. At first it makes no sense but follow me here.

I've been stressing to myself lately that I need to make sure I'm having fun on the bike. So if I race, just go out and have fun. On weekend try to hook up with some of the team and enjoy the ride more than making it a training ride. Try to do rides you enjoy as often as possible. Enjoy life.

So when the alarm rings at 4:50 on a Tuesday morning, here is how I enjoy life the most: Go back to bed. No matter what I do, I'm not exactly enjoying myself to the fullest out there when the sun isn't even up and it's 5:23 am. Here's the reality of the situation. If I only ride to have fun, I'll ride 2-3 times a week.

That basically translates to the other 2-3 rides being work. And if I'm going to work, let's make it as short and efficient as possible. That means it's time to hit the trainer, which is exactly what I did this morning.

This might not make complete sense to some people, and I can understand that. But I'm having problems getting out on the road, doing my full interval session, and having time to catch the second train. The trainer makes the ride much more efficient and cuts time off either end of the ride. So I'm done with my ride by 6:30 and showered by 6:40. That gives me 50 minutes to eat breakfast, pack lunch, and relax. If I hit the road I'm often out of the shower after 7:00 and rushing to get out the door in time.

I'm not all in on the trainer yet but I am likely to hit it 1-2 times a week from now on. In an ideal world I would be able to ride my bike 20 miles to work, shower there, then ride home at the end of the day, 5 days a week. But the world isn't ideal so I'm on the train to Brooklyn after having done the trainer thing this morning.

So while it may seem insane, and I admit that it does, it also makes sense in a lot of ways. I'm ok with it for now, especially since the dark days of winter have not yet arrived. In 4 months you may want to point me to my own post and point out that I was ok with this back in August. For now it's ok though.

Know Your Girth

I don't have a whole lot on my brain today. It's Monday morning, got a great ride in up at Ringwood yesterday with Bill, Ben, and Fred. Saturday I was off the bike because I slept in and missed my window to ride. Not quite rested enough because Julia is once again sick, waking up a lot, and blah blah blah.

Cycle 48

I'm just guessing on the cycle number now.

Victim: New Providence, white, woman, 40-49, married, not regular, fat. This is the first time I'm sharing the seat with a fat woman. We're not talking 250 pounds of hunka hunka burning love but there's enough width here to make the ride uncomfortable and make me question once again what the hell it is I'm doing with this stupid experiment. Looking around at the 3 seaters though they're all full, so I'd be packed in anyway.

Ok so if you're a hunka chunka wider load person I think you gotta check your girth settings at the door and sit with someone more amenable to your taking up over half the seat. I'm sitting here sardined between the wall of the train and eternal softness. I'm not someone who is easily bugged out but this is kinda gross. I'm really not looking to know what the softness of your wide thighs feel like on the Monday morning ride into work or, for that matter, ever. No, certainly not ever. That's ill.

Yeah I'm down with the idea that we all pay for the seats so we all have a right to sit. But there was an abundance of open seats when you sat down and you chose me in my orange Monday morning shirt? Why? What's worse is your meat limbs that you hold your newspaper up with are constantly violating my space. Finally, and I'm really not making this up, she kinda smells. I don't know if it's that garlic/onion smell some people get mixed in with the perfum she's wearing but it's pretty ill.

Ok get me off this train, it's starting to get nauseating.

Assessment: Good. Just kidding, Not Good. Bad. Awful. Check your girth.