Category: Biking

Went for another ride this evening. At the start, I felt tired so I didn't know how far I would go. Below are the stats from the ride.

Ride Stats:
Distance: 20.3 mi
Time: 1 hr 20 min
Avg. Speed: 15.0 mph
Cal. Expended: 1550 (apx)

When we went to the Outer Banks, I had wanted to do a century. We arrived on Saturday evening. I took Sunday off. Monday, I went for a 34 mile ride from Rodanthe to Avon. The ride down was into the wind and horrible. It took me a skooch over 2 hours 30 min.

Tuesday, I rode north. It was away from the wind the trip up. I rode from Rodanthe to Naggs Head. That trip was 50.75 miles. It took me a bit over 4 hours 15 minutes. It was a great ride. The trip up the island was wonderful. The trip back was ok. If I had it to do over again, I would take an extra food stop on the way back. I think that would have helped the situation alot.

My pedal broke on the trip Tuesday and I didn't have any tools to fix it, so I couldn't ride any more that week. What a bummer.

Cyndi and I are looking for a good place to go ride our bikes in Richmond. We'd prefer a place off-road devoted to bike riding (well, people can run there too). Anyone know of such a place?

Did you know that May is National Bike Month? Neither did I. So, dig out that bike, take it to your local bike shop for a tune up, and get out there to enjoy a day in the saddle!

I was reading bikeforums.net today and came across a thread with people talking about their commute. They included a map and that made me decide to do my own. Here is the result. The edges of the map aren't included because…well because they aren't important.

The ride is about 10 miles long. It usually takes me 35ish minutes. In the future, I hope to take my camera and take some pictures of the journey.

Well, I bought two new tubes for my bike yesterday. Went home and installed a new tube in my front tire; however, before installing it, I inspected my tire. I turned the tire inside out and ran my hand gently along the inner surface. What I found shocked me! I found a small piece of metal (imagine a leg off a normal office staple). When I turned the tire over and started looking for the end to pull it out, it was almost impossible to see. But, I found it and removed it. I think I have the tire issue fixed for a while now.

Oh, I also took my old tube, cut out the valvestem and put it between my tire and new tube. My hope is that this will serve as a bit of protection from these types of punctures in the future. The guy at the bike shop suggested soem kevlar strips (they are stronger) to do the same thing. I didn't want to spend $16 for those just to turn around and buy new tires.

I'm thinking about buying tires more suited to street riding. From what I have read, they will have less resistance and allow me to go faster with less effort. I'm all for that!

Yesterday I rode my bike to work for the first time this year. It was an awesome ride!

I went out this morning to get on, and–you'll never guess–I had another flat tire. Same tire. ARG! So, I drove to work again today. I'm going to go at lunch to the bike store and look at inner tubes. I'm thinking this tube may just be getting old…who knows. Hopefully, I can stop this problem and get back on the ball riding to/from work. It is very relaxing.

Well, today I was going to start riding my bike to work. I was all excited! I got up, got ready, went out to get on my bike and guess what–the tire was flat. I didn't want to take the time right then to fix it so I ran back inside, changed my clothes, and drove. I was bummed out. However, I guess it wasn't all bad. I drove the first part of the ride to see how busy the roads are. So, tonight, I have to fix my bike tire, and I'll start riding tomorrow.

By the way, if you live close enough to work, I would encourage you to ride a bike. Not to save money on gas (although that is a big plus today), not to save the environment, not to get exercise, but to enjoy being outdoors. When I'm riding, it is just a great experience.

I rode 22 miles just for fun on Saturday, but I would think anything 10 miles or less would be a nice commute ride. I'm going to ride a hair under 10 miles each way and it will take me about 40 minutes.

If it is something you are interested in, make sure you do some reseach. The best route with a car isn't the best way on a bike. I would suggest BikeForums.net. They have a forum devoted to commuting. I have found the people in the forums to be very helpful.

Well, today in Columbus, the weather was so nice, I decided to go for a bike ride. I was gone about 2 hours (of which about 1 hr 45 min was spent riding.) and went about 22.5 miles. On the way home, I did have some trouble with my bike (the chain came off the front sproket and got stuck). To fix it, I had to borrow a screwdriver from a gentleman who was moring is grass. If not for him, I would have had to walk the 8 miles back home.

Well, along these lines, I think it is light enough in the mornings, so I'm going to start riding my bike to work once again. I'm looking forward to it. Riding is a great way to get outdoors (and to beat the high gas prices too). Some day, I'll post some pictures of my ride to or from work so everyone can see the scenery I do.

Cyndi and I took our bikes and rode along the Scioto River yesterday. If you want to see where it is click here. Notice the 33 symbol near the bottom of the map? 33 is Riverside Drive. Look between Riverside and the river? Notice that little road? Well, it extends about 2 miles from the dam (I beleive it is Griggs dam) north. It is a very pleasant ride. The road isn't busy at all.

Once we were done, I decided to ride home just to get a bit more of a workout. Overall, the ride was great. It feels good to get back in the saddle and do some riding.