Bike Trainer blahs

If you've ever had designs of racing bikes then you've spent more than a few hours on a bike trainer. I don't like riding a bike and not going anywhere. Sure I'm getting a workout, but the great part of riding a bike is moving the pedals and propelling yourself forward, it's very rewarding. Riding on a trainer, not rewarding. I've tried to get myself on that trainer every day this week and so far zero. I'm just not motivated even though I'm thinking about racing in the Frozen Hog race in Feb. Did I mention that I'm terribly out of shape and aerobically not fit to pedal a bike for any length of time, much less up and down snow and ice covered trails in a competitive fashion. So, just like every day I'm telling myself tomorrow...

Cyclocross

Earlier this fall I when I decided to start commuting to work on a bike I started researching the best kind of road bike to buy for such a task. I soon found numerous references to a little known sport called Cyclocross. I had seen the word Cyclocross in my bike magazines before but never knew what it was. It is basically a 45 - 60 min race with multiple laps around a course generally consisting of mud, grass, obstacles that require you to dismount and carry your bike, and sometimes snow. Basically the worse the weather gets the more people say it's good cyclocross weather. Oh, I should mention that all of this is done on what is basically a road bike with slightly wider tires. After doing a good bit of reading on the sport I got quite interested as it sounds like quite a hoot. I attended my first cyclocross race last Saturday in Ogden. It was part of the Utah Cyclocross series. It was as fun as everyone says it is. The atmoshpere is pretty mellow and fun. It has to be when everyone including the women are covered in mud from head to toe. So, in addition to getting a cyclocross bike for my commuting needs I think I'll give cyclocross racing a try next fall. It looks like a fun way to keep in shape, make some new friends and try something new.

Downhill vs Down hill

Since it's cold and raining and I can't ride my bike and haven't been able to all week I thought I'd write a bit about the awesomeness of downhill mountain biking. My downhill is a wussy downhill since I have neither the length of travel necessary on my bike, nor the lack of concern for bodily harm to do serious downhill. So for me downhill is just that down hill, perhaps I should separate the the two words from now on just to differentiate. With that said, I should redeem myself a little and state that I am no stranger to speed and quite enjoy it. I have a 5" full suspension K2 Lithium that I bought used from Sundance. I put on a new front fork and Avid Juicy 5 disc brakes and it is now a sweet bike. I love shooting down the trail, floating over the bumps and carrying speed through the turns, it's an awesome feeling. I used to be one for catching a lot of air but the full suspension is still throwing me off a bit so I need to get a little more used to it before I really let go. Anyway, I'm all about riding the lifts and dropping down the trail, letting gravity do the work.

Landlord woes #1

First off I want to say that if I have placed an add to rent one of my apartments and I've included all of the pertinent information about the apartment don't call me and say "Can you tell me a little about it?" The add is in front of you why don't you ask me more you'd like to know. Ok, I got that out of my system.

It's currently snowing so I'm pretty doubtful that I'm going to ride a bike to work tomorrow. I even bought a new balaclava I wanted to try out. I may need to go to the second hand store and see if they have some sweaters I can use for another layer, it's getting pretty cold.

I think I have narrowed down my bike selection to a Kona Jake The Snake. It seems like a good choice. It's steel, has good geometry and has all of the holes neccesary to mount fenders and racks. Plus it can be had for $500- $750 pretty easily. It will be a good bike for commuting and weekend warrioring in cyclocross races.

Provo Canyon trail

Since Jen and I have 3 girls under 2 we have to do all of our activities separately, one of us watches the kids while the other recreates, this includes bike rides. Once the youngest is a little older, probably next spring, we may rig up another trailer and haul the kids around on our bike rides. Last Friday Jen and I took turns riding up Provo canyon, one of the prettiest canyons that I know of. There is a nice paved trail up the canyon so I rode my commuter with the slicks to make the best of it. It was a tad cold but not quite as cold as my usual commute. I'm not sure what the actual temperature was but the pond below the falls was frozen and there was a sheet of ice across the trail. I have noticed that the morning temps have been between 25 - 30 so if I'm going to continue to ride my bike to work I'm going to need some warmer clothes. I think I'll start wearing some thermal long johns and a balaclava, which I will buy this evening.

Welcome to my world

I can and do enjoy driving cars, especially fast cars but I seem to enjoy riding motorcycles and bicycles more than anything else. There is just something about being out in the elements that I really dig. I grew up in a small town where my two options of things to do were fish for catfish in a slow muddy river or ride my bike around town. I generally chose option 2. My friends and I were very much into freestyle bmx. Our activities generally consisted of a lot of dirt jumping and trying tricks in the parking lot of the church in town. I also rode my first motorcycle back then, a Honda 90 trail bike. Fast forward to today and my favorite things that I own are my motorcycle, a Kawasaki Vulcan Classic 1500, and my two mountain bikes. I've got a K2 Lithium full suspension mountain bike and my old GT Ricochet hardtail mountain bike. The GT is so old that the Rock Shox fork has elastemers the go rock hard in the cold and provide no suspension what so ever.

My K2 is currently out of commission from a back crash at Sundance, I trashed my front wheel and I'm trying to get the dough together for a new wheelset. My GT has been converted to a commuter with slicks front and back. I'm considering buying a cyclocross bike for commuting and competing in races next year. I also plan on trying out the Super D and Cross Country mountain bike races this next year, mainly as motivation to keep myself in shape.

Let's talk about motorcycles, I love 'em. I would probably own a dozen of them if I could justify it and had the money to do so. I love my cruiser but I'd also love to own a sport bike, a naked standard, sport tourer, dirt bike, etc.

I am very lucky to live where I do. There are hundreds of mountain bike trails, some of them lift served, thank you Sundance and Wolf Mountain, and hundreds of miles of great motorcycling roads right outside my door.

So, as time goes on I'll share some of my biking adventures, and most likely many mis-adventures.