2008 Resolutions for revolutions

I have two main resolutions for 2008. Eat only oatmeal for breakfast Mon. - Fri., no crap. Ride my bike to work at least 4 days a week. I want to get to a place where I ride every day, but I need a bike with some studded tires and fenders first. Right now all I've got is my trusty GT hardtail mountain bike, it works well but only has slicks on it and since the first part of my commute is down a dark hill I really don't want to take the risk without hedging my bets with some studded snow tires. Jen has been nice enough to save some money up for a cyclocross bike for me, this will enable me to invest in the studded tires I need and have a more commuting bike, not to mention a bike to race with come next year's cyclocross season. I will probably get the kids bike trailer hooked up to it so that we can go for family rides as well. Though, this will probably have to wait until it warms up a bit.

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.

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.