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Tired this week July 27, 2008

Posted by vollenda in : General, Bike Commuting , 2 comments

Another good week.  I’m a little tired this week though.  Not from the workouts, but from lack of sleep.  Been doing good on the eating and getting my backside out the door but not so good on the going to sleep early.

Mon - bike commute -70 min

Tue - I had jury duty on Tuesday so I didn’t bike commute that day but rode for 60min.

Wed - bike commute 70 min & walk for 30 min

Thu - bike commute (90 min - I took the long way home)

Fri - bike commute (80 min - added a 1 mile hill) & walk for 30 min

Sat - rode for 90 minutes, about 1/2 on dirt.

Today was a day of rest and I went to a car show to take photos.

carshow

Same Old July 20, 2008

Posted by vollenda in : General, Bike Commuting , add a comment

Another good week.  Rode to/from work every day and walked on Mon, Wed, Thu.  On Saturday, I rode for an hour.  Nothing today.

I got my commuter bike back  at the end of the week so I’m back to riding that this week.

Slowly but surely…

Muggy Week July 13, 2008

Posted by vollenda in : General, Pictures, Bike Commuting , 3 comments

It’s been really muggy this week, but a little cooler so I’m not complaining.  It was a great week.  I rode to and from work every day on the new mountain bike this week (with a few rain plops on the way home on Tues) and walked Mon-Wed and Friday for 30 minutes.  I had to work a little harder on the mtn bike but it also allowed me to ride offroad a little which was fun.

Yesterday, I decided to go check out Marshall Canyon with my camera so I went for a 90 min “hike” on the trail in there.  Lots of mountain bikers and a herd of high school cross country-ers.  Boy, did they make me feel old the way they were flying up and down the trail and the girls were so tiny.  I’ve never been that small.  But it was good morning.  I heard lots of birds but only saw a few. 

This morning, I rode for an hour on the unpaved portion of the Pacific Electric trail which is part of the Rails to Trails program and is only feet from my door.  The portion that is southwest of me is still dirt, more of a fire road than a trail.  But it was nice and quiet, just one walker and other than that I didn’t see anyone.  I only rode for an hour because I had some errands to do today.

This is the start of the trail.

 petrail1

This is the view looking back north toward home.

petrail2

This is looking out over the valley.  There is still a lot of stuff in the air from the fires.

petrail5

Looking south.

petrail4

Later, still looking south.  Not a bad morning. :)

petrail3

Specialized Hardrock Comp July 6, 2008

Posted by vollenda in : General , 5 comments

Well, I spent more money.  Isn’t she a beauty?

fat tire

fat tire2 

I bought a new mountain bike yesterday and today she took her maiden voyage!  Of course, it was mostly road and just a little dirt.

She’s an entry level because I’m not sure how fearless I’m going to be.  But I’ve always wanted to try it so I took the plunge.  I felt like a kid again as I rode this morning.  It was a beautiful morning, 72 degrees, slight breeze.  A great day to be outside. :)

So…I didn’t do anything on the 4th except go to a parade and walk around town taking photos and then played a little horseshoes in the annual horseshoe tournament at Mondi’s (one ringer! woo!).  I also didn’t do anything on Saturday (except short rides to test out different bikes).

But this morning, I walked for 30 min and then went for an hour ride.   More of the same this week. 

My New Backpack July 2, 2008

Posted by vollenda in : General, Bike Commuting , 1 comment so far

One of the reasons I haven’t wanted to get in the pool is my left shoulder.  It’s been achy for so long, I can’t remember when it wasn’t.  It started to feel better when I stopped riding.  Then when I started up bike commuting again, it started up with the not-so-fun aching.  I figured it must be because I use a messenger bag and it’s always over my left shoulder.

backpack

What are my choices?  Let’s see…

I didn’t want to go the panniers route. 

A rack wouldn’t be bad but still not perfect. 

So I decided to go back to a backpack.  I found this one by the Banjo Brothers and ordered it.  It arrived today!  Woo!  And I used it on my ride home.

The two grey stripes are reflective stripes.  And the little tab in the lower right is a tab for a bike light.  It’s also comfy and roomy and waterproof.  Ok, I know we don’t get much rain around here but it COULD rain.  Some day.

By the way - I walked yesterday (with 30 sec run intervals) and today (just walk) and rode both days. 

I’m feeling pretty good.