Been a long time....

It's been almost a month since my last post. Lots of new things happening, and a new decision too.

The last ride I took on March 11, my bicycle had a few mishaps. First, the front derialeur quit working (it turns out the cable had worn through it's housing). I did manage to get it into mid range and kept it there. Also, the rear deraileur would not shift into either high or low gear. It made for an interesting ride on the hills. Oh yeah, finally, I got a flat tire on the ride which I fixed with the can of fix a flat I carry.

Last week I finally got around to getting the bike into the shop for a much needed tune up. I took it to Canyon Bicycle (I love those guys). They had it for a few days and did a great job tuning it and replacing cables. I tested it in the parking lot and everything worked just great. Back to training for the Lotoja I thought. After I paid for the repair, the boys wanted to test ride a couple of new bikes so we were there for a while. We were getting ready to leave and Amie said "Have you looked at a new bike for yourself lately?" Which, of course, I had. I showed her one that I was looking at when I dropped the Giant off. She told me that I should take it out for a test ride. I did, I loved it.

I loaded the Giant into the van and started to back out. Amie said "I think you should go get your new bike". I thought about it for a few second and back into the store I went. I loaded the new bike into the van and home we went. Unfortunately, I had to work that night so I didn't get a chance to take it for a good ride. That came later.

Here is a link to the specs of the new bike.

Here is a picture of it:

I love it.

That was Friday, April 2nd. I took it out for a short ride Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday's ride was up 11400 South to 1700 East, then south/west on what turns into 12300 South, north on 300 East and back home. Big uphill from home to 1700 East.

Sunday, I was put on call so I rode most of the way home from Amie's Grandparents house. West on 3900 South to State Street. South on State until 8000 South. East to the road that runs parallel to Trax. Flat rear tire at about 8200 South. My can of fix-a-flat was only half full from when I got the flat on the Giant. There wasn't enough in the can to fully inflate the flat. It was too late and too cold to mess with it so I called Amie and she picked me up.

I spent Sunday night putting a new super thick slime tube on the new ride. While I was in repair mode, I put a super thick slime tube on the rear tire on Amie's bike (it was flat too). Hopefully, I won't be dealing with flat tires again anytime soon.

Saturday:
Distance: 7.3 miles
Time in saddle: 45:30

Sunday:
Distance: 10.0 miles
Time in saddle: 58:51

2010:
Distance: 43.8 miles
Time in saddle: 4:21:16