Category Archives: biking

Bagel Wednesday and the flat tire fairy visits again.

Happy Bagel Day!  I ended up not posting yesterday because it would have just been boring food. I have decided if I don’t have anything to say other than what I eat, I don’t have to post.

John is feeling better, but still has an icky cough.  He was up for riding to breakfast to North Country Cafe.  Here he is milking up his coffee.

I had a wheat bagel as per usual, seeing as it is Bagel Wednesday.

John had some sort of raspberry lemon coffee cake and said it was picture worthy, so there you go.

Normally he doesn’t like to wait for me to take pictures 😀

On the way home, we passed through a construction area that was not there on our way to breakfast.

Shortly after that…. hisssssss… thump, thump, thump.  Yep –

That was a 1-inch screw completely embedded in my tire.  I think that is 12 flats now between the 2 of us since April.  Is that a record?  Hello Guinness, where is my prize? 🙄

At least we are pretty quick with tube changing now.

After a morning where I had trouble focusing on work (is it not Friday yet??), I made up lunch to eat on the porch.

1-minute muffin with peanut flour on top.  I also have not had a pear in about a week, what is up with that?

Another couple of busy days.  Seems like it always comes in clumps, doesn’t it?  I made myself really try to be productive in the afternoon.  But I did take a break for an almond milk latte and a date with PB.

I made up a quick early dinner:

And then commenced to making John’s birthday cake for Thursday.

His request? Boston cream pie.   I have never done this before, but we shall see how it goes. Baking with a box? Yes please!

Cakes are just coming out of the oven and I am off to meet my mom for ladies night! Gotta run 😀

Rules for trails and paths

Katie had mentioned in a comment about what was proper etiquette for multiuse trails and paths.  This is separate from riding/walking in the streets.  Too many times, people get on a path and just do whatever they want, not realizing there are rules you should follow to prevent inconveniencing others or worse, causing an accident.  Sometimes these may be posted at the trail head, but not always.

People actually tie their dogs to this sign.  I don’t know if they are being ironic or just don’t read it.

No matter what your mode of transport (feet, bike, roller blades) – stay to the right.  Unless you live in a country where driving occurs on the wrong left side, always be on the right side of the path.  You should always be passed on the left side and those people need room to do so safely.

Don’t walk in groups side by side. If you have multiple people in your group, do not spread across the path.  Most times when people are in large groups, they are talking and are not paying attention to what is going on around them. At most, 2 people across and only if there is room to do so leaving adequate space on the other side.  Also, do not bike in groups like this either.  Cyclists should ride single file unless there is *plenty* of room for oncoming path users and for people to pass you on the left.

Never just stop dead on the path.  If you need to stop for whatever reason, move off to the side off of the pathway itself.  You never know who may be coming up fast behind you or if you are on a path with curves or a narrow portion and you aren’t visible.

Let people know when you are coming up behind them. Whether you are a jogger passing a walker or a biker passing, signal to the people in front of you that you are approaching.  You can use a bell or horn or just give a holler.  I usually say “Passing on your left” which lets them know I am back there and getting ready to pass and on what side.  Also try to give them enough time to hear you and process that in order to react.

Short leash your dogs.  If you are walking with your dog on a path, first make sure they are allowed there.  If so, keep them on a short leash.  As a biker, I can tell you it is really scary to be coming along and have a dog on a long leash come across the path in front of you.   And don’t forget to pick up their poo 😀

Headphones – this is such a touchy subject.  You should always be able to hear someone trying to connect with you, so keep your music at a level that makes that possible.  I can’t tell you how many times I have shouted as I was passing a jogger/walker with headphones on and they didn’t hear me.  Then I scare them coming by.  I personally don’t think bikers should wear headphones because you are just moving so fast that you need to be very aware of what is going on.  And you know, the nice thing about multiuse paths is that you can enjoy the sites and sounds of nature!  So try leaving the headphones at home.

Hope these tips help!  Anyone have anything else to add?

100-mile ride. AKA I am a centurian again!

Finished!  My summer goal complete.  No peloton, no lead out train, just me in my own private break away doing 100 miles.

Let’s ride, shall we?  I was up early to get an early start on the ride.  I did my standard fuel of banana custard oats with jam and coconut butter.

What a pretty day, right?  One of the reasons I chose to go for it today.  Since John has decided he didn’t need to do 100 miles again this year (smart guy), not to mention that his bike is out of commission right now,  I just wanted to finish it out.  I packed up my bike bag and got ready to roll.

I left at 8:00 a.m.

Went north first and it was a good start other than a pretty stiff head wind, which was going to annoy me a few times today.  I passed through farm country:

Moo!

Hi Bessie, thanks for the milk and butter 😀

The traffic was heavier than I would have liked, and this road is 55 mph.  Most of the time there is a really wide shoulder, but I got to where it was more narrow.  It was starting to bother me.  I stopped at mile 17 for a pear.

This road looks peaceful, but the traffic was heavy.  I think a lot of people were going up to Whitehall to launch their boats.

The road got curvier up ahead, and I decided to turn around since the traffic was bothering me.  I was extra conscious of safety today being out by myself.

At mile 25, I stopped for another fruit fillup and to text John with my whereabouts.

Red plum!

I was making good time and feeling strong in the morning. Mile 35 was time for some more fuel. Approximately 5 miles from home.

I wanted more frequent smaller 100-200 calorie fuel ups today as that seems to be what works the best.  I ate 2 medjool dates here.

I rolled in to home for a lunch stop at mile 40.5.  Average speed for the first 40 miles was 13.6 mph. I could have eaten out, but figured I would just go home.  This was Heritage Days weekend and look what was going by the house just as I got home.

Parade!  They must have known I was doing 100 miles.  How nice of them 😀 I love bagpipes.

After chugging a bunch of water, I made a quick lunch.  Baked potato with laughing cow and ground pork with BBQ sauce – and my 4th serving of fruit for the day.

It felt good to get a real meal in.  Snacks are good and all, but sometimes you just want more.  I also had a couple handfuls of cashews.  I was home for about 45 minutes or so, then I headed back out after a 2nd application of sunscreen. Now I had the tailwind, and that was nice!  I was noticing the hills a bit in my quads at this point.  I stopped at mile 51 for refreshment – halfway done:

Coconut water love. I need them to sponsor me.

It was feeling pretty warm today.  Even though the temps were in the low 80s, it was sunny with a capital S!  And it was around 1:30 during this time.  John was actually coming down to Saratoga on his scooter to meet me after giving me an hour head start.  He passed me after I had been on the road about an hour.  I was surprised to see him, but it was a nice surprise when he pulled off the side of the road in front of me.  I forgot to take his picture.  I felt secure knowing that he was only going to be a few miles in front of me.

I was really feeling good.  I felt well prepared for this ride and it was going by fast!  I was surprised at how far along I was by the time I arrived to cupcakes!  Mile 62.  John was already in town, so I texted him to let him know I was there and I got my snack.

I had a large iced coffee with a macaroon.  I definitely like the pistachio one better, but they were out.

Also on board – a peanut butter cupcake!  This was really good.  The frosting was not super sweet or really heavy like peanut butter frosting can be.

My body was loving the instant carb hit from these.  I think I had burned 1800 calories by this point or so.  I actually was a little sad when I finished these because I wasn’t ready to be done LOL.

This was maybe a half hour break or so?  I lathered up with sunscreen again. Then, John walked me out to the bike and said the most horrible thing to me.  He said “So everything okay and no flats?”  Nooooo!!!!  I knew he jinxed me.

I knew the next 20 miles were going to be really tough.  It was right into the headwind and I had already done 60 miles on the day.  And it was tough.  And then at mile 70, there was this:

Yep.  I noticed I was getting a bit of a shimmy while riding (and not in my hips…) and checked my tire.  Not completely flat, but really soft.  That meant a slow leak.  I had thought about trying to keep it pumped up and keep going, but then I decided to just change it.  Cause  I am a rockstar and don’t need anyone to do it for me!  I had 2 people stop and ask me if I needed help, both of which when I was pretty much done and just adjusting the chain.

Now – I can change my tube, but it does take me a while.  That was more what bothered me than anything else was losing about 25 minutes with all that messing around.  I had texted John to update him, but I didn’t need him to come rescue me.

Back on the road and I had to stop 5 miles later  at mile 75 for another dried fruit hit.  Pineapple and dates.

That 25 minute stop used up some of my calorie stores.  I love the dried fruit, although I probably consumed some chain grease as well because my hands were dirty.

My original plan was to not stop at home for the rest of the ride, but I wanted to get another spare tube and properly fill up this tire.  I have a Schwinn portable pump, which actually doesn’t work the best.  John has a Pocket Rocket pump (Yes, please commence to laugh and snicker, because I am always making jokes about it),which I meant to take, but forgot. So I swung by home.

This was mile 85.5. Home pit stop meant dropping my bike lock, saving about a pound in my bag, plus grabbing another coconut water!  And a pointless potty stop.  I was just sweating it out before anything got to my bladder today, and I drank *a lot*.

It was about 5:15 at this point.  I really needed some pep talk to get out there and finish. I knew it was just a little over an hour left.

I have to admit that I struggled for the next 10 miles.  I was tired in funny places, like my wrists and my shoulders.  My legs felt pretty good.  I was also mentally fatigued.  That is really the hardest thing on the long rides.  I was losing some sharpness.  I would hit bumps that normally I would miss because my reaction time was delayed. And the last bit seemed to go on for-ever!

I stopped at mile 95 at a real wall.  I got off the bike and ate this granola bar.

I really just wanted to be done.  I didn’t want to go any further, yet I was so close. And I wanted some real food!  I had seen  some candy in the road, something like M&Ms, and there was a thought to stop and eat it.  5-second rule, right? Only who knows how long it was there.  That set off a giggling fit, so I knew I was really tired 😯

My quads ached when I stopped riding, so that was impetus enough to keep going.  I was so close.  The next couple of miles seemed interminably long.  Then when I was 3 miles from home and on the last bit, I got energized again.  I started pedaling faster to get home.  I watched the odometer roll over 100 miles and with a half mile to go,  then I thought “Hmmmm…. I should just keep going a little more to make it 101 miles.”  Was I insane?? I think so.  Obviously I reeled it in and just stopped.

I made it!

That, my friends, is delirium.  So, so glad to be done.  It was tough.  I physically could have gone further, but I was toast mentally.  I started the day at 8 a.m. and finished at about 6:40 p.m.  Not bad, really, with breaks and a flat tire change.

Ride stats:

Distance:  100.6 miles (161 km)

Ride time:  7 hours 30 minutes

Average speed 13.4 mph

Top speed: 27.4 mph

Calories burned: 3100 😯 😯

I took the most fabulous shower and then we went out to dinner.

I do actually clean up fairly well:

Then we hit up Olive Garden for a bigass pasta dinner!  I told the server I wanted a lot of water and this is what he brought me:

He said I sounded really serious LOL!

After scarfing bread sticks and salad, I had a big plate of ravioli:

Then I came home and ate M&Ms while watching the Tour.

Yay – I am done!  It felt good, but after doing this twice – no more.  I don’t need to be riding 100 miles again.  40 to 50 miles is plenty long enough.

So much more I could say, but this post is long enough for now. Thanks for reading!

51 miles, or 3 tires is not enough

51 miles – sure doesn’t look like 75 does it?

The day started pretty well.  I made some sourdough buckwheat pancakes to start the day.  Yes – piled high!  Went for the extra pancake to fuel up for a lot of miles.

Topped with sauteed apples. Why yes, it was tasty!

I was ready for the ride.  Fresh as a daisy!

Little did I know what kind of day was in store.

We booked on out keeping a good pace.  We did a water stop after 8 miles.

I love this rest stop.  It’s very scenic.

My bud:

We were going into a fairly brisk head wind here, and it started to sprinkle just a bit, but it didn’t last.  This next part of the ride was the hilliest part of our ride for the day.  After a while, I felt like I was really struggling up the hills.  It was very frustrating.  Thoughts running through my head were “Dammit – I am going to lose 10 pounds, this is ridiculous” and “Why is this so hard today?”  We got to the top of the hills and I was fairly annoyed.  I was starting to doubt about making 75 miles.  As we approached mile 15 and Greenwich, I realized that my back tire was flat.

Well, that explained the trouble I was having.  If you have never biked on a flat, it is like riding through sand and you work twice as hard.

I was annoyed at the flat, though.

That’s not radiance LOL!  See how sweaty, too?  That was a lot of work with those hills and it toasted my quads early in the ride.

Although, this was a perfect opportunity to get in a snack.

This pineapple was sooo good!

This was supposed to be a self-sealing tire with ‘goo’ in it, so we pumped it back up and started riding again.  At mile 20, the tire went flat again, and we decided to change to a totally new tire.  So much for self-sealing 🙄

Well, the new tire had a valve stem that was too big to fit into the hole in my rim.  Eeeeek!!  😯 😯  So, we couldn’t use that tire.  Big mistake not noticing that upon tire purchase. That left John’s spare, which was also patched.  Got that changed and kept going.

Things seemed pretty good and we rolled through rural Washington county.  Then it was lunch time! We had gone to Salem, but nothing was open on Sunday.  One reason we like biking on Saturdays is that everything is open.  Small towns are ghost towns on Sundays.

We did spy a place in the middle of nowhere at mile 31:

How can you go wrong with a place called Bob’s Lunch?  In the middle of nowhere:

Sign for the restrooms:

Pointing to behind the bushes?  Hmmmm…

Anyway, this place was cute and the food actually was good.  I had a scallop roll with some fries.  My body really wanted the salty fries.

I don’t know if people outside of New England know what a seafood roll is, but they can be lobster rolls, clam rolls, scallop rolls.  Just on a toasted bun.  Sometimes it is more of a salad, like with the lobster roll.  This was fun and tasty, although I could have done without the grease for lunch.  I loaded up on sunscreen for the second time and we headed out for Cambridge.  The idea was to get to Cambridge and double back some.

I really started to hit a wall around mile 38.  I was tired and lagging.  I stopped John and told him I didn’t want to go all the way to Cambridge.  So, we headed back.  I didn’t know I had a slow leak in this tire that was making it hard to pedal. With turning around, this would have made a 67 mile ride.

At mile 45, we stopped for a refresher:

The scenery is very pretty here.

It definitely feels far from home, though.  Looking down, we saw this tire had leaked air and was low on pressure.  Uh oh.  That was the last tire we had on us.  Who knew we would go through 3 tires?  We pumped this up to see how much further I could go.  Turns out it was just a couple more miles and then we took the tire off *again* to put new patches on it.

I just wanted to make it back to Greenwich and stop at the ice cream place 😀

I was feeling pretty fatigued, too.  At mile 51, we found Ice Cream Man (featured on Bobby Flay’s Throwdown).  We were each going to get a scoop, but John said “It’s only 50 cents to add a third scoop, let’s combine into one dish.”  Behold giant bowl of ice cream!

3 scoops.  More like 9!  We got chocolate cream pie (my favorite), almond joy, and coffee chip.  It was so good.  Ice Cream Man really makes the best stuff.  And this giant bowl was only $4.  Can you believe that?

So, we formulated a plan that I would continue biking, stopping to pump up the tire periodically every few miles and John would bike ahead going home.  He would then get the car and come back and pick me up wherever I ended up.  So, I pumped up the tire, which got very flat while we were eating ice cream, and we pulled out onto the road.  It went immediately flat again.  That was really frustrating!

So, the plan was to have John bike home, then come back and get me and I would just stay at the ice cream place.  That meant me sitting there for at least an hour and a half.  I said goodbye and got to sitting.

Then I texted my sister for a bit.

More boredom:

Then I called my mom and chatted with her. She offered to come get me so I wouldn’t have to wait as long.  Is she not the best mom ever??

While I waited for her, I was arranging sticks on the ground

And resisting any urge to get more ice cream just for something to do.

Then my savior arrived!

😀   I had texted John, so he knew he didn’t have to come back to get me.  I got to ride home in air conditioned comfort!  Thanks Mom!  John had only gotten home about 15 minutes before we arrived, so that did save me a *lot* of waiting.

John got in 67 miles and the best part of the ride – the big down hills and the tail wind.  Booo!  I did the hardest of all the miles, not to mention the extra work of the soft tires.

Ride Stats

Total miles:  51.18

Top speed:  32.4  (hills!!!)

Average speed 12.4 mph – not bad with the tire issues and wind

Calories burned 1550 – and I earned every one of those today.

I did get all happy and cleaned up, though:

You can’t keep me down long!  Now we are off to make some S’mores with my folks!

Biking to the birthplace of the US Navy

Happy Mother’s Day!  We had another very full weekend. Saturday was bike day for John and I.  We went to a completely different place this time.  Basically straight north.  I always talk about Lake George, but we also are close to Lake Champlain and the Champlain canal, which is the route we went along:

We are at the bottom of this, which is along the canal.  It was a gorgeous morning, mid 50s and sunny.

It’s now starting to get green around here.  Trees are budding out!  We had a tiny bit of tail wind on the way to Whitehall and we made great time!  This is more flat than most of our rides, so that helped.

First stop was around mile 12.

I actually did not need a snack here.  We left shortly after breakfast and I had a nice tummy full of protein waffles.  Good energy for the ride, I have to say.

We arrived in Whitehall at mile 23 and we had an average pace of 14.6 miles per hour!  Fastest ever!  Whitehall is the birthplace of the US Navy.

Pretty cool.  The canal was quite high from the recent rains, and part of the road was closed due to that.

This is the hull of the USS Ticonderoga:

It was in the battle of Lake Champlain in 1814 and then raised in 1956.

Whitehall is a nice town.  It is a little depressed, which is a shame because it is very cute and right on the water.  It just needs some kind of spark to get going.  Maybe sasquatch scares people away

Whitehall has a history of bigfoot sightings. :mrgreen:

We ate lunch along the canal.  Just packed sandwiches.  No cupcakes today!

Open face PB&J.

Definteley a nice place to have lunch!

Then we headed home.  At mile 30, we stopped for a quick breather:

The skies were looking a little ominous.

Uh-oh…  The wind picked up as well.  We were somewhat slower on the way home.  Too bad we couldn’t keep up a 14.6 mph pace!  It started to spit some rain on us with about 10 miles to go, but it stopped.  Then about 2 miles from home, it really started to rain!  Ugh!  We were soaked when we got home after 45.5 miles.

Other than the last 2 miles, it was a good ride.  Wouldn’t you know that 30 minutes later, the sun was back out again.

Ride Stats:

Total miles: 45.7

Average Speed: 13.3  (slower on the way home)

Ride time: 3 hours 25 minutes

Top speed: 26.2 mph

Calories burned: 1481

Happy Mother’s Day to my mom!  The best mom 😀

And to my sister – Happy Mother’s Day!

We went to the Albany Tulip Festival, and I will do a post on Monday with that as it deserves its own post with a lot of flower pictures.  I was going to try to squeeze that into this post, but it would just have been too long.

Preview of that:

Make sure you come back to see a lot of tulips tomorrow!

Last ride for cupcakes!

Saturday was just a stunner of a day.  Even though it was 30 degrees and frost when we got up, we knew the high was going to get up into the upper 50s.  That is biking weather, people!  We unhooked the bikes from the trainers and got them down the stairs.

It was time for breakfast.  The go-to for long rides?  You know what it is 😀

Banana custard oats with cashew butter and blueberry jam.  Had a nice relaxed morning while waiting for the temps to rise enough to head out.    I could barely contain my excitement!

It was a wee bit chilly at the start, and we had some layers on, but there was not even the slightest breeze and it was sunny.  I was so happy to be riding.  John came up next to me and I had a huge grin on my face, which he commented should be on the blog.

So here it is!

You can tell it is fall around here.  This is part of a detour we take to avoid being near the interchange to the highway.   It adds a couple miles to the trip, but worth it.  This is around the 10 mile mark.

Arrived in Saratoga after 22 miles and ready to fill up on carbs!  We were going to go to Uncommon Grounds as we like to, but the line was practically out the door and we didn’t want to have to deal with that.  So we walked up the street to Brueggers.

I had an apple bagel with pumpkin cream cheese.

It was pretty good, but not near as good as Uncommon Grounds.  I also pulled out my pear to have.

Quite a lot of shoppers out today.  Maybe because the weather was so gorgeous!

Then it was time for the reason for the ride 😀

Cupcake Lab!  I had some trouble deciding what to have.  The maple cupcakes really caught my eye – so I got the regular size of that one.

It was a maple cupcake with maple frosting and sprinkled with maple sugar.  A maple trifecta!

I also got one of the 2-bite cupcakes.  Heath bar.

It was a chocolate cupcake with heath bits on it.  It was good, but I have come to realize that I like non-chocolate flavors best for my baked goods.  Does that make me weird?

John got a big size of the heath and a fresh baked butterscotch oatmeal cookie (yum).   These were perfect along side fresh brewed coffee.  Got to love the big calorie burn days!

It was nice to sit and chat, too.  Our schedules are so busy and funny how we both work at home and still need to make time to spend together.

A little more walking around and it was time to pedal home.   My legs were feeling really good.  Again, no wind helped.  We often face winds on this ride, so it sure was nice today!  After the 32 mile mark, we stopped for a bit of a break since it was after a big climbing hill.  Look at the long shadows:

I’ve never been so tall! I had some coconut water (you knew that was coming, right?).

Perfect fuel to finish out the ride.  I am surprised I still had bike legs this good!  It appears that  my lower half seems to be just fine thankyouverymuch.

You could tell every bike out today was appreciating this chance to have another ride.  Lots of waving and head nodding 😀

Ride stats:

44.8 miles – eh, 45!

Average speed: 13.3 mph

Top speed 22.4 mph

Calories burned:  1382 – woohoo!

My appetite was really dampened by this ride, but I knew I needed to eat food tonight.  I had half of a protein muffin that John baked this morning:

and then we watched TV for a while waiting for some sort of appetite.

After a while, I got craving some veggies, so I cooked up this for dinner.

Sweet potato topped with laughing cow and sauteed broccoli and a cute little macintosh apple.

The balance bar was pictured there, but I didn’t eat it.  I ate the plated stuff and just wasn’t hungry.  Funny how large amounts of exercise make me so not hungry for a while.

About 9 pm, I did feel hunger kicking in again and had some granola and a couple Dove Promises.

We brought the bikes back inside again.  Pixie doesn’t really like them, but she has to investigate.

All in all a good day, but it is November, so unless we get lucky again, this was probably the last cupcake ride until spring!  Now it will have to be biking on the trainer and then driving down there LOL!

Bagel day and more biking.

Lovely sunny morning to bike to bagels.  Too bad we didn’t quite make it!  We took a chance at not having a tire changing kit and wouldn’t you know it, John got a nail stuck in his tire and it went flat.  He hasn’t even had his bike for 24 hours!  This was about 3.5 miles from home, so I just biked back home, got the car, and picked him and his bike up.  If somebody has a voodoo doll on us, they need to quit it.  :mrgreen:

My bagel was super, duper tasty.  I forgot how tasty toasted sesame seeds are!  The wheat bagels looked anemic, so I got this one.

Almost a bit over toasted, but not quite.  Delicious!

Poor John, I spend a good portion of breakfast grouching about our luck.  I know it is pretty small potatoes in truth, but when it all piles up at once it gets frustrating.  I am usually very positive and optimistic, but lately have been less so.  Must be hormones….

Lunch break and I was inspired to have some of my rye bread!

I had egg salad made with one egg.  Seems like a lot for one egg, doesn’t it?  I think it is because the bread slice is small.  Plus a mango tango pluot.  Pluots are super duper juicy.  John gave me the idea to cut these up.  Now no juice dribbles down my chin.  Not sure why I didn’t think of that before.

I was up really early this morning, so I had that hungry feeling most of the day.  I had some snacks:

And some cereal.  We really need to fix the bedroom door so it doesn’t rattle when Pixie pushes on it.  I have got to get more sleep.

*guilty as charged*

Of course, I would have Pixie in the bedroom which would eliminate the problem, but I do like to keep John around for some things :mrgreen:

Latte made with coffee we purchased in Montreal at the market on Sunday morning.  They roast their own coffee:

Love those big roasters!

It was dinner time and John had fixed his flat tire, so we decided to take another spin out for a cheap dinner.  We went to East End Eatery.  I had a side salad:

And  a wheat pizza wrap with hot peppers in it!

I believe they were peperoncini- not too hot, but very, very tasty.

Getting a little more comfortable on the bike.  I’ve put about 30 miles on it so far. The tire is a little more narrow that I was wanting to get, so I am a little nervous on parts of the path where the gravel is more soft.  I also am getting a little chafing, which I believe is just due to the new seat hitting me in places my old one didn’t.  Hope I get that callused up by the charity ride in a few weeks!  Good thing I have some anti-chafing gel.  Or maybe I should go commando under my bike shorts?? 😯

What’s blooming on tap for tomorrow!

How to choose the right bike for you.

Biking is such a great activity that burns calories, gets you fit, and takes you places!


I think there are 2 main reasons that people don’t continue with biking once they start.  One is that they buy the wrong bike, and the other is seat comfort.

When you are looking to buy a bike, ask yourself these questions:

1.  What type of riding am I going to do?  Casual, commuter, longer trips, trail riding, races, etc.

2.  What kind of terrain will I be riding on?  Asphalt, gravel, trails, mountains, etc.

3. How much do I want to spend?

There are basically 4 classes of bikes you can choose from.

Road bikes are very light and are built for speed and distance.  These are the bikes you see on TV in races.  The tires are very thin and the posture over the bike is bent over (for aerodynamics).  Not meant for gravel paths or grassy type terrain.

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Mountain bikes are big and beefy.  Very heavy as they need to be sturdy to take a real beating.  This is fine and good if you are doing trail riding, but if you want to ride to and from work – it’s really too heavy and you will dread riding it (been there).  The posture is more upright than the road bike, but not as upright as a commuter/comfort bike.

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Hybrid bikes are kind of a cross between the mountain and road bike.  They have a wider tire than the road bike, but are lighter than the mountain bike.  The posture is bent over like a mountain bike and will have straight across handlebars rather than curved under (like a road bike).  These are good for distance riding on a variety of paths, but not serious mountain trails.

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Commuter/cruiser bikes are really all about comfort for the rider.  The seating posture is more upright, so the handlebars are at a higher angle.  The tires are wider for good stability. The seat is usually much wider and more padded.  The bike will be heavier than a hybrid and more sturdy than a road bike.  It is not meant for really long distances.

Each class of bike is going to have a range of cost per bike.  Generally, the more expensive you go, the lighter the bike is and the better quality the individual parts are.  As you get higher grades, the differences can be pretty small, so be realistic with your budget.  A really good road bike can set you back several thousand dollars!  Good entry level road bikes are going to be around $600+

I think my best recommendation is to not purchase your bike at anything other than a bike shop.  You can buy off the rack bikes at Target or Walmart, but for just a little bit more, you can buy a good quality bike and get professional advice and a bike fitting (also very important).

When we lived in Colorado, we bought a pair of mountain bikes at Walmart because we were in Colorado and thought that is what we should get.  Plus they were cheap.  Well, I was 220 pounds at the time and the bike was super heavy.  We did road riding, but there were hills and I was completely miserable trying to truck a heavy bike up those hills.  I thought I hated biking.  Years later when I decided to try again, I ended up purchasing a used bike that was a hybrid and  fit me well, and it made all the difference in the world!  You all know how I loved that bike (curse you thief!).  It really felt like an extension of me when I went out.

When you go to a bike shop, don’t be intimidated.  Just go in with the list of the answers to these questions, and they can steer you towards the proper bike.

For example, my answers are:  I am biking for exercise, doing some duathlons, and taking long trips for enjoyment.  I am riding long distances (40 miles on average) and the surfaces I ride are gravel and asphalt.  I have a budget that out of necessity needs to be $600 or less (preferably a lot less LOL).

This puts me in the hybrid category, and more specifically, the performance hybrid.  That means a bike suited for longer rides.  The choice at this point really comes down to price and what I am willing to spend on the bike.

For seat comfort.  I had talked about that already about how time will build up your sit bones.  You also can change out the seat on any bike.  You can purchase a more comfie saddle and install it (or have it installed).  Having a comfortable seat can make all the difference in loving riding!

Hope these help a little bit if you are thinking about a bike (or wondering if the one you have is right for you).

July/August goals and playing hooky!

This post is going to be filled with stuff, so be forewarned!

We woke up and decided to bike to Panera this morning.  Doesn’t it seem like my butt is planted on the bike permanently?

Blueberry bagel.  Yum!

John wanted to get a shot of me noshing, so here it is.

Nomf!!

We took it easy on the ride today as our legs were a bit tired from yesterday.  It was quite a hilly ride.

Started with work when I got home and after 200 lines this popped up.

Don’t like seeing that, because no files means I don’t get paid.  (Job #2 only has files Mon through Friday).  So, I did chores while waiting. After steam cleaning the carpets and eating lunch:

I checked work and still no files available.  You never know if they are going to come in or not.  I decided to write about July’s goals:

So, July goals were :

  • Continue with at least 1 no-added sugar day a week.  This actually isn’t that hard, I have to say.  FAIL!  I actually kinda forgot about doing this. Oops.
  • An 80-mile bike ride.  Gonna do at least that one, and likely finish out the 100 as well.  Kind of need to get that done so we can get back to normal biking :D Eeeep!! Well – we skipped right on over the  80 miles and did the 100!  I feel so awesome about that.
  • Big challenge – I am not going to step on the scale for 30 days.  I weighed myself this morning and that is it for the month.   I did not weigh myself for 30 days and it was not that hard. I actually lost several pounds this month, too.
  • Really practice mindful eating and mindful being.  Did this.  I really worked on mindless snacking, which is really what I attribute losing some weight to.

Not too bad.  The goals I have planned for August are:

  • Compile my recipes into a cookbook, which I am going to give to anyone who sponsors my Team Challenge ride. (Will talk about this tomorrow)
  • Continue working on the no snacking while preparing meals.
  • Again, no weight goal this month, just being mindful of what I am eating.  I am going to weigh myself when I want to, though.
  • I’ll probably add something else after I think for a bit.

After figuring out my goals and *still* no work,  I talked with my sister –  and since her husband and kids were visiting her in-laws, I popped down for a sister day!

The puppies were happy to see me.

We did some visiting and she made me a snack of some cheese toast with farmers market bread and cheese!

Her husband is the manager for a state tree nursery, and they are taking part in a study for using bio means for invasive plant control.  This test is for Phragmites, which chokes out cattails.  There is a stand of phrag (that tall stuff in the photo) on the property, so they are housing sheep for a month.  The idea is to see if the sheep will eat the weed if it is available.  This is the pen which these sheep are led into to see if they will eat the weed.

All that bare patch is from them eating the phrag.  They seem to like it.

Baaaaahhhhh!  So cute.  I wanted to hug them all.

We also saw a momma deer and her fawn on the way.

After this, it was shopping time!  I scored 2 new bowls, which will appear on the blog this week.  2 bowls for $7!!  I loves me a bargain.  My sister got a new Droid phone.  Lucky her!  After shopping, we were kind of hungry for dinner, so we stopped at Esperanto in Saratoga.

My sis:

I had the falafel pita with hummus.

It was delicious!  I forgot to get a picture of the cookie we each got to take home.  It was a cranberry oat cookie.

We made a pot of coffee and chatted and ate cookies.  It was certainly a nice way to play hooky!

I am home now, and there are only a couple of files to do.  Guess I am going to have to use some PTO for the day.

On a side note, if you want to help out a fellow blogger, John from Time to Challenge Myself has an entered a stridea to do 40 races by the time he reaches 40.  You can vote for his idea here.

Whew – I think that is enough for today! 😀

Habit energy

Thursday, also known as the new bagel day!  We woke up way too early (or TFE, as John likes to say…).  Downed some protein drink and biked away.  I was maybe a squidge tired from the monster workout yesterday, but not too bad.  The heat broke and it was a beautiful, nonhumid morning!  Yay!  I also got to have breakfast with my favorite person…

Sunflower seed bagel and cream cheese.

Somebody please stop me from thinking about opening a bagel/cupcake/muffin/coffee shop… please…

It was nice to sit and relax since we were up early.  Funny, but now our 2 bagel days coincide with the start and end of my workweek.  We go Sunday, which is the start of the week for me, and then Thursday, which is my Friday (and my mind gets all sorts of mixed up when I start thinking like that).

Good ride home.  13 miles round trip at exactly 13 miles per hour.  Convenient!

Steady work right away with good dictators.  That made for a nice end to the week at job #1.

Lunch time!

Finally opened a bag of Food Should Taste Good Lime chips to have with tuna salad.  This bag has been unopened for 2 weeks! It’s funny how long things last when I don’t snack on them…  Whodda thunk that?? 🙄

One of the terms that I really liked in the Savor book was “habit energy.”  There is also a sanskrit work for it – Vasana.  Habit energy can be good or bad.  What happens is that when there is a little seed of something and it gets watered, it grows in strength.  You can see how this is good or bad.  The thing about habit energy is that it can be (and usually is) totally unconscious.  I had a lot of habit energy towards snacking while preparing meals.  First it was a little nibble of what I was making, then it was snacking on cereal or crackers while cooking.  It became really easy to add an extra 150 calories before I even sat down to eat.  I noticed that this habit energy was very powerful and occurred at all 3 meals!  I would get back from the gym and have some nuts while my oats were cooking, or if I was putting chocolate chips on my oats, then I would have a few. (Easy to eat 70 calories of those without noticing – 1 tbsp).

When I decided to nip this in the bud, I didn’t realize how hard it was going to be.  I had fed that habit energy so much that it was unconscious and like a snowball.  Do you ever have an epiphany like that where realize you did something, but now *how much*?  Breakfast was easier than the other meals, because I just would make my coffee earlier and start drinking it while cooking.  The other 2 meals were more of a challenge.  I started popping the Altoid ginger mints to prevent my nibbling.  There were some times where I would have 2 or 3 mints just to get through the cooking without nibbling and I still found myself going to the pantry out of habit, but didn’t eat anything.  The first week was really rough.  I chose to not even let myself nibble on something like carrots or part of the fruit for my dinner because it was the habit I wanted to break, not the food.  If I were to allow myself only something I deemed ‘healthier’ would put food into good and bad categories, which I don’t like to do.  It was hard because I am hungry when I am cooking (to which the intuitive would say eat, right?).  Of course, there really isn’t anything wrong with being hungry and waiting a little bit for your meal to cook before eating.

I have to say that it is much easier now.  The habit energy is there still, but dwindling.  I need fewer mints and don’t unconsciously start to grab for things as much.  I started this habit breaking on the 11th, so that is what, about 2-1/2 weeks?  Not saying I am going to never nibble again, but I do feel like I am getting this habit under control.  Wonder where that energy went?

The interesting thing about habit energy is that it really affects so many aspects of our lives, including how we react to other people or situations.  Being mindful can really make you stop for a second and notice that habit energy.  Once you acknowledge it, the power starts to go away.

Snack time included a latte and another couple squares of Lake Champlain chocolates:

I do much better with chocolate when it is in bar form rather than chip form.  Again, I have some strange food things going on.

Finished up job #1 for the week.  Yippee!  Tomorrow will just be some of job #2.  And blueberry picking 😀

I had an omelet hankering for dinner.  This has some sauteed broccoli, caramelized onions, and a laughing cow wedge inside.  With a plum on the side.

The drink on the side is a POM cocktail (of sorts).  I mixed some POM juice into lime seltzer water.  Very good.  POM Wonderful sent me a case of juice!  Gotta celebrate Friday Thursday.

And in even more celebration, John and I hit the mall just for fun.  Kind of like high school where you go to the mall on weekends, right?  I found some wrinkle cream at TJMaxx.

Score!  Hopefully it isn’t expired or something and burns my face off….

Then it was Starbies for some real vitamin C:



That’s the stuff…. It’s decaf, though.  Can’t live it up too much, now.

That’s where I am blogging this post from!  Starbies now has free WiFi to everyone, not just card owners.  ’bout time!

Question:  Can you think of habit energy you have that you would like to change?