Top 10 Reasons to Support Your Local Bike Shop

10. Classes

Many shops offer classes at night an on weekends. These classes can range from basic maintenance to entering your first race. The knowledge base at many shops can be extremely helpful and most are more than willing to share!

9. Lifetime adjustments
Many shops offer lifetime adjustments on the miles they sell. This can offset the possible initial higher cost of the bike over a "big box" retailer. Besides they have better bikes.

8. Local events
Many shops will sponsor local events. Usually you can find them offering simple repairs, tire inflation, special deals, and sometimes samples (I have lots of shop tire levers in my tool kit). I have even been given the occasional beer!

7. Free advice
Most of the shop guys & gals are cyclists themselves. The one thing we cyclists love to do is talk about cycling. Ask a question and you will get TONS of good information.

6. They support their community
The owners of most bike shops work, live, & play in their community. They usually want their community to thrive which will in turn help their shop. That doesn't mean that they are all selfish and only want more business, that happens to be a perk. With a thriving community, all businesses and residents win!

5. They're as passionate as you are
As I mentioned before, most shop owners & employees are cyclists and love to ride too. They love cycling and everything about it - just like you! Why not be with "your people"?

4. Local shop rides
Lots of shops sponsor local rides. These rides can be a lot of fun. Some of them have fees and others are free. Look for a shop sponsored ride near you!

3. Sponsorship
If you race, some shops will sponsor you. This can range from providing a kit (they get the advertising) to equipment, to paying your entry fees. You may be asked to perform id you get sponsored ie. make it on the podium.

2. You keep your dollars in your community
Shopping at your local shop keeps your dollars local. They typically aren't huge corporations, they are small businesses that depend on your dollars to survive. Sure their prices may be a little higher, but that's because they don't have the buying power that the huge national stores have. The service you get at your local shop cannot be measured monetarily.

1. These are your people.
Why wouldn't you want to support "like hearted" people? If you call one of the national shops to order something, chances are the person on the other end of the phone could care less. Your LBS does care and wants you to continue to ride.

By supporting your LBS, you are not only helping a small business grow, but you are helping our sport.

Cycling / Life Update

It's been a while since I've written anything. It has been a whirlwind couple of months. I'll do my best to try to catch you up.

When we last left our hero, he was feeling his age on the bike. Since then, he has moved to Flagstaff, gotten a mountain bike (again), and fallen back in love with riding the trails. I told you; whirlwind.

Let's start with the move. There are 2 schools in the state of Arizona that use a teaching style that suits my son best. One is in Phoenix, the other in Flagstaff. They are Waldorf schools which, in a nutshell, focus on the child's brain development rather than test scores. We had been on waiting lists for both schools for the better part of the year (longer for the Phoenix school). We bout some property right next to some of our best friends over the summer in Flagstaff with the thought of building a home and eventually moving up. During the kids' fall break (mid October), the school in Flagstaff called with news of openings for both kids! This was certainly a sign that we needed to be at this school. So, in 2 short weeks, we packed up the house, rented a couple trucks, and headed north. The kids love their new school and have already made friends. In fact, Matthew's "girlfriend" as he calls her, is in his class and will be our neighbor once we build our home onthe our property. We got up to Flagstaff just in time for the first snow of the season too. I wasn't sure how this crew would do in the snow & cold, but they're handling it well! We are learning to dress in layers and have enjoyed the benefits of heated seats in the van (never really needed them before).

Anytime one moves, he discovers that he has a lot of unused "stuff". We were no different. Many yard sales were had and before the move, most of the big stuff was sold. However, there was still lots of "other stuff". Many moons ago, I took guitar lessons. Enjoyed trying to play along with my brother (who is pretty good) when we lived closer. I sold my electric guitar a few years ago as it was sitting in the the closet and not getting played. Hardly fair to the guitar. My acoustic has sat for years on it's stand in the corner ready to be played at any time. I think over the 7 years we lived in Gilbert, I played for maybe 2 hours total. Knowing that buying another bike was out of the question, I decided to trade the guitar for a mountain bike on Craigslist. I found a guy who was willing to trade trade straight up. The bike is decent. Needs some loving, but for not having to shell out any cash - perfect. I immediately swapped out the saddle. It had one of those HUGE seats that could fit a couple kids at once. After my first little ride, I need tobe change out the pedals to clipless ones, get a computer, some lights, and possibly a mud fender for the rear. Definitely need to get a tool bag for under the seat and change the chain. The bike was stored outside and the non-aluminum parts are starting to rust. Overall, the bike isn't bad. It's a GT mountain bike with Rock Shox on the front. I'm not used to suspension so it may take some getting used to.

The other day I decided to take the new MTB out on the trail. Flagstaff has an "urban trail" system (FUTS), which is scheduled to be 130 miles of trails around the area. These trails are either paved or hard aggregate and about 10 feet wide. Like any good rural area, there are plenty of hiking/MTB trails that branch off of the main trail. So the number of places to ride the new MTB are limitless! Besides all the great trails, Flagstaff is a college town and cycling is a very common mode of transportation. Back to my ride. I ventured out to the FUTS right near our current house. It felt really good to ride on dirt again! The first part of the the trail I took was slightly downhill so I was cruising pretty good. It gave me a good opportunity to get a feel for the bike and how it handled. I found a nice little single track branch that had some good climbing. Luckily, the bike has a triple chain ring, because I needed the little gears. I got to the top of my first climb and was dying. My lungs were burning and it was everything I could do to catch my breath. I quickly realized "this is why athletes train at altitude". I only rode about 3 miles, but the terrain and altitude made it a great ride! I can't wait for my next ride to explore more of these awesome trails!

Internal Battle

Since it's the 19th of the month, I figured I'd go for a ride before work. The plan was to do 30 miles or so.
I started out with an empty tank as it was. No big deal, I can push through that. Done it before, can do it again! Legs weren't quite feeling it, but I told them to shut up and keep going. They quickly fell in line. My lungs, however, were a different story. They decided that we were going to not ride as far as the rest of the body & mind wanted.
At 6 miles or so they started to squeeze. Since my ride today (and in the future) are somewhat contingent on them working, and even though they were out numbered, they won the battle. We didn't do the 30ish miles that the brain had in mind (lol), but we squeezed out 12. Not too bad, but better than nothing I suppose.
That's not the end of the story though. The brain and legs decided that since the lungs were being wimpy, the should be punished. After every other corner, the legs decided to do some interval sprints. After the first few, the lungs were burning. We kept on riding and made it home without having to use emergency services! That'll teach them.
It was still a great way to start the day and the week! Thank you lungs for allowing the rest of me to finish the ride today and ride again another day.

Riding Like a Bus

While on a ride recently, I was passed by a VW Bus (probably the only thing he passed that day). I got to thinking on just how similar the bus and I are. Here's a short list of how we're similar:

1-We both are "air cooled".

2-We both get passed by most traffic.

3-Neither one of us will win a race.

4-We both keep to the right on the road.

5-When loaded down with cargo, we go even slower.

6-The bus' engine is called a pancake, and my engine runs better on pancakes!

I'm sure there is more, but this is what came to mind. When I had my 1975 VW bus it wasn't very fast which is probably the biggest similarity. Hopefully from the back, we don't look similar!

I Made That Headwind My Bitch Today...

...and other random thoughts.

It took me a couple miles to warm up this morning. Odd because it was 90 degrees out when I left. Once I warmed up, I was in the groove! Felt good to be out there today. The first thing that came to mind with the wind is that it's gonna suck for the firefighters up north if it's windy up there too. Please keep them in your thoughts.

Usually as I ride, I am thinking about one particular thing and working it out in my headf. Today, was a bunch of random stuff. Here's what went on in my head today:

...if you're going to cut me off when turning left in front of me, commit to it. Don't go, then slow, then go; just sack up and cut me off!

...feeling good that I saw a bee fly into my helmet and I was able to remove my helmet, free the bee and put the helmet back on without missing a pedal stroke.

...traffic around churches on a Sunday morning is crazy! (there were no less than 15 in the last 12 miles of my ride-at least that's when I started counting).

...I hate it when I see families riding and only the kids have helmets on. If a car plowed you guys, the kids will likely get to grow up without parents. Not worth the lack of "helmet hair".

...feeling kinda bad-ass from shifting into the big ring and throwing the chain and being able to get the chain back on while still rolling down the road!

...while the "vanilla gingerbread" GU is delicious, on a hot summer day, it just doesn't work.

...I need to start my rides earlier. It's damn hot!

...le Tour starts soon!

...I need to ride more...

...gonna jump in the pool when I get home to cool off.

...ahhhhhhh

Exc-USE-me JACKASS!

That's the phrase shouted at me as I passed her.

Let me paint the picture. I went for a quick ride today along my favorite "quick route", a 5+ mile loop around my house. While heading north along the canal, I'm confronted with a farm tractor slowly making his way north in front of me (only in Gilbert). I quickly divert behind the Riparian Preserve which has a windy bike/pedestrian path. I don't like to ride back there because it's directly under the power lines. So I come around a corner and this lady is riding slowly on a beach cruiser to the right side of the path and her dog is on the left side with the leash extended between them. I give the "on your left" warning, but apparently it wasn't as loud as the headphones in her ears. Since I was moving at about 20mph, I had to choose quickly; slam the brakes or pass. I chose to pass on the left, off the concrete. Scarred the crap out of the dog and that's when I was greeted with this "greeting". Had I gotten a flat from riding in the dirt, I would have had ample time to discuss this with her, but I moved on.

I forgave her immediately for calling me this. I'm not one to hold a grudge on someone who doesn't know better.

So if you ride with your dog, or by yourself; please respect the rules of the road. Ride to the right, keep your dog close as not to block the whole path, and be aware of others around you. Oh yeah, you should also wear a helmet to protect yourself (something else she forgot). The only thing I can fault her for is the fact that she's riding a bike, can't be that bad of a person. Maybe just having an off day.

Keep it rubber side down.

A Good Bike Ride Soothes the Soul

Life comes at you pretty fast. Lately, life has been coming faster than a Mercedes on the German Autobahn at me. It's been like taking a drink from a fire hose. First of all work has been crazy-busy and add in a couple trips out of town to make it even more fun. Second, my father-in-law passes away suddenly while we were in Southern California on vacation which turned our 3 day trip into a 2 week trip. Thirdly; upon my return from my last trip out of town which coincidentally was the 23rd anniversary of my dad's death, I learned that my mother has colon cancer. WTF? The universe is spiraling out of control! I decided that I needed a good bike ride to clear my head. I headed out with the intention of clearing my mind and getting back to "center". The goal was a quick 15 mile round trip to Sprouts, a local health food store that is only 3 miles away. I was taking the long way. I'm 6.7 miles into my ride and I hear BOOM. What the hell was that?!? Turns out I blew a tube. No biggie. I pull over into a church parking lot and get ready to replace the tube. Alas! No tube. Didn't I just buy a bunch last time they were on sale? No worries, I'll find the hole, patch it, be back on my way in 10 minutes. As i remove the tube, I find that the "boom" wasn't a puncture, but a "pinch flat". Pinch flat's are harder to patch because they are 2 small holes or sometimes slits that look like a snake bite. My pinch was 2 good sized slits. So naturally, the patch didn't hold. I did what anyone else would, called for back up. Luckily, I only live about 6.7 miles away and reinforcements arrived shortly. I hung my head and began my walk of shame back to the closest corner so my wife could come pick me up. As I rode, I came to a yellow light in traffic. When we drive and we approach a yellow light, what do most of us do? Gun it! Gotta get through. As a cyclist, we typically slow down because we have less of a chance to make that light and if some jack ass is chomping at the bit to go, we could get hit if we're a little late through the intersection. Not worth it. I've come to the realization that i need to look at life as a cyclist approaching a yellow light. SLOW DOWN. I have too much that i could be missing if I'm always working, or always out of town, or always distracted by work. So not worth it. From now on, I take it a little easier. Sure, I work a full week, but I won't be putting in a bunch of hours after the kids are in bed or on weekends. I need to enjoy my family. That's why I work, to provide for them. If I can't enjoy them in the process, why work at all? I have come to the realization that not EVERYTHING'S an emergency. Some shit will have to wait for tomorrow. I'm not going to bust my ass and miss out on seeing my kids grow up. I've recently taken on the role of co-leader of my son's cub scout den. That will strengthen our relationship (not that it's bad) and I'll be able to enjoy him even more than I already do. So next time you come to a yellow light or start feeling the stress of all you have to do; slow down, enjoy the moment with the one's around you. They'll thank you for it. About those tubes I thought I bought; I did buy them. They're right here on my desk where they shouldn't be. Lesson learned.

"Daddy, Why do I have Autism?"

Sunday, April 3rd was the first annual Hirning Family Ride for Autism Awareness. Matthew, Torrey & I headed out for a little bike ride to raise awareness for Autism. We didn't wear signs or blast propaganda. It was a simple bike ride with the kids. I did, however, invite all of my cycling friends from all over the country and world to ride wherever they live for Autism Awareness. I heard from some, others I did not, and that's OK.

My son asked me earlier that day, "Daddy, why do I have Autism?". As we rode, I pondered the question. The more I thought about it as I pedalled, the clearer the answer became. I still stick with the answer i gave him. "You were given Autism so that Mommy & I can learn more about it and help other people. We also have learned more about nutrition because of it and are healthier for it. Thanks to you, and your Autism, Mommy & I are better people". I can't even begin to count the number of people my wife has touched because of her knowledge of bio-medical treatment for Autism and GFCFSF nutritional information. There are TONS 9and those are just the ones she's told me about). I have been able to offer help as well. There was a lady at my daughter's dance class and we started talking nutritional stuff and I was there holding my own. She was listening and I was actually telling her things she didn't know (all because of my wife's knowledge). My wife is amazing. If you haven't yet, check out her blog here. If a dumb schmuck like me can learn from her, I know you can too.

I feel that we are given the "gifts" we have for a reason. My son, with his Autism was given to us to help others going through the same things. Maybe at first it was to teach us patience or compassion, but now it is to share what we've learned.

So what's your gift?

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

So, our national sales meeting was last week in Las Vegas. Even though our schedule was jam-packed, I did my best to exercise when I could. This usually meant taking the stairs instead of the elevator (18 floors up to my room from the meetings). I walked instead of taking the bus back for one event and walked to dinner the first night. My calves are mad at me for taking the stairs so much. They're sore and achy. I took Thursday and Friday off from the stairs because they were really sore on those days. No pain, no gain.

The Good: Upon my return I hopped on the scale this morning and i was "only" up 4 pounds. Given the types of food that was served, and the sedentary days, this could have been much much worse. I'm please that the gain was only 4 pounds but would have liked it to be less of course. It shouldn't be too hard to get back to where I was pre-meeting. I will get back by walking the dog and eating the way I'm used to eating. No problem

The Bad: The food we ate, while tasty, was much heavier and served much later than my body is used to. For example, our last night's dinner and sales awards presentation started at 8:30. We had a small salad, steak ,potatoes, and creme brule. The dinner was tasty enough, just way too late for me. I like to eat earlier in the evening and get to bed by 10:00. Our awards banquet didn't end until 10:30. I'm just glad I don't eat like this all the time or I'd be a coronary event waiting to happen.

The Ugly: I typically like a good 7 or 8 hour night's worth of sleep and usually get close to that. I believe that the body needs rest in order to function properly during the day. I don't know if they were pumping pure oxygen into my room or what, but I slept like crap. I typically wouldn't fall asleep until 1:00am or later and would wake up around 4:00. This machine needs more than that amount of rest. The coffee helped, but on the last day, I was really feeling the lack of rest.

I'll bounce back. Back to the routine, back to walking, back to healthier food, back to normalcy. Most importantly, it's good to be back with my family.,

National Sales Meeting Week

So I left yesterday for our national sales meeting here in Las Vegas. I was able to hit the bike at the gym hard to jump start my week (13 miles in 35 minutes averaging 22mph) and walked 1.2 miles to dinner. I had a chicken salad for dinner knowing that less health choices await me the rest of the week.
I hope to jog/run early in the mornings with a buddy but they have our schedule very full for this meeting. My personal feeling is that they want to keep us busy so those that are more inclined won't do anything stupid and get themselves in trouble. I'm not in that group. I have too much at stake and too much to lose if I act like an ass. Anyway, my plan was also to take the stairs as much as I can. This is no easy task it appears. The stairs down on the main levels are difficult to find and the stairways on the room levels are hundreds of yards down the hall. To make it worse, I'm on the 22nd floor! I will take the stairs at least once per day assuming I can find them. We'll see how I feel after my first 22 story climb. Who knows, I may take an extra trip up and down just for the workout. The "health club" here at the hotel is $25 for 2 days which I find ridiculous (I may try to sneak in though).

As promised, my starting weight for the week was 178.2 the day I left. It will be interesting to see if I can keep that number within sight.

UPDATE: Took the stairs tonight, 18 floors, it felt great! I think I will do a 30 minute session tomorrow morning to see how it goes (I may just have found my workout dilemma's answer).

Off the Program

I'm not actively trying to lose weight, it is just happening. I am, however, eating healthy and exercising regularly. I am walking the dog almost every night and we usually do at least 3 miles a night. We will mix in a little jogging to boost up the intensity level. This has all resulted in dropping a few pounds.

Next week is or national sales meeting which will be very long days and probably very heavy food. Our days will officially start at 6:30 and dinners will usually end at 9:30 or 10. I will do my best to select the healthiest of the foods available, but I think those selections will be few. The part that really sucks (aside from being away from my family) will be the difficulty in finding exercise time. I planned on bringing my bike and riding in the mornings before we get started. With the early start and the logistics of getting my bike in and out of the hotel early in the morning and the idiot people driving around Las Vegas, it doesn't make sense. I am going to bring my resistance bands and try to do some exercising in the room. I am also going to take the stairs to my room whenever possible. Just for grins, I will try to post my weight on the day of departure and the morning after I get back.

It will be interesting to see if I can gain as little as possible. Right now, it's time to ride the stationary...

It Wasn't Broke, but I Fixed it Anyway

I just installed my fixed gear cog on my bike today and gave it a test spin up and down the street. The install was super easy and now I have 2 bikes in 1! I can now go either single speed or fixed gear by simply flipping over my rear wheel. My initial thoughts after testing the FG:
1. "Wow, this is going to take some getting used to!"
2. "This is a blast!"
3. "It's not going to take much distance to get a good workout in!"
4. "I can't wait to ride this bike!"

The thing that first caught me off guard was when I subconciously tried to coast to make an adjustment. FAIL! You can't coast. It will take some getting used to with the mounting and dismounting so I don't fall on my face. I'm sure I will a few times, hopefully nobody will be watching. The second thing was the brakes. I didn't need them. I could slow down and even stop by slowing my pedal cadence adn then stop pedalling. Way cool. I could really feel it in my legs as I was testing this concept out.

I really think riding this bike is going to take my performance to another level when I get back on my regular road bike. I can't wait to ride this bike for a while and then switch back to the geared bike and see what differences there are.

My Next Jersey

While training for the Cave Creek Bike Festival Ride the year before last, I raised money for Autism with a website called trainforautism.com. I raised over $1500 and rode 70 miles to do so. I blogged about it and had someone contact me and ask if I knew where to get an "Autism Awareness" type of cycling jersey. Well, I never received an email with the comment on my blog, but as I was going through it a few weeks ago, cleaning some things up, I found the question. I thought what a cool idea! I know just how to design one! A quick Internet search and bam! There it was. This jersey was from the Austin Autism Society Bike Ride in 2010. I've contacted the organizers and they will be doing a ride again this year (hopefully with the same jerseys). When the become available, I will be ordering one. Here's what I like about it:
1. It promotes Autism Awareness
2. It's colors are bright (promotes safety)
3. It's EXACTLY what i was thinking of as a design

In the interim, in case they don't do the same jersey, I have contacted a friend of mine who runs the Not One More foundation which helps injured cyclists. She has a cool jersey which is sold locally to help raise money for her foundation. I've contacted her to find out the company she uses to have her jerseys made.

Why Autism Awareness? My son was diagnosed when he was a little over 3 years old. He had little to no speech, lack of interest in peers, and a persistent fixation on inappropriate objects. With some serious dietary changes, supplementation, and support, under the guide of our DAN! doctor, he is now well on the road to recovery. I believe that diet, vaccines, and environmental factors all contribute to the rise in the numbers of Autistic children in this country. It is estimated that 1 in 110 children are diagnosed to day (1 in 91 boys) and the government statistics suggest the prevalence rate of autism is increasing 10-17 percent annually. This means that is it very likely that everyone will know or love somebody on the "spectrum". I do, and I want to help educate those who will listen to help their kid(s) have a fighting chance at recovery the way my son has. So if I can ride with this jersey on and make people ask themselves "what is Autism?" or ask me, mission accomplished. What has worked for my son may or may not work for your kiddo, but this is beatable. I worked an Autism trade show with my wife last spring for TACA and was amazed at the number of dads that came up to talk to me. These events are typically attended by the "warrior moms" who are fighting for their kids. It was awesome to be able to share our story and give these parents who just starting their journey hope that this can be overcome. It's not easy. It's a LOT of work.

But isn't anything that's really worth it a lot of work? I know my son is worth it. I bet your loved one is too.

Riding with Frank

Last night (Tuesday) we visited some friends who were in from Indianapolis that we met while we were on our honeymoon. Turns out they got married on the same day and picked Young Island as their honeymoon destination as well. They're super cool people and we really enjoyed spending time with them both last night & 8 years ago. So the girls had both read a book in their respective "book clubs" about Wright's story and the subject of his Scottsdale home came up. They run tours through it and it's called Taliesin West. After hearing the story of his brutal life, I too was intrigued.

Anywhoo, in an effort to mentally and emotionally prepare for the rest of the week, I decided to take a little bike ride this morning. Some two wheeled meditation, we'll call it. I headed up the canal path closest to my house and decided that since the wind was blowing North to South, I'd continue further North than I normally would and take advantage of the tail wind. As I was about to turn North, my saddle shifted a little. Luckily, I always carry my multi-tool so after my turn, I found a place to readjust and tighten it. I'm sitting there on the little planter box working on my saddle when a guy pulls up heading out of the trailer park stops, rolls down his window, and asks "do you know where Frank Lloy Wright's house is?" How strange is that? Until last night, I didn't even know there was a Taliesin West. Something in the universe is telling me that I need to go see that house. I don't know why, but for it to come up twice in as many days...I guess I gotta go.

Useless ride stats:
Distance - 25.13 miles
Time- 1:28
Avg Speed- 17.1mph (damn wind)

The Single Life

Yesterday, I went for a little ride with the kids. They wanted to go behind our community (on the other side of the power lines) and see the horses, goats, and such. So we headed out on our bikes in search of livestock. Since the Diamondback has a flat and I'm too lazy to fix it, I grabbed the single speed. It's only fair; the kids are riding single speeds, so should I. I didn't have any "cycling gear" on except for my helmet so I wasn't clipped in or anything. My daughter decided that we should race to the end of the street. Now, I'm always up for a good sprint, so I took off.

I forgot just how much fun that bike is to ride! No need to worry about shifting, being in the wrong gear, or any of that. Just go. I need to ride this bike more. Heck, I need to just ride more. Experiencing riding around the neighborhood with my kids was definitely one of the highlights of my weekend. I hope it was for them too. I plan to keep this part of our "activity idea box" when we're looking for a fun activity. I want them to grow up and reminisce about how we used to ride our bikes around and how much fun it was.

Who knows maybe one of them will grow into a cyclist and enjoy the sport as much as their old man...

I'm a Sloth!

Allow me to explain. I spend the better part of this work week at our corporate headquarters in New Haven Connecticut for some training. Some would call it reprogramming, we'll just stick with "training". When I have to travel, I tend to eat worse than I would at home. Typical evenings are spent eating later than I usually do (or at least closer to bed time) and the food is way heavier than I normally eat. For example; the night that the whole class went to dinner, we went to this very nice Italian restaurant and had the appetizers, drinks, and of course the heavy Italian meal. I was good. I didn't binge (that would make me a glutton), I had a grilled salmon and vegetable dinner. Of course the salmon and vegetables were smeared in butter. I normally would grill or broil my salmon with a light spray of olive oil and steam the veggies. Working really long days, and by working at these training sessions, it's sitting there listening, and being on a different time zone really messes with you. My routine is completely thrown off. I don't feel like walking tonight, riding this weekend, or anything physical. After this week, I absolutely should get out and move a little.

So, after this last trip, I'm feeling fat and lazy. Maybe I'm just tired. Maybe I just need to suck it up and get out there....

New Bike!

Here she is, the new bike. You're probably thinking I've lost my mind. That isn't a picture of a bike but it's a sprocket, a gear, a cog, certainly not a bike. Hear me out. this part when out onto my rear hub will turn my singlr speed bike into a fixed gear bike. Essentially, I will have 2 bikes in one!

What's the difference? I'll break it down for you. A single speed bike is just as the name implies one gear. There are no deraileurs to get goofed up, no shifting cables to get loose, no upshifting when you want to go faster and no downshifting when the road gets too steep. You never have to worry if you're in the right gear at a stop light; you're always in the wrong gear! This type of bike is what most kids ride to start out. With the exception of reversing the pedals for brakes (a single speed coasts), they are very simliar.

A fixed gear is basically the same concept except you can't coast. That's the thing about it. Say "it's a fixed gear" and you usually get blank stares, say "it doesn't coast" and people understand. Sort of. Why would anyone chose to ride a bike that doesn't coast and that can't change gears? Well, why do you ride a bike instead of drive a car? Do you like the wind rippling over your legs as you spin the planet beneath you? Do you like the feeling of going faster and farther than you ever could alone by adding a bit of machinery to your life? Take all that bikeness, strip it down to it's essence and put it on the road. What you have is what I'm looking forward to riding. The bike is simple, about as simple as you can get. It doesn't coast. You don't coast as you start out and put your foot in the second pedal. No, you grab the pedal on the fly. The bike won't ever let you forget -- it doesn't coast. If you want to go fast, you pedal fast. To go slow, you pedal slow. When you stop, it stops.

I will be able to flip the back wheel over for those "organized rides" when you have to coast a bid for others' safety. Otherwise, I think I will keep it as a fixed gear. I can't wait to ride it!

Welcome to the Plateau!

When I started riding with Team Bad-Ass last year, I was one of the "strong" riders. I would typically lead the pack or at least be up near the front. I slowly found myself slipping to the back of the pack, sometimes watching the team pull away from me. I used to think it was me trying to hang in while riding a mountain bike with slicks. Then I read an article from Bicycling magazine about hitting the plateau (something that most cyclists hit at some point). I thought, "holy crap, that's me". The author described almost exactly what happened to me with my team. It turns out that it wasn't the bike, it was ME, I figured as much but this article confirmed it. He then outlined a plan to get back into form and get stronger.

Part of his plan was taking some time off (and get "fat"), which I have already done.I'm going to modify that plan a little; I took the time off, but didn't get fat. i think I burned out. Riding the same course most of the time, failed to challenge me. This year, I will ride a wider variety of courses to challenge me and force me to either get stronger or die. This will include more hills. Phoenix is geographically a pancake, very flat. There are, however, some outlining areas that are hilly. That's where I will be. Sure, I will still take the quick 20 miler out the front door to spin some, but I will also add in some serious "training".

I am also going to cross train with walking and some light jogging (my orthopedic surgeon better not read this). There will be some strength training as well, not so much with weights, but resistance bands. I have obtained what I am calling my jump box which I need to start using more frequently (more to come on that later).

So, here's to a stronger, faster 2011.

A New Year, A New Set of Goals

How did 2010 slip by me so fast? It seems like just yesterday, I rode to the top of Las Sendas mountain and proclaimed my mileage goal for the year. I didn't exactly shout it from the mountain top, but when I got back I wrote about it. Not nearly as poetic, I know. In fact, I think I did pretty good on my goals that I set out for the year. You'll have to ask my wife about #'s 2&3 but I feel that I did pretty good. For the work one, I feel I did well. To recap, here were my goals:



1. Ride 3600 miles by year's end

2. Be a better father to my kids (lengthen my fuse)

3. Be a better husband to my wife in general

4. Focus my energy at work on being more productive (work smarter, not harder)



Hmmm, 3 out of 4 isn't bad, right? Turns out my total mileage was only 1674 miles. Not even half of my goal that I set out for myself. How did that happen? I was kicking ass. My miles for the last 3 years were going up considerably until last year. 2008 - 2064 miles, 2009 - 3053 miles, last year - complete fizzzle (fo shizzle). I'm not going to sit here and make up a bunch of lame excuses. Yes, my hand issues continued, but so what? Maybe my goal wasn't realistic? Maybe life just got in the way? Yes, life did get busy, but isn't it always? Wasn't 2009 busy too? You bet!



Instead of complaining about not meeting my goal, I'm going to celebrate it. Hey, I did over 1600 miles! That's a whole lot better than sitting my fat ass on the couch and doing nothing! In 2010 I did manage to drop about 10 pounds and lower my cholesterol to under 200. I've been eating healthier and feeling better.

So for this year, I have a new list of goals. Here they are (in no particular order):
1. Continue to lengthen my fuse with my kids
2. Be an even better husband to my wife
3. Get our office in the top 5 agencies in the country (currently we're at the bottom)
3. Better my time in the Tour de Scottsdale (4:26 in 2010)
4. Compete in a sprint triathlon
5. Compete in 1 running event (Warrior Dash - already scheduled 4-30-11)
6. Better my 2008 mileage number (2064miles)
7. Try to help people understand Autism and share our story more
8. Get rid of some clutter
9. Improve my overall well being through meditation and relaxation
10. Expand our home garden to grow more of our own food.
11. Have fun!

I picked 11 for 2011 (clever huh?). I have started walking the dog most nights with a friend of mine, Mark which will help with my mileage goal and overall health. Yeah, we got a dog just after Thanksgiving. Starting off 2011, my weight is 281 and my cholesterol is 299 (this is more a reference for me to see how I do this year). I believe that all of these goals are attainable. I hope to blog more to share my journey with both of the people that read this.

Here's to a great year!