My New Bike Trainer!

Ok, so Gladys convinced me to buy a bike trainer. It's pretty cold outside...in the 50's today and that means that my outdoor riding season has officially ended. I've been thinking about buying a trainer for several years but didn't want a piece of equipment that would end up as a place to throw my clothes on it. I wanted to make sure that I would actually use it. I'm thinking that making this purchase public will keep me honest and accountable.

I bought the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine from Amazon based on Gladys and Grace's recommendation. It was very easy to put together. I got it Monday and have used it twice since then. (It's Wed!) It's very solid and I feel secure riding on it. It's not too loud and feels very smooth. The nice thing about this trainer is that there is a lifetime warranty!

Here are some pics:

Notice my essential tv remote control within arms reach.

G and G advised me not to buy the $30 riser to put under my front tire. Instead, I used my old stats book from college. Glad I can use it for something!

Bee Caves Ride-Austin, TX (10/16/10) 35 Miles

State Capitol, Austin

Scott and Sheri suggested we ride while we were in Austin for the ACCP Annual Meeting so we rented bikes at Lance Armstrong's shop, Mellow Johnnies. (http://www.mellowjohnnys.com/) It's a beautiful shop:


We rented Treks, but by the time I went online to make my reservation, they ran out of their standard Trek Road Bikes...so I got lucky and got to ride a Trek Madone! It was a beautiful ride...I don't know the official weight but I can tell you that the thing is super light! You can lift the bike with one finger.

The shop recommended we ride out to Bee Caves, TX. The total route was approximately 35 miles round trip from Mellow Johnny's to Bee Caves:

Start: Mellow Johnny's (4th St and Nueces St)

Take 4th St and make L on Guadelupe

R onto 1st Street

L over pedestrian bridge (S.Lamar Blvd)

R onto Barton Springs Rd

R onto Rollingwood Dr

L onto Old Walsh Tartan

L onto Wilderness Rd

R onto Rt.360 (S.Capitol of TX Highway)

Take Exit 2244, make slight R then quick L to Rt 2244 (Bee Caves Rd)

The route takes you out of downtown Austin, through some pretty neighborhoods on Rollingwood Dr, but then turns into mostly highway. It was surprising how much traffic there was and how much of it was highway riding! We passed many gated communities and ended up at a shopping mall. Here are some pics:

Here we are at lunch:

We saw this boat as we rode back to downtown:

All in all, we had a great day! The weather was beautiful..bright and sunny in the 80's!

North Fork Century 8/29/10-Greenport, LI (52 miles)

Yesterday we rode in the North Fork Century. We added two new EB Riders to our team! Grace and Tina joined me on the 52 mile ride. The route was pretty flat with some rolling hills. The weather was HOT...in the 90's by the time we finished, but was comfortable and shady for the first half of the ride. The route is really beautiful. This was Tina's first ride in many years and she did great! Grace recently completed her first Ironman, so this ride was literally a walk in the park for her!

Check out Grace's homemade hydration system. You can find the components at your local Home Depot! Genius!

Brooklyn! (40 miles)

Tom and I decided to take a ride out to Brooklyn today. We met in Central Park and did one warm up loop and then headed down the Hudson River Greenway on the West side. The weather was great and fortunately, there were not a lot of crowds in Central Park or the greenway. We rode over the Brooklyn Bridge and then rode to Prospect Park via a bumpy Flatbush Ave! We grabbed sandwiches in Park Slope and then worked it off with 3 loops around the park. I usually see these bridges when I'm driving over them to work so it was nice to see them from a different vantage point.

We came back on the east side and got some great views of the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge and Williamsburg Bridge.

Manhattan Bridge:

59th Street Bridge:

Central Park Loop-24 miles

After a week of eating out while on vacation and at a conference, I was eager to get back on my bike. Last week I went up to the Henry Hudson Drive in the horrible heat...I think it was 100% real feel T. That was probably a mistake.

That night I discovered there was a big fat bulge in the rear tire. So, I thought I'd practice changing my tire in the safe confines of my apartment. Two hours later, with a new tube....the bulge was still there. Turns out that I needed a new one. I guess it's time considering these are the original tires. Big red is 6 years old in August!

Today I met Nan for a few loops in the park and then a nice lunch at Route 66 on 9th ave. The weather was great...overcast so there were no people in the park!

Central Jersey Jaunt-Hillsborough-Franklin (22 miles)

I rode solo today down in Central NJ. This is the route that I take when I'm down in Hillsborough visiting my mom. (mileage)

R Mulford Lane

R Surrey Drive

L Riverview Terr (0.6)

R Hillsborough Rd

L Van Arsdale Rd

R Vliet Drive (1.1)

L Amsterdam Rd (1.4)

R Amwell Rd/514E (3.2)

L Mettlers Rd (4.8)

x Weston Rd (6.0)

R Schoolhouse Rd (6.6)

L Cottontail Rd (7.3)

R Campus Drive (8.7)

R Elizabeth Ave (9.4)

L Pierce St (10)

x Davidson Ave (10.5)

x Worlds Fair Drive (11)

R Cedar Grove Lane (11.3)

L VanCleef Rd (13.9)

R Blackwells Mills Rd (15.3)

L Canal Rd (16.1)

R Canal Rd (17.3)

I saw this turtle cross the road on Canal!

R Griggstown Causeway/632W (19.5)

R River Road/533 (19.9)

L Township Line Rd (21.4)

R Riverview Terrace (21.6)

L Walker Drive (21.9)

R Mulford Lane (22.1)

Rockland Lake (Nyack) 55 miles!

Today Tom and I rode up through Palisades Interstate Park (Henry Hudson Drive) in Edgewater and rode up to Alpine Police station to meet Stu. (8.75 miles)

Our ultimate goal was Rockland Lake. I'm going to try and recreate the route so we can remember it for next time...but there are some details missing. First we went to Piermont by taking 9W North to Tallman state park. We made a right into Tallman State Park and at the stop sign, we made a right. The road curved to the left, we went over a bridge in the center of town by the big American flag. When you arrive in Piermont you must ride single file or you could get a ticket. (15 miles) We rode through Piermont and continued on Piermont Road and viewed some beautiful mansions! We saw more mansions today then we did last week! This is a

beautiful road...

Ok, this is not a mansion, but it's cute!

Our favorite..the Purple Mansion!

We had lunch at the Runcible Spoon in Nyack. http://www.runciblespoonbakery.com/

Leaving the Runcible Spoon....On to Rockland Lake!

We followed North Broadway Road and made a left onto Old Mountain Rd. I can't remember what we did next...so here are some links to remind us for next time:

http://www.bikely.com/cuesheet/route/Nyack-Piermont-to-GWB-sec-2

http://www.roberts-1.com/bikehudson/r/r/m_nyack/

Rockland Lake:

Tom got a flat on the way back to the GWB. He got 2 new kevlar tires at TOGA bike shop. Thanks TOGA! http://togabikes.com/storelocator/toga-bikes-nyack-3.htm

Heading home:

Reminder for coming back to the GWB from Piermont: Follow S.Piermont Road to 340 EAST. This will become County Road in NJ. Take this all the way to Englewood. Follow directions below from Nyack Ride (1998). Today I passed the 200 mile mark. (211) I'm doing much better than last year! Hooray!