live.love.breathe.cycling

I am a terrible blogger...

2011-11-15T17:55:00.001-08:00

I will be first to admit that one!! But life is good, it's been a while, and I have ridden many a miles on my bike since then! Where to start...

Life on the bike to and from work has been fantastic... minus the small mishap with the car that turned right in front of me. Long story short... made eye contact at the stoplight with Mr. ASU SUV. Crossed through the intersection together... side. by. mother effing. side. He barely got a chance to try to pull ahead of me and he turned right into a gas station as I was approximately at his rear passenger wheel. He was not signaling or braking, and thankfully, I realized he was turning was able to kind of slow down and turn my front wheel to the right so as not to completely damage my bike, or me. He clipped my tire with his rear fender, pulled into a parking space and then as soon as I was done catching my fall (in which I clipped out superbly!!) I looked up just in time to see him back out of the parking space and drive off. Fucker, pardon my language, but he deserves it. I did not get his plate as I was busy keeping my heart in my chest. At least 5 people asked me if I was okay, and all claimed he was at fault, not signaling, and not paying any attention. That was absolutely terrifying!! That was not as short as I intended, my apologies. I was almost hit again in a similar scenario, this time before even entering the crosswalk! Again not my fault. I just wish people would see me. Grr.

Anyway, I participated in a ZOMBIE HIPSTER BIKE RIDE.... oooooooh. The Wednesday before Halloween, I was invited to partake in a "5 mile, zombie cruise, around Tempe" Sure! Sounds fantastic. After an 8.5 mile ride to work this morning, and an anticipated 8.5 mile ride home... what's an extra 5 miles?

LIES. Here's the link to the Loop. It ended up being 22.66 miles overall, for a total of 33.96 miles for the day.. I hitched a ride home with a friend since we didn't leave the bar after party until after 1 am!
Zombie Hipster Bike Loop

There were a good amount of people there!! Most with no helmets (darned hipsters)!! You can see me and my black and blonde hair at approximately 1:52 as I was walking my bike through the parking lot of one of our bar stops. It was a ton of fun!! I would do it again, they have a loops ride every Wednesday night, so I would prefer to do it when I have the next Thursday off work. Which hasn't happened again yet. Haha. This video is pretty awesome though. Watch it. And check out these pics from the ride!! ahh!

Me, Drew, and Jen at Papago Brewing.. one of the stops along the way

Most of the group at a stoplight. In Tempe maybe?

Zombies waiting for brewskis

the gift... I lost mine along the way somewhere.

Dad and I went on a 35 mile ride the Saturday before the hipster ride. Needless to say, I was glad I had that Thursday and Friday off of work and didn't have to ride if I didn't feel like it. Which I didn't. :) Here's a terrible picture of me after the ride! We didn't get any before the ride pictures, or in the middle of the ride pictures, but that's okay. They aren't necessary. ;)

Well, that's life so far. My work schedule has finally returned to normal! I can have a social life agian! I am so happy. Until next time, which hopefully is in the not so far future.

Adieu!

Awww Shiiiiit, I carved 4 pumpkins by myself!

KIDDING! I carved 5.

Trek Breast Cancer Awareness Ride!

2011-10-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

Today, was my big ride... my big 25 mile ride! The 6th annual Trek Breast Cancer Awareness Ride. It cost 25 bucks, which in return was donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. My dad and I signed up for it. I have been so excited to do it, I even invested some money (thanks mom) in some bright pink shorts for the ride. They're really comfortable though, so it was technically a good investment.

check out this swag!

My dad picked me up this morning on the way to Landis Cyclery. He added some locktight to my seat post to keep it from slipping anymore, and then we pumped up my tires and we were on our way. We got there an hour early, and got "swag bags." There was maybe a handful of people there. More people showed up and we went into the shop to ask about the different loops for the 10 mile ride, and the 25 mile ride. Apparently, last years event failed, so they are only doing one 11.6 mile loop for everyone! They don't want their riders getting split up...

I turned to my dad and he said they would offer a 2nd loop around, for those that want to and if they have enough takers. So, basically, I psyched myself out for nothing. I'll remember this next year Trek! I ride more than 11 miles every day. The only difficult part of the ride, was half of it was uphill, and each time the group would split up, they would stop the group in the front and let the other half catch up.


ooh ahhh, fancy paper

Thankfully, we made it through the annoyingness of organized group rides. I was hoping more for a ride where you could ride at your own pace and do what you want, and then meet back at the end. But no, oh well!! At least they gave us bagels and fruit and drinks at the end of the ride. Hooray! Oh and I got this cool piece of paper to put on the front of my bike... I want that 25 miles though! So until later today, it's nap time for now.

It's been a long time coming.

2011-10-07T21:05:00.000-07:00

Short introduction:
I have been in love with road bikes since my dad started watching the Tour de France a few years back. He's been into mountain biking for several years, and I've gone to races since I was in high school. He's on a team and commutes to work every now and then. I broke my tailbone when I was 15 and have always had trouble with it on a bike. Within the past few years, my tailbone seems to be getting better and better, and I finally decided... it's time to buy a bike. I have no reason not to, and if I can't force myself to do it, then I wasted my money. I love my road bike, and it was probably the best investment I've ever made. Hands down.

Each day, I go on a ride in the early morning to work, and I leave when the work day has ended. Either way, I look forward to each ride. It's taken a while to adjust but I've ridden over 200 miles in the past two weeks, and, lemme tell you, it feels really REALLY nice to be able to say that. I was telling someone at work that today, and people sitting at another table, turned around, and said... "Just hearing that makes me tired and sore, you're crazy.." People always tell me that I am crazy, and they can't believe that I actually ride to and from work every single day. It's really not that far. It was far in the beginning, but it's easy now, and I'm only three months into it.

In fact, three months ago, the temperature in Arizona was well over 110 degrees. And I did it! With much help from the nearby lightrail transit system, I did it. Now that the weather is cooler, 95 degrees is nothing. The perfect riding weather has been coming on my ride home. It's been cool the past few days, like really cool. I heard it was in the low 60s this morning when I left. I was wearing shorts and a long sleeve tshirt. I was freezing!! It warmed up, but in the shade, holy moly, it was cold. However, my ride home, was glorious. The sun was down, but it was still warm-ish. It was perfect.

I've been chased by a dog(s), I've been cut off in traffic, I had 9 flat tires in one month,I've ridden literally, hundreds of miles, I upgraded to clipless pedals and shoes, I feel good, I'm happy. This is my new life.

My bike... blue steel!

my fancy new Specialized Spirita Road shoes!

The 9th flat tire I had... luckily I know how to change them!


one of the best parts of riding to work... Arizona, is just... beautiful