Bicycle Christmas Gifts
The holiday season is in full swing now with both Black Friday and Cyber Monday behind us. I’m not one of those folks that thinks I have to hit the stores at 5:00 AM the day after Thanksgiving to do my shopping. Personally, I have to wonder about the mental stability of folks that do that. If any of my readers are frequent participants in the holiday “running of the bulls” please don’t take offense. I’m just having fun with it but you do have to wonder about the folks that find it necessary to trample a guy to death.
That said, I’ve compiled a list of cool items you may want to pass along to your significant other to save them the time and frustration of trying to shop for a bicyclist. If your wife/husband knows as much about bicycling as my wife does then you’ll understand why I’ve put this list together. Without further ado here’s my list:
1. Products from Genuine Innovations. If you’re not familiar with Genuine Innovations they are a company that produces some of the best tire inflation products you can buy. Their CO2 inflators are high quality and something every bicyclist needs to carry in their seat bag. I did a review on their Second Wind Road Mini Carbon a while back that would make a great gift. You can get anything from CO2 cartridge refills to complete CO2 powered inflation kits that come in their own seat bag.
2. A Jersey from 3 Feet Please. 3 Feet Please is a new company that offers jerseys to help educate drivers on the 3-foot-law currently enforced in fourteen states. I did an article about the 3 Feet Please cycling jersey a few weeks ago.
3. Bicycling Magazine subscription. Amazon.com runs some great deals on magazine subscriptions and you can get one year of Bicycling for $11
4. Jelly Belly Sports Beans. These are energy replacement snacks that can be consumed during your ride to help replenish Vitamins B and C and electrolytes. They’ve also got a nice collection of Jelly Belly apparel
that includes cycling jerseys, hats, socks, and water bottles.
5. A Road ID Identification Bracelet. If you don’t have one of these you seriously need to consider it. A Road ID can be ordered in either standard or interactive configurations and contains the information required by first responders to treat you and notify your family in the event you’re in an accident and incapacitated. They have gift cards available and orders must be placed by December 14, 2008 in order to be received by Christmas.
6. If the above five aren’t a big enough list to give your significant other, then take a look at this list of bestsellers from Amazon.com:
Schwinn 17-Function Bike Computer
Cateye CC-RD300W Strada Wireless Bicycle Computer
Timex IRONMAN Triathlon Sleek 50-Lap Mid-Size
Planet Bike Blinky Super Flash 1/2-Watt Blaze LED Plus 2 eXtreme LED Rear Bicycle Light
Topeak Road Morph G Bike Pump with Gauge
Planet Bike Beamer 5 LED Bicycle Light with Quick Cam Bracket Mount
GARMIN 010-00447-30 Edge 305 GPS Bundle
Olive Drab HW Classic Messenger Bag – Jack Bag (24)
GARMIN Edge 705 Bicycle Monitor With GPS, Heart Rate Monitor, and Speed/Cadence Sensor
Lastly, if any of you feel compelled to get me something, take a look at my Amazon Wish List.
Bike Ride 31 – 30 Awesome Miles
I really wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get a ride in this morning. Tropical Storm Hannah prevented me from riding yesterday as it went by Florida heading for the Carolinas. The weather report called for a good day so I went to bed early expecting to ride. The alarm went off at 7:00 and I took a quick look outside. The sky was clear and there was no wind. Awesome. I was out the door by 7:20.
My fitness plan had me riding my bicycle for 30 miles today so I set out to ride the same route as last week. Unlike last Saturday, I made sure to let my wife know where I was riding and when I expected to be back. The route is below.
31 Mile Route
Overall the ride was very uneventful which was kind of nice. The sun had yet to crawl above the trees so most of the first half of the ride was in some cool shadows. It was awesome. As I neared the 10-mile point while crossing in front of the St Johns Towncenter (a big shopping area), I hear somebody yell my name. I look across the road and it’s Kevin from Ride 28. I yelled back and pulled over to see if he wanted to talk. I looked back and he kept going. Oh well. From there I did the loop around around UNF. Jaxgtr, I saw the turn you were talking about that can add some mileage on the campus. It’s the light at the campus police station. I’ll have to try that out sometime.
After finishing that loop I headed back through the Town Center and took a turn West that would take me down to my rest stop at Southpoint Community Church. While riding a long stretch on the way to the Church, I saw Kevin again heading in the opposite direction. I yelled and waived but he must not have heard me. It looked like he was concentrating on his ride and listening to his ipod. I should have called him yesterday and asked if he wanted to ride since it looks like he was riding the same route as me. Kevin, sorry about not calling. I’ll give you a call this week to see if we can meet up next Saturday.
I stopped at the Church for a quick break and took the opportunity to adjust my pedals (two of the adjustment screws had worked loose) and eat a little snack. I realized this morning that I didn’t have anymore Jelly Belly® Sport Beans or gels so I threw a little cheese and cracker snack in my bag on the way out the door. It was actually pretty tasty. I also took the opportunity to refill my water bottles. There’s a water hose on the backside of the Church but I discovered last week that you need a wrench to operate it. Luckily, I remembered to throw a miniature crescent wrench into my seat bag before leaving the house.
After getting my rest I set out again and road the ten miles back home. There were a couple of times during the ride that I felt good and decided to pick up the speed for a short interval. One was right before my rest break on a nice long flat stretch where I was able to get my speed up to 20.5 mph. The other was about halfway home on another flat piece of road where I was able to get my speed up to 20.7 mph. It felt good. Another thing I did today was ride the entire route in my big chain ring. I rarely ride using it but have decided to try and use it more often. No pain no gain.
That’s about it. It was a really great ride that left me feeling good. I saw a lot of folks this morning either running, walking, or riding. It’s always nice to see others while I’m out riding. All told, I rode 30.7 miles in 2 hours 8 minutes.
Ride 20 – Much harder than it should have been
Sorry for the break between posts but even though this was a four-day week, it felt like a five-day week at work. I was slammed. Friday morning I woke up and didn’t feel 100% and couldn’t ride. By the time I got home that evening around five, I was totally blown. I had zero energy and couldn’t stay awake. It took all I could do to just crawl in bed. I slept until about 8:45 PM, then went back to bed at midnight, and slept until 7:00 AM this morning. When I got up I didn’t feel great but I felt ok. I decided to go ahead and ride the same route I did last Saturday because I needed the ride.
Upon setting out my hamstrings felt pretty tight and it took several miles before they started to feel good. As I neared my normal weekday turnaround point I just wasn’t sure how this ride was going to turn out. I felt tired already and just was having a hard go at it. I reached the church that’s my turnaround point and had to stop for about 10 minutes to rest. I drank some water and had some Jelly Belly® Sport (ENERGY) Jelly Beans. After resting I felt a bit better and set out again.
About 5 minutes later I crossed an intersection and saw a group of three riders approaching the same intersection from my left. About a mile later they start to overtake me (I’m going approx 17 mph). The lead rider pulls up next to me and says, “We’re lost and hope you know where you’re going because we’re just going to follow you.” I said, “If you follow me, you’ll just wind up at my house.” They laughed and kept on going. I caught up to them again about 2 miles later at a stoplight. The light changes green and I’m ready and take off. They seemed to be taking their time getting across. They probably thought I was a tool as I passed them. Once across the intersection the road climbs for about 200 feet and then descends back down on the other side. I let my speed carry me and I’m riding along at about 20 mph. I see some guy operating a leaf blower up ahead next to the road. It looks like he was fixing to step out into the road, saw me, and thought better of it. I’m still pushing 20 mph, get within about 10 feet of the guy and he turns to step out in front of me. At the last second he sees me and jumps back. That would have hurt. About a 100 feet later I’m still pushing 20 mph (just to see if the three riders were going to catch me) and here they come just cruising by me with a girl in the lead. They must have been moving along at close to 25 mph. Wow. I hope to be able to ride at that pace some day.
After these three passed me again they left me behind pretty quick and then I turned to start heading back home. The effort over the past five miles was starting to get to me. It took a huge effort to keep pedaling over the last stretch home and by the time I got home I was hurting pretty bad. I’m not sure what caused me to crash so bad yesterday and then to not be able to ride at my best today. I’ve wondered if it was some kind of bug but I don’t feel sick. I’ve also wondered if it’s perhaps my diet and if I’m not getting enough of something. I’m not sure. I welcome anyones opinion.
Here are the numbers for today: 24.22 miles, 1:34:01, 21.7 mph max, 15.4 mph average
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