Bicycle Contests & Giveaways
It’s that time of the week for my weekly update but things around here have been kind of slow. My wife continues to mend from her surgery (a six to nine month full recovery time frame) and I got in a couple of rides. The weather played some weird games this week which caused me only to get two rides in. I was all set for a long ride on Saturday but mother nature wouldn’t cooperate. I got up at 7:00 AM, looked outside, and it was iffy at best. I pulled up the weather map on my computer to have a look and I wondered if I could slip a ride in anyway. As I’m sitting there I look out the window at the tree tops and they’re moving some. Looks like it would be a windy ride. After about five minutes I look out again and it’s raining. It looks like a light rain and I decide to try and wait it out. After about 30 minutes it’s still raining but the wind is really gusting. It turned around to rain on and off all day and then it rained all night last night. Needless to say, no riding was accomplished.
That brings me to today’s subject on bicycle contests and giveaways. I came across three this week with two on one site. Here’s a quick rundown of what they are.
At The Bicycle Tutor
Alex over at The Bicycle Tutor has got one contest and one giveaway going on. The contest is a Logo Design Contest where the winner can take home $100 cash. The deadline for entries is September 26, 2008 and contest details can be found here.
The second item Alex has going on is a giveaway each month thanks to the fine folks over at Genuine Innovations. They sent Alex six SecondWind Road Carbon Minis
On a side-note, if you’re not visiting The Bicycle Tutor or reading his feed then you are missing out on some great stuff. I’ve used several of his video tutorials to do maintenance on my bike.
At Ride-Strong
This giveaway has been going on for a while but I just got a reminder for it today. If you don’t know about it, Ride-Strong is giving away a new 2008 Colnago Carbon CLX road bike that retails for $5,500. How cool is that? Entering your name for this giveaway is easy. Just visit this link, Ride-Strong.com Colnago Carbon Bike Contest, and follow the directions to subscribe to the Ride-Strong RSS feed and newsletter. A winner will be randomly chosen when Ride-Strong reaches 1,500 RSS subscribers. At the link above you can also find information on how to increase your chances of winning.
I’ve entered both the Colnago Bicycle and CO2 inflator giveaways. I just don’t think I have the talent to enter in the logo design contest. Anyway, I could sure use that Colnago bike just as I’m sure many of you could too. I will tell you that I would subscribe to both The Bicycle Tutor and Ride-Strong even if they were running some contests. They’re both have great content on their sites. Good luck to anyone who enters.
Remember, Bike To Live.
Bike Ride 28 – Friends, Flats, and Follies
Today was the first Saturday ride of my new bicycling fitness program so I was due to ride 30 miles. I set the alarm for 8, woke up at about 7:30, and headed out.
About 2 miles into my ride I saw a guy walking his bike down the sidewalk towards me. I asked if he needed help and he said yes. I pulled off the road to offer what assistance I could. Turns out his name is Kevin and started cycling about three weeks ago. Both he and his wife ride and they’ve already been on a group ride here in town and ridden the Jacksonville-Baldwin trail. I rode that trail back on Ride 8. He’s riding for the same reasons I am. His problem was a flat. I had a spare tube that I put in for him and put a little CO2 in it to make sure everything was ok. That’s when we noticed that CO2 was escaping from my inflator. My inflator uses non-threaded CO2 cartridges so it’s held in place with a plastic cover that, when you screw it on, pushes the cartridge into the valve and pierces the cartridge top. CO2 was leaking around the seam of the plastic piece holding the cartridge. I went to tighten it and the plastic broke allowing the CO2 to rapidly escape. It sure gave Kevin and I a start. How embarrassing. I tried to make it work somehow but couldn’t. It was broken beyond repair. I had to leave Kevin in the same condition I had met him in, with a flat, and go on about my ride. That just stinks. I did get his phone number and gave him the website address so we could perhaps get together for some rides in the future. Kevin, if you read this, I’m sorry it didn’t work out this morning.
(On a side note, I’m looking out the window of my study and am glad I rode early because it’s pouring right now.)
Well, I hopped back on my bike and continued riding. I knew about where I wanted to ride. I was planning on riding my 13-mile morning ride and inserting a 20-mile leg in the middle. Here’s what it looks like:
This route is pretty good and only has a couple spots where traffic can get bad and that’s along the St Johns Towncenter. Early in the morning, though, it wasn’t too bad. The loop around the University of North Florida is nice and there is virtually no traffic on AC Skinner Parkway. It made for a good ride.
Now that I’ve posted my route, let me explain what happened when I got home. I ride up to the driveway and my wife is in her car with the kids ready to back out. They see me and get out. I can tell she’s upset. I ask what’s wrong and she asks if I realize that I’ve been gone for over 3 hours (2:20 riding time, the time helping Kevin, and a short rest break). I told her I had a 30-mile ride scheduled this morning but that didn’t help. It turns out that after 1.5 hours or so she tried calling me (my phone was in the seat bag and I didn’t hear it), had been out twice along my weekday route looking for me, and was getting ready to head out again. She was worried sick that I was laying in a ditch somewhere hurt. I understand her feelings and apologized. Truth is, about half-way through my ride a I realized that I hadn’t left her a map of my route and/or hadn’t told her how far/long I was riding. Critical mistakes. With tools like Map My Ride, there’s no excuse for me to not print out my route and leave it for her in the event she needs to find me. I should also check my phone more often. So, let this be a lesson for those of you out there with significant others who are waiting for you at home.
Besides Kevin, I saw five or six other “serious” cyclists and four or five folks just out for a cruise on their comfort bikes. I also saw several runners out for their Saturday morning exercise.
All told, I managed to ride 31.88 miles with a riding time of 2 hours and 19 minutes. After having ridden Wednesday and Thursday, I had to take Friday off to let my rear recover a little due to lack of time in the saddle. That day off, coupled with a better set of bibs, worked wonders for my sit bones and I didn’t have any trouble the entire ride. The highlight of the day though was meeting Kevin and at least trying to help him out.
Read MoreRide 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
Read MoreRide 18 – Wet and Wild
I slept in a little this morning and took off at about 7:30 AM for my Saturday ride. It had rained yesterday and last night so the roads were wet but not bad. I had to dodge the occasional puddle but nothing major. I went out today just trying to ride a good distance while maintaining a good speed. I wanted to try and average around 15 mph. I also had a basic idea of where I wanted to ride too.
Throughout the ride I saw a lot of folks out for their Saturday morning exercise. Bikers, runners, walkers, dogs walking their owners and so on. At one point I saw a group of about 5 women who had been running. They were gathered around one of those orange igloo water coolers getting a drink on the side of the road. Several were in the same shirt. As I continued up the road I saw another group of about 6 women; again in the same shirt. It must have been some kind of organized runners club or something like that. I continued to see several other runners.
About two miles after my usual weekday turnaround point I hit a new section of road that is pristine for bike riding. The road has only been in existence for about a year and isn’t well-traveled. It has a bike lane and rides very well. I think I was passed by one car on this section of road.
After turning around and making it about halfway back home I hear, “on your left!” I look over my shoulder and it’s a guy passing me. I’m cruising along at about 17 mph and this guy is moving pretty good. He’s riding a Colnago with aerobars and he’s tucked in. He’s probably ten years older than I am but like I said, he’s bookin’ it. A few minutes later I get passed by another guy, about my age, riding a Trek. The two guys are together it seems and I’m able to stay with them pretty good. In fact, they were rabbits for me to chase. I didn’t want to catch all the way back up to them so they wouldn’t think I was some jerk. To stay with them I really had to push it and it felt great. The both stopped as one of the guys was apparently ready to turn into his neighborhood. I passed them then but the guy on the Colnago passed me again a few minutes later and turned down a side road about a quarter mile later.
This was another super ride. It was nice to see all the folks out getting exercise and even better to see a couple of fellow road riders. It was also great to be able to really push it.
Here are the numbers for today: 25.14 miles, 1 hr 36 min, 20.8 mph max, 15.6 mph average
Read MoreCO2 Inflator Video
I ran across a cool video over on Ride-Strong that shows how an inflator is used to inflate both MTB and road bike tires. Click here to see it.
CONNECT WITH BTL
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
