alkaline
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Posts posted by alkaline
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Tearz, that sounds like a good plan. I'm going to get an indoor trainer soon. Shit, all this talk of healthy food is making me hungry for a veggie burger. Congrats on the new bike, Devilush.
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That's exactly what I was going for, Hesh, but I figured that if I was gonna be eating "healthy" I may as well make my diet condusive to training as well. I need to increase my muscle mass. I'm tired of my arms looking like toothpicks with fingers.
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I got my Tour de France 2001 video the other day. I stayed up until 3 in the morning and I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer watching it. Seeing those guys ride really makes you want to get on your bike. I was unfortunately out of town, without my bike, so I had to settle for dreams of rides to come.
Hesh, I finally got a helmet. It was a late Christmas present from my lady's 'rents. It should arrive sometime this week.
I'm going to start a training diet in the next couple of weeks. For the past month or so, I've eaten fast food for one or more meal every day. I'm starting to feel pretty crappy (physically and mentally). So I decided to go into full training mode (which I probably should have done a few months ago, but whatever). Does anybody know of any good sports nutrition diets that would be worth checking out? Books, websites?
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I just got my Dondi White book from amazon.com today. The is a cool picture of Dondi posing with his fixie in there. It made me smile.
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"WE HAD AN AGREEMENT!"
Well ain't that some shit?! I can't believe you actually hit a seagull. Johnathan Livingston mush not have seen you.
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me too ... just kidding.
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I paint my nails black, I wear eyeliner, I ride a bike ... Is that attractive?
My fiance seems to think so ... not to mention all the girls that check me out everywhere I go. The fiunny thing is that I was the biggest nerd in high school. My circle of friends consisted of myself and my twin brother.
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Bastard! I think I might try to get a part-time position at my old job, so I can get the hook-up on a new bike. I don't know how I'll be able to afford it otherwise. Gotta save up for another month or two though.
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Damn, I really need one of those shirts with the thumb hole. I checked the EMS website but they only have it in saphire blue (I mostly rock black shirts).
My lady called me last night. She can't pay her rent this month and asked if I could help her out ... there goes the money I was saving for a new bike.
Has anybody else noticed that bikes are really expensive now days? I can't find anything that I would want (mountain bike) for under a grand.
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Yikes! When I was a kid, I got my shoelace wrapped around my pedal. I didn't realize that it was happening until it pulled my shoelace so tight that we had to cut the shoe off of my foot.
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Let's hear some cold weather gear recommendations. I’ve got some arm warmers (Sugoi), a hat and some WindStopper™ gloves already. What about jackets and pants (do you guys wear tights)? You guys would know about the cold more than me.
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So I'm a wuss ... That's what you guys are saying? Hahahaha. You're probably right. By the way, I'm jealous of all you guys that have time off for the holidays. I'm stuck back at work, and all I wanted to do today was stay home and sleep.
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Hell yeah, Hesh. Every time I think about that vacation, I want to ride a mountain bike. It's about 35 degrees out right now. I really want to ride, but I can't seem to motivate myself to go out there.
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I bought mine on eBay. It ran me about $450. If you can't spend that much, go to a shop that sells used bikes, look for a frame and build it up yourself. There's a shop near my dad's house that has a whole warehouse full of parts and frames and what-not. It's like a scrap yard. You go in, pick what you want, and pay next to nothing. As you get more money, you can upgrade parts.
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One time, a few summers ago, I took a trip with my girlfriend, at the time (Hayley), to Colorado. I hadn't really been on a bike in a few years as I had decided to "retire" due to countless minor injuries. I borrowed a bike from her brother, and we loaded in the van with her parents and started the long drive. We went to a town called Frisco, and I was utterly amazed with what I saw. This town was small, but they had paved bike trails that went all around town and even into the neighboring towns. I couldn't believe it. It was the first time I had been to Colorado, and I really wasn't prepared for the beautiful assault on my eyes. There were mountains and cliffs and trees like I had never seen. The air was like nothing I had ever breathed. I almost hurt it was so clean. We decided to just hang out for the day so we could get adjusted to the altitude and start riding the next day.
The next morning we woke up, got our gear together (I've got a really funny picture of me all decked out in whatever clothes I could find, because I didn't have any proper cycling gear), and started riding. We took one of the paved trails through a mountain pass and into Vail. It was a good ride there, but on the way back, the weather turned sour. It started raining, and if you've ever been stuck in a rainstorm in the mountains, you know that it's cold as fuck. So we race down the path, hoping like hell that nobody washed out because we were going so fast. Like I said before, fashion-wise, I was not prepared. I started to freeze. Looking back, I can honestly say that hypothermia might have started to set in at least twice that weekend, this being the first time. By the time we got back to our hotel, my hands were so cold that I had to slide them sideways off the grips. It took a while before I could get my gloves off. That was all the riding we would do that day.
After a late breakfast the next day, Hayley and I decided to go on a ride by ourselves. She was competitive by nature, and she couldn't stand riding on the paved trails with her parents. "They just go too slow, that's all." So we found a random trail, not really sure where it went or how long it was. We said that if we started to feel tired, we would just turn around and go back to way we came. We rode for a long time. We saw wild strawberries, a beaver dam, and signs that there were bears in the area. It was fun, but somewhere along the line we got lost. We rode around for about two more hours, trying to find a town so we knew where we were. Finally we rolled into Breckenridge. It was getting dark, and cold. We caught the shuttle bus back to Frisco, and crashed into bed as soon as we got to the hotel.
A day later we decided to ride with her parents again. We figured we could use a break, and with her parents around we wouldn't be riding so hard. It was a lot warmer, and we pedaled our bikes up a massive fire road and onto a nice, wide, easy trail. Unfortunately for me, there were large mounds on this trail that were perfect for jumping. I started riding faster. I took a few jumps with no problems, but on the fourth one, I made a mistake. There was a slight turn immediately after the jump, and I didn't have my ass on the seat as I went into it. I hit some loose dirt and washed out. I flipped at least once, hit the ground hard on my left side with my left arm underneath my chest. I slid for about 15 or 20 feet with my legs tangled up in the frame. I remember watching the dirt and gravel pass by my face and mentally patting myself on the back for wearing a helmet that day (I would venture to say that I might have lost my left ear if I wasn't wearing it). I came to a complete stop in a cloud of dust. I kicked the bike away from my legs and rolled over to get up. "Shit, that sucked." I didn't real the pain. I was more embarrassed because I had just had the spectacular skin-mangling crash on the trail the old people rode for leisure Sunday rides. An older woman stopped and asked if I was okay as I got back on my bike to catch up with Hayley to tell her about my death defying adventure. "I'm fine," I said and rode off. When I caught up to Hayley, she gave me a once-over glance because of all the dirt I now had on me and screamed, "Oh God, you’re bleeding!" I smiled and replied smugly, "It's just a little blood on my elbow. You know I'm invincible." (I had said that because thus far in my life I had managed to actually walk away from every crash I had ever had) She just pointed at my left side just above my hip. I looked down and saw what she was screaming about. I had ripped a hole in my shirt (and my skin) and there was already blood dripping down to my knee. I hadn't noticed it. I lifted my shirt and stared at the gash in my side for a minute amazed that it didn't hurt at all. As I cleaned the dirt and gravel out of it, I discovered that I could fit the tip of my pinky in it. Hayley's parents wanted to take me to the hospital so I could get stitches, but I wouldn't have it (I hate going to the hospital so much that I've been thinking about getting EMT trained so that I could stitch myself up if that ever happens again). I rode for the rest of the day, occasionally stopping to make sure I wasn't bleeding all over myself, but that was the last time I would ride for the rest of the vacation. When we got back to the hotel room, I went to take a shower. I examined myself in the mirror and discovered that I had cut my left elbow, left side, left shoulder and my left hand. I cleaned up and went to bed.
The next morning I could barely move.
I limped around Frisco for the next couple of days, proudly displaying my battle wounds, and my smile. Sometimes I don't feel satisfied with a vacation unless I get a scar to remember it by. I have them all over my body, and each one is a good story. Sometimes the scars fade, but the memory is always there. I left Colorado a happy man.
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Alright, so I bought the Lance Armstrong book with a gift card I got for Christmas. I read about 140 pages in the course of a day. It's a really good book, and I can't seem to put it down. The only thing is that it really makes me want to pack up my bikes and start travelling around the world to ride in different places. I was reading the part when Lance went to Boone, NC to do some training, and I found myself really wanting to go to Boone (Boone also boasts some of the best bouldering on the east coast, but access is harshly regulated except for a certain time of the year when they host a competition). So here's the question:
Where have you and your bike been? Did anything exciting/scary/funny happen while you were riding? Lets hear some stories.
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The Immortal Class is a really good book. I haven't read Lance's book yet, but I've been meaning to pick up a copy. I was at the book store the other day, and I was flipping through a book called The American Bicycle. It's a pretty cool book if you are into cycling history.
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I wish I could have gotten a bike for Christmas. That's what I really wanted, but nobody would spend that much on me. It's too bad.
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Originally posted by Jewish Task Force
Question, whats up with the whole straight or riser bar fixie thing in boston, these guys are all about it but i dont get it.
Are you talking about mountain bike bars on a fixie? I was thinking about putting some on mine, but I had no idea that other people did that. After much diliberation, I decided that my traditional road bars had more of an advantage as far as hand positions, so I left them the way they are. The only reason that I was going to switch them in the first place is because this is the first "road" frame/bike I've ever owned. I'm used to a mountain/BMX handlebar.
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Hahahaha. The other day I was riding, and it was so windy that I thought i was going to start rolling backwards.
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Nice.
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Cool.
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Cinnamon, did you happen to get any pictures from the race? I'd like to see them if you did.
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Alright, Cinnamon! I'm glad to hear you did well.
bicicletas
in Lifestyle
Posted
Ouch, dude. You better get on that bike and ride. I rode to a show last night and made it all the way there and back without crashing! Hooray! My light died on the way home though. I hate that.