Dark rides ahead!

With the time change just around the corner I will be riding home in the dark each night from work. There is a new road being built that may soon be part of my ride home as it cuts through an area of my commute and provides a better path for me to make the journey. Here is a picture of my Optibike at the new entrance to it. You might notice the new light-up spoke reflectors I?ve added to the bike.

Now that the asphalt has been laid down now all they need to do is add sidewalks, some lights and put down a few lines of paint so I?ll know where the bike lane is.  I wonder if they will be able to finish it before winter halts its progress.

Odometer Miles: 2376

Fitness Ball Fun!

In addition to my commutes to work on the Optibike and weekend rides I have been working out a couple of times a week on the Smith gym.I also now have a large 75cm diameter body ball that is part of the routine. It came with a little DVD that shows quite a few exercises that you can do with the ball. I will eventually try all of them. Working with a body ball can be challenging though. Maybe that?s why it works. It forces you to stabilize yourself while you are exercising on it so it is putting more of your muscles to work. Coach Traci will be discussing the use of these fitness balls in a future conference call so now I?ll be ready for that. This ball is just a regular ?Burst-Proof? one (we shall see) and there are others I?ve seen that come with some sand in them to help to stabilize them and keep them in one place. Also you can get a ball base for them so they can be used for those exercises that require you to sit on it. According to Wikipedia : The ball, while often referred to as a Swiss ball, is also known by a number of different names, including balance ball, birth ball, body ball, fit or fitness ball, gym ball, gymnastic ball, physioball, pilates ball, Pezzi ball, sports ball, stability ball, Swedish ball, therapy ball, or yoga ball. In any case here is a picture of the one I?m using:

Odometer Miles: 2288

Ride em? when you can!

As I planned I was able to get back on my bike this last week. Enjoying the beautiful weather while it is here. Coming back from work on my daily commute I?ve noticed how it is now getting darker earlier then ever.  Then we have the time change coming up in November!  Fall back, spring forward. It?s going to be getting dark every night I come home then. I?m glad for those nice powerful lights on the Optibike though. Don?t know how much longer the good weather is going to last but I?m going to make the best of it. But until then here is another great picture of a waterway going over the Folsom South Canal which I took on a bike ride:

Odometer Miles: 2179

Back to the commute this week!

Should be able to get back on my bike this week for my daily commutes to work. Knees healed up and the weather is looking good for the rest of this week including the weekend.  We have been soaked over here for the last several days. It will be nice to get out and back on my regular commute schedule and to be able to put in another nice long ride on the weekend. I can?t wait. My bike is just so fun to ride. I?ve had it for almost a year now and have been able to enjoy it over and over again. Here is a picture of a big poster I saw at the Optibike showroom when I visited there earlier this year that shows how much fun you can have on a dime.

Odometer Miles: 2074

 

Indoor Fitness Fun!

I?ve been doing more indoor fitness routines now that I injured my knee playing softball. It only hurts when I bend my knee so I?ve had to cut down on the bike riding as well. Sure, I could just hang my bad leg off to the side and let the electric power take me everywhere, but its much more fun to pedal with it and go faster and get a workout with it at the same time!

The weatherman predicts rain for the rest of this week so I will probably be stuck indoors to get my exercise anyways. I?ll be sticking to those exercises that I can do on my Smith Gym that wont cause too much pain to it. My choices are the following: hamstring curls, bench press, lateral pulls, bicep curls, tricep extensions and my favorite one, the butterfly.

The other ones that involve my knee will just have to wait until I heal up.

Odometer Miles: 2055

Fall In!

It has been pretty hot out here in the Sacramento area for the past couple of weeks but this last weekend things have started changing. Fall has now rolled in and we finally had some clouds come in on Saturday and even a little bit of rain on Sunday.  Coach Traci? s last conference call was on just that fact. That winter is nearly here and our bodies are going to start to going into hibernation mode.  When you can?t ride outdoors you can ride inside on an indoor trainer and even take a few weeks off from riding and do some other kind of activities like weight training or other fitness events that give some dynamics to your workout. I like to play softball to do other things besides riding my bike daily. I play in leagues all year round. There is a contest at work to walk more than 100+ miles over these last couple of months and I?ve already exceeded that. Was pretty easy since I love to go on walks with my wife. Here is a nice picture to remind you that fall has arrived:


Odometer Miles: 1993

What a cyclebration!

This weekend has been very busy with all the events going on at the Folsom Cyclebration. You can check out their website at http://www.folsomcyclebration.com. This is described as ?Northern California?s most fun, family-friendly weekend of bicycle riding & racing?
This was the first year that my wife and I went to it. On Saturday we went there to look around and check out many of the events, visit many vendor booths and have fun. One interesting race we saw was one in which the cyclists would jump off of their bikes and then jump over a couple of obstacles while lifting their bikes and then quickly jump back onto their bikes to continue their race.

They weren?t allowing electric bikes in this race. Its a good thing too because it would have been difficult for me to lift my Optibike over these obstacles. :)

On Sunday we had volunteered to work there. I was a course marshall and my wife was on beer patrol. I had to make sure that pedestrians weren?t crossing the race path when the racing cyclists were coming by and she had to make sure the spectators drinking beer in the food and beer garden were not leaving the area with a beer still in their possession.  We were still able to see some very exciting races. It was a very fun weekend, although we were relieved when it was all over.

Odometer miles: 1888

Well that just nails it!

I?ve written about it before and now its happened yet again. I was riding to work the other day and suddenly felt a bump on my back tire. I looked down at the tire and didn?t see anything wrong at first but every time the tire would spin around I would feel the bump again. Did a pebble get stuck in the tread?  Another 50 feet or so went by and it was obvious what had happened when I stopped the bike and noticed that now my tire was deflating quickly.

A nice little 2.75 inch double-headed nail went straight through the tire and pierced the tube as well in 2 places. Who would have figured? In trying to find the positive side of things: At least it didn?t damage the rim!

Odometer miles: 1815

I?ll drink to that!

Well, since I have been going on longer rides I?ve always wanted to have a bigger supply of water to hydrate myself for the long journey. As Coach Traci has said ?If you are 1 percent dehydrated your performance is going to drop 20 percent?. Now I can prevent that with the new Camelbak M.U.L.E that I tried out today. This thing will hold 3 liters of water. I tried to get the closest color to match my blue Optibike. Here is what my Camelbak looks like:

So I put in just a little over 2 liters and went out for a 90 minute test ride with it today. I found it easy to use and even came back after the ride with water to spare. It also has pockets in it to store my other things I need for the ride such as tools, tubes, pump, patch kits. Its been in the 90?s lately around here and although it hasn?t been the hottest summer around here I know it can get into the 100?s some years so I?m sure this will be very useful now and into the future.

Odometer Miles: 1787