One of my favorite items I?ve added to my Optibike is the side mirror.  I do a lot of street riding amongst the cars and have several areas along my daily commute where there is no bike lane. I find myself using my mirror a lot. It sure helps to know what is behind you and prepare to get out of the way in time.

My first mirror was a cheap one that I had originally borrowed from my wifes bike. It had velcro straps that would hold it to the handlebar grip.

Unfortunately it didn?t hold up well when I set it down going around a curve one day.

As you can see it is now in 2 pieces. I now owe my wife a new mirror.

The one I use now is a Mirrycle MTB Bar End Mountain Bicycle Mirror.

This mirror has held up well to my punishment. The only weak spot I?ve had with it so far is that everytime I set it down going around those curves it wears down the head of the long screw that tightens it within the handlebar. This makes it difficult to tighten or remove the screw with an allen wrench. My solution for now, other than to stop setting it down going around those curves, was to buy some extra screws from Mirrycle (also a Boulder, CO company).

Have a safe ride and enjoy it!

Odometer Miles: 1213

I have been visiting my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky for the past few weeks. I have been doing a lot of walking in preparation for biking which will start again on June 2 in Boulder, CO.

On Memorial Day, I participated in the Louisville Mayor’s Hike, Bike, and Paddle event. There were over 7,000 bikers, and about 500 or so walkers, plus about 200 paddlers. The official walk was 5K. Of course, there were a few renegade runners, and some walkers chose to walk a longer course. It was billed as a family fitness event, so there was no official contest. I started out behind several walkers on the start/finish line. I worked my way up to about 10th place (maybe 50 yards behind the leader), when all the leaders took the alternate longer route. I decided to stay on the official 5K route like the great majority of those behind me. Amazingly, I crossed the finish line first. There was no fanfare, but I threw my hands up in the air celebrating that I was the CHAMP! It certainly wasn’t lightning fast, but I walked the course in just over 53 minutes, or a little less than 17 minutes per mile. Before this year, I wouldn’t have dreamed of even trying something like this. If I can borrow a bike and I am in Louisville next year at this time, maybe I’ll go for the biking championship! I stopped at my buddy, Tim’s downtown condo for some extra water. He took this picture of me. As you can see, I am grinning ear to ear!

In one of our previous conference calls with Traci, our fitness coach, the topic of pedals and bike shoes came up. This last week I decided to put some Shimano clipless pedals on my Optibike (see picture below). I also purchased some nice Pearl Izumi shoes. I first looked at some Shimano shoes that I liked but they didn?t have  a big enough size for my US 13 size foot. This has been my first time using clipless pedals and shoes. I learned how to adjust the pedals right so they would clip in nicely and also practiced getting them to disengage easily before I ever took off on a ride with them. I didn?t know why they call them clipless pedals since they really do clip in. You actually hear a click as the cleat snaps into place. What I?ve read is that they were called ?clipless? to distinguish them from the old fashioned toe-clip type pedals.

On my first ride with them I could see how they helped with pedaling and allowed me to keep my stride. I could both be pulling up on one shoe while pushing down with the other giving more power to each stroke. I didn?t have to worry about my shoes sliding off the pedal and could concentrate more on the ride. This should help with going on some of the longer rides. Very nice!  I was very cautious when approaching a stop though and made sure to get at least one shoe out prior to reaching zero mph. After all, if you stop the bike while still attached to it with both feet you only have to decide if you want to fall to the left or to the right. Ouch!

Odometer 1168 Miles

Another ?May is Bike Month? event that my wife and I went on this past Saturday was about a 1 hour family bicycle ride through the Rancho Cordova, California area. This ride was put together by several people from BARC (Bicycling Advocates for Rancho Cordova). On this ride we were able to find out a lot of useful information about the Rancho Cordova community bike trails. We learned about some shortcuts to get in and out to other bordering communities where the paths are not quite connected yet. This will help my daily commute to work. We heard about what some of the future expansion plans are for new bicycle paths going into the future. I also was happy to learn about the bike sensors that are installed at many of the intersections in the area. Here is a picture I took that shows what they look like.

Just stop your bike tires right on the two white lines above and below the bike icon and you won?t have to go over to the pedestrian walk button anymore on the corner pole or attempt to trigger the car lane sensors with your bike anymore to make the light turn green. Gotta love it!  Does anybody else have these in your area?  Thanks BARC for the fun and informative ride!

Odometer Reading: 1125

I?ve been cranking out the miles this week. Exploring many different ways to commute to work and just having a blast exploring the area around work. In doing so I have discovered many other ways to commute into work and back home. I?m amazed, as I check out the various neighborhoods around, how many of them have bike trails and paths setup in and around them. On one trip this last week I found a snake resting on the bike path warming itself in the sun. I turned around after passing it and took the following video.

I had a lot of plans this weekend to ride during several ?May is Bike Month? events but the rain and hail storms kept me grounded. Here is a picture of the hail covering my car.

I was able to scoop up several handfuls to make a snowball and throw them at my wife.  Gotta have some fun!

Odometer: 1013 miles

After over 25 years of having to take various prescription drugs to help control blood pressure and later, blood glucose due to Type 2 Diabetes, I am happy to report that I am finally drug-free! My fasting blood glucose remains in the 70s and 80s without medication. My blood pressure averages about 110/68 without medication. Without the motivation to get back on the bike, I don’t think this would have been possible. I have lost over 50 pounds so far, which is beyond my expectations for the entire year when I first got started. I have gone through all my older, smaller clothes and had to actually buy even smaller clothes than I have owned in many years. Thank you to Optibike and each of you reading this for the motivation. I realize this is just the start on the way to optimal health. I look forward to seeing all of my contest competitors becoming more healthy as well!

This month our Sacramento Region is promoting ?May is Bike Month?. There are many events available geared around bicycle riding throughout the city.  http://www.mayisbikemonth.com .

One of those events my wife and I attended this last Saturday was the Roseville Bike Rally. We each took our bikes there. They had local bike shop booths, free breakfast foods, juice and coffee, a helmet and bike decorating contest for the kids, a DJ and even a bicycle powered smoothie machine. There was also several local police there on their bicycles that helped escort us and many other families on a casual bike ride through the town and onto the bike trails. It was a fun time for all.  Many people were excited about seeing the Optibike and had all sorts of questions about it. Even the local bike shop crews said they were impressed by the quality of components on it.

One of the other events coming up later this month is on Thursday, May 18th. It will be ?Bike to Work? day. So get on a bike and take a nice enjoyable ride to work.   I know I will. Happy Trails!

Odometer 896 miles

What a day today! I got another flat on the way to work this morning. Its been less than 2 weeks since my last flat. Luckily this flat occurred just as I arrived at work so I was able to just walk it inside and fix it on my lunch hour. What I found this time that caused it was a small chip of glass. I?m ordering a Schwalbe Marathon tire to replace this cheaper one I got to replace my original Marathon I had on my Optibike. The Schwalbe tires have performed very well for me. I still have the original tire on the front.

This last weekend I went on a bike ride up the American River Parkway Bike Trail up to Folsom Lake. It was a quite an experience with plenty of riders and plenty of hills. I rode slow and steady just as Coach Traci recommend in the last meeting. I stopped along the way and took some pictures of the Folsom Dam and the river below. Here is one I took by a 5mph sign with the dam in the background underneath the bridge.

You can see the many spillways open in the dam just to the right of the sign. Its a beautiful area here. There are a total of 32 miles to ride in this bike trail. I?ll be back plenty of times to enjoy the nice ride and scenery here again.

Current Odometer Reading: 786 miles

Well I knew it would happen eventually. Its not a matter of ?if you get a flat? it is just a matter of time for ?when you get a flat?.  This last week I was riding into work when about a mile from work my tire went flat. I pulled over and stopped and checked it out. A small brad nail less than a inch long had penetrated my rear tire and was still sticking out about a third of an inch. This would constitute my very first normal riding flat I have had since I started riding the bike. I say ?normal riding flat? so one is not confused with the ?sliding too fast when turning on asphalt flat? that I got about a couple of months ago.  That one ripped the tire right off the rim, popped the tire and bent the rim when the curb I eventually slid into decided to complete the stop.  I tend to be a crazy rider at some times. Testing the limits of the bike and of the rider. My first wipeout actually occurred on this bike about a month earlier than that while I was riding around the somewhat dry fields in our neighborhood at night chasing a rabbit. Why not? I had the twin halogen lights on so I could see very very well.  It would dart to the left I would follow just as quick. It would dart to the right, and I would do the same. It jumped over a small hill into the darkness. I willingly followed to find out that on the other side of this hill was a big mud pit. Did a nose dive right into it and flipped the bike. Pretty exciting actually.  I was amazed how well the Optibike held up to this. Got right back on it after wiping a little mud off my face and helmet and rode back home. Here is  a picture of the bike afterwards.

Chasin wabbits is fun!

Sunday was a great day for a bike ride. I decided I would defer from my normal high traffic urban commute trips to work and back and just go exploring. I would just go somewhere I hadn?t been before. I checked Google and found a nice trail site for searching the area @ http://www.traillink.com. On there they have maps for bike trails all over the U.S. of A. I found one trail that would take me about 10 miles one way alongside a canal. I left in the early afternoon on my Optibike and about a half hour later I arrived at the end of the trail where you are not allowed to continue any further along the canal bike path. During the ride out there I saw many birds. Its amazing because as the birds first noticed me they would take off in flight in front of me and head in the same direction I was going right along the canal. I was able to keep up with them as they kept flying forward in front of me. After several seconds though they figure out that I?m still able to match their speed and they decide they better fly off one way or another either to the side over the canal or head up the steep hill that parallels the canal along this bike path. I?ve always loved birds. I?d love to get a video of this and share it with you all. The only other wildlife I spotted around here was lizards and squirrels that would occasionally hide in the bushes after darting across the bike path. All in all it was a good refreshing ride and I plan on taking many more new trail rides throughout this year.

Current Odometer Reading: 655 miles