the wheelmen

another bike?

2012-01-28T09:56:00.000-06:00

I'm obsessing again with the thought adding another bike to my gear. Currently I have a Redline 925 single speed and a Colnago Strada road bike. The Colnago gets most of the road time riding with the club during the summer season (maybe 4,000 km a year). The Redline gets a few training runs in, a few commutes to the office, and general joy riding with my wife and others (maybe 1,000 km a year). But things are getting a bit tedious with the single focus on road riding. So, I'm looking at cyclocross or mountain biking or fat biking (snow & sand bike). However, I can't decide what kind of riding I want to focus on. Cyclocross has alot of great events in the area, mountain bike trails are nearby, fat bikes offer the added benefit of riding year-round and extending to the winter season. Also, I can't come to grips with whether I deserve to indulge in another bike. I've got about $5,000 invested in two bikes already.So, I've decided to revert back to a strategy I used 7 years ago when I first started riding. I would "reward" myself for training hard by allowing myself to purchase gear every 500KM that I logged. I'm going to "pay" myself the same rate that I get from my employer for car mileage, which is $0.40 per KM. So, for a $2,500 bike, I'll need to log 6,250 KM. I'm going to allow myself credit for the 144 KM I've trained since Jan 1st and credit for the $700 I already have saved for sports gear (I saved mileage cheques from work). So, I need to put in about 4,400 KM's before I make up my mind. That probably means I'm not buying until next fall, unless this really motivates me. Let the challenge begin!

Trainer Road

2012-01-23T22:24:00.002-06:00

Saw this on facebook and it looks really interesting, although I don't understand how it works. How does a USB stick read power output from a fluid trainer, like my Kurt Kinetic, without any actual interface? And how would it interface with a Sufferfest video?

TDU - Stage 5

2012-01-22T09:47:00.002-06:00

back in action

2012-01-22T09:25:00.002-06:00

I'm back in blogging mode and I'm feeling guilty for dominating the MIT Club site with all my posts. So, I'm going to get more active on this blog again. Here I make the rules and suffer all the consequences. Enjoy (or not).

Mennonites in Tights to make second appearance at Headwaters 100 event

2010-09-23T20:22:00.000-05:00

The gang is headed out to Park Rapids, Minnesota this weekend for our 2nd annual season ending century ride. Click on this link to read all about it.

wheels and tweed

2010-09-15T20:29:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Noreen and I joined the Winnipeg Tweed Ride. A delightful celebration that combines the simple joy of a bike ride and the high society fascination with the bicycle as leisure and fashion during the late 19th/early 20th century. Lots of fun! See the pictures by following the link. We rode the streets of Winnipeg during the Winnipeg Ciclovia festival.

bike paths, a book, and an applejack

2010-09-06T14:08:00.001-05:00

On Sunday Noreen and loaded up the bikes and went to Winnipeg for an afternoon of meandering along the bicycle routes of Wellington Crescent and Westminster Avenue. The paths consist of blocked off streets that take us through the neighbourhoods of River Heights and Woseley. We start and end at Assiniboine Park. It's a purely delightful ride through two of Winnipeg's finest old developments with many beautiful historic houses and apartments and stately looking tree lined streets with huge old elms that actually canopy right over the street. We've done this "Sunday ride" several times and we've now worked out an easy 20km route that travels completely on blocked off streets (no car traffic) and includes a stop at a used bookstore/cafe (applejacks and yerba mate), often with buskers providing live music. This Sunday we topped it off with a walk across the river footbridge at Assiniboine Park, over to "Sargent Sundae" for a pumpkin pie flavoured ice cream cone. This was a good reminder that a great day of cycling may not involve large distance, high cadence, or speed. Good company, a slow meandering path and a good coffee is also a good day of cycling. Thanks for sharing it with me love.

2010-08-20T16:18:00.000-05:00

9 Cycling Movies You Can't Miss

2010-08-19T21:18:00.000-05:00

According to Bicycling magazine this is the list:

Pee Wee’s Big Adventure

Breaking Away

Triplets of Belleville

American Flyers

The Bicycle Thief Trailer

A Sunday in Hell

Stars & Water carriers

2 Seconds (Canadian eh!)

Key Exchange

I would definitely add:

The Flying Scotsman (get it for $5 right now at LW in the Steinbach mall)

Bicycle Dreams

conflicted

2010-08-18T20:35:00.001-05:00

A friend called me up a week ago and offered me his motorcycle to use while he's away on vacation. So, I've been driving to work and cruising around on a Yamaha 1100 VStar Classic. And I'm like'n it. I had bikes years ago including a 250 Suzuki, a 400 Honda and a 650SR Kawaski. They were all fun in their own way, but this is a really great ride. I love the torque of that big twin, the weight distribution and handling of such a big bike. I could really get used to this.

Problem is, I know having a machine like this would seriously cut into my road bike training. And there are so many other good reasons not to get involved with motorcycles like expense, safety, carbon footprint, maintenance, storage, insurance, etc. All those "rational" things a sensible middle aged guy should consider. Good thing I have to return the bike tonight because I'm getting attached in a hurry. But, Gary did mention that it is for sale....

Why the wheelmen?

2010-08-15T21:48:00.000-05:00

A term from the late 19th century when the bicycle had it's popular beginnings and was stirring a revolution in public transportation. Male enthusiasts where referred to as wheelmen (and, yes, female where referred to as wheelwomen).

Welcome!

2010-08-15T19:14:00.000-05:00

When I'm not riding my bicycle, I'm thinking about it. So, I figured maybe I'd have something interesting to say about it once in a while. Thanks for visiting and let's see where this ride takes us!