Now I'm Committed

Well I went to the Boise Bike Swap last night.  I went and paid my $1 so I could mingle, look around at stuff I wasn't terribly interested in purchasing, drool over stuff I couldn't afford, maybe look for aero bars, & help Tyler inform people about bikes & things.  Blah blah blah.  I saw an entry-level time trial (TT) bike for $550, considered it somewhat seriously, and decided against it - I should race a few times before deciding to buy a race bike.

So I left with Tyler & came home (after several more trips past the bike to make sure no one else snapped it up) and told Kate about it, wanting and expecting to be reinforced for controlling my gearhead urges.  But Kate asked me all about the bike: "Would it fit you?  What color was it?  How much was it?  You know, I actually wouldn't be all that upset if you bought it.  Et cetera."  So instead of reinforcement for my self control, I got encouragement for my gearheadedness.  Sheesh.

So after Kate left for obedience practice this morning, I headed out back to the bike swap, paid another $1 to get back in, found it, fretted a little more, then bought the darned thing.  It's purple, and Kate will buy ANYTHING if it's purple so I thought I'd better not pass this up.  :)

So now I must enter a race.  Kate's given me the ultimatum of entering a race within one year or being forced to sell this bike at the next Boise Bike Swap.  But I want to be clear that this post got its title before I was handed that ultimatum.

It's a 58cm Trek Hilo SLR.  They were only made between 1999 and 2003, and that's about all I know about it.  Shimano 105 components across the board.  That top picture is the entire stable hanging together.  Notice the dog crate that's been in my way for a couple of weeks now.  It folds up quite nicely but that's not really necessary since I carved out some space in the garage to store all of Kate's crap.  That's what I carved it out for.  The bottom pic is a better view of the new bike (and look, that dog crate came in handy).  Notice it's missing pedals - that's to improve its aerodynamics.

Black Cat II - almost

Well I started out this afternoon intending to ride to the Black Cat bridge again to check on progress.  But Airport Rd was closed and I didn't feel like following the detour they'd provided so I didn't quite make it to the Bridge.  But I still rode a shade under 17 miles today.  Shamefully, this was just my second ride for this entire month - just when I need to be ramping up my riding I've slacked off in a big way.  

But my plan to ride & maintain my fitness over the winter has still paid some dividends - I'm certainly in better condition now than I was last February.  Race-ready?  Anything but.    But at least my aerobic base hasn't completely withered away.

Still More Frustration

I've come to the realization that I don't like martinis as much as I thought I did.  My enjoyment of a martini has somehow transformed into a race to the olive.  And I've stooped to using two olives and making them dirty.  Maybe this is more a product of the flowery gin than the cocktail as a whole.  In any case that's frustrating.  Anyway back to biking news.  And boy when it rains it pours.

It's warmed up significantly here and I had high hopes of bike commuting four days this week.  In fact I had plans to start some intervals during my commutes.  But I woke up Thursday of last week with a slightly sore back that quickly (within minutes) transformed into a debilitating back spasm that's lasted just shy of a week now.  It's far better than it was, thanks in large part to modern chemistry, but it's still there.  So I haven't ridden despite the rather moderate weather for February.  And that frustrates me far more than the martini thing.

But while I was at the doctor's office, I weighed myself and made note of my blood pressure.  My weight has stayed relatively constant through the past year - always within a couple pounds of 170 while shod and clothed.  Blood pressure's been a bit more variable, though I'm not the best at interpreting the numbers.  My low was in July at 90/72.  In October, I recorded 126/82.  And on Friday of last week I was 122/68 . . . whatever all that means, exactly.

And My Raleigh's in the market for a new headset, and today I found out that it might be more difficult than I anticipated to find one to fit.  We'll see.  I also need to be on the lookout for aero bars as well if I intend to do any significant time trialing or -athloning (we'll stop short of calling it "serious" time trialing or -athloning).

AND!!  I haven't even opened the bag yet, but my order came from Pactimo - the supplier of Lost River's club kits.  I got a jersey, bib shorts, a jacket, and shoe covers.  . . . And I went and opened the bag and there I am in full uniform.  I also got a rain jacket too.  The two jackets are my favorite bits.  Those shoe covers are pretty thin.  I thought they were winter covers for warmth, but I think they might actually be racing shoe covers for aerodynamicity.  Well I'll use them to keep what wind off my feet they will, but yeah I might be that much more of a poser and race in them too.  :)  Note the "Life Flight" logo under my arm that you'd never see unless you've both seen the logo before and had it pointed out to you.  Something else that's worth mentioning is that, for the cost of a year's membership in Lost River - $30 - one gets a membership in the local Life Flight dealio.  So if I need to be airlifted for whatever reason, I'm covered.