Heading South

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go. I am heading south to BikeFlorida tomorrow. You can see by the photo that winter is still as stubborn as ever and refuses to leave. I have checked the weather in Gainesville and highs should be in the 80's with lows in the 50's. Looks like mostly sunshine but you never know in Florida. Shorts, sandals and wicking tees should cover me, but have added a few other items for early morning chill and possible rain.

I am especially looking forward to this trip and will report back on my return.

KEEP RIDING!!!

1 ST Leader Led Club Ride

My bicycle club, Central Jersey Bike Club, has been going through a transition. New leadership, new innovative thinking to help increase membership but most importantly getting people excited about cycling. They sponsor 3 great events. The Farmlands Flat, Hillier than Thou and The Longest Day, a 200+ mile ride from the northern tip of NJ to the southern tip. They have a new on line news letter and have added their own forum for discussions. One of my favorite new creations is the addition of AD-HOC Rides. Instead of having to commit to leading rides 1-2 months in advance you can now add a ride in 1-2 days. Not wanting to ride alone today, I posted a ride the last minute yesterday. I got a couple of responses and we had a great 37 miler ride. This was not only my 1st leader led ride for 2011 but also for many years. CJBC is reinventing themselves and I hope to play a part.

Rocket Update

After all the recent rain and flooding, I thought it best to take the Rocket for today's ride. To my surprise things dried up pretty well around here. There were just a few puddles and not the soggy soaked streets I expected. I am still experimenting with the Rocket. I find I do not use the 62 massive chainring much. I seem to stay more on the middle 52t ring and occasionally on steep climbs drop down to the small 42t ring. Rans actually took a double crankset and added spacers and a third chainring. I am thinking of moving the 52 ring to the outside and replacing the 42t with a 38t in the middle and returning it to a double. I believe the derailer will handle it and it will give me all the gears I need. I am really no faster on the Rocket than my Trike. I guess my initial speed increase was a result of my excitement of my new bike. The Rocket does offer height and portability which comes in handy at times. The seat height is a bit high for those vertically challenged and I find myself on my tippy toes at stops. Changing out the the seat to a Euromesh would greatly help, but it is not as much to my liking as the original Rans seat. It's a fun bike to play around with and has great potential. It will be interesting to see how and if it evolves.
KEEP RIDING!!!

Happy Belated Birthday

For the past 9 years, I have been riding my age around my birthday. Being born in January makes this challenging in the northeast. Unfortunately, this January was covered in snow making it unsafe to ride. I always say, I will have to go to Florida next year to accomplish my goal. This year I opted to do BikeFlorida, a week long cycling tour at the end of this month instead. I bowed to the weather and let go of my birthday mileage goal. Today, 2 months later, I decided to go for it. The weather was not as expected. When I left for the ride, the sun went in, the winds intensified, and the temperatures dropped. Seemed like a typical January ride to me. With 15+ mph headwinds on the second half of the ride, I managed to make my 59 mile goal.
Happy Belated Birthday
KEEP RIDING!!!

Back From Vacation

I just returned from a much needed vacation in the warm sunny Caribbean. 7 days of beautiful sunshine was a special delight after all our snow even without cycling. Yesterday it rained making it a non cycling day. Today was in the 40's with gusting winds over 20 mph. I managed to run a few errands by bike and got in 10 miles. More of a delight was playing with my grandson and pulling him along in my trailer. Picture and sound quality are from my phone. I will have to get these bent legs back in shape as I am heading to BikeFL at the end of the month.

KEEP RIDING!!!