Happy Christmas Wheels!
Last Christmas a bunch of folks in my family got me a heap of gift certificates to a mail-order bike parts company. Because of their generosity, they all now have the privilege of being inundated with unwanted bike catalogs, full of much too much spandex and sprockets. But more to the point, because of their crazy generosity and because of their cosmic convergence of gift-certificate gifting, I was able to treat myself to a big-ticket bike item, and I chose to get zippy new wheels for my bike. Huge thanks to Suzanne, John and Johnny, Uncle Dave the secret Santa, Uncle Hub and Aunt Pat, and Pops Woods for the wheels. I finally received them about 3 weeks ago, and got around to getting them all set up today. They sure make my bike look faster; the jury is still out on whether they'll actually make me go any faster.
I went for a spin this afternoon, and I could be imagining things (very likely), but it seemed as if I could accelerate a bit faster with these new wheels. It was a good ride on a hot afternoon - I went up Page Mill and down Moody, and then back up Altamont again. I wanted to test some hills because the other major alteration to the bike of late is to swap out the triple chainring with a double. My front derailleur has been out of whack for many months now, and I have been unable to shift into the granny gear. Since I haven't missed it, really, I thought I'd just get rid of it. The amazing Rob and Jacquie Mardell, who run a bike shop out of their garage, had a used double crankset that they were willing to swap free of charge for my triple. And while doing so, Rob tuned up my bike so that it is even more fun to ride. The great thing about these folks is that they don't officially charge for labor; instead, they just ask that you donate a comparable amount to what you'd pay at a bike shop to his fundraising efforts for the Ironteam - they're doing the Ironman Canada later this year. Moreover, apparently they get a great deal on parts and sell them pretty much at wholesale. Check out their website for the full scoop. Good thing the Mardells live pretty far away, otherwise I'd be there spending money an awful lot.
In other news, Michelle and I went for a 50-minute run early this morning. We weren't speed demons, but at least I was able to run the whole time without my legs spazzing on me. There was still a bit of iffiness in the right calf region, but I think I'll be able to get over that.
Wow - what a long post. Thanks for reading (if anybody really does?). If you do - check out this for even more!
I went for a spin this afternoon, and I could be imagining things (very likely), but it seemed as if I could accelerate a bit faster with these new wheels. It was a good ride on a hot afternoon - I went up Page Mill and down Moody, and then back up Altamont again. I wanted to test some hills because the other major alteration to the bike of late is to swap out the triple chainring with a double. My front derailleur has been out of whack for many months now, and I have been unable to shift into the granny gear. Since I haven't missed it, really, I thought I'd just get rid of it. The amazing Rob and Jacquie Mardell, who run a bike shop out of their garage, had a used double crankset that they were willing to swap free of charge for my triple. And while doing so, Rob tuned up my bike so that it is even more fun to ride. The great thing about these folks is that they don't officially charge for labor; instead, they just ask that you donate a comparable amount to what you'd pay at a bike shop to his fundraising efforts for the Ironteam - they're doing the Ironman Canada later this year. Moreover, apparently they get a great deal on parts and sell them pretty much at wholesale. Check out their website for the full scoop. Good thing the Mardells live pretty far away, otherwise I'd be there spending money an awful lot.
In other news, Michelle and I went for a 50-minute run early this morning. We weren't speed demons, but at least I was able to run the whole time without my legs spazzing on me. There was still a bit of iffiness in the right calf region, but I think I'll be able to get over that.
Wow - what a long post. Thanks for reading (if anybody really does?). If you do - check out this for even more!
posted by enwudz at
6:06 PM
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