Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Felt Q520

I am in training this week which means I get to wake up 3 hours later than normal, but I have to travel to Columbia, MD for Cisco training (ICND1). I went to the mall two days ago, but they didn't really have much going on there, so I went to Race Pace Bicycles yesterday. I got to test drive two bikes, a Felt Q520 and a Trek 4600D. They both were good bikes, the Trek the clear winner in lightness and structure, but with a pricde tag of 150% of the Felt, I think the Felt would be a clear winner. For a $400 bike, it had everything. Disc Brakes are key for real mountain biking. Because when you go through streams or get mud on your rims, the V-brakes don't really grip very well and if you get any small rocks or grit caught you end up rubbing your rims down.

I asked the wife about getting one and she simply said "I don't care... just get rid of your old one first." Sounds like a pretty solid answer. Considering the wet season here, a mountain bike might be a good commuter bike.

So I'm going to ask some coworkers what they think about it, but I might be purchasing one in the next week!

I present to you the hard tail Disc Break Felt Q520:

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Been awhile...

It has been awhile since I have visited this site. Truth be told, it is more because I just haven't been riding much. Ever since I did the metric century back in August I haven't had much motivation to go out and ride. Combine lack of motivation with the turning of fall and my own wedding, the bike has gotten a back seat to life.

And to make matters worse, when I finally mustered up the leg muscles to take the bike out last week during a cold wet day I rode over a storm drain and popped my back tire. Didn't realize it until I attempted to bike to work for an event sponsored by Bike2Work Central Maryland, at which point I just tossed the bike back on my car and drove to work slightly annoyed.

But there is a reason for this post. One is to attempt to get myself motivated to go out biking again. The other is to whore out a few new blogs I am following...

KungFooSausage is a new blog by a good pal of mine from a gaming site I participate in. His description is "A blog about my life, thoughts, computer gaming, anything inane and pointless I can think of that amuses me and lets not forget my recipe's." While so far his posts have been mostly about his biking (which is great!) I am sure he will be a good one to follow. His humor is hysterical and always makes us crack up! And he is from the UK, I am hoping he will eventually (hint hint) post some pictures of his beautiful country!

Gobo's World is a webcomic just started up by another pal of mine. While mostly focused on World of Warcraft, it is a great and funny read for any gamer familiar with RPG style games. I don't think he has a set-in-stone release schedule for comics, so check there often to see if anything new is up!

And finally, one of my best friends' girlfriends has had a blog running about being a female gamer. Great lengthy posts regarding all things gaming, it is a wondrous read and can be found at Ms. Slowski.

I urge any and all to check out these blogs and leave a quick (or not quick) comment for them! We all know how great it feels to see some responses to our work!

And since posts are always better with pictures... this is how happy each of the people would be if you read what they are writing and respond!

(Obligatory: That's what she said)