Wife's New Bike!

My wife has been attempting to do some small rides with me. One of her best friends (whose fiance I have been riding with since last year) got herself a road bike just last week. Figuring it would be a blast to "double date" ride into Annapolis for dinner or just out to have some fun, my wife decided she wanted a road bike as well. Since she had been rocking a crappy walmart mountain bike, it was going to be a huge step up for her.

So we went riding around this morning to a few bike shops. We went to Bike Doctor in Crofton where she test road a Trek 1.2 WSD which was a pretty nice bike. It was the same bike her friend got, but unfortunately the massive sale they had last week when she got her bike wasn't still happening and the $840 price tag was a bit steep.

So then we headed to the Annapolis Mall, grabbed some lunch and went to Hudson Trail Outfitters, which is "my" local bike shop. Since I work right down the street from the mall, I generally head there once a week to check out some biking/hiking/climbing/kayaking stuff on my mandatory hour lunch break.

The guy I love to deal with wasn't working (John... if anybody reading this is in this area and looking for a knowledgable guy) but Collin was. Collin had also fixed my bike when I crashed down a drain pipe a few months back.

Anyways, he pulled down two bikes, a Giant Avail and the exact same bike I own, the Fuji Newest 2.0. She tested them both out with Collin leading the way while I took out a mountain bike I had on hold, the Fuji Nevada 1.0.

Nat liked both bikes, but since it was her very first time riding a road bike she couldn't really discern too much of a difference between either. The one thing she loved about the Fuji was the extra brake levers that are on the straight portion of the bar. And I love them too... makes you be able to break from your two most common hand grips.

So, we ended up getting the Fuji. Now both my wife and I rock the same bike! Her seat had to be cut down a bit, even though she was on the Small size, but Collin did a kick ass job of getting her fitted appropriately. And it was on a massive sale, $300 off the sticker price since it was last years model!





We are gonna head out tomorrow for a small little ride on the B&A so she can get a bit more used to it. Then hopefully next weekend we will be doing the BWI look with our friends!

B&A Repairs

After work today I went for a little bike ride. Maryland is having beautiful weather, hovering in the upper 60s at 5pm. I took my normal loop, down Elvaton to the B&A, over to East West Blvd then do some street hopping to get back home.

But I totally forgot about the descrution of the B&A. It happens about 100 meters down from the junction of Elvaton and the B&A, and I was a bit surprised by it... I almost hit the fence they set up to keep people away. I climbed over that fence to get a better look...






Looks like they have just started getting some stones down there. But with all the rain we have had since then... I am sure the progress is slow. And they have some work cut out for them, as this is what they are holding it back against...



Luckily there is a little road that runs right across the other side of that bog, so I took that and went on my way.

So. I read quite a few biking blogs... and the biggest complaint I find bikers having is when people take the biking lane while in their cars. I have never had this issue as well, there really aren't any bike lanes (yet) anywhere I ride. But along East West Blvd there is an "activities" paved path that runs in the grass along the road. Nice and wide... wider than even the B&A. So... imagine my surprise when I see this wonderful sight on the path.



Haha.

Tack on another 11 miles for today...

Biking to work

This past week has been fantastic weather. Hovering in the upper 30s in the morning and peaking around 65 in the afternoon. I just couldn't take it anymore and hopped on my bike this morning. My coworker was going to ride in with me... if I could meet him at our "spot" on the B&A at 5:30am. So as I meandered past there at about 6:15 I didn't even pause to see if he stuck around.

I made poor time. Considering I couldn't see my feet in the near new moon lit path, I took it slow. I finished the B&A and took a little break to grab a photo...



Heading over the bridge I stopped again. I could tell sunrise was going to be happening soon... but I new I couldn't stick around for it. This is the Naval Acadamy from the... Naval Academy bridge. You can just make out the Maryland State House as the lit up white top on the right.


Anyways, I rolled into work at about 7:15. Not too bad for a 12.82 miler after not riding for so long. This will be my first "counted" ride for the year.

Miles: 25.64 (doubled for ride home)
Weight: 155.8

Nice weather!

Yesterday we opened the windows to our townhouse and realized it was a beautiful day. Not wanting to miss out, I grabbed my bike, donned my new bike shorts I got for christmas from the wife and went out for a quick little 7 mile ride around the neighborhood. The ride is a loop from my house to the Baltimore and Annapolis Trail a few miles on that, then back along another road home. The trail was cleared of snow (finally) but I had to carry my bike a few hundred yards to get from one street to the next on my return home. That was through some cruddy wet mud which got my shoes all gunked up.

It felt great to be back out on the bike. Even though it was only 7 miles, I simply felt better after riding. I can tell the winter has destroyed my leg muscles... they were straining for the first few miles but eventually warmed up.

It was my first time riding "bicycle shorts". Or rather, -my- form of bicycling shorts. I can't stand the pads in the crotch of real shorts... feels like a diaper, but the spandex did make the ride much more comfortable and reduced the constant scraping of my usually shorts against my legs.

I wanted to ride in to work today, but I was in training all last week and had to bring my computer in. The weather looks to be holding up in the 30s and 40s this week so I should be set to ride in tomorrow!

Too much snow, started something new

A completely non-biking post... but I just started a secondary blog that I promise will get more updates than this one (at least until the spring hits and starts melting these 4 feet of snow).

I have been trying to learn Scot's Gaelic over the past couple of years. It is quite difficult, seeing as how the resources to learn it are so sparse. So, in an effort to actually accomplish this, I started a blog that will teach me (and you if you so choose) a word, sentence, saying, or something Scottish Gaelic each day. I started the blog yesterday and thus far you can already learn how to say:

Hello, my name is [name]. What is your name? How are you doing? I am well!

So, if you want to have a read and perhaps learn a new language head on over to Daily Gaelic!

Ride across the world

Saw this over on reddit and hopefully the guy that did it will start answering questions there, but it is absolutely amazing. Quite long but filled with many many pictures.

The ride across the world.

Check it out. Read it. Be envious.

My poor B&A

It appears the Baltimore & Annapolis trail has washed out in a key place during the last few weeks of rain and snow.