Entry Level Road Bikes

A coworker is looking to get a new road bike, so I wrote up a little spreadsheet showing some of the more well known entry level road bikes with their retail price, their derailleur components and their website. You can find it on a tab up there at the top or here. Of course, those prices are what is posted on the manufacturer's website, so you should be able to find them cheaper. Both my wife and I are riding the Fuji Newest 2.0, which retails for $899, but I got mine for $500 and my wife for just a bit more than that.

Well, I won't be doing that again

I saw a coworker out on his bike a few months back along a path I frequently drive at lunch. It is a nice little loop, crossing over two bridges and through the woods. I asked him about it and he said it was a nice little 10 miler that fits in perfectly with out required hour long lunch.

So I mapped it out, it turns out to be 11.2 miles.


So I brought in my bike to give it a go.
I will never, ever, be doing that again. Leaving work you head down Admiral Cochran, a two lane 30 mph road. Not all that bad. You then get on Route 2. Down to the first bridge it isn't bad, a large shoulder. Going across the bridge is great. After that? Screw everything about that road. A three lane highway with a "bike lane" that starts and stops randomly and way too many cars getting on and off. Luckily that is only for a mile or two before you can take an early right to get over to Route 214. At that point, there is a rather large shoulder and the speed limit isn't all that bad. Eventually you get on Riva Road.

Screw everything about that. Small-ish hills with no shoulders riding into curves.

View Larger Map

Luckily, I got through that mess without any issue and the cars behind me were kind enough to wait for a good minute until I was over the hill and they could see around me before they passed. After that little juncture the riding is fine until a few miles from work, where Riva turns into the second busiest street in Annapolis after West Street, there are no bike lanes, and there are businesses for cars to pull in and out of.

No. I don't think I'll be doing that route again anytime soon. I'd rather run laps around the shopping center.

Awesome Bike Stat Video

First off, new blog layout so I can have larger pictures and whatnot in the body of the post.
I have been looking for a gps device that will keep track of data for me as I climb/descend hills. I have a cheap-o bike computer that I bought from target for about $10 that gives me some of my vital stats, but I'd love to know my exact routes and data for every single pedal I push. I inquired over on reddit what some of the other guys use, and it seems like Garmin Edge series is the way to go. Unfortunately, their Edge 605 and 705 devices are way out of my price range. A user mentioned his Garmin Edge 500 series device and linked to a video he made. Check this awesome video out!



I asked for his source code for it, or rather, his website on instructions for this, so I'll update this once he gives it to me, but damn... I am impressed!

In the mean time, for the best review I have seen thus far on the Edge 500, head over to DC Rainmaker's review of the product. I wonder what the wife would think if $250 went missing right about now...

Wife out!

I was going to head up to Gettysburg this morning to do some loops through the battlefields, but my wife said she wanted to go for a ride. So I loaded up the car with our bikes and drove down the street to where the B&A meets Elvaton. She had some trouble getting her second foot in the pedal cage, but other than that she did great! I was talking to her the whole time about how to shift and how to stop, but after awhile of me saying "To pedal easier push left, harder push right!" she got it nailed down and off we flew.





We rode to the end of the B&A and turned around right before the lane to get to the BWI Loop. Here we are at the turn around spot. That brick building on the left is the parking deck I use to get on/off the B&A from the northern end.



7.5 miles ain't bad for her first trip! Woo hoo!

Three Roads

Woke up this morning at 5:15. Last night I packed everything I would need in my backpack and had my clothes laid out ready to toss on. Rolled out of bed, turned the coffee on and got dressed. Grabbed my coffee and sat down to watch the News. "Just two degrees shy of a record low in Baltimore" was just about the first thing I heard. Damn. So I ran back up, tossed on a few extra layers and out the door I went at 5:45 with 34 degrees (1 degree Celsius) and the moon high and full.


I have to admit, I was a bit nervous. I had only been down these roads twice before and both times was driving. One time I got lost. Add the fact that two of these roads are "highways", I wanted to get out on the road as quick as possible and beat the morning commuters.

I had my first big hill, so I pulled off to take a picture. It didn't turn out, but as I was tucking my camera back in, another biker came up behind me, came to a stop and asked if I was ok and if I needed anything before he took off zooming down the hill. I always like that... the unwritten biking code of checking on others whenever they are stopped.

Anyways, Veteran's Highway wasn't bad at all. General's Highway wasn't that bad either, though the lack of a shoulder was a bit intimidating, especially with the buses that travel up and down the road. I did take a little break at a cool looking church. It reminded me of my trip to England. Sunrise was at 6:12 this morning, its kinda neat to look at these pictures, from a no sun, rising sun, to full sun.



I paused for a few minutes where the guy that showed me this route connects to General's Highway, but he never showed so I kept on going. I connected to Crownseville Road which is where the largest Rennaissance Festival on the east coast is held every year, the Maryland Renaissance Festival! From the road you can only catch a glimpse of its entrance "gate" and there were enough "No Trespassing" signs that I decided to stay away.


And its "parking lot"



Anyways, I finally rolled in to work exactly 62 minutes after I took off. I think I found my new way into work! And I was the first biker in this morning (which is kinda bragging rights here in the office, so yay me).


I achieved some of my goals, which I will update later today. For now, coffee and some meetings!

A few more websites

I frequently use MapMyRide to figure out my distances and also view some routes I plan on taking. It is a great free site, though it does have an unnecessary amount of adspam on it. While browsing around, I located a few more sites that offer the same idea as MapMyRide, but without the as many ads.

ridewithgps.com
bikeroutetoaster.com
gpsies.com

What is really neat is as I was browsing through ridewithgps, I saw a coworker who had a few rides listed, including his ride from home to work. It doesn't go down the B&A like mine does, so I altered his ride a little bit to start from my house and discovered it can cut 7 miles off my commute! Down from 20 miles, it is a mere 13 miles. Hell, 11 miles if I want to ride for a little bit on a "highway" (not really an interstate, but probably too busy, though at 6am might be doable).

Tomorrow, assuming rain holds out, I am going to give this a try. If it is viable, then it will be great, as I currently have been driving a bit south before parking and getting on my bike.

You can see my new path Here.


Perhaps you can find some rides on those for around your area too!

Goals

A big thanks to KungFoo for both adding a tab to his site and directing me over to Biking2Work. I have now added a tab to track my goals for this year. Granted, I know it will be slow going as I am trying to train up for running (hmmm, perhaps I should add some running goals) but alas, go ahead and check them out. Some of them are going to be quite easy and I can bet that I could knock out 5-10 of them in my first real ride. But hey, that will only motivate me to knock out some more, right?

But making that list made me realize just how close to things I am. My parents live 57 miles away. The Atlantic freaking ocean is 107 miles away. (Its actually much closer, but then I'd be in Delaware and who wants to be there?!?) And even cooler is Outer Banks, North Carolina is only 200 miles away! If you live on the eastern seaboard of the US and have never been to the Outer Banks, you are missing out.

I contacted a good friend of mine about possibly renting a house with him and our significant others down there in the late fall. If things go through, we will bike down over the course of the weekend and meet our ladies down at the house for the week then we will all haul ourselves back up. And if, for whatever reason, that falls through, then we can do the same thing but out to Ocean City.

It is still raining out, so I doubt I'll get out tonight. But just making that list is getting me pumped up. I want to see if I can strike out all those max speeds on my first ride out!