Ouch.  I hope things work out okay as hitting the deck like REALLY sucks.

Hope your niece is OK Ken. Going down at that speed would suck.

Edited April 8, 201313 yr by Pars

What everyone else said, Ken... that sucks.

On a lighter note:

Xavier and I worked on plasti-dipping his bike black, and degreased and lubed the bikes that needed it, and we did a lot of adjusting of his ride, and now he has 6 gears instead of 4, sometimes 6. It was a VERY used bike, but a nice Gary Fisher. Even though it was less than what most of us have in our water bottle cages, after 6$ in "paint", a few bucks in degreaser, a couple hours hanging out and going over bike maintenance together, and lots of tweaking, he has a bike he really digs and we went out for 9 laps of our "circuit" around the apartment complex (hill to start, fun descent going down, over and over).  I didn't quite hit my 20 miles goal this week.  Xavier and I spent about half an hour at the LBS today, getting some stuff (including his new handlebar mounted water bottle cage), and we checked out the bike he's going to start saving for (he saves half, I pay the other half). I talked to them about the Sunday shop ride, and it's just not something I'm up for yet, so I'm going to chance taking the bike to work and hit up the local weekly "beginner ride" to see how I hold up.

 

It was a pretty awesome Sunday.

We went from this

To this

When the porch is designed to be a built-in bike rack, you HAVE to take a pic of 'em all lined up, no?


Oh, I still love his helmet.  Best kid helmet they had at the bike shop (a Giro). I had told him if he saved up half, I'd buy the rest.  One weekend last year he said "Daddy, I have 21$, can we go get that helmet now?"  Made me so happy. The next day the shop was open, we went.

**BRENT**

Nice Brent.

 

Me: restarted the commute to work program for 2013.  Left a little late and consequently pushed quite a bit harder than I wanted to for a ride this early in the season.  Cranked a 19mph pace for the 20mi ride.  Hopefully I can cruise a litte more comfortably on the way home and it'll be nearly 30 degrees warmer on the way home too.  So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

Nice Nate! You're a beast! I can't even believe how powerful the pros are, they averaged 27+ mph for Paris-Roubaix.

Edited April 8, 201313 yr by Dreadhead

Nice ride Nate, looks like you're quickly inching back to your usual beast shape!

Nice Brent! Xavier looks like he's into it.

 

And nice also Nate.

 

Me: was having a hard time getting motivated to ride yesterday (first really nice day mid 50s, light wind). Finally got out and did 13 miles with a hill repeat. Much less than the 25+ I had planned on. Just felt lazy and lethargic all day.

Thanks for the good wishes for my niece.  I'll call her later today to see how she's doing but it seems she's doing OK judging by her Facebook post:

 

Fell hard today, went to the ER to have wounds cleaned, ankle splinted, knee immobilized. Even though it's absolutely miserable I realize I have the most sensitive, compassionate, supportive and loving boyfriend and family. Couldn't have asked for anything better.

Glad to hear she is okay.  A crash at any speed sucks but at 30mph it would really suck. 

 

I think about it all the time on my rides.  We have to deal with large, 3'-4', iguanas running around everywhere down hear.  If you hit one at speed it could really do some damage.  Luckily they usually run away from you. 

We bunny hop in TN, but you get to iguana hop. That's pretty cool.

**BRENT**

Glad to hear she is okay. A crash at any speed sucks but at 30mph it would really suck.

I think about it all the time on my rides. We have to deal with large, 3'-4', iguanas running around everywhere down hear. If you hit one at speed it could really do some damage. Luckily they usually run away from you.

Heh, I had to dodge 4 turkeys on the way in this morning.

Btw, sorry about your niece's crash, Ken. Glad that there's no concussion or broken bones but that's still gotta suck.

Btw, sorry about your niece's crash, Ken. Glad that there's no concussion or broken bones but that's still gotta suck.

This.

Yeah, Ken ... sorry niece crashed, especially at that speed, but happy she is basically ok, and that she has such a good outlook.  

 

Brent ... nice day of spiffing up Xavier's bike.

 

Nate ... you are an animal.

Talking about a Virginia MTB ride in the coming weeks.  Nebby, you have a bike yet?  Juan, Chris you guys ready to hit the trails again with our newest member Justin?

 

Yup, I got a MTB, just let me know when and where!

 

Ken: Glad to hear your niece will be alright, sucks to take a crash like that (and especially at 30mph...yikes).

Raffy just tried "there is no try". It was awesome!

Edit: Ken, my apologies for the delayed concern but I am glad your niece is doing ok.

Edited April 9, 201313 yr by Dreadhead

Took it much easier on the way home.  My average heart rate dropped 15bpm and my max was lower than my average from the commute in.  Still managed a nice pace courtesy of a slight tail wind for the flatter section at the beginning of the ride.  Raffy would faint if he saw the HR data for the way in this morning.

Ken, glad your niece is going well.

 

Brent, dig Xavier's black bike.  Like father, like son.

 

Nate, I had to dodge 4 roosters one morning outside my neighborhood.

So I don't know how you guys post your Garmin info, but here's the first "real" road ride I've done on the new bike.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/295437347

I'm happy enough with this result. Started to feel it in the back around mile 13, so I didn't want to push it much further.  Decent enough group of riders, some more than others. This was a local club's "Beginner" ride.  At the start, it was a bit slow going, but I started to feel better a few miles in. The group wound up doing about 10 miles, but there was a guy who wanted to do a little more, so I wound up hanging with him for a few more... and I'm glad I did.

The bike fit needs work, I can tell, but I'll figure it out. I think a slightly shorter stem would help. It needs a few adjustments, but all in all, I'm pretty happy with the bike.  A guy with a ridiculously nice CF Trek commented favorably on it.  Really nice guy... he rode with me while I was hanging at the back of the group for the first leg.  After about mile 5, I was hanging with the lead group.

The guy on the recumbant probably coulda kicked everyone's asses, though.

**BRENT**

 

Brent,

 

I use a program to do a screen capture of the data, nothing fancy.

 

Gotcha. Thanks.

 

17.4MPH.  That's a mtn bike ride for you, no?

 

**BRENT**

Nice Brent!

http://cyclemeter.com/0dae5944e7b11a09/Cycle-20130409-1550?r=x Short ride after post office Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Heading towards one of the white houses in the middle of the pic.

laukahiTOP 4-13 by pigmode, on Flickr

Quarter of the way up.

laukahiDH4-13 by pigmode, on Flickr

There.

laukahi 4-13 by pigmode, on Flickr

Awesome ride! Looks like a lot of fun. Trying out riding during lunch hour with the riding group based at the lab I work at. Should be fun!