A new challenger arrives (or the beginning of the complich8 cycloblog). Oh, and more travel: Louisville and Seattle updates.
Ok, so this is sort of reverse chronological order, but that’s fine…
So the first thing’s first. I just got a bike. It’s a Surly CrossCheck, 62cm frame (biggest they make). Shimano Tiagra/Deore components. Some crazy ultra-heavy-duty BMX downhill pedals. I’d been shopping for a bike for a couple months and ended up looking at that one.
Picked it up from a place called Silver Cycles down in Silver Spring, about 12 miles out by highway. Nice folks, helpful, but it’s a fairly small shop so they don’t have huge amounts of stuff in stock.
For the whole setup (bike, pedals, computer, helmet, brake interruptor levers, helmet, pump, supplies, lights, and a car carrier) I think I dropped about $1400… ’cause grabbing a $300 walmart bike would probably not work too well for someone of my stature.
Well, after about two and a half weeks to get it all there and all together, I finally went and got the bike early this afternoon. And today’s ride stats go something like this: time spent on the bike so far: about 30 minutes. Distance covered: 2.5 miles. Distance walked of that: less than 1/4 mile. Lessons learned: my neighborhood is a freaking BRUTAL place to ride a bike. I mean, I left my front door and hopped on the bike and despite spending time on the brakes I was doing like 28mph by the bottom of my street. Which, when you haven’t really been on a bike in a decade and have never gone that fast on a bike, is a little terrifying, I gotta admit. And then the sinking realization that one way or the other you’re going to have to get back up that hill … just to keep going at all. Yeah, that’s pretty rough.
Anyway, so I guess that starts the bikeblogging phase. 2.5 miles in my neighborhood, 30 minutes, coughing up a lung and damned near puking afterwards. I could barely make it back down the stairs when I got back into my house. My legs feel like they’re going to fall off. Last time I was on a scale was yesterday night, which put me at 358 (bearing in mind a peak of 365). Gonna track that stuff a bit more closely…
On to other news. The week before memorial day weekend (actually right around the same time I first went to the bike shop and started asking in earnest about that bike), work took me out to Seattle to visit a major airline headquartered there. That install went smoother than expected, and gave me some free time. Also, my good friend and former college roommate Pat lives out there, and so I got to catch up with him and meet his wife. Good times were had by all… with minor entries in the “drinking and debauchery” columns and some good food. Ate at a place called Salty’s (the Redondo beach location, which is apparently the one where you can only see the water and not the Seattle skyline), had some phenomenal cedar-planked salmon. Also ate at an organic place on Mercer Island where Pat lives that was pretty good. It’s especially hilarious using the outdoor dining area in front of an organic restaurant on an island in the Seattle area that’s only really accessible by car as a backdrop for a good conversation about the organic and locally-grown food movement versus the Green Revolution and industrial farming… just saying.
Anyway, Seattle was cool… definitely more of a walker’s city than a driver’s, if you’re looking at downtown anyway. Also more of a daytime city I think … there weren’t many people out at night, but we could find more than a place like Phoenix.
Also, the update I neglected before: a month before that we went to Louisville for work to do another node refresh. Also fairly smooth, having your shit together definitely helps these things! We ate at two places right across the Ohio river: a place called Buck Head’s that my dad recommended and an Italian place right next door to it. Neither was phenomenal, but both were pretty dang respectable. We also checked out this fossil bed by the Ohio river that was cool, and just generally chilled out there.
On a related note, I’m finding myself absolutely fascinated by rivers, lately. They’re pretty insane. Think about it!
Anyway, so that’s the update… pics are on the gallery.