Bike, Bikes, Bikes

Item 1:  The Tour of California is on Versus this week.  A pretty good bike race.  It isn’t quite the level of the european tours but it looks tough enough to me.  The course today is a 9% grade for over 10 miles.  I think I’d be cryin’ like a baby…;)  Lance crashed out yesterday so Team Radio Shack is minus their fearless leader.  Interestingly, he was playing domestique for Levi so Armstrong wasn’t going for the win in any event.

Item 2:  I’m going to take the rims off of my road bike and personally pound them into pizza pans.  I’m sick of fooling with the spokes breaking, coming loose, etc, etc.  I’m tired of it.  I treat that bike better than almost any other possesion and it gives me fits!  Just the rims tho.  The rest of the bike is ok…well, exept the derailurs and maybe the crank.  However, I expect that whatever bike I’m riding and regardless of the cost, that I’ll never escape complaining about gears, shifting of gears, creaks, squeeks and groans in the equipment…

Item 3:  Today is Bike to Work Day!!  Sarah and I rode out to the gathering at the Freedom Center this morning at about 7:45.  There were about 20 people there at that point and an additional 35 riders had already come and gone!  That’s pretty good turnout for a first-time bike event out here in the hinterlands.  They had some Freedom Center folks there, a bike mechanic and some pretty good food.  I confess that I didn’t really bike to work.  Sarah and I biked out there, had a cup of coffee and biked home.  Then we showered and came to work….maybe not cheating but maybe not really in the spirit of the event either…:)