Random Thoughts VIII: The Ocho
- Thread starter CycloneRulzzz
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Okay. I think I'd rather run at home though. The route I'd go takes me past the fire station, so when I start to pass out after a quarter mile, I'm right there.
One new job I had, I asked my secretary how far it was to another town so I'd ride bike. She told me 3-5 area or so. No consistent roads off this one. I got there and was tired, turned around and pedalled into a nasty cross wind that started. Got home exhausted. Found out it was 11 miles there. That 8 mile ride was 22.
I had some nice bibs. Made sure of it. Still got destroyed but probably because I hadn't ridden a bike in years.
DH got one of them there fancy bikes and nine months later the ISU bike police stole it. Or someone did. Pretty sure it was the bike police.
When I train for RAGBRAI it is less about the miles and more about conditioning my *** and my liver.
I should get DH back into biking. He used to like that but got away from it in college. Need to get the tires checked and probably some of those shorts you talk about so your *** doesn't hurt.
Truth. I went down a few times my first month switching over back in college, but I love how you can get power out of the entire stroke with the clipless pedals. That being said, one of the best purchases I ever got for my bike was a pair of pedals that were clipless on one side and flat on the other, that way I can still ride in my biking shoes without being attached to the bike.
I did have a pretty bad wreck back in college over in west ames, on the bike path that goes by towers and the cross country field, that I may have talked about a few threads back. There used to be a spot where there was a straight up curb instead of the nice sloped ones. Ran into it going about 20 mph, and flipped over the handlebars. Completely destroyed my front wheel, my helmet, and the backpack I was wearing at the time. If it hadn't been for that backpack, I would have had some major road rash. As it is, I have some scars on my hands from it. I never really liked ames police that much after that day because one of them drove right on by after seeing me crash and seeing me stand up covered in blood.
Ended up having to go back to the house of my friend that I was visiting to get her to toss my bike in the trunk to drive me back to my place over at freddy.
Luckily, the guys over at the bike shop on the road between east Hy-vee and Target took pity on me for being the dumb kid who crashed his bike the same week he bought it from them. They sold me a new helmet and a new $400 (retail price) pair of wheels at their cost rather than at retail.
No worse than buying new cleats or shoes for 3 to 4 kids every year, for three to four different sports. Those cleats were freakin' expensive!
Some Show Choirs are competition monsters - time and money consuming. The one at my kids' school didn't do a lot of that...it was mostly an audition choir with a little more pizazz in the performances than just standing on the risers in black pants/skirts & white shirts.
I have pedals with both a platform and cleats on two of my bikes. I have one of the bikes in my office so I can ride between my work sites in my work shoes.
I had a pretty fun accident the year I got my carbon bike just a few weeks before RAGBRAI. I was cooling down going through a neighborhood after a 40 mile ride. A kid popped out into the street on her bike. She came out between parked cars and a box truck right in front of me. I managed to miss her and just hit her back wheel but still endoed. I destroyed my front wheel, bent my forks and destroyed my helmet. I had one of those Nextel big brick phones in my back jersey pocket which turned what would have been a hell of a lot of road rash into a big bruise on my lower back. The Nextel phone didn't skip a beat. Those things were indestructible. I was able to get a shop up here in the Twin Cities to order a fork for me and get the bike back in shape in time for RAGBRAI.
That girl was lucky it was just me that she pulled out in front of rather than a car or she would have been a grease spot on the street.
I agree on Bike World in Ames. That is a great shop that supports the sport. They have taken care of Mrs. Velo and I over the years.
Yeah, cleats are getting ridiculous. I found some at Planet Soccer the other day while I was getting my girl's jersey repaired. They were on the 50% off table but with my old eyes I couldn't find the price. When I asked they told me they were "just" $200. Like $100 for a pair of cleats that she will be able to wear for maybe 2 years is a steal. I dropped them like they were a hot potato. They also had some $220 ones on the 30% off table.
We still have to volunteer hours and pay for traveling soccer so we aren't off the hook there either. Mrs. Velo doesn't end up having to volunteer since I coach the team. They figure I put in enough hours.
My son is good. He will go two years on football cleats. (found a pair at the isu sale that he actually wanted anyhow this year so 2016 fb is set) He is going on three years for wrestling shoes and will go a couple on track spikes. Baseball is usually two. My daughter wants new basketball shoes a couple times a year though. Her and I will usually fight over that so she asks her mom who will just buy them for her.
From my experience the bigger the school the more competitions and more is put into it. When I was in it we traveled to DSM, DVN, and LaCross. It looks like now they also go to Omaha. There were usually two costume changes per show as well. Practice was usually 9-10 hours a week from September through March. Slightly implicating myself here but here are a couple of my favorites...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp18K--oszs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_VOFpM0wwo
We finished watching last week. Keep your expectations low.
My niece has played the violin for 3 years now. They have improved, but I keep looking for the pack of feral cats that are being attacked.
That's what you get for asking a woman to approximate distance.
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