New Blog

From now on I'll be posting at http://shelikesbikes.wordpress.com/

Hope to see you there!

Short and steep

I'm not used to this.

I turn a corner, more uphill. Part of me wants my flat Florida roads back, part of me says, "This is good for you. The pain is good."

Olive trees, poppies, courteous drivers. A girl can only dream! Yet, here I am huffing and puffing and cursing for the damn climb to be over.

I'm getting back on the bike after a silly arm injury that happened a few weeks ago, and I'm taking it easy with this short ride, but man, it's steep (for me). I end up climbing just under 1,000 feet on the four-kilometer climb. I think part of my route is actually going to be used in the 2013 UCI Road World Championship race.

Lately

Giro: Stage 11

Made it to the finish of today's stage.  Weather was beautiful.

dumb.

Hit a curb on the bike, hit the pavement, snapped a ligament off.

Change of wheels

:)

i rode today

in memory of my friend Michael.

That's me at the top right. 

From the Gainesville Sun:  Cyclists ride past Little Hall down Stadium Road during the Michael Edmonds, Jr. Memorial Ride on the UF campus in Gainesville on Monday. There was a memorial celebration held after the ride at the Reitz Union Amphitheater. Edmonds committed suicide by jumping from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Sunday April 15, 2012. It was later reported the Edmonds had bi-polar disorder.

Round two

Let's try this again.

I bought a red CAAD9 frame several weeks ago, and then a car hit me and totaled the frame on the same day I picked the bike up from the shop.  Damn.

Luckily, my local bike shop had another CAAD9 in stock and they were able to build it up for me...again.

Here he his.

Should I?

I have a friend who used to be an avid cyclist in the 80s and early 90s.  His old carbon fiber 7-speed Univega sits in his garage collecting dust now, so he's offering to sell it to me as a fixer-upper project. 

The chain and cassette are rusted to hell, and the rear derailleur might be salvageable with some steal wool scrubbing. 

He's asking $300.  I might offer $200. 

The paint on the fork is chipping pretty badly and the wheels are pretty rusty too, but it does have a certain charm to it. 

the damage

Finally picked up the bike that was involved in the collision a few weeks ago.

I wanted to post about this after the ride that day, but obviously the course of events changed.

Here's what happened:  I had found a really sweet CAAD9 frame at my local bike shop and wanted them to build it up with SRAM Force.  I put my practically brand-new wheels (Reynolds DV3K) on it, and took it on the team ride that Thursday. 

Three hours later, the bike was totaled.  Here are some pictures.

i'm back.

I'm still alive

See link for more details:  http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120223/ARTICLES/120229735

Sex on two wheels.

New Wheels?

Just an idea...

First race ever

Well, I did it.  I finished my first race on the bike and I lived to tell the tale.

13 women
13 laps (1 lap is about a mile)
5th place (but first out of all the B racers)
Feeling pretty good

Wiped down the bike before heading out:

Next race is in two weeks and I'm gonna rock it.

My roommate is better than your roommate

She created a feast for me this morning.  So lucky to have her in my life.

i'm so cool.

Is it possible to have a sticker fetish?