JBlog

First group ride with the Edge 305.  I’m going to have to spend some time getting this thing dialed in.  Will probably commute with it for a week or more.

Not many people showed up for this ride, but Paul showed up and his knee was feeling better after a couple of weeks off and a proper bike fit by Larry at Champaign Cycle.  I may look into that at some point.  Didn’t feel like I had a whole lot of energy, which was OK because I had to cut the ride short anyway because of the funeral for Tami today at 11:00.

Log of today’s ride: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/7620570

Seems tragic.  I suppose it is, too.  Death is rarely accompanied by feel good stories.  There are things about each of these people I enjoyed.  Ed always seemed like a jolly old drunk fat guy.  I doubt he had many enemies outside of the IRS.  Farah Fawcett: hot.  And seemed nice.  And Michael Jackson … umm … well he wrote some outstanding music.

Celebrity.  None of us would care about any of these people were it not for their fame.  As sad as their passing is, I do wonder how many lives will be permanently and substantially altered because they have passed on.  My guess is none.

I hope that doesn’t sound crass.  Or uncaring.  Because it’s not meant to be.  I bring this up only because another life ended on Tuesday night that no one really knows about outside of a relatively small group of people.  Tami Spilmon, mother of three, passed away suddenly while at home alone.  Apparently, she collapsed where she was standing and was found shortly afterward by her fiance.  Laying next to her was their week old baby who will never know her mother.  The other two children are Marissa and Haley, who just lost their father two years ago.  For as much as we’re hearing about the passing of Jackson, Fawcett and McMahon, none of those events will have the impact on a single life the way that Tami’s passing will have, especially on those two girls who are now without parents.  That’s true tragedy and is something I haven’t been able to get out of my head since I first heard about it Tuesday night.

I didn’t know Tami well at all, but she, Ron, Marissa and their new baby Danika visited our home on Fathers Day along with other friends and family.   She was here last Sunday and then gone with no warning two days later.  Events like these really put things into perspective.  You never know when your time is up, or the time of a loved one.  Nothing good can come of something so tragic, but maybe it can still help us to love a little more and appreciate the gift God has given us a little more fully.

My heart goes out to Ron, Marissa and Haley today.  God Bless you all and cover you with His love in this time of mourning.

My Fathers Day gift from  Cindy and the boys was a GPS-enabled cycling computer.  It’s not a navigational aid, but it does track routes and also monitors heart rate, cadence and a bunch of other stuff.  Looking forward to taking it out on some longer rides so I can start compiling information about where and how long I go.

After messing with it for a bit, it seems like it will be easy enough to use.  You can set up two bikes on it, so I’m sure I’ll be bringing it with me on the commuter for some rides as well, although I don’t think I’ll ever have a need to install the cadence sensor on the Trek.  Obviously I can take the heart rate monitor with me wherever I go.

That’s what I ran this morning after about a half mile warm up walk.  It wasn’t as easy a run as I was hoping for but the net result is no pain to the legs, so I’d say overall it was a success.  I think I’ll do this route two or three more times and then try to tack on another mile.

I said “ran”, by the way, which isn’t entirely accurate.  It was definitely a jog.  Maybe I should start saying that instead of running, because what I’m doing out there looks more like an injured camel limping backwards than a conditioned runner.  Maybe some day.

Cindy got back home late last night.  So glad to have her back.

Very, very, very hot and humid.

Let’s see … I swam 1500 yards today.  The pool was refreshing for the first 7 seconds and then it felt hot, too.  I may swim inside tomorrow.  We’ll see.

Ryan and I rode with Ben to swim practice and then we went to Strawberry Fields to pick up some raisins and nuts for trail mix.  I’ve been eating that stuff in the morning for breakfast and I think it’s working out pretty well.  It consists of organic raisins, raw cashew pieces, raw pumpkin seeds and sliced almonds.  I don’t keep track of how much I eat, but I probably should.  I think some days I probably graze on it for longer than I need to.  Also bought some natural peanut butter and wildflower honey to mix up for pre-ride snacks.

After hitting the hippie store, Ryan and I rode back to the “Y” to get Ben and we went to Za’s for some grub.  Ben thought sitting on the couches there would be cool, so we did that.  We visited Cozy’s afterwards and then biked home.

Poor Wrigley is going nuts without Cindy here.  He was so excited when we got back home and he kept looking at the door expecting her to walk in.  We all can’t wait for her to get back tomorrow.

Didn’t run today and will wait until tomorrow night when Cindy’s back to run again.

Pretty uneventful day, really.

Oh … I picked up the Lemond from Champaign Cycle today.  The bike mechanic said he couldn’t find anything wrong with the bottom bracket and a quick spin around the parking lot didn’t reveal any odd noises or vibrations, so hopefully everything is OK.  I received the Garmin Edge 305 cycling computer from UPS and will install that soon.  I may take it on its maiden voyage Saturday morning.  Haven’t decided whether I’m going to St. Louis with Cindy and the boys yet.  I just found out I have to play drums at church Sunday morning, so I’m leaning toward staying in town so I can ride Saturday morning and drum Sunday morning.  We’ll see.

So one of the things I was looking forward to when I started bike commuting was getting rid of my more than $30 per month parking fee. Add that to the amount of money I’ve saved in gas and oil changes and I’m looking at a savings of more than $1000 per year.

So I was looking at my pay stub the other day (for the first time in more than a year … it’s online, I get direct deposit … I never even think about it) and I notice that the parking fee is still coming out.

I bought my bike at the beginning of July, which just so happens to coincide with the time we’re supposed to renew our parking passes, so I just didn’t renew my pass. Subsequently, I never received a pass, so my assumption was that all was taken care of.

Until I see that stupid fee a few days ago.

So I called the parking department who informed me that I had signed a little card four years ago that said I to specifically call and request the automatic payroll deduction to cease or the money would still be withheld.

The director of parking called me last Thursday morning (apparently she’s the only one with the authority to issue a refund) and she says she can do nothing for me, but she was willing to give me three “scratch off” parking passes which would basically allow me to park on campus for three days for “free.”

A few thoughts.

First this is my employer. They are not in the business to make money off of their employees.  I apparently did sign a little card almost four years ago, but who the hell remembers fine print on a contract … for parking, no less … on something they signed years ago anyway? On top of that, I’m a little perturbed that even though I’m helping to alleviate parking congestion on campus, am reducing the amount of exhaust emissions and conserving a natural resource, I’m being penalized because I failed to recall fine print on a parking contract I signed four years ago.

She called me back this morning and offered me half of my parking fees back.  So I’m to get half of the money for which I have received nothing in return and I’m supposed to be OK with this?  Well, I’m not.  I told her we’d probably have to get our bosses involved.  I really don’t understand her position at all.  Am I being taught a lesson?  What’s the purpose of campus parking keeping any of my money that was withheld without cause?

Yep.  There I was.  We pulled in to the Marathon gas station to fill up my wife’s family wagon, a white ’98 Dodge Grand Caravan and we pulled up past this enormous motorcycle.  I thought I recognized the brand and assumed it belonged to a guy we used to live next to.

It was a Boss Hoss – the king of all motorcycles as far as I’m concerned. Even though I’m not really into the motorized two wheel vehicle, I can appreciate a work of art when I see one, and the Boss Hoss is all art and muscle and beauty.

So anyway, I got out of the white ’98 Dodge Grand Caravan, did my business at the pump and took a few steps toward the Boss Hoss. The owner of the bike was just about to start it up, so I asked him what kind of a bike it was. The guy, it turns out, was not an ex-neighbor, but he did confirm that it was a Boss Hoss. Not even sure why I asked him. I knew what it was. Maybe part of me thought he’d offer to let me take it for a spin. Who knows.

Anyway, when I walked back up to the driver’s side window of my wife’s white ’98 Dodge Grand Caravan, she looked at me and quipped, “you got the dinette set.”

We chuckled about that for a few minutes.

I think I’m getting a little more steady, but I still have a way to go before I will be able to run any more than a mile at a time.  Soaked through my shirt.  I may go shirtless from now on.  2.65 miles and I’m on the second phase of the couch to 5k program

I found out last week some time that my wife had volunteered to host lunch this week.  Every week her grandmother fixes up a Sunday lunch that can’t be beat, but sometimes we get a little goofy and decide to have lunch at her mother’s or her brother’s or her aunt’s or at our house.  Today it was at our house.

We had over 30 people and Cindy cooked a meal that couldn’t be beat.  We had a marinated flank steak, some pulled pork, tilapia with two different marinades, some veggie thing on focaccia bread, corn on the cob, asparagus, fresh green beans, mashed potatoes and three or four desserts that were all really good.

I “worked” the grill for a short time and had a couple of beers.  I felt obligated to do this as it seemed like something I should do on Father’s Day.  So beer was had and veggies and fish were grilled by me and the beer was good and so were the veggies.  Cindy came out and threw her flank steak on there for 10 minutes and also plopped the focaccia veggie contraption on there, too.  I wish I’d had a chance to try the flank steak, but I’m sure it was good.  The focaccia veggie was outstanding, though.

Let’s see: Guest list – JJ, LaDonna, Brianna, William, their new baby whose name I can’t remember, Jim, Keira, Josh, Gahvriel, Christain, Joe, Margret, my dad, Karen, Angela, Colin, Bob, Darlene, Ron, his wife, her daughter, their daughter, Jason, Damien, Jim’s Friend, Jim’s friend’s wife, their boy, their new baby, Gramma, me, Cindy, Ben and Ryan.  There may have been more.   That’s 33 people and I’m pretty sure is a record for the number of peeps we’ve entertained.

It was a good day and there’s still a few hours left to make it even better – not that it needs to be better or anything, but … what a good day.

It was an OK ride, I suppose, although I started to wear down near Monticello.  Second in the pace line and the guy pulling was going a little over 20 mph into about a 15 mph wind.  I was struggling to stay on his wheel and then just fell off.  Martin, the triathlete extraordinaire, was behind me and told me not to worry about it, which made me feel a little better.  But then it was my turn to pull, so I led the three who were behind me at a much slower pace until we got to a section of road that had a slight downhill grade, and I was able to bump the pace up to 20-22 mph until we hit Monticello road and the hill.

I fell to the back and then fell off the back, pushing my pedals like crazy, when I noticed a rubbing sound and vibration.  I think the sound was there all along as was the vibration, but due to a relatively bumpy road and a strong headwind, I could neither feel or hear the rubbing.  When we turned on to Monticello Road, which is much smoother, we were shielded from the wind out of the West by the hill we were climbing, so I could then both hear and feel the rub.  So I pulled over to investigate.  I’m officially sticking to the theory that the rub is what caused me to wear down and fail to stay on John’s wheel. 

The wheels both spun freely with no resistance, which meant that the rub was coming from somewhere in my bottom bracket.  Great.  By then the group was well ahead of me by maybe a mile or more, but they were entering Monticello, and I was close enough to catch up.  Martin was kind enough to stop a couple of miles ahead and wait.  When I caught up to him, I explained what was going on.  At the Caseys, he spun my pedals a few times and agreed that the sound was probably coming from the bottom bracket.

So now I’m taking the bike to Champaign Cycle for its 30 day tuneup.  I was going to wait a couple of months for that, but since I have to take it in anyway, I may as well have them do the tunep.  The Lemond has close to 400 miles on it anyway, so it probably needs some adjustments.

The total for the day was 51.4 and my average was slightly over 19 mph when I turned on to Duncan, but I slowed to 12-18 mph on that road as I didn’t want to push the pedals too hard.  We only started with 7 riders.  One of the other new guys dropped shortly before we got to Neil Street and Dan and Larry dropped near the tree grove between Champaign and Monticello.  Not sure why there was such a low turnout today, but I’m guessing it has something to do with the 8:00 start time.