33+ MILES AND NO FLATS!

33+ miles and no flats! I feel like I just won the TDF! I guess the work I did on the Flelt last night did the trick. This morning I got up around 7:00 and rode over to the Aloha State Games course at Barbers Point to get in some training. On the way over, I met up with Ben, Dev, and Casey. We ran into a couple of other riders and worked on some tactics. We ended up getting about 6-7 laps in. Dev had a flat, I don't want to say too much more about that...don't want to get cursed again...sorry Dev! A good morning ride and I wasn't even in too much trouble when I got home (I had failed to let anyone know I was going out this morning and FORGOT my phone...he, he).

Cycling Sucks!

ANOTHER FLAT TODAY!!!

I didn't even get to the meeting spot for the lunch time ride today before I was walking.

I'm not having any luck with keeping air in my wheels lately. Right now, I'm thinking out converting my bike into something like this and taking up boating.
Maybe I could turn it into some kind of art piece.

Just kidding! Cycling doesn't really suck and I'm not going to be taking a blow torch to the Felt anytime soon. But man, this is frustrating.

I do believe I may have found the problem, though. I have a loose wheel that may be contributing to my flats. I will check it out tonight when I get home and see if that fixes things.

If not, my next solution is to just buy a new bike...let's see if Goy (my wife) goes for that one!

Got The Flat Tire Blues

Now I know how David Millar felt at the Giro d'Italia...here's the video...

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/david-millars-road-rage/1458009523

I had a flat on the way over to the Tuesday lunch time ride yesterday. I fixed it quickly and caught up with the group (that is why I blew past everybody yesterday instead of just hanging with you guys...I was a little ticked off). I inspected everything yesterday when I got home and thought I was good to go. This morning on my commute in from Ewa, I suffered another flat as I was going up a hill in Waipahu. I fixed this one pretty quickly (I'm getting real good at fixing flats) and got going again. By the time I got to Pearl City (just past Best Buy), I get another flat. I felt like throwing the Felt off a bridge and start walking, but I didn't feel like walking all the way to Pearl Harbor in cycling shoes. So, I had to call someone to come get me. I just recently changed to a different tire (Gatorskins) and I also started using different tubes. I may try going back to the old tubes and see if that helps. I guess on the bright side...I can fix a flat in about 3 minutes now!

I know John was joking about buying this book for our "significant others" so that they would understand the quirky ways of their cyclist. Well, I was at Borders about a week ago and as I was looking through books on cycling, I saw that they had one copy left...so I picked it up. It is actually a pretty good book. It was funny reading about some of the traits of a roadie that I have already adopted in my short time as a bike racer. Right now I am reading about the ins and outs of a criterium which will be helpful for upcoming events. Not a bad read...I recommend it. I'm almost finished reading it if anyone would like to borrow it after I'm done.

No Cycling News This Weekend...Well, Almost

This weekend was the 40K Individual Time Trial. I checked everyone's blogs this morning and it looks like everyone did really good. Congratulations everybody. I didn't make it. I promised not to do any races this month due to planning to do so many next month. I would have liked to have done this one. I think I would have done well. I have been riding strong lately. I have also learned a lot riding with HACC. Especially on the Tuesday rides. I had an awesome ride last Tuesday.

I was reminded a couple of times yesterday that there was a bike race going on that I was not at. This was annoying. A couple of friends stopped by. They had been riding their motorcycles on the North Shore and had to mention that they saw some kind of bike race going on. I told them "I KNOW, I'M SUPPOSE TO BE THERE!", loud enough for Goy to hear. Goy told them she had given me permission to get a motorcycle. I told her I would rather take what she would spend on a motorcycle and buy a new bike. This was followed by several jokes about cyclists and how I would look on a motorcycle with tight shorts, shaved legs, etc. Very funny guys!

After they left, I decided to give the Felt a good cleaning/inspection. I end up cracking the self-extracting piece on my crank. So of course I had to drive down to IT&B and pick one up. Mike at IT&B asked me if I was at the TT...not again :(. I got the part, but it looks like I may have stripped the crank arm. I don't have to have it on, but would like to get it fixed. So, this morning I asked Goy if she would like to go to her favorite place for lunch today...she said she knew I was only asking because it is near The Bike Shop...she knows me too well.

So, the next couple of weeks I will be trying to get in maximum training time. I think I'll hit up some of the guys for some training tips/workouts to get ready for next month. I plan on doing the Aloha State Games (a two day event - TT one day, road race the next), the HACC Criterium (we are putting this one on for the first time, should be a good one), and the Hawaii State Road Race. I did the second day of the Aloha State Games last year. This was my first bike race and I didn't know what I was doing. So, I'm anxious to do this one again to see how I do.

There are also a couple of races coming up in July...so stay tuned!

BIKE TO WORK DAY

Today was Bike To Work Day! I started out at 5:00 this morning and rode to Hickam Airforce Base to meet some others for the ride down to the Bike To Work Day rally. We took off around 6:15 and had a great ride down. It was great seeing a lot of riders that I knew and others. Here are some pictures of the ride down and back.

Picture with Lt. Governor "Duke" Aiona

More Goodies In The Mail

My Mom lives near Gainesville, GA and she sent me some great stuff from the Tour de Georgia. Such a great Mom! Thanks Mom, Goy says hello.

Bike Update

Alright, time to get back to some bike stuff. Got my brake levers and my shifters in the mail since last bike update. Brake levers were $17.90 ($27.50 with shipping). Shifters were $48.00 ($55.50 with shipping). This past weekend I also had to take the bike to The Bike Shop to have the headset pressed. That cost me $26.18. I found out later Ben had a press...if only I had been more patient...oh, well. I also found out that I bought the wrong bottom bracket. I knew I needed an English threaded bottom bracket, but somehow I ended up with an Italian Threaded BB. I'll chalk it up to eBay tunnel vision. Already started the search for another BB. Too much fun!


Total for build to date: $503.66, well there went my $500.00 cap...let's see how far this goes!

Family Photos

Here are some more pictures we took outside today.

Fun With Baskets

Kids will find the craziest things to play with. We spent the day at home watching movies and playing outside. Damien rented Call of Duty 2 and played it most of the day. He has Call of Duty 4 and I tried to tell him #2 wouldn't be as good. He later agreed but enjoyed playing it regardless. I did a little work on the Griffen, more on that later. While we were outside, the kids got into doing some crazy stuff with laundry baskets, so I had to break out the camera and take some pictures. Don't ask me what they are doing because I do not know.

I AM IRONMAN

Yesterday went for about an eight mile run. I have been neglecting my running and swimming lately, so wanted to get out and do a good run on my Friday off. Today we all went to see Ironman...awesome movie. I also had to stop by The Bike Shop and get them to use the headset press on the Griffen. Ran into Bryant and Marianne there. I have received more parts for the Griffen but have some more I should get on Monday, so I will provide an update when they come in.