My new wheels
So . . . I’d rather be running or doing something active right now. The first week of training was successful! I ran home on Monday, ran Farmer’s Ridge (?), and ran the Westridge out and back from top o’ Reseda on Saturday for a total of 28 miles. I don’t think that we’ll be able to reproduce that this week because we are going to a wedding in San Jose.
Referring back to my post of decisions, I’ve decided to donate my car once we get back from San Jose and I purchased a road bike on Sunday. I totally don’t have the money for it; however, I figure by the end of the year, the money that would have gone into my car will pay for the bike. So I found a sweet little Cannondale Caad9 R6 on sale for about $900 which I compared to the Specialized Allez. Both are aluminum frames, but the Specialized just looked funky and if I was going to spend nearly $1k for an entry level bike I want to ride in style. After adding all the accessories (pedals, shoes, helmet, front and rear lights), I was set back an additional $400 though I was totally psyched to start riding which I did. I purchased the bike from Helen’s Cycles in Westwood and I have to give them a good review. The saleswoman who helped me out (SY) was extremely knowledgeable and gave me some great suggestions on what to purchase for the bike. The only thing I opted out of purchasing was a pump, tire levers, patch kit and new tube. Giddily, I started the 15 mile trek over the hill on Sepulveda blvd.
So I got half-way home – from Westwood to the Skirball Center – almost to the top of the hill and . . . wait a moment . . . do you want to guess? Got my first flat. Called Tam’s and had her pick me up and drive be back to Helen’s to get everything fixed which they did free of charge seeing how I just purchased the bike (It appeared the tube was defective.) I then, of course, purchased the pump, tire levers, patch kit and new tube.
Tomorrow will be the first day that I commute from home to work on the bike and I am really excited. I am really tired of driving on the roads of Los Angeles. Even with the new cell phone law at least 1 out of every 7th car has someone not using a headset while driving. Drivers cannot keep their lanes and many drivers cannot understand the value of a left-turn lane with a light - - - they creep through it like the light is just for them or sit and wait till the last moment to decide to go. This is just the beginning of my list of complaints . . . I need to get off the road.
Yesterday’s run home rocked – though why does Jon always have to push everything to the limit? It took us 1 hour and 50 minutes to run home last night.
Like I said – I’d rather be outside right now!
