Old Dog, New Bike

If you don't mind being a little chilled, the past couple of weeks have been great for riding. I've been fitting in a little singletrack time in the mornings when the trails are nice 'n frozen.  I coaxed my riding partner out into the cold Actually, I didn't have to do anything. She was born ready for winter riding.

Look at that face.

I got a new single speed MTB frame recently (don't worry- one in, one out- enjoy your new home, Frankenbike). Maybe I'll write more about it later. Or maybe not. We'll see. I will say it's pretty sweet. Not that I'm overly concerned with weight- but I'm pretty excited that this bike built up more than 2lbs lighter than my last setup.  It makes me feel fast.  Like awesome bike racer fast. It's really a feeling more than an actual improvement in performance, though. I'm pretty sure I look like this when I ride (oh, or this- thanks, Jody).

It comes with operating instructions right on the top tube and it's sporting this years hottest fashion accessory- the NEMBA Headcap. Don't be jealous. Get yours here.

That's a First

Unfortunately, I've heard plenty of stories of bikes and their parts being stolen. Whole bikes lifted up and off of the sign posts they were locked to. Cable locks quickly snipped. More than a handful "Well... I actually forgot to lock it..." Hundreds of wheels, and seats/seat posts taken by (best case) hungry orphans who needed the bike parts more than you.

Yesterday, a woman dragged her bike in because a hungry orphan stole the front tube from her bike. Just the front tube. The thief went to the trouble to remove the wheel from the bike, remove the tire from the rim (with the tire levers he/she just happened to have in his/her pocket), remove the tube from the tire, and then leave the wheel and tire in a nice pile beside the bike.

That's the first time I've ever heard of someone stealing exactly and only the part that he/she needed.

If you're ever in desperate need of a tube and you're thinking about stealing one- don't. Just stop by the shop- I'll give you one and we can work out a payment plan.

Three Things

One- I got around to downloading pictures from my trip adventure (that I will stop posting about soon. Hopefully before you get wicked, wicked sick of hearing about it.). Check out this one:

 Don't make me punch you.

Two- I love it here. I love that even though it's the dead of winter (albeit, a strangely mild winter), I saw nine other cyclists on my commute home last night. I love how genuinely excited everyone is to still be bike commuting this time of year. Warms my bikey heart.

Three- Hub is two years old today. My deepest thanks for the support that have made these two great years possible.

Miles per gallon

I just packed up the computer I used on my tour (I don't usually use one, since I don't need to know exactly how slow I'm going).

It turns out I clocked around 54 hours of riding time (None of the MTB rides were recorded on this little guy. Also- I forgot to turn it on one day in FL...). I was curious about how many calories I burned based on that number. I counted my riding as 'moderate'- I wasn't going particularly fast (11.4 mph average), but I was weighed down with a bunch of stuff. Based on that, and my weight (which is none of your business, although I'm totally comfortable with it, thanks) the total I got was 31,275. Now that we've got a calorie total we can have some fun with science!

I could have powered my trip with 298 bananas (medium ones). Or 209 Twinkies. Or 1117 Peeps (Yellow food theme!).

I also ran across this article. Turns out I burned about the same amount of energy that is in a gallon of gas. I went 630 miles on that 'gallon of gas'. Pretty cool.

Recap

Well, that was fun. Not all of it, but a good bunch of it was fun. My winter adventure tour is over. I'm back in town, and I'm ready to get back to business. This is going to super cliche, so sorry about that, but being away for a while makes me really appreciate living here. If you ever get sick of living here, just spend a little time in the Florida panhandle (that'll be the last jab, FL, I promise). So now that it's over I get to reflect on all of the things I've learned.

Things I wouldn't change-
My bike. It worked great- gearing, the racks, brakes, wheels- the whole thing.
Hammock camping. I skipped the tent, to save weight, but it ended up being a million times more comfortable.

Things I would do differently-
Traveling alone. It didn't work out that anyone could join me this time around, but I think having another bike riding human around would be more fun and would feel safer.
Finding campgrounds. I would definitely do more research ahead of time- many of the campgrounds in the south are RV- centric (a good number were RV only). I would have known that if I'd planned ahead a little better.

I'm excited and ready to get back to the shop. I'm going to open back up for business on Monday, Jan 30 at noon. 2012 is going to be a big year for Hub, and I'm ready to get it going.

MTBTX

Perfect day for some sweet central Texas singletrack! Mr. E and I hit the trails just like old times. I was even reunited with another old friend today. My old mountain bike (I think this one was 6-7 bikes ago...) lives here in Austin since J Bone was nice enough to adopt it.

The trails at Rocky Hill Ranch were really fun. Pretty flowy and fast, a few roots to keep it interesting, and lots of sections with really dry, loose rocks. Not baby heads, something smaller than that... Fetus heads? That's disturbing- how about just small rocks? Ok. Lost of loose small rocks. We learned later from the land manager (who was kind enough to give us some ice cold post-ride beverages!) that the area was wicked close to being burned to the ground during the wild fires of last summer. I'm glad it wasn't- it was nice to have a little cover from the pine trees. Which smelled fantastic, by the way. I think this is where they get the 'Mountain Pine Fresh' scent for laundry detergent from.

The place was almost deserted. It was really fun to have the trails all to ourselves. That finger I banged up while getting hit by an SUV (I'm going to hold that against you forever, Florida. Don't think I'll forget it. I won't.) was a little sore. It was a good reminder not to have a death grip on the bars.

There was also a funny lodge/base camp/shack that, I'm told, is 'very Texas'. For example, there is a clearly labeled Main Entrance door, decorated with antlers, but no walls that require an entrance at all...

Hill Country

I headed today out for an overnight trip from Austin. There are tons of state parks here. Including one in Blanco (you'd think it would be 'blahhhnk-oh' but folks seem to be calling it 'blank-oh'). It's pretty cute here. And surprisingly packed for a campground on a Wednesday night in January. Lots of RVs, but also a handful of tents around. It's nice to have some company. RV culture is really interesting. It has it's own lingo and etiquette. I'm sure there are RV snobs out there, although the folks I've talked seem very nice. There are times when serious RVers travel around the country, and times when they settle in for a season (usually winter, and usually in the south, natch). And there are so many places to stay- campgrounds, Wal Mart parking lots, rest areas, Elks Lodges. If you ever want to know more about it, just ask the next retired couple you see in an RV. I'm sure they'll tell you all you want to know, and more.

The ride to get here was wicked hilly ('Texas hill country', you think I would have figured that out...), and the roads were pretty choppy, so I'm beat. I'm going to try and stay awake long enough to enjoy some of those big 'n bright stars they advertise here in the heart of Texas.