Monday, September 12, 2005

What a great weekend...

Life is great. This weekend was all about cycling. On Saturday, I did a 91.1km Patriots Ride, sponsored by Cody's Challenge (more later). It was in remberance of those patriots who lost their lives 9/11/2001. One of my good friends Joe Pelley is the ride organizer. He works harder than any organizer I know. He is also sooo passionate about the ride and making sure we all remember those heroes. The ride was in beautiful St Johns County. The weather could not have been better. Coolish by Florida standards...started out in low 70's. Traffic was not bad...so all in all a great ride. I ended up riding in with a friend who had bonked at 45 miles...we chatted our way into the finish.

Then on Sunday I did the North Florida Bicycle Club's Watermelon Ride. Something like the 19th year. It doesn't happen too often but I got to ride the 73 miles with my wife. She had some kind of problem in the first 15 miles but got in gear after that and had an excellent ride. We finished strong probably at 20-21 mph. Meet some nice folks and generally enjoyed the day.

All of this is done in preparation for this coming weekend's MS 150 ride from St. Augustine to Daytona. Last year we were hurricaned out and only rode a short ride. I am on the Cody's Challenge team. Cody is a friend of Joe's who has MS and we all ride in his honor. This year I was fortunate that I collected over $2,500.00 in contributions to the MS Society. I think the Cody's team will be 120 strong. Roughly 1500 riders for the two day event. I'll take pics and post 'em next week.

I spent time tonight cleaning my bike. Yeah, I know about as exciting as watching dough rise. But...I know the importance of keeping my Masi clean...many years on good rides. It's kind of a challenge...to see if I can keep my bike at least as clean as my wife keeps hers dirty.

Ok...I've been waiting. Waiting for a fixed gear bike. I definitely have a preference, Masi. But not sure if they will have one this year. If not, I'm probably going to buy a 2006 Specialized Langster. But then again, I like the Bianchi Pista. Steel or aluminum???? Langster, Pista or the Masi???Give me your opinion. At any rate, I want to participate in a new fixed gear group headed by my friend Scott Summey at Open Road Bicycles. We'll ride throughout the winter (Florida standards 40's to 60's). I can't remember being this excited...well maybe last year when I got my new Speciale Carbon. Yes...frequent visitors will see a lot about fixed gear stuff in the future.

Nap Time!!!
steelrider2

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