The Peloton

I've let the peloton down. I haven't ridden since the 9th. I actually had a good ride on the 9th. I found a decent road that was almost traffic free. What is the cause of this most great tragedy? I would have to say laziness was the biggest cause. But I would like to blame everyone but me for all of my failures, so I blame my friend for turning me on to World of Warcraft. I vowed to never play a MMORPG. It wasn't so much the fees that had to be paid, I just usually liked playing my RPG's solo. Plus I wasn't too thrilled about not having my characters stored on my computer. I wouldn't want them to be "accidentally" deleted from the server. I've noticed that to get the most enjoyment out of the game, you eventually have to play with other people. I've just joined a guild, and its really enhanced the experience. It also helps that I've had the first month and a half free. So who knows, I may end up trying other MMORPG's.

But back to the original topic, will I be able to catch up to the peloton? I hope so. It be a real waste of decent road bike and money.

Problem Solved

After taking my bike to the shop to replace the wheel tape, I've been flat free the last two rides. I'm glad the problem was that simple to fix. I'll be training myself for a century ride next year, so I'll probably be updating my progress on a weekly basis.

Awe What The?

This labor day weekend was supposed to be a chance to do some serious biking with my brother. Unfortunately anything that could have gone wrong did. So far the weekend rides have been ruined. Since the beginning of my biking career (a few months) I've never had a flat. Well, it finally happened this past Thursday. It was a typical flat. A thorn resembling a golf tee punctured my front tire. No biggie, it was bound to happen eventually. The tire was easily changed and I made it back home without a hitch. Then came the first ride with my brother (whose put more mileage on his bike this past year than I will in the next five) on Friday. Within the first ten minutes, my back tire goes out. We can't find any type of object on the tire, or find a hole on the tube. Not a problem. Tube changed, but we had to head back home. On the way back, my rear cog kept grinding on the smallest gear. Turns out my rear derailleur was bent. Ouch. But I took it to the bike shop and it was fixed within five minutes. Later on that day I found the hole in the tube. There was a puncture on the underside of the tube resembling a knife puncture. Then we headed out today and bam! Within five minutes my back goes out again. Same spot as the one last night, right above the fourth spoke. It looks like the wheel tape isn't covering the spoke holes in the wheel completely, so its probably puncturing the tube under pressure. We changed the tube again and headed back home. We decided to ride locally this time, but it didn't matter. The back went out again. To make matters worse, once we changed the tube, I noticed the front tire was flat as well. Same problem as the rear. Four days, four flats, and a bent derailleur. Things could be worse I suppose. I could have crashed and cracked the frame. But it was a real let down to say the least. My brother made quite a treck to come by this weekend. Hopefully I'll get everything squared away tomorrow and we'll have at least one good ride. Maybe the bike shop will make my day and just completely replace both my wheels with some really nice ones I can't afford!