New Tires for Bruiser

It took me about 30 minutes to change both tires. 

(I've done this before)

The handy dandy tire tool for prying the tire on and off the rim

Once you get the old tire off the bike, the next step is to remove the tube. I opted to keep the tubes I had, rather than replace them. They aren't real old, never been patched, and I keep new tubes on the bike at all times. If it fails, then I just replace the tube. 

(Again, may take just a few minutes, you know, done it before)

Insertion of the tube in the new tire

You see, the tires on this old mountain bike were the original tires that came with the bike. And I can't even tell you how old the bike is, for sure. But, I'm thinking it's about 20 years old, early 90's era. It was time to replace the tires. 

New tires are a Specialized Crossroads (puncture resistant, too)

These new tires have a less aggressive tread pattern. A little better for road and light trail riding because there is less "rolling resistance". 

(Love that term)

The other advantage for road riding is that these tires are capable of higher psi's, up to 80 psi. I had been running 40-45 psi, even a little less if I was on a trail. I can still dial down the psi for a trail, but the higher psi will be an advantage for the road. Again, less "rolling resistance".

Side by side, old and new

It was almost dark when I finished up, so I just did a quick spin down the street and back to check out the ride. Felt good!  Will do a longer ride this next weekend, and hopefully some longer rides next week. Tax season is almost over and I'm hoping to do some riding (motorized and non-motorized) next week after the 15th of April.
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Ride On and carpe diem, my good friends!
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I Don't Want a Pickle.....

Here's what I'm feeling right now!

Been Crazy Busy at the Office!

Haven't ridden anything on 2 wheels for at least a week now.

Well the 15th is Monday.
One day shortly thereafter is reserved for a long(ish) bicycle ride.
Another day shortly thereafter is reserved for a long(ish) scooter ride.

Enjoy the Tunes!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvLtNBm1yyA



Ride On and Carpe Diem my Friends!
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How Far East Can I Go? Perhaps New Jersey?

I have to admit that as I rode this morning, at least a few of my thoughts were about our "Twisted Roads" friend in New Jersey. Having experienced a close call to a natural disaster in my lifetime (Topeka tornado 6/8/66), I know what it is like to have a little fear. We are glad Jack is okay and probably bitching up a storm of his own. But I was thinking about Hurricane Sandy this morning. I was also thinking about Jack's new book, which was ordered but not yet received, and was supposedly on its way. I feel a book report is coming on.

Like lots of times I took off with a sort of preconceived idea of where I wanted to ride this morning only to change my mind shortly after leaving the house. I hadn't been riding the bicycle much lately due to a very sore shoulder and neck from a slightly out of place and inflamed spinal cord disc. Riding the bicycle sort of aggravates the problem, but it was much better and a ride sounded like a good idea. Plus I needed the exercise.

I have written about this abandoned rail road line before. It has been converted to a jogging/bicycling path. It starts very near downtown Wichita and heads mostly east but also a little northeast from town. I heard you can ride a long way, but wasn't sure how far. Also the riding is rather tough because the path is rough consisting mostly of large pieces of gravel. I decided to hit the trail with the intention of seeing something new today.

I had not been any farther east on this trail than just the other side of this bridge where an interstate highway crosses over the path. I wondered how far I could go.

It was a beautiful morning, about 50 degrees, but very sunny and almost no wind. Ideal conditions. I was only slightly bundled up in a warm outfit and was sweating a bit very soon after leaving the house. I can catch this trail about a mile from home so I headed that way. I stopped to take a few pictures while wondering how far I could take the trail. One problem is that it is pretty much an up and back trail. I would have to come back mostly the same way. Also because the trail is rough, the going would be slower than usual.

Looking east on a Sunday morning, the view is a bit rustic, even a bit lonely, but very pretty, quiet and  peaceful. The sounds of the mountain bike tires on the gravel is most of what you hear.

There were times when I noticed how isolated it was on this trail. I encountered maybe 3 joggers all morning and no other bicyclists. Some housing developments back up to the trail where I could see the back yards of some fairly nice homes. Then a little way down the road it would just be farm fields by the side of the road. I thought about what it would have been like to ride a train on this line. I'm sure this was mostly a freight line, not a passenger line.

I wondered about what would happen if something happened to me. How long it might take for someone to find me. Should I carry some protection? They have a new firearms carry law in Oklahoma. Not exactly a comforting thought, but what the hell, This is Kansas! How dangerous can it be?

Occasionally the rail path would cross over a stream or a creek as I rode eastward. The scenery would change a bit. Oh, the scenery isn't what you would call fantastic, but it sure was a nice day. A good day to be out absorbing some vitamin D and feeling the sun beat on you a bit. Isn't that part of the point?

There's a little drop off on the side of the path here. Lots of trees and lots of leaves.

The sounds were mostly very quiet type sounds. My breathing was noticeable. The sounds of the tires on the gravel was the noisiest sound to be heard. I would say hello to the occasional jogger and usually, but not always, got a kind response. I thought about many things as I rode along.

At one point I stopped to take a picture and heard this unbelievable racket of birds above me. They must have been discussing the upcoming election. It was obvious they were not all in agreement.

I quickly realized that it was taking me much more time to get anywhere fast and when I reached the county line road to enter Butler county, I decided that I would turn back to Wichita. All in all I probably didn't broaden my experience in this easterly direction by but a few more miles, but that was only part of the point.

You could say that at this stage in my life, everyday that I can experience something as enjoyable as this is pretty important.

At my turn around point I encountered this sign, obviously decorated by some sort of small town hoodlum.

Eventually hunger controlled my thoughts and I headed back to town to see what the other family members might have on their minds for lunch time activities. I had worked up a bit of an appetite.

Lunch was the new priority. I'll check out more points eastward on this trail another day.
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Ride On and Carpe Diem my friends,
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A Perfect Balance

A recent post by Richard Machida got me thinking, and that's always dangerous.

Here's the Link:  http://blog.machida.us/2012/08/is-riding-unhealthy.html

After the driving restriction from my heart problems was lifted, my goal for getting to and from work was to ride Max, walk or take the famous Canadian Subaru (Monty) in roughly equal proportions. Lately though I have been failing miserably at attaining that goal. I was riding Max too much. (Is that even possible?) For the last 3 weeks I had ridden the scooter almost every day. The walking hadn't been entirely abandoned because I walk the dogs frequently. It was poor Monty (the famous Canadian Subaru) that was being ignored.

So today I took out on foot to maybe achieve "A Perfect Balance". To hell with the car, I wanted to walk.

East Central Avenue in the early morning. Not too much traffic yet on a Friday.

I track my exercise with a phone App called Endomondo. It uses the GPS device in the phone to compute distances, calories used and all sorts of not very useful information. But it's fun and it shows that I have walked almost 500 miles in the last year or so. Not spectacular, but not bad. I have to admit I feel better for it. When I walk, I think. It helps clear out the cobwebs in my mind. Today as I walked, I was thinking about Richard's post. I was considering the balance in my life. Almost a Zen feeling. It was a beautiful morning, not quite as hot today. As I walked along, I crossed over a creek with not much water in it.

This creek never has a lot of water in it, but it's damn near dry right now.

I was thinking that it would be more of "A Perfect Balance" to have a little more water in that creek. Not so much as to flood it, something more in the middle. We could sure use some rain.

Walking is an excellent form of exercise. Here's a pic of the dogs on a recent evening walk. After dinner and a short nap, they are always ready to go and see what has happened in the neighborhood. My wife and I alternate nights to walk them, but we do it almost every evening.It's good for them, too.

Madeline (in front) is 16 yrs old. Sophie is 3.

Recently we were in the Taos, New Mexico area and did a little hiking near a ski resort. Now there's some walking for you. Uphill at 7,800 ft elevation. The dogs loved it. The humans did too. (Even me, the Cyborg)

The dogs tried to be in charge of the route, but seemed more interested in chasing small creatures.

Now some people are interested in extreme sports. I own a Subaru and a motorcycle (scooter). The next picture has a Subaru and a motorcycle, could it be me?  Naaah. A little too extreme for me, not quite "A Perfect Balance".

Taken from UK's "Top Gear" website

But I admit to doing something a little more extreme lately. My daughter and her husband have been doing some riding on mountain bike trails and have encouraged me to try one of the courses out. So on a Sunday evening we headed out to Millers Meadow.

http://www.kansascyclist.com/trails/MillersMeadow.html

My daughter looking pretty fierce just after our ride. She's a helluva rider and was my guide for the evening.

Endomondo says we did the 5 mile course in about 44 minutes averaging about 6.7 mph. Now that may sound slow, and it was, but let me tell you, some of it was pretty gnarly. (Yes, I said Gnarly)
Some of the gullies that had very unsettling bottoms to them. At times the path was just wide enough for your handlebars, not to mention ruts from the parched earth.

Will I do the course again? Probably, but I think I prefer just a nice smooth bike path. Maybe something a little less extreme, but it was fun and I hadn't done anything like that since I was a kid. I never fell that evening, but I admit to stopping and walking the bike through a few really deep and scary gullies.

A little blood was the result, but it was a lot tamer than it looked. You see, taking heart medications, including a coagulant, makes it a little harder to stop bleeding. This was just from brushing up against a tree branch.

Now, you have to realize that there are at least two ways to achieve "A Perfect Balance" Balances can be achieved in both a physical and a spiritual sense. Take this next picture for instance:

Just like from "A Field of Dreams", having a dog and a beer at the ball park.

If you drank beer and ate hot dogs all the time, obviously that wouldn't be too good for you physically. But moderation is possible in my book. Spiritually, though, spending an evening at the ball park with my son can be very rewarding. Some hat, huh?

When I was in college, as an elective, I took a course in nutrition. Thought it would be easy, it wasn't. Thought it might be boring, it wasn't. The professor was really good and I learned a lot. One thing I always remember is that she used to say that your body has a tendency to know what it needs for you. It will make you hungry for things that it needs. Now some nutrients, like most sugars, in excess can be very bad for you. But in moderation, all things can be good.

As I walked this morning I went by this fast food restaurant, popular in this area. They have nice greasy hamburgers, shakes and fries. But they also have fairly healthy turkey on pita sandwiches. I bet they serve more burgers, but at least they maybe try to achieve "A Perfect Balance".

Fast greasy food here with a balance of some healthy options.

Then right across the street from the eatery and at the end of my morning walk is the ER where I spent some time 18 months ago. A lot of this "Balance" stuff is my attempt to try and avoid this place in the future.

A place to avoid if you can, but pretty fantastic people there if you really need them.

Maybe the best way to achieve "A Perfect Blance" is to spend time with your loved ones.

At the ball park with my wonderful wife. We tested out a few beers that night. Everything in moderation.

Ride On and Carpe Diem, my friends.

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Bruiser Takes on a "Rail Trail"

On a recent Sunday morning Bruiser (my old mountain bike) and I went for a ride. I am able to connect to an old railroad line not too far from my home. I rode out east of town on city streets, but came back toward home on this rail trail. I have yet to see how far the trail goes east of town, but know it goes at least for a few miles. Where the rail line enters Wichita, the city planners have been making improvements and even paving parts of the line, but it isn't all finished yet.

This is the first time I have posted a bicycle video to the blog, but not the first time I have taken a video with the possible intention of posting it. Last year I took a number of videos from my bicycle, but never posted them and eventually deleted them. I would hold the phone in my hand and ride and talk about silly little stuff. Yeah, you ought to be scared about listening to someone talking to themselves, and most of those old videos were pretty bad.

Well, this one is probably not much better, but at least the length is manageable. Uploaded from iPhone to YouTube and then linked from the blog. We'll eventually see how this actually works.

Ride On and Carpe Diem, my friends,

Jimbo

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