Road Bike

21. March 2010 · 9 comments · Categories: cycling, daily life, family, fatherhood, frank, good things, gratitude, home, mr. grey, sidetracks, smiles

After two seasons of riding my Rockhopper with slicks, I’m beginning to seriously investigate road bikes.  I spent some time checking out a few lines yesterday afternoon.  I looked a few aluminium and one steel framed bike (Trek, Specialized, and a Jamis).  I was surprised to find that I really liked the steel framed Jamis.  It is as light as many carbon bikes and has nice Shimano 105 components, but its got a pretty hefty price tag for me (even after they knocked $250 off the price cause it’s last year’s model).  As much as I love my Specialized mountain bike, I’m leaning away from a Specialized road bike, again due to price.  The Treks seem to be a good buy for what you get.  An aluminium Trek with the same 105 components as the Jamis is about $300 less expensive by the MSRP.

The bike search will be put on hold today as I haul furniture up to my brother’s and fetch some from my mom’s house.  Mr. Grey needs a big bed and he’s going to get the same bedroom set that I had when I was a boy.

Mom Turned 60

17. August 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: daily life, entertainment, family, fatherhood, food, frank, good things, mr. grey, sidetracks, smiles

Mom turned 60 this weekend. We threw her a surprise party. Mrs. TKD along with my sister in law were the master planners of the party, gathering all the guests up for me. We got both my uncles to come as well as my cousins, a bunch of friends and my aunt.

Mom was completely surprised. She was speechless when she saw her brother Arthur who came all the way from Berlin, Germany to be here to see her. It totally rocked.

Here is a picture of him reading to Mr. Grey the morning after our surprise party. Mr. Grey got was a little timid at first, but as you can see he warmed up to his Gruncle.

It was really great to see everyone, especially my aunt and two uncles. We have a family that has gradually shrunk over the past 25 years, and it is always great to get everyone together. There were a few people who did not make it and they were sorely missed. Hopefully next time we’ll be able to get everyone together. That would be grand.

Another Century Down

14. August 2009 · 2 comments · Categories: daily life, exercise, frank, good things, health, mr. grey, smiles

I took the day off today for a number of reasons. I’ve got a lot on the agenda today including taking care of a number of things around the house. With a full schedule for the day, I wasn’t sure I’d get a ride in. I’ve not been on the bike since last Saturday when Frank and I went out on a good 25 mile ride on the NCR.

I spent the morning with Mr. Grey while Mrs. TKD got some much needed extra sleep. Mr. Grey and I had a great time hanging out. He had his milk and I had my coffee. We watched Sesame Street. I have a secret love of Sesame Street. I always have. It is a fantastic show and I’m glad I’ve got a little dude to give me an excuse to watch it.

When Mrs. TKD got up, I had a bowl of cereal and hit the B&A trail on my bike. I get on in Severna Park and that puts me a little less than a third of the way up the trail from Annapolis. I usually debate about which way to go, north or south. I made the game time decision to head north as I got on the trail.

I’d been planning a short ride, maybe 10-12 miles…but somehow when I started heading north, I knew I’d end up in Glen Burnie, and I did, which meant I was looking at a good 20 mile ride. I guess that’s what days off are for!

When I got my bike computer I was primarily interested in understanding how long I was out on the ride and how far I was going on a ride. One thing I hadn’t considered was understanding my average speed. I’ve known that I was getting stronger with every ride, but it really hit me today when I noticed that I averaged 14.9 mph. On my first ride with the computer, I’d averaged 13.6 and it was the exact same route I took today.

When I got back to the house, I also noticed that I’d cracked 100 miles on the bike since getting the computer. I was pretty happy about that.

I parked the bike in the shade and enjoyed a cool drink of water. Now it’s off to the rest of the day.

Great Ride, Great Day, Good Sleep

09. August 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: coffee, cycling, daily life, exercise, family, frank, good things, maryland, mr. grey, nostalgia, sidetracks

Friday I had a great ride, but my feelings about it went down the tubes when I got on-line afterward. Not the case with my ride yesterday.

I’d made plans with Frank to go up to his house and get out on the bikes on the NCR trail. This would require getting me and my bike from our house to Franks place and that called for a bike rack. Now, I’ve got a few. I’ve got an Thule roof system that goes back to when I had my Jeeps. Its a great system, but I’ve lost the keys and the mounting hardware is far from universal, so I’d need to plunk down about a buck fifty for new mounting feet for my Outback. I just haven’t been able to bring my self to do that yet. I could order new keys from Thule, but I’ve not done that either.

Last year, I bought what I thought would be a “universal” trunk mount rack. It fit both cars tat the time (Forester and a Jetta). I bought a new car in January and have been doing all my rides locally. So, I was really surprised to find that my “universal” trunk rack doesn’t fit my new car.

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still looking for silence

15. April 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: daily life, frank, frowns, frustration, media, noise, silence

Frank wrote about the need for silence.  Lately, I’ve been having a hard time finding enough quiet time again.  It is so freakin hard to find time with no noise.

I was trying to turn off the radio in the car, and avoid television for a while back in December.  But I’ve strayed from those tactics.  Maybe today will be a day without the radio.  

I’ve been on confrence calls since 6:00 AM today.  I’ve got to work until 4 at least.  Not bad except for getting up for the 6:00 AM call.  There will be so much nosie during the day that it is going to be hard.

Noise canceling headphones are the order of the day.  Oh, and I might pickup this here book at Borders today.

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