Riding barefoot
My new bike came with clipless pedals. In order to be able to use them I need cycling shoes which will accept a cleat. The cleat then matches onto the pedal and is supposed to help you pedal more efficiently. I checked out a couple of local stores and didn't like the prices too much so decided to look on eBay. After some searching I found a pair of shoes which looked like they would work, six days from the end of the auction and bid on them. As you can see below, I was outbid twice. However at 10:10pm eastern time it looked like I was going to win the shoes. I went to bed happy and came down the next morning to pay. Only it turns out I didn't win ! Another guy - chrispavel - must have been sitting there monitoring the auction. With just 55 seconds to go he submitted a bid $1 more than mine and won !
Man, what a pro ! Hope the shoes aren't too tight Chris ...
Here's the bidding history:
chrispavel US $36.10 Mar-20-05 20:06:41 PST
chrispavel US $36.10 Mar-20-05 20:05:46 PST
53marsden US $35.10 Mar-16-05 16:04:00 PST
tjokie36 US $35.00 Mar-16-05 08:22:05 PST
53marsden US $32.75 Mar-16-05 08:35:26 PST
53marsden US $25.20 Mar-15-05 17:09:40 PST
elizwind215 US $25.00 Mar-15-05 11:00:10 PST
53marsden US $19.00 Mar-14-05 07:03:43 PST
elizwind215 US $15.00 Mar-15-05 10:59:55 PST
First ride
Tomorrow should be (weather permitting) the first day I ride my bicycle into work. I'm excited about, think I have a route planned out and am hoping my backside is up to the test of the new saddle - although it won't be surprising to find out that the saddle wins.
It should start off around 30F for the start of the ride and hit mid-50s for the ride home.
Today we had snow - this after it hit mid 70s on Sunday. NC has weird weather.
Edit:
Friday morning now. I rode in although it was a cold start. It took 53 minutes (including an unscheduled stop to tighten my handlebars) and was 13.75 miles. The bike handled really well and the saddle didn't cause as much discomfort as I thought it might. I felt great when I got here. The only mistake was not buying more breakfast this morning at the cafeteria, so I had to have a Twix :)
Bonus bicycle bought
I bought the bike ! It's a whole lot quicker than the last bike I remember riding as a kid. The first real journey on it will be to work, hopefully on Tuesday weather permitting. Hope my backside is up to the saddle. I know why they sell gel biking shorts already ...
There went my baby
A year ago last March I sold the best car I've ever owned and the only car I can truly say I've ever loved. She was a 1992 Saab 900S convertible with 92,000 miles on the clock. By loosening two levers and pressing one button the roof disappeared. So very nice.
Despite having to replace her clutch it was a fun fun year of driving while she was mine. I agreed to sell her after a year and I think she went to a happy home. One day I hope to own another.
Bonus bicycle
My annual bonus came through this week - yay ! Uncle Sam has had a pretty good go at it, and I have some household expenses to take care of, as well as buying an air ticket for my mum to visit, paying for summer camps for the boys etc. After all this I still have some left though ! Some that I can use just for fun, my mad money.
Of course I've been thinking of what toys I can buy. The idea of a big ass TV with surround sound in the bonus room still has a strong appeal. But the prices of the big TVs are still dropping and the technology is still changing. Beyond that there are things I'd like, but not need, and it won't change my life much. The one thing I realised I actually would like is a road bike, something I can commute from home to work on. It would help me get the extra exercise I want, wouldn't take a lot longer than driving and would actually be good for me. So I started looking at bikes this week. New ones are more money than I want to spend. Then I saw a local ad for a guy selling his 2002 bike which looks like a good start. He wants $500 for it - maybe he'll go lower. Supposed to be in good condition - I'll see it Saturday and decide.
Here's a
link to the reviews for the bike.
What else could I buy ?
Crush it real good - big things made small
This is sooooo cool ! The
link shows a company how make shredders. Not just paper shredders though. These guys make shredders that can crush fridges and washing machines. Really ! You
need
to see this ...
Around the world
Steve Fossett became the first man yesterday to fly solo around the world without needing to refuel. Whether the achievement will help anybody I'm not sure, but it's impressive none the less, 67 hours in a tiny cockpit flying an experimental plane. If nothing else it brightened my day a little.
The pictues are here.
Stick figure fighting
This is a
link to a fun little site showing stick figure kung fu. The sound effects are awesome and the final boss battle is outstanding. Isn't it wonderful to know there are people out there with this much time on their hands ?
