I"M IN!!!!! Yesterday was the day I found out I won "the Lottery" and I was selected for Ride the Rockies www.ridetherockies.com . Now the real work begins!! Trying to figure the dates to get out to Colorado a few days early and "acclimatize" a bit and get ready. It will all work out in time. Naturally, today it's raining and can't get on the bike to get the "idgits" out of my system.More to come.

E2  Prior to First Ride from Home!

Ok....the first shake down ride is over and time to post some first impressions. The new bike has a name and he will be called Emanuel 2 or "E2" for short. E2 is first of all QUIET! Geez I went on the first part of the ride (an out and back short 2o mileish ride) with out music on all I can say is that not a thing rattled. NOTHING. Quiet quiet quiet.  The "setup" seems to be ok but it is a bit early to tell. I will also try to post a picture of the new "steed". The new Sidi bike shoes are fantastic and the Look pedals are just what I was used to on the old bike but only much much more "refined." The bottle cages that I have installed need to be moved just a bit so that both bottles when in use fully fit in their cages. 

E2 has great acceleration. That is to say, when you apply a good deal of effort to pedaling the resulting power and acceleration is noticed much much more quickly and noticeably. 

I guess that the biggest impression that I got was that I am out of biking shape, not shape like cardio shape but biking shape. It's been a while since I had ridden and geez it really felt like it. My effort to do this ride of roughly 2o miles at a somewhat sluggish pace of about 15.7 mph was a lot more than I thought it would be. I DO, however, know the solution to that piece of the puzzle and that is: RIDE RIDE RIDE RIDE and when you think your done ride some more. 

I do also think that about 3 to 4 months into this process I will be able to MUCH better evaluate the whole overall feel and change in bikes.

More soon....

Well, well well....deep subject for such shallow minds!!!  it has been some time and I REALLY needed to update. First subject new bike!! Which brings me to both good news and bad. Let's get the bad out of the way first: My "personal" local bike store-The Spin Cycle- has ceased business and is no longer a source for my "all things cycling." This was a very large personal blow to me as the owner Kevin Coggins was not only the owner but a really great friend. Kevin had a way to do business and make friends like few people I have ever met. When you were in the store and talking to Kevin, he made you feel as if the most important person in the  world was you and the business that you came to conduct at his store was his SOLE focus for that moment in time. Very very sad for me, and judging by the posts on the store web site I am not alone in my feelings. I will miss the store and the great people and business that went along with it. Alas, another victim of  this terrible economic mess that we find ourselves in. Kevin WILL land on his feet and I eagerly await his next business venture and anticipate nothing but good in the future for him. 

This lead to a "quest" to find a new place to not only do bike business but to continue a "relationship". I feel pretty darn confident that that relationship has come to land at All Star Bikes. The shop let me test three bikes last weekend and I bought one! Let me explain. I had test rode the Roubaix at Spin Cycle and liked it a bunch but left it there and was going to test some other models with various equipment but that is no longer possible, reference the last paragraph of this blog. So.... I set up , on a previous Thursday afternoon visit, a rendezvous for a early Saturday test featuring a Giant OCR-1 a Scott Bicycle and the Roubaix , this time with a triple chain ring. I test rode in that order as well. Needles to say I am an "expectant" parent of white Roubaix to be delivered this week from a warehouse located some where in the Chicago metro area. I have just about decided the rest of the components as well such as Specialized white bottle cages, Look Carbon pedals, a Giro Atmos helmet and a pair of Sidi Genius 5 shoes to round out the whole "package".  This is a CONSIDERABLE step up in the world for my biking. But....this is no ordinary biking season. 

Sessions with Rosemary continue at the YMCA and I am consistently in the gym twice a week lifting weights and running on the treadmill until I get back outdoors on the bike. 

I signed up for Ride the Rockies this past weekend and the lottery results will be sent by e-mail on the 27th of this month. I CAN NOT WAIT! Lord, help me win one!! I also, this past weekend, finished my online application and am now fully signed up for Cycle Oregon. They announced both routes this past week and they both look EPIC!! Great routes great climbs and some real challenges along with some of the most beautiful scenery that the United States can give, and of course it's in the Western United States!! That's enough for now, there is a good chance that I may take delivery of the new bike this weekend and I'll definitely post if that happens and give some first impressions.

Yes....things are coming together...one step one step one step ....at a time. ....this is GOING to be GREAT!!