AlienSplicer

It’s nice having easy access to the desert now. Took an easy spin along desert trails to get my knee feeling better again — I’d twisted or pulled it a couple weeks ago while putting in the water line at the house.

Finally got a chance to commute from the new house to work: Approx 43 miles, round trip.

Rode in the MS150 last Saturday & Sunday. This year, due to road construction on our usual route to Parker Dam, we rode from a South Phoenix High School to Gila Bend and back the next day. The distance was about the same as in years past — 150 miles — but this year the wind was stiffly against us both directions. One bright spot: In Gila Bend, the ride organizers setup a satellite dish so we could watch final game of the Series Saturday night — the Diamond Backs won the World Series!!

Rode in the Union Hills Loop area with David and his son — we decided to ride the loop in the reverse direction. On the way back, near the end of the ride, Dave and I were talking while Jacob ranged on ahead. We were following the youngster on automatic and weren’t paying any real attention to where we were going. Naturally, we ended up lost and found ourselves riding another 5 miles of steep hills to get back to where we had parked the trucks.

Participated in a scheduled MS150 training ride around South Moutain. Approx 43 miles.

Went mountain biking with David & Jeff along the trails at Pima Road & Dynamite Blvd. Ended up endoing when I didn’t quite get the front tire high enough to clear a rather large rock during a fast up-hill swoop. No serious damage, but my ego did get a bit bruised.

Commuted to work, then joined a couple of guys after work to ride in the Moutain Preserve off of 7th Street, across from the Point, before heading home.

Commuted to work, then to our auto insurance agent’s office to make a payment on the way home — there’s something oddly unsettling about making a car insurance payment while commuting via bicycle.

Rode with a small group from work at Pima & Dynamite Blvd. Lots of Loopty-loos around the power-line road. Just under 8 miles.

Consider This: Bicycle Commuting may be twice as effective at reducing pollution than any other Trip Reduction program. Not only does it produce zero emissions, but cyclists also help cleanse the air by forcibly filtering it through their lungs!!

Finally replaced my tired old tires — including the one “patched” with the Powerbar wrapper.

Rode with one of the guys from work, Jeff, in the Union Hills Loop area — from 7th Street & Happy Valley Road to Carefree Hwy and back along trails cut across the desert. But only three miles into the ride, my rear tire went flat, and after replacing it with a spare tube, it flattened again less than a 100 yards farther along.

I inspected the tire a bit more carefully, looking for the sharp object I must have missed earlier, and found a quarter-inch hole dead center in the tread. I still had two more spares, but figured the unprotected piece would probably be immediately punctured again. While munching on a Powerbar and looking at the few supplies and tools I had brought, I remembered reading that it was a good idea to keep a length of duct-tape wrapped around the seat post for occassions such as this — I found myself wishing I had followed that writer’s advice.

I finished off the Powerbar, and after a bit of thought, placed the folded wrapper in the tire between the hole and the tube. It worked beautifully — we continued and finished the ride without any further problems. Afterwards, as I was putting the bike away, I checked out the damaged spot on the tire again and was greeted by the smiling silver/gold circle of wrapper peeking through the tire. The tire probably needs to be replaced, but I’m pretty sure it still has several more miles left in it.

My brother came to Phoenix for Christmas. We were able to get out and ride a couple of days while he was here. On Christmas Eve, I took him on a 25 mile loop from the house south to where the canal intersects 25th Avenue, West to 59th Avenue, then back home along Union Hills. It was a good ride, but we started out later than originally intended, and it got a bit chilly after the sun went down.

The day after Christmas, we went out to the Union Hills Loop area, north of Happy Valley Road at about 7th Street and headed North, across the desert to Carefree Highway. We had originally planned to ride back across the desert, but the day was so nice, we decided to come back the long way and rode Carefree Hwy to Cave Creek Road, South to Deer Valley Road, West to 7th Street, and North again to where we had parked the truck. Approx 30 miles.