Fat Tire FAIL!

OK, So I got invited by the roadies to go for a 29 mile ride today, and at my buddy George's suggestion I left the Cobia behind and tried out the Trek 7.5FX we got for my wife. I will admit that it wasn't a bad ride and the group was really a good one ( especially considering I am the snail of the group for the day). The weather was excellent by Oklahoma standards sunny, upper 60's, and only about a 10 MPH wind (headwind outbound). George was realizing tht I like to corner faster than the roadies, which I blame on my fat tire heritage (brakes in the corner - sacrilege!), but he pointed out that the poor skinny little tires on these bikes are allergic to almost everything and love to flat (have you flatted yet?). I have to admit that I am used to the 29er tires which tend to roll over almost anything in their path with little issue. All in all it was a great day hanging with the roadies.

Just before the ride my wife and I had put in a few miles with our son in tow and realized that the trailer makes a great boat anchor when traveling into the wind. I think I worked harder on this short ride than on the 29 miles with the roadies. However, the trailer makes like a sail when going with the wind! :)

Reality can be cold

Well, I came to the conclusion the despite the cool weather here in Tulsa at this point in the year I need to get out and ride. The Tulsa Tough is only about three months out now and I have given myself too many excuses. Since it was neither snowing or throwing golf ball sized hail at me I figured that it was a good day to bike to work. Cloudy and 40 degrees on the way in and dark and 40 on the way home. Strange how eight hours passed and nothing changed other than the wind increased to 13 mph. Note to self, headlights were invented for a reason, as noted by the sudden appearance of objects in the path (sidewalk). Does night vision help? Not when the HID headlights of a BMW smack you in the eyes.

Weather is relative

Managed to get out yesterday for a quick ride with the wife (Shayna) and kiddo (Liam). My wife was actually the person who thought it would be a good idea to get out and ride after being stuck in the house with our son for the last few days. As a new rider (despite being a roadie person) she has much ambition if little experience. The temperature was right at the freezing mark on the thermometer as we left for our ride and didn't get much above that point during the ride.

It took an amazingly short amount of time to realize that gloves would have been a good idea for myself, and thicker gloves for her (she has full fingered gloves, but they aren't true winter riding gloves). Her hands started to stiffen quickly, arthritis doesn't love cold weather. But she went for as long as she figured she could and still make it back to our starting point and the warmth of the van heater.

Liam, on the other hand, sat in the comfort of the Croozer 737 trailer bundled up and dreaming of tots from Sonic after the ride (his reward - bribes help with the 3 1/2 year old mind). He looks forward to the rides and says "tots"all the way to the trail head. Liam doesn't realize that I use him as a leg strengthening device. Hauling an extra 70 lbs around adds to the workout.

These are still test rides for us both as the bikes are new to us. This ride made me realize that riser bars that are wider would be a good idea and improve comfort (and handling). They are also helping us to analyze the best storage and hauling for gear and bikes in the back of the minivan (yes, I know, soccer mom car, but it has all the comforts and decent mileage and space).

All in all it was a good day, remember the worst day riding is still better than the best day working (unless you have a job riding for a living - I wish). So get out there and ride!

How it begins!

I moved to Tulsa last year just before the Tulsa Tough road rides. I blame my wife, as her friends are road riders. I came from Oregon where there are plenty of great fat tire trails to ride, sans cars. Well, our friends threw down the gauntlet so to speak and challenged me to ride in the 2010 Tulsa Tough ride.

Being a mountain bike person the thought of a road bike is appalling. After much studying I came to the conclusion that I would compromise the two worlds and go with a 29er, which much to its disdain will spend to many miles on pavement.

This blog will log the misadventures of my trusty 29er (a 2010 Gary Fisher Cobia) and I. Stay tuned for how a fat tire guy survives (and hopefully occasionally embarrasses a roadie) the tarmac world of distance rides.