Meet the Rig

Here's my newest toy, a Gary Fisher Rig fully outfitted to be my commute bike and anxiously awaiting its debut at some of the local mountain bike trails.

The Rig is cool for a couple of reasons: 1. It is a single speed. Why a single speed? Less fuss, more fun. It took me a few trips to stop reaching for the shifters, but I'm finally to the point where I feel fairly natural on it. 2. It is a 29er, meaning it has 29" tires (compared to a normal mountain bike at 26"). This makes it roll like a beast and it easily overcomes objects in its path.

As you can see from the pics, it is fully fitted as a commute bike with front and rear lights, bottle cages, computer mount, seat pack, frame pump and bell. I've ridden it to work a handful of times and have enjoyed it, but can't wait to hit some of the local trails to give it a run at its native habitat.

First long ride of the year

I managed to get out for a 52 mile jaunt before working a 10 hour shift yesterday. It was my longest ride of the year by 16 miles thus far and I felt surprisingly good afterward. The temp was in the low 50's, so I dressed accordingly and I knew there was a good chance that I'd be wet as well. Thankfully, it didn't start raining on me until about mile 38, so I only had to deal with that for a short time and managed to get home without getting too chilled.

I also found out more about the bike competition that will be going on at work that I mentioned previously. To recap, each store in the corporation will have a four person team competing to see who can get to 3000 miles the fastest. The first team to do so wins their bikes (and they're nice bikes). A couple more parameters of the competition are that no individual can log more than 125 miles in a week and no one individual can count as more than 1000 miles for the team. Essentially then, this means that if each of our team members ride 125 miles a week for six weeks we should win our bikes. That should be an easily attainable goal, but we'll have to see. I'm sure there's still something in the fine print that I'm not reading. For the time being, we'll operate under the known terms and conditions and see where this goes.

Quick Update

There's more going on than I could possibly sit and write in the 15 minutes that I have, and more thoughts that I'd like to flesh out, but for now an update will have to do.

Things are busy at work. We've got our shop grading this week where the main bike guy for all of our stores comes through, takes a look at our set up and makes recommendations. It means that I've been putting in a few longer days and doing a lot more busy work than selling this month. The fact that I was gone for training for parts of two consecutive weeks put me behind as well. After Thursday, we'll start the big push for our spring bike advertisement which runs on the 29th. After that, we'll finally hit the chaotic summer grind, but it should at least resemble something of a routine.

Things are busy at home. We're working on housing here, housing in Indiana (our place has now been on the market for two years, and finding time to function as a family. Amy and I caught the Blue Man Group a few weeks ago (which I am hoping to write about) and we've spent time with my folks pre-Easter and Jim and Marilyn post-Easter. I managed to sneak in a ride with Casey which was a huge bonus.

Things are busy on the bike. The kiddos got new bikes for Easter. Maia hasn't mastered the concept of using the pedals for anything other than stopping and Xander's bike will take a little to grow into. He's been riding his old bike up and down the driveway between snow storms and seems to be getting more comfortable all the time. Pretty soon he'll be up and about on the new bike. I picked up a new bike as well: a single-speed mountain bike by Gary Fisher. Again, I'm hoping to write more about it later with a few pics as well. I also was selected to ride on a relay team for the store where we'll be competing with the other stores in the corporation. They are setting us up with new Trek Madone and Pilot bikes as well as a LeMond Versailles with LeMond's all new, full carbon frameset. It should be fun to ride borrowed bikes for awhile and the team that hits 3000 miles first gets to keep the bikes, so there's a fair amount of incentive. Again, more to follow in the weeks to come.

That's my 15 minutes.

Trek U wrap up

I realize that a week and a half later is a bit late to do a wrap up, but I actually have a little time to write about my trip to Wisconsin to the Trek bike headquarters. As I stated previously, it was a great trip for my inner fanboy as I got to see bikes from Lance's and Greg LeMond's Tour wins as well as historic bikes from Trek and Gary Fisher. But it was also a great trip for my inner bike tech.

I got the lowdown on the design and building of their dual suspension mountain bikes, their carbon fiber manufacturing processes, their wheel design, product development, prototype testing... I got to see testing facilities, welding, carbon fiber fabricating, painting (including the Project One custom paint shop) and even had lunch with the president of the company and got to hear stories of him doing a citizens race in France during the Tour that was hilarious. The only sections that were off limits to us were where they were developing the latest and greatest. If we would have been there about two months later, they would have probably been able to show us the entire operation.

I loved every second that I spent there. We did one group ride, one Mod race (Trek's version of the Big Wheel) when the weather was too bad to do the group ride, went bowling (when in Wisconsin...) and hit Great Dane, a great brew/pub in downtown Madison, for a meal. The Trek guys were great, genuinely passionate about cycling and just fun to be around. I am hoping that I get the chance to go back sometime when the weather is nicer and I can ride more.

Thanks to the guys from Trek and to the store for sending me somewhere I never would have dreamed I would have the chance to go.

Golf U Wrap Up

I'm a few days off of the Golf University that the store sent me to this week and, by and large, it was a very good experience for a novice golfer. I learned a lot about club design and even feel like I can work with customers in golf without being totally clueless as to what I'm talking about.

Even though it was a positive experience, the worst part was actually playing golf on Wednesday. We had hit the practice green and driving range for lunch that day and it was very cold. We had the opportunity to hit as long as we wanted, but could head in when we got cold. Not so much with the evening event. We set up to play nine holes at about 5:30. The temp was about 28 degrees with a 20 mph wind. Needless to say, it made for very cold golf.

Each product company that was there had a few holes that they sponsored, so we got to hit product from different brands which was cool. I actually felt really bad for the reps because while we walked and were able to get the blood circulating, the reps had to ride in a cart with their product and caddy for us, so they were really cold by the time it was all over.

Other than that, I got a bit of swag from the companies and developed a new appreciation for how much a good set of clubs can help your game. I don't think I'll be buying anything anytime soon to hit the links, but at least I'll know what to borrow when I want to go out.

Golf University

After last week's whirlwind trip to Trek in Wisconsin, the store has sent me to another "university" for golf here in town this week. The advantage- I can sleep in my own bed and see Amy this week. The disadvantage- it's golf, not bikes.

Before last night, I hadn't even hit a ball in eight years. My last time out was with Jim at Walnut Creek between Gas City, Upland and Marion, IN. The few that have actually seen me swing a club know that it just isn't my thing. It was about when Xander was born that I had to make a decision as to where my recreational dollars were going to go; bikes or golf? Any guesses as to which I chose.

Thankfully, Mike P and Erin are here from the Sioux Falls store with me as is Garth who's running the show, plus there are a few guys that I met last week in Madison that are here as well. It's definitely nice to have a few familiar faces around. Last week I felt like the odd man out a lot.

Last night kicked off with a general info session followed by a group time. They separated out the golf shop managers and the rest of us for the group time which was great for me. They had given us a list of terms to define and, even though I watch a fair amount of golf (sometimes with my eyes open), I only answered about three of the 35 questions. In our session, they filled in the blanks. I learned a ton and already feel less intimidated to sell golf. I honestly have been avoiding the golf area if at all possible because I just don't know enough to be of help to our customers in that area. That is changing.

After our group time, we headed to the dome behind Shopko to hit some clubs. The rep from TaylorMade was there and we had about 40 of us hitting clubs for roughly an hour. I was a bit apprehensive until a couple of the guys hit in front of me. Once I realized that I was probably not the worst golfer at the event, I calmed down and swung some clubs. I had always been hitting the Play-It-Again set that I bought in grad school and donated to the mission when we left Indiana, so I was pleasantly surprised at how much a good club can improve your performance. I hit balls better than I ever did when I was playing a few times a month back in the day. We didn't wrap up until about 10:30 last night, but at least I got to go home instead of having to go back to the hotel.

Today we hear from TaylorMade, Calloway and Adams, tomorrow from Nike and we're supposed to be hitting the driving range and maybe play a little golf today as well. Of course it's only going to be in the 30's and the wind is blowing like it always does in South Dakota, so our outdoor ventures may be a bit less enjoyable than they could be.

On a side note, things didn't start yesterday until about 4:30, so I hit the shop at about 11:00 and built some bikes while I was off the clock. I earned an extra $90 toward my next big purchase: a single-speed mountain bike. I'm only about $100 short of the goal now and am hoping that I can have the bike by Memorial Day.