Bike Service Project - Part Deux

Here's the belated report on the fun bike service project we helped with a couple of weeks ago.

By the time we got there Saturday at 8:30 AM, most of the first 1500 bikes were already put together! I had never seen so many bikes at one time, it was like a sea of boys and girls bikes. We were able to help do a final check on the assembled bikes and tightened the seats and handlebars as well as checking the tires to make sure they had enough air. Ryan was a test driver and rode the bikes down the hill to where they were set up for the give-away. I was impressed at the hundreds of volunteers who showed up early to make this happen. We made some new friends including Roger and Sandy who were fun to work with.

There were another 35oo bikes that would be delivered later that day, but we couldn't stay and wait. The sight of that many bikes would have been awesome. Almost as awesome as seeing the thousands of happy kids riding them away.

Bikes + Service + Christmas = Happy Kids

Here is a great opportunity to put together some bikes for some needy kids in the Phoenix area this Saturday, December 19 at The First Assembly of God in Phoenix. An anonymous donor bought 5000 new bicycles from the manufacturer, but they all need to be assembled. The Wipalawiki Scout lodge and the Phoenix Dream Center are working together to get this project done, but they need lots of volunteers. If you can come for the whole day or just a couple of hours, we need you! Click here for more details. Our family decided that it would be a fun way to work together in the Christmas spirit - we hope to see you there!

Planet Bike Blaze 1W (10 Month Review)

When I first started commuting via bike earlier this year, I knew I would want a good headlight (and tail light) so that I could be seen by traffic. I didn't want to spend a fortune on a HID or Halogen light or one with a proprietary battery, but I did want something that would work well and be durable. I also wanted to find a set of lights that used good old-fashioned AA (or AAA) cells, there are lots of options out there including Alkaline, re-chargable Nickle-Metal Hydride (NiMH) and a new re-chargable one based on Nickle Zinc chemistry. I did some research, read some reviews and selected Planet Bike Blaze 1W headlight paired with the Super Blinky tail light.

So after 10 months of nearly daily use, what do I think of the lights now?

First the good -
1) These lights are bright! - be careful not to point the headlight directly at on-coming traffic, you might freak some drivers out - but they will see you! The battery life is great, especially on the rear-blinky light. I use re-chargable NiMH batteries and they work OK. I am considering switching to Nickle Zinc batteries because they have a higher voltage that might work better.
2) I liked the look and operation of the lights so much I bought a second set for my son's bike.
3) Mounting the lights was very easy. The Quick Cam for the front light is pretty nifty, it adjusts to a variety of handle bar diameters and holds the light steady most of the time, but...

Now the not-so good.
1) The Quick Cam is designed to stay on your bike while the light unit can be easily unlatched so it doesn't get stolen when you lock your bike up outside. Unfortunately, the plastic on the light housing on both my son's bike and mine cracked and the light would not stay secured to the quick cam. The plastic latch for the light on the Quick-Cam is a bit flimsy and wears out over time. Once in a while when I'd hit a bump the light would fall off and smack the road pretty hard. I had to pick up the pieces on several occasions but was able to get it working again holding it together with some duct tape. A few more hits and the lights would be permanently ruined.

I sent an e-mail to Planet Bike's customer support, Mark LaLonde responded in a matter of minutes and said he would send me 2 new housings for free! Now that's speedy customer service. They came in a couple of days ago, along with 2 replacement Quick Cam mounting brackets that I ordered for $5.00 each. It was like an early Christmas (for me anyway:) Thank you Mark and Planet Bike!

Bottom line: Nothing lasts forever, but Planet Bike would rather help you get your equipment repaired, rather than chucking it into the land-fill. I think that's pretty cool.

Drop and give me 20!

Or just drop 20 - woohoo! This has taken me all year to get to this point, lots of riding, less eating. This will make Ragnar easier because I won't have to drag that extra 20 along for the run.

Gotta Love those Boy Scouts!

I was asked to speak at a Boy Scout round table last night about the Cycling merit badge. It was a lot of fun and we had a great discussion about how to get the boys more active and spend less time on the computer and video games. The cycling merit badge is a fun and rewarding way to get fit. Click here for the requirements. The capstone requirement is a 50 mile ride in 8 hours or less. Ryan earned his cycling merit badge this past year. It was fun to work on it together, and a great accomplishment that built his confidence. (not to mention bragging rights!)

In preparing for the class, I learned some things about the challenges facing our youth (and adults) regarding fitness and being over weight. From the September issue of Scouting magazine in an article entitled "Fat Chance", Mary Jacobs quoted some alarming statistics. "Body Mass Index (BMI) data collected from applications to the 2010 National Scout Jamboree show that 41 percent of the youth were overweight or obese; among the adults a staggering 77.5 percent were overweight, obese, or morbidly obese." She goes on further to state that Scouting is raising the bar by encouraging responsibility. "Bottom line, if you're overweight, you can't attend Philmont Scout Ranch, Florida Sea Base, or Northern Tier High Adventure Base." I'm glad the scouting organization is giving us all some tough love.

I know my doctor had been telling me for years to loose some weight My BMI says I'm over weight (how rude!) This year I finally committed to doing what it takes to get the weight off and keep it off - for me that means I have to do some sort of exercise every day. I really have to plan ahead and look for ways to get it in. Most of the time I can make it work, but it hasn't been easy. When I reach my goal, I will be in the "normal" range for my height.

If you would like me to speak to your organization about cycling, I would be happy to do it!

So this is crazy, but...

I have heard from some friends about a really awesome race called the RAGNAR Relay. It is a running race (done by teams of 6 or 12) that goes from Prescott to Mesa - 202 miles in all! Each person runs three times over the course of about 30 hours anywhere from 3 to 8 miles each leg. I have heard that it is a crazy fun time. It will be in February 26 and 27, 2010. I want to do it - who's in?

We did it!

Our team 'The Crew' had a great time at the Anthem Sprint Triathlon yesterday morning. We got up and arrived at the race site a little before 6:00AM and got our packet and t-shirts. We got Ryan's bike set up in the transition area then we got our numbers drawn on our arms by a very enthusiastic race volunteer. He thought it was AWESOME! that we were doing the race as a relay team. We waited a little while before the race started, we were in wave 2 that started at about 7:05. I ran the 3.1 mile course winding through the paths in Anthem by the community center, down to Gavilan Parkway and back to Anthem Rd and back to the community center. I was pretty wiped out coming into the transition area to hand off the timing chip to Ryan. He headed out for the 12.5 mile bike ride. Pam, Sarah and I cheered him on as he came by for his three laps around the course. Ryan did great and was right on pace for each of his laps. He came back to the transition area and handed the timing chip off to Sarah who then ran to the pool area where she 'mowed down' the competition and passed several people in the pool. She had a great time and our overall score was better than our goal by a few minutes. Great job!

Here are our times (click here for the official results)
h:mm:ss
Overall 1:38:49 (184 of 228 finishers)
Team 1:38:49 (11 of 13 teams)
Dana - Run 0:26:54 (121 of 232 finishers)
Ryan - Bike 1:01:48 (210 of 230 finishers) - Ryan was the youngest competitor!
Sarah - Swim 0:10:07 (103 of 228 finishers)