Off to Oceanside this afternoon for Ralph’s half IM*! I’ll be cheering and Mike will be speedy! Wish good thoughts for him!
* yes, I know it has a new name. no, I don’t really care.
| Miles of Life ~ My life as a donut | Kylie Donia |
Off to Oceanside this afternoon for Ralph’s half IM*! I’ll be cheering and Mike will be speedy! Wish good thoughts for him!
* yes, I know it has a new name. no, I don’t really care.
Posted in General, Life Outside of Tris, mike | 1 Comment »
I’m frustrated. Enough that I asked Mike last night if there was a Lemon Law for bikes. Ever since ordering the PX bikes it has seemed like a fairly big hassle. Getting all the parts took a month (to the day) longer than we were told when we gave a credit card number, and that set me off on a bad foot.
Some issues to date:
So this is my post of honesty (I made it on their forum as well). I waited since we are on their Tyros team, but right now Mike and I are not sure if we will stay on the Tyros team. Although we love the people we’ve met through the forum, we really are not sure right now if we’d recommend the company. Talking last night, it seems like all we’d say is that they are great bikes and ride really well, and that the company is very helpful on figuring out the size you need and getting your order made. But that you need to be ready for a much longer delay in getting the bike than you are told, and be ready to do a lot of leg work on your own to get all the pieces together (despite ordering a full bike kit).
The other team members and folks are fun people… that is part of why it has taken me a long time to even post about this. But at the same time, it’s been about a month since our last contact with PX where we expressed that we still weren’t very happy (esp with the delays in time and the scratch). I feel we’ve given them time to address our concerns, but nothing has happened.
I think my main complaint would be the customer service: not getting called back after PX said they’d check on something and let me know. I actually gave up on calling them as I felt I was bugging them (when I just wanted to know what was up with the components we were missing) and Mike ended up taking over calling since he has more patience than I do for what I consider professional incompetence. And that is sad since the great things we had heard was one of the 2 main reasons we picked PX bikes. At this point I feel they no longer care about our concerns, and Mike has quit telling me to be patient and coming up with excuses for them.
So yes, I love the bike and how it rides (when it makes it through a ride — in 4 rides I’ve had 2 interrupted by flats caused by the wheels and one by a brake issue). But I’m less than impressed with our contact with the company, and I’m disappointed in the number of hurdles and the lack of response from PX on them.
Posted in biking, Planet X | 5 Comments »
The bad:
The good:
Posted in biking, Life Outside of Tris, Planet X, swiming | No Comments »
Sometimes I have a day where I feel great. All day I plan what workout I’m going to do, and where. And I’m just itching to do it.
Yesterday was one of those days, and so the evening run became the week’s long run (it’s usually Weds morning but had been moved to Thurs morning due to shoes being at the other house… and then the Weds night since it was TIME). 12 miles. Not at quite my “it’s base so let’s go easy” pace but just pushing a little bit to see what I could do. Well I impressed me
So here it is: 12 miles in 1:53:53. 9:30 pace. 715 ft of climbing and of descent. Avg HR 162
Not super speedy, you might say. Until you look at last week, when I was really keeping it at what felt nice and easy for the first part and pushed a bit on the second half: 11 miles in 1:52:45. 10:11 pace. 570 ft of climbing and descent. Avg HR 162
Well damn! Same HR, and this week one more minute = one more mile! And the route this week was tricker too — and included running a bit of dark trail. And an owl, 2 bunnies, a coyote, and lots of birdies
I did something right… maybe it was the good eating and the sleep (although not good sleep, better than last week).
I’ll take it.
Posted in running, Training Thoughts | 3 Comments »
Yay! The new bike fits! Finally having the bottom bracket bolt and an hour when the fitter guy was in the bike shop, the frame is a good size for me! Basically all he did was look at me on a trainer and say “if I was going to fit you to that bike I would be able to get a good fit”. So now I can actually take it out on a ride!! I can’t wait… well, I guess I’ll wait for the brakes to be connected, the steerer cut, and the aerobars trimmed down. Maybe.
Click here for a bigger version.
Posted in pics, Planet X | 9 Comments »
Yes, both in one ride. Started out with 80 in mind as Mike had to get to work and the time change stole an hour. We started out together as usual, each armed with nuun and a bar and a gel. It was nice out, and I even opted for the tank jersey. Mike took out his PX for the first time to start getting it dialed in since he is racing in a few weeks!
We split for a while, and then met up again for the path along the beach. I mentioned thinking about extending the ride a bit, and he said it might be good. After it (around mile 40) we planned to split for the day so that he could get home and to work soon. We did, and around mile 50 I decided to “not think, just do” as BBB tells me. So at mile 60 I turned around and went back down the path 10 miles to make it about 100 miles total.
But those 10 miles! Headwind, and pretty strong. I was feeling it, and the bar long gone sucked down the gu at 71 as I turned back. The first few miles felt easy and fast, and then the wind changed! So it was more headwind… and too much for me. I called Mike to find out where the nearest convenience store was as I was fading fast. I couldn’t see any from the path, but he knows the area better. Turns out I couldn’t see any since there aren’t any :-/ He had also bonked near the end of his ride and realized I had nothing left with me and had worried, so he wasn’t surprised to get the call, and offered to meet me at the one street the path crosses with whatever I wanted. I was still about 10 miles from it, but it was still 10 miles sooner than I’d get anything if I waited for home, so I took him up on it. I arrived to a smiling face complete with a bagel, coke, nuun, cold water, and gel!
Unfortunately, those 15ish miles of bonking were too much for my gut, and it was not so happy to have food added to the sloshing water, and I called it a day at 92 miles. But I did hydrate better than the last time when I did 101 miles with 2.5ish bottles… this time it was 7 bottles! Oh yeah, it ended up getting WARM! The high at our place was 96 for the day, so I’m sure that played a part in the long hard ride being so tough for me.
Oh and Mike says the bike felt good. Only issue was that the seatpost slipped a bit. But it felt sturdy and handled better than he expected for a TT bike, and he was generally pleased.
Something else Mike didn’t tell me until we were in the car on the way home… the headwind only got stronger the next 7 miles I was facing, and after that turn it wasn’t too bad to home. I’m glad he waited to tell me, since I didn’t let the wind stop my day, but I stopped because, as he said, why keep going at that point? We know the mental part isn’t my weakness…
Posted in biking, nutrition, Planet X, Training Thoughts | No Comments »
At some point I will live in one place for a long time again…
First out of college I lived in the same place for a year. Then Irvine was the longest at about a year and a half. With Holly has been about 15 months, but that was in 2 different locations. And now for another new one. Yet again increasing my travel time to and from work. But I drive the longer version half the time now anyways… and it will mean not spliting where I am all the time, which does get old. Yes, Mike and I will be moving in together. We’ve been talking about it, and have found the perfect place and have been approved! He moves in THIS WEEKEND (we think) and I will slowly be joining him, finally really living there Aprilish. Crazy… and scary!!!! My first time living with a boy that I’m dating… It feels sorta like before an Ironman — I’m nervous and worried and wonder if I’m ready or not. And part of me is thrilled and excited and wants it to be here now, knowing that I’ve prepared as I need to and really shouldn’t be so scared. Yet the scared hangs around
On a training note, I’ll be farther from the mtn biking areas I know and love, so will have to find some new ones. And I’ll get to find some new running and biking areas, although much of the long rides will be unchanged as our usual loops went sorta near both houses, and all the “near work” routes will still be the same.
And I biked this morning… but not long since I had to get in and work. Thursday is often my easy training day each week since it’s my crazy-busy life day.
Posted in biking, Life Outside of Tris, Training Thoughts | 4 Comments »
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