On Sunday's ride I felt a knock and heard a noise on a couple of drops , as if I had bottomed out on the front fork. I tested it and it seemed all okay. Later i noticed that there was more "grease" on the left shock. Then it dawned on me plodding home, that the grease is shock oil and my shock seal is going. Damn.
It depresses me. I hate to spend money on replacing stuff. Why can't it last forever?
I would guess I have gone 60,000-100,000 km on this bike. I bought this bike 10 years ago new, and the rock shock is now dubious! Woe is me. Many people would have replaced this bike already, but that is not me. I have replaced the drive systems too many times, the rear rim wore out , and shift levers and a brake all got replaced , but the frame will last forever.
Should I try to find a seal and fix or buy a new one? There is play, so I probably need to replace more than seals, probably need bushes too. I will put off a decision and action, so any day now I will have to figure out another off road / commuting bike.
15 February 2010
Nothing special about the ride but still happy I did it.
All the regulars had other bike plans. Bent wanted to road bike on Saturday, Thomas wanted to ride long, hard, and fast with Saidi et al. Everyone else kept mum except John Corse.
So I rode the 25 km or so to his house in Usa River. Mungu wangu is his house big and airy. The best part is there is no gate, but a long narrow winding driveway through a forest. He made me some french press coffee despite me arriving about 30 minutes late. John was suprised I rode to his house, he was expecting me to drive.
John led me on some pretty cool tracks and roads above Usa River, all new to me. Eventually we popped out on the Momella road at the top of the hill and rode past Pete Oneal's place. The tracks became dustier and rockier until we came out at Kikatiti. We crossed the great north road heading for the railway line, and then followed high tension lines until we ran into Dolly Estate.
At Usa River we parted ways. I took old Moshi road stopping at Bernice's farm to check out the small house for the caretaker. That was a 15km detour. Bernice was around looking at more land and i was promised a smoothie at Erik Zweig's so i rode over there and felt sleepy and tired. He eventually got tired of trying to talk to someone who's eyes kept rolling back into his head and nodding off. He went to get some water in his pickup and i tried to snooze on his porch. 15 minutes later I was feeling okay and rode the 90 minutes home without any water in the 35C heat. Wasn't so bad.
the distance was around 115km in 5 .5 riding time.
The point is it was kind of a ho hum ride but it made my weekend complete. The wedding we attended was a total waste.
So I rode the 25 km or so to his house in Usa River. Mungu wangu is his house big and airy. The best part is there is no gate, but a long narrow winding driveway through a forest. He made me some french press coffee despite me arriving about 30 minutes late. John was suprised I rode to his house, he was expecting me to drive.
John led me on some pretty cool tracks and roads above Usa River, all new to me. Eventually we popped out on the Momella road at the top of the hill and rode past Pete Oneal's place. The tracks became dustier and rockier until we came out at Kikatiti. We crossed the great north road heading for the railway line, and then followed high tension lines until we ran into Dolly Estate.
At Usa River we parted ways. I took old Moshi road stopping at Bernice's farm to check out the small house for the caretaker. That was a 15km detour. Bernice was around looking at more land and i was promised a smoothie at Erik Zweig's so i rode over there and felt sleepy and tired. He eventually got tired of trying to talk to someone who's eyes kept rolling back into his head and nodding off. He went to get some water in his pickup and i tried to snooze on his porch. 15 minutes later I was feeling okay and rode the 90 minutes home without any water in the 35C heat. Wasn't so bad.
the distance was around 115km in 5 .5 riding time.
The point is it was kind of a ho hum ride but it made my weekend complete. The wedding we attended was a total waste.
01 February 2010
Found a new trail.
A few years ago I rode to Monduli Juu with Paulo Rukoine and through the highlands to Lepurko and back on the road. It was a good ride. Click the link above to read about it.
Saturday I invited arushabikers mailing list to try that ride.
It turned out to be one of the great rides of my life, probably because at the end of the plateau we went hard left instead of straight and rode through a dense pristine forest for an hour , seeing only 5 women on their way up.
It use to be hard to find someone to go on 6-13 hour rides. But now Bent is training for 24 hours ride in Denmark and he likes long rides and Thomas has two mtn bike rides coming up. Three others started out with us and turned around up on the plateau.
That is where the ride started for me, the 3 hours to get there was transport mostly, as riding up to the plateau and onwards was where i wanted to be.
It was saturday and we met bunches of smiling Masai on the way to market day. It seemed like everyone was happy and smiling. Not sure if it was because the rains have been good, or it was market day, or they are always like that. We three riders were in a similar mood.
On the other side of the Monduli Juu depression is the old Nafco wheat farms, but hardly any cultivation goes on there and hardly any houses. We had a hard time keeping a smile off of our faces as we had a strong tailwind and now we were slightly downhill, so the 15 or so km were a breeeze.
As we got to the end of the highlands , and lepurko Mtn was right there across a valley, the main track went hard left to the south and small foot paths went straight and another north. We tried the south one, the north one, and took the south one.
It was one of the awesome rides of my life. It was thick forest and downhill for an hour. It was thick enough to get scratched and we had to dismount a fair bit. We stopped for lunch in the forest and dallied for 30 minutes sharing whatever food we had along.
Out of the forest we came to treeless savannas with forested valleys. It was like riding through the movie set of out of Africa. We had some flat issues here, a fair amount of flats but were well prepared.
by 2pm we were at the tarmac and went into transport mode, drafting back to arusha with two water / coke stops. Eventually it showed that Thomas was too strong and we let him motor off home and Bent and I slowed to a reasonable speed.
Total hours 0615-1630 about 10 hours
riding time 7:30
distance 122km
I started with 3.5 ltrs liquid, a bout 1 ltr of cokes and about 1.5 litre water along the way. Was probably dehydrated most of the day.
The trick of this ride, is to go left. We maybe should of headed west again at the bottom of the escarpment and ridden across the big valley.
Saturday I invited arushabikers mailing list to try that ride.
It turned out to be one of the great rides of my life, probably because at the end of the plateau we went hard left instead of straight and rode through a dense pristine forest for an hour , seeing only 5 women on their way up.
It use to be hard to find someone to go on 6-13 hour rides. But now Bent is training for 24 hours ride in Denmark and he likes long rides and Thomas has two mtn bike rides coming up. Three others started out with us and turned around up on the plateau.
That is where the ride started for me, the 3 hours to get there was transport mostly, as riding up to the plateau and onwards was where i wanted to be.
It was saturday and we met bunches of smiling Masai on the way to market day. It seemed like everyone was happy and smiling. Not sure if it was because the rains have been good, or it was market day, or they are always like that. We three riders were in a similar mood.
On the other side of the Monduli Juu depression is the old Nafco wheat farms, but hardly any cultivation goes on there and hardly any houses. We had a hard time keeping a smile off of our faces as we had a strong tailwind and now we were slightly downhill, so the 15 or so km were a breeeze.
As we got to the end of the highlands , and lepurko Mtn was right there across a valley, the main track went hard left to the south and small foot paths went straight and another north. We tried the south one, the north one, and took the south one.
It was one of the awesome rides of my life. It was thick forest and downhill for an hour. It was thick enough to get scratched and we had to dismount a fair bit. We stopped for lunch in the forest and dallied for 30 minutes sharing whatever food we had along.
Out of the forest we came to treeless savannas with forested valleys. It was like riding through the movie set of out of Africa. We had some flat issues here, a fair amount of flats but were well prepared.
by 2pm we were at the tarmac and went into transport mode, drafting back to arusha with two water / coke stops. Eventually it showed that Thomas was too strong and we let him motor off home and Bent and I slowed to a reasonable speed.
Total hours 0615-1630 about 10 hours
riding time 7:30
distance 122km
I started with 3.5 ltrs liquid, a bout 1 ltr of cokes and about 1.5 litre water along the way. Was probably dehydrated most of the day.
The trick of this ride, is to go left. We maybe should of headed west again at the bottom of the escarpment and ridden across the big valley.
Readers
Jan mentioned the other day that his girl friend had read my blog, didn't know he knew me. I was kind of taken aback that someone besides my immediate family and a few buddies read the blog. I mean I check out the counters and all and either you know me or you did a search on "Vincent Shirima" . (LOL now i will get another 1 hit a week because of his name here.)
Any way please drop a comment whoever you are.
Any way please drop a comment whoever you are.
13 January 2010
Another Wipeout
Relax, the only damage was my pride.
Saturday Bent and I did a mtn ride up to the meru forest and then contoured the mountain to above Ngulelo and headed down. The down was often slippery but we managed to stay upright until the soil had more sand and hence less slippery. On a flat section i decided it was good time to practice riding no hands and I did so for 50 meters. I came to what looked like a slippery place and just as i was dropping down to the handle bars the bike slipped from under me.
Unfortunately there were a fair number of people around saying "sorry, sorry, sorry" instead of my bike buddies who would be laughing.
Embarrassed I rushed to get my red face away but a kid yelled " Wash that mud off" , as i looked pretty stupid getting close to town with one side of one leg covered in smooth mud. I washed in a puddle and Bent came back looking for me. I didn't have a scratch but I still had some mud on my shorts.
So why ride with no hands? Any rider should have the skill as it allows you to stretch, use both hands to peel a banana or change clothes. Just don't do in on the slopes of meru when it is slick.
Saturday Bent and I did a mtn ride up to the meru forest and then contoured the mountain to above Ngulelo and headed down. The down was often slippery but we managed to stay upright until the soil had more sand and hence less slippery. On a flat section i decided it was good time to practice riding no hands and I did so for 50 meters. I came to what looked like a slippery place and just as i was dropping down to the handle bars the bike slipped from under me.
Unfortunately there were a fair number of people around saying "sorry, sorry, sorry" instead of my bike buddies who would be laughing.
Embarrassed I rushed to get my red face away but a kid yelled " Wash that mud off" , as i looked pretty stupid getting close to town with one side of one leg covered in smooth mud. I washed in a puddle and Bent came back looking for me. I didn't have a scratch but I still had some mud on my shorts.
So why ride with no hands? Any rider should have the skill as it allows you to stretch, use both hands to peel a banana or change clothes. Just don't do in on the slopes of meru when it is slick.
06 January 2010
Amani Mountains
Several years ago we stopped at Amani Mountains on our way back from a vacation in Bagamoyo on the Tanzanian coast.It is several hours out of the way but we are enchanted with the area and have gone back another3 times and even bought 10 acres on a ridge with a big mud and wattle house.
Amani doesn't know much about red tape, yet. We often arrive late, although we have to drive through nature reserves they aren't crazy about making us pay huge usage fees. The last time we just said we are land owners and that satisfied the gate keeper.
(Yes there will be bikes in this post.)
For this year's 'Christmas trip" we decided on the Amani option, leaving before Christmas and staying til boxing day before moving on to the Pare Mountains for two Lusingu family functions in Suji.
The only bad issue with going to Amani for holidays is that it is a 7 hour car drive (for us) with some stops . It is 430 km. As we passed the Kilimanjaro massive and headed south east we had strong winds from the west, which is opposite to what is normal and it picked up dust as you see in the picture here. After another half hour the strong dust winds turned into a torrential rain and I had to slow down to 30-50kmph just to be able to see. Every time I met a bus or semi trailer I lost visibility in the spray coming off that vehicle for 2 seconds. 
Before the rains started I pulled the land rover over to take a picture of the dust and there was his nice aloe vera flowering. We are strong believers in the medicinal value of the plant and use it topically for burns and wounds as well as orally.After the first couple of trips I started putting the bicycle on the roof and doing early morning rides or riding to the trail head to meet the others, or riding the 30 km to the main highway in Muheza.
Although we have a 3 room house it is occupied by a neighbor and not furnished yet, so we opted for staying in the Guest House of the Tea Research Station.Here is Nashesha and her good buddy Mariamu having breakfast in the living room. The guest house is a house modified to have 3 self contained bedrooms, a large sitting / eating room, and staffed by a wonderful woman Rose. The rooms are $5 and the meals about $2. Like the place is obscenely cheap. Nashesha and Mariamu felt like queens in their own beds and bathroom. The other advantage is there is no good cell coverage in the house! Paradise.
My girls (sorry to include you mom) got up to late to see this sunrise. But that allows me to sneak off for a few hours bike ride.It is a fair amount of up and down, but rewarded with views like the one at top of this post.
Here the switch back is visible in the dense forest below me. About 45% of the time i would be riding through forest, 45% in tea plantations and 10% in villages or small farm land.On day 2's ride I rode a longer loop of about 50km and in the middle stopped in a big village for some tea. I enjoyed the interaction more than the tea itself. I had a pastry and the bill came to 250shs. about $0.20. Luckily I thought ahead and had the right change!
Fortified with that i continued the loop . I passed this old waterwheel along one river.
I have no map of the area, google doesn't show the roads, I don't recognize hardly anything, I have no idea where I was but our friend Elias had written down the names of each villages to pass through and that was my "map".I was never sure exactly which direction I was going or where I had passed through when I looked backwards, but it did not bother me much. I stopped often to ask if this was the way to xxxxx.
As I am riding alone I rarely get a picture of a bicycle, so i had to find from another trip . this Christmas I stayed on roads but there are short trails like this all over the forest.
Christmas Eve day we hiked up to our place and sat on the porch in a heavy downpour eating sugar cane from the shamba.
We recently bought a smaller plot along a river. The road is across this river and for now you get there by this branch across the river. the bamboo servers as hand holds.
This time I decided to drive down with the family instead of riding the bike, and we stopped and climbed down to the waterfall. Nashesha and Mariamu got in the water up to their thighs and walked around.
From Amani we drove past the North Usambaras and into the Pare mountains, to our home village. Here is us following Elton Lusingu down the mountains two days later.
The next day was 'kumaliza matanga" to end the mourning period for our beloved grandmother Phoebe Yohanna Lusingu. She was dream team mother in law and we miss her.
The third day was a different family rite. Another Phoebe was engaged! To a cool dude named Eli. Can you imagine having to go through this. Here is Eli putting the ring on Phyby, in front of all the relatives. Proceeding this was negotiations of bride price and partial payment. that is why her elder brother Richard Mbogoh is smiling in the back row. I have to admit I cried a couple of times.
Just maybe this cute grand niece will become a bicyclist. She is adorable isn't she? It was good to see many family members and i manage one 2 hour ride into the clouds of Pare mountains.
05 January 2010
Bicycle Hero #2, Vincent Shirima
(I warned readers that I would post my hero's occasionally)
I had known Vincent Shirima for some years before he was a biker. He was a business contact I lunched with every few months. His family has business in coffee exports, well drilling, airlines, and milling. But his sport was motocross.
A few years ago we didn't see each other for about a year, and next time I saw him he looked really different. I realized he had lost weight. That is an understatement, he had lost a lot of weight. After we talked I learned that he had lost 50 Kg, that is 110lbs! He could still lose some more but , hey, after that much you cant help but respect Vincent for that. It turned out that one of the ways he lost weight was by taking up cycling.
So I started to invite him to come on casual Sunday rides . For the first 30 minutes I was a bit concerned as he would lag behind slightly going up hills. It was looking like we needed a vehicle to come and pick him up. He would ride to the top of a long steep hill and fall over. I started to worry our ride was over.
However when he was on the ground he would say stuff like "Man, that was a great". Three minutes later he would get up and continue on. After two rides I stopped worrying about him and just learned I would have to wait a few times for him at the top of hills. He never complains but looks like he is dying sometimes. His enthusiasm on rides is so refreshing.
Then I took him up Meru, just him and me several times. He was stoked.
In the picture at the top was a ride going south, we ended up doing 80km on dirt roads. He was pretty wasted the last 1/4 but he made it.
I had known Vincent Shirima for some years before he was a biker. He was a business contact I lunched with every few months. His family has business in coffee exports, well drilling, airlines, and milling. But his sport was motocross.
A few years ago we didn't see each other for about a year, and next time I saw him he looked really different. I realized he had lost weight. That is an understatement, he had lost a lot of weight. After we talked I learned that he had lost 50 Kg, that is 110lbs! He could still lose some more but , hey, after that much you cant help but respect Vincent for that. It turned out that one of the ways he lost weight was by taking up cycling.
So I started to invite him to come on casual Sunday rides . For the first 30 minutes I was a bit concerned as he would lag behind slightly going up hills. It was looking like we needed a vehicle to come and pick him up. He would ride to the top of a long steep hill and fall over. I started to worry our ride was over.
However when he was on the ground he would say stuff like "Man, that was a great". Three minutes later he would get up and continue on. After two rides I stopped worrying about him and just learned I would have to wait a few times for him at the top of hills. He never complains but looks like he is dying sometimes. His enthusiasm on rides is so refreshing.
Then I took him up Meru, just him and me several times. He was stoked.
In the picture at the top was a ride going south, we ended up doing 80km on dirt roads. He was pretty wasted the last 1/4 but he made it.
07 December 2009
Sunday Rides
One week ago Sunday my buddies Wes Krause and Thomas Holden showed up before 6am. We rode a 40 km loop on the slopes of Mnt Meru.Perfect conditions prevailed as it has rained, but not during the previous day so the trails and roads are hard packed but not so wet and slippery.
We had some chai midway up .
The single track on the way down was the best ever. One can't help but smile riding these sections. This is Wes. True to form, we got separated from Wes on the way down, he went straight and we went right and we arrived about the same time. No big deal.
Yesterday was Julie Cabanne's day to baptise her just purchased second hand bike. I invited a bunch of people , only Laura Tarimo, Bent and Gishan, and my daughter Nashesha showed up. Bernice started but then called it quits in town but is now excited to get back into bicycling. We rode to Erik Zweig's place and had some breakfast. Gishan, pictured, is 6 and ended up trading off on the tandem with Nashesha. My god, dont enlarge this picture! I have a belly and Dishon is drinking redbull!
In town we split up. Julie, Nashesha, and I got dumped on by rain in town. It was torrential for 15 minutes. We stopped a few minutes at Julie's house to wait for it to stop and had some chocolate and tea.
27 November 2009
Fixing flats in the rain
November to January (or thereabouts) is Northern Tanzania's "short rains". Sometimes the short rains happen and sometimes they don't. This year the weather people have been warning of "El nino" type rains. Although it is not to that proportion we are having a good short rainy season so far.
For last week's Wednesday morning ride I awoke to the end of long night rain. I figured the sky was rained out for a few hours. I suited up and headed out the door trying to stay out of sticky mud on the paths to the highway.
I choose to cut across Burka Coffee Estate on foot paths and dirt tracks. Just before the small gate my rear tyre went low. As I have been having more punctures recently with these old 700x28c tyres, I should of patched the tube instead of just replacing,but I figure when I am with the group there will be other tubes. I walked through the narrow gate and changed the tube as a light rain fell. No problem as I have a rain jacket on.
As I continue to ride through Burka it starts raining heavily. I am only a bit behind time when I hit the club rendezvous point. The side of the road is deserted. Anyone would be crazy to be standing there waiting. So either they are under the school guard house eaves (they aren't) , or they have taken off. I push on. I guess the third option is all 40 odd club riders took one look outside and went back to bed.
I can't manage 30kph even. From the waist down I am soaked but warm enough. In its own way the ride is fun. Maybe fun is not the right word. I enjoy it, just like when you are riding hard and hurting but one enjoys it. Maybe it is the oxygen.
After 15km it is still dumping and I ride straight past the Monduli turn off.
I ride down into a river valley. The normally dry river is 5 feet of chocolate colored boiling water. It is pretty cool to watch, but I keep thinking of the erosion implications. I make a U -turn and start riding back up hill out of the valley.
I notice my tyre is flat again.
I also note:
-it is raining hard
-I have used my spare tube without patching the previous tube.
- you cannot put a patch on when the tube is wet and it is raining.
Hmm.
I have brief moments of panic. Traffic is sparse today, especially buses, but I have no money for a bus anyway. I should be on time to the office today. I am 25km from home. I am 1/2 wet and slightly cold after stopping. The panic is fear of a major inconvenience, it might take me hours to get home.
Taking stock I consider carrying the bicycle to a hut I see 1/2km off the road. I am on a major highway and every 10 minutes or so there are cars, but even if I get a free lift to town I have to get home on the other side of town. The next building is 3km up the road.
Ahh, there is bridge over the swollen river! Under the bridge it will be dry. I walk through ankle deep mud to get under the bridge and find a place where the mud is hard.
It takes a half hour but I manage to dry the two tubes and patch them both, with only one repeat. I get back on the road and within five minutes the rains have cleaned the mud off my shoes and ankles.
It isn't pouring now but it is still raining. I contentedly cycle on.
I am not sure what was really going on. I kept having tyres go flat. It didn't help that potholes were covered with water, so it was hard to tell whether standing water in the road was just a thin puddle or a "pinch flatting" pothole. I also have been experimenting with slightly lower air pressures. I had another flat, replaced the tube and rode another 10km and it went flat again. It was going down slowly so I pumped and road again looking for shelter to patch the two tubes. Just before the meeting point I pulled into a outdoor bar and fixed a tube .
I made it home OK.
Later I learned that the other guys were calling back and forth asking about if they were going and they all went back to bed.
For last week's Wednesday morning ride I awoke to the end of long night rain. I figured the sky was rained out for a few hours. I suited up and headed out the door trying to stay out of sticky mud on the paths to the highway.
I choose to cut across Burka Coffee Estate on foot paths and dirt tracks. Just before the small gate my rear tyre went low. As I have been having more punctures recently with these old 700x28c tyres, I should of patched the tube instead of just replacing,but I figure when I am with the group there will be other tubes. I walked through the narrow gate and changed the tube as a light rain fell. No problem as I have a rain jacket on.
As I continue to ride through Burka it starts raining heavily. I am only a bit behind time when I hit the club rendezvous point. The side of the road is deserted. Anyone would be crazy to be standing there waiting. So either they are under the school guard house eaves (they aren't) , or they have taken off. I push on. I guess the third option is all 40 odd club riders took one look outside and went back to bed.
I can't manage 30kph even. From the waist down I am soaked but warm enough. In its own way the ride is fun. Maybe fun is not the right word. I enjoy it, just like when you are riding hard and hurting but one enjoys it. Maybe it is the oxygen.
After 15km it is still dumping and I ride straight past the Monduli turn off.
I ride down into a river valley. The normally dry river is 5 feet of chocolate colored boiling water. It is pretty cool to watch, but I keep thinking of the erosion implications. I make a U -turn and start riding back up hill out of the valley.
I notice my tyre is flat again.
I also note:
-it is raining hard
-I have used my spare tube without patching the previous tube.
- you cannot put a patch on when the tube is wet and it is raining.
Hmm.
I have brief moments of panic. Traffic is sparse today, especially buses, but I have no money for a bus anyway. I should be on time to the office today. I am 25km from home. I am 1/2 wet and slightly cold after stopping. The panic is fear of a major inconvenience, it might take me hours to get home.
Taking stock I consider carrying the bicycle to a hut I see 1/2km off the road. I am on a major highway and every 10 minutes or so there are cars, but even if I get a free lift to town I have to get home on the other side of town. The next building is 3km up the road.
Ahh, there is bridge over the swollen river! Under the bridge it will be dry. I walk through ankle deep mud to get under the bridge and find a place where the mud is hard.
It takes a half hour but I manage to dry the two tubes and patch them both, with only one repeat. I get back on the road and within five minutes the rains have cleaned the mud off my shoes and ankles.
It isn't pouring now but it is still raining. I contentedly cycle on.
I am not sure what was really going on. I kept having tyres go flat. It didn't help that potholes were covered with water, so it was hard to tell whether standing water in the road was just a thin puddle or a "pinch flatting" pothole. I also have been experimenting with slightly lower air pressures. I had another flat, replaced the tube and rode another 10km and it went flat again. It was going down slowly so I pumped and road again looking for shelter to patch the two tubes. Just before the meeting point I pulled into a outdoor bar and fixed a tube .
I made it home OK.
Later I learned that the other guys were calling back and forth asking about if they were going and they all went back to bed.
02 November 2009
Circles
Life is sometimes lived in circles. We evolve and change and end up the same. We go for bicycle rides in circles. My bicycle dress and what I eat on long rides has gone in a circle.
When I started to ride a bicycle in the mid 90's:
-I sneered at the Lycra clothes , that was for racers and wannabe racers, and wore normal shorts.
-I ate whole and natural foods on rides and granola for breakfast.
Then I got into racing and more riding :
-I bought $80 Lycra shorts, and hi tech wicking jerseys, gloves.
- I bought hi tech energy drinks, and gave up sugar. I used honey instead of GU.
I rode some more:
-now I gave up on the Lycra shorts and wear whatever shorts are in the drawer and some thick underwear that Bernice bought. That combo works as good as the Lycra and now I have pockets to put little stuff in. But the main reason to change is I was tired of looking like a dork when I got off the bike.
- Dr. Jim Bingham said processed sugar is the same as honey, so when I can afford I take snickers on bike rides, tang juice instead of honey juice. Junk food looks pretty good.
When I started to ride a bicycle in the mid 90's:
-I sneered at the Lycra clothes , that was for racers and wannabe racers, and wore normal shorts.
-I ate whole and natural foods on rides and granola for breakfast.
Then I got into racing and more riding :
-I bought $80 Lycra shorts, and hi tech wicking jerseys, gloves.
- I bought hi tech energy drinks, and gave up sugar. I used honey instead of GU.
I rode some more:
-now I gave up on the Lycra shorts and wear whatever shorts are in the drawer and some thick underwear that Bernice bought. That combo works as good as the Lycra and now I have pockets to put little stuff in. But the main reason to change is I was tired of looking like a dork when I got off the bike.
- Dr. Jim Bingham said processed sugar is the same as honey, so when I can afford I take snickers on bike rides, tang juice instead of honey juice. Junk food looks pretty good.
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