It was a warmer than average Thanksgiving morning and Bro and I had decided to get together for a ride to Ma and Pa's. We took what we would describe as a regular route with a slight difference, we rode along the service road on the south side of Highway 55 until we reached the bike path just east of County Road 61.
It was a fairly uneventful ride, except, we both noticed how hard we were working and we were not going very fast. By the time we got to within about 1/2 mile from our destination, Bro made note of our average speed, 10.5 MPH. A fairly slow pace, but, we should be able to keep it close to that over that last 1/2 mile we would have thought. Well we turned west and straight into a head wind and when we got to Mom and Dads we looked again at the average speed and we were surprised to see that we had lost 1/2 a mile per hour and finished our ride at an average speed of 10.0 MPH.
No complaints, any day I can get out with my Bro for a ride is a good day. As we chatted over a beer, I wondered how much extra weight I had been carrying with me. We figured the extra weight played a big part in our slower pace foe the day, I weighed the clothes that I wore on the bike ride and it all weighed it at 14 lbs. Add that to the heavier bike, since my Schwinn is broken I am riding a Trek 720 that probably weighs at least ten pounds more than my Schwinn.
Now if this weather could only hold out for us maybe we can ride to Ma and Pa's on a Sunday during December.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Dude, my Schwinn broke!
Thursday, October 30 my Bro and I planned for a ride to Town Hall. It was a beautiful sunny day and a blessing for this late in October. I got my Schwinn ready to ride, checked the air in the tires and the like, I reached down a gave the rear tire a squeeze and I felt a strange movement in the rear of my Schwinn. After some further investigation, I came to the conclusion that the frame is broken, what a bummer! I'll get back to my Schwinn later.
In order to still capitalize on our opportunity for a ride, Bro got out his Specialized Rock Hopper for me to ride to Town Hall. It was so great that my Bro had an extra bike that I could ride. We got onto the Cedar Lake Trail and headed into Minneapolis. Man, I tell you, what a difference between my Schwinn LeTour and the Specialized Rock Hopper. Fatter and softer tires, heavier frame(I believe it is a steel frame), some suspension on the front fork. My LeTour on the other hand is an all aluminum frame with a carbon fiber fork and carbon fiber seat stays, 700X28 tires. This Rock Hopper has a much higher rolling resistance, you stop pedaling and you stop rolling. A different ride, more effort involved to travel along the bike path.
Any way, we got to Town Hall and enjoyed a Cask IPA and then a pitcher of IPA. We purchased a growler of the IPA to take home with us. As we headed home we decided to stop in and visit out younger sister Jenni at LunaLux. We had the chance to see McGuire, he's a dog that hangs out at LunaLux. We stayed a bit longer than we should have and ended up riding home in the dark, no lights. We took it slow and rang our bells as we rode to avoid collisions. We made it home safely, what a great experience this ride was.
Back to my broken Schwinn..the joint between the aluminum frame and the carbon fiber seat stay is where there was what appears to be an adhesive failure. I will be adding photos and I will be chronicling my experience with getting my Schwinn back up and rolling. Stay Tuned.
In order to still capitalize on our opportunity for a ride, Bro got out his Specialized Rock Hopper for me to ride to Town Hall. It was so great that my Bro had an extra bike that I could ride. We got onto the Cedar Lake Trail and headed into Minneapolis. Man, I tell you, what a difference between my Schwinn LeTour and the Specialized Rock Hopper. Fatter and softer tires, heavier frame(I believe it is a steel frame), some suspension on the front fork. My LeTour on the other hand is an all aluminum frame with a carbon fiber fork and carbon fiber seat stays, 700X28 tires. This Rock Hopper has a much higher rolling resistance, you stop pedaling and you stop rolling. A different ride, more effort involved to travel along the bike path.
Any way, we got to Town Hall and enjoyed a Cask IPA and then a pitcher of IPA. We purchased a growler of the IPA to take home with us. As we headed home we decided to stop in and visit out younger sister Jenni at LunaLux. We had the chance to see McGuire, he's a dog that hangs out at LunaLux. We stayed a bit longer than we should have and ended up riding home in the dark, no lights. We took it slow and rang our bells as we rode to avoid collisions. We made it home safely, what a great experience this ride was.
Back to my broken Schwinn..the joint between the aluminum frame and the carbon fiber seat stay is where there was what appears to be an adhesive failure. I will be adding photos and I will be chronicling my experience with getting my Schwinn back up and rolling. Stay Tuned.
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