Saturday, March 5, 2011

February 2011 (second half) or Lost in Casa Grande!

Picachio Peak in the distance

The last week in February Neita and I decided that we should test our plan of my bicycling to the campground where Neita had driven Ruby (the red motorhome).  We were planning on staying in Arizona City, which is south east of Casa Grande.  I left home around 9:30 on what should have been a 70 mile ride to where we were spending the night.  Using Google Maps for bicycles which is in the Beta test stage, I headed out.  I don't know if the streets were correctly named, the street signs were missing or I just didn't see them, but the ride to AZ City ended up taking 110 windy tiring miles and I didn't arrive until nearly 7 pm in the dark and famished. This was after doing a perimeter ride of Casa Grande and then some.

I did learn a couple of really important lessons.  
  1. Make sure to carry a real map.
  2. Listen very careful when helpful strangers try to tell you where to go and still carry a real map.
  3. Plan for things to take lots longer than you expect they should
  4. Have a GPS application for the cell phone.  I now have that.   
I made it to Coolidge!

After a fairly short ride on Sunday, I mapped the return route using roads that I knew existed and came home using AZ highway 87.  There were snow capped hills to the east and north of Coolidge, which was quite scenic.  The ride on Monday was 90 miles, making the entire weekend 230 miles - close to the average of 80 miles a day that I will be doing. 



February 2011 (first half)

My completion certificate

What a bike shop should look like - my work bench looks like this, right? (Not even close)


I spent the 2nd week of February in Colorado Springs at Barnett Bicycle Institute attending the Bicycle Assembly and Maintenance course.  Wow, I never knew that there was so much to know about bike building.  Of course the last bicycle that I actually worked on myself was a 1965 three speed Schwinn, and there wasn't a lot that could go wrong with those - not nearly as many gears as either of my current bikes has just on one cog.  The class was great.  I received the completion certificate and even passed.  I know that I still hope that I don't need to use any of the knowledge just yet, because I feel a little overwhelmed, but if I have to, I could probably install a derailluer or true a wheel. ( a few more things than just fixing a flat tire)

Colorado Springs is beautiful but oh my was it cold - below zero most mornings as we walked to class from the TravelLodge about a half block away from the school.  I didn't ride at all even though I brought along my bike - just in case.

Garden of the Gods

Bicycle Art in Manitou Springs