Bike Season 2012
Wow, where have I been? What have I been doing? Right here and nothing much. I'm seriously considering downgrading my LJ to a free account, because I've found better things to spend my money on.
First was my newest tattoo, which I had been putting off until finding this image online and falling in "velo" instantly:
Velo means bicycle in French. My sister asked "Are you prepared to explain that ad nauseum?"
I love it, slightly less now that it's all scabs and dry skin, but this too shall pass. Tery finally got her first, a set of triathlon stick figures stacked up her ankle. Hers took about 15 minutes so I didn't get to hold her hand. I don't think she suffered much.
Biking. I was a fool to think I could go all winter without it, and I'm paying for it now. Even using the Wii Cyberbike religiously ("religiously" like people who go to church on Easter and Christmas -- I used it only three times a week or so), somehow 30 pounds snuck back, halfway back to where I started and where I vowed I would never be again. I blame the Cyberbike's complete lack of resistance. Evidently cardio isn't everything (or anything).
I eagerly took Mamba out last week when temps hit the 70's. It was glorious, but I certainly felt every last one of those extra pounds, especially on the hills, where I defeatedly stayed behind an old geezer barely pedaling enough to stay upright; I just didn't have it in me physically to pass him.
I used to dominate that path. I used to routinely do 20 miles a day. Now 10 miles has me clammy and short of breath. Demoralizing. Depressing. Utterly unacceptable. And every other negative adjective you can think of.
I'll bounce back, of course. But I'm already thinking of next winter and how to avoid this fate next spring.
I started shopping. I began with normal trainers -- the stand you clamp your rear tire onto and pedal for endless mindless hours. This seemed as appealing as my rollers (which I sold mid winter after trying them with Mamba and nearly breaking my neck). Ever so gradually I worked my way over to VR trainers.
These are essentially what I had dreamed of when I bought the Cyberbike -- it plugs into your computer and changes the resistance automatically when you hit a hill on the accompanying video course. I thought they were ridiculously expensive, and they are, for the casual biker. But this winter has taught me that this is more than a hobby for me: it's a lifestyle. And more than a lifestyle, a critical lifestyle that I simply can't afford to take 5 months off from.
(My killjoy friend Gerry said he would just invest in cold weather gear, try to prolong the season. Yeah, tried that. It looks great in the catalog, but in reality no amount of layering can stop the bone-deep misery of a 10-degree wind chill in your face when it's already 55 degrees or less. And eventually the path will get covered in snow and ice, and you're stuck back inside anyway.)
I stumbled upon an Italian company called Elite that had a line of four different machines. I'm going to take you through all of them.
I naturally started at the lowest, the RealTour which was about $400 -- which again seemed like a lot of money before I remembered that hated 30 pounds. Seemed to have mostly positive reviews, except for some complaints about a lag between starting a hill and the resistance kicking in, as well as being only capable of simulating up to a 7% grade (but given the 5% grade in my park that never fails to slow me down, even when I was in top form, this didn't worry me over much).
So I looked at the next highest, the RealAxiom at $700. People seemed generally happier with this, and it came with two DVDs (the DVDs themselves run $40 and up). This seemed like a better deal, particularly given how many times I try to save money and am invariably always unhappy with the cheaper choice. I even called Tery to tell her excitedly I had finally learned my lesson.
Then I peeked at eBay and found the next highest model, the RealAxiom CT which sells for around $1200, being sold "like new" for $400, including a mat and nine DVDs. So I spent a week reading reviews on this model and convincing myself nothing less would do. I didn't get too excited, I was sure I would get outbid. But all weekend I was the lone bidder, and with 24 hours left I was getting very, very, very optimistic.
Then the seller canceled the auction. I'm sure he was hoping to get much more than $400, but he should have started the bidding higher or put a reserve on it. No one lists an item assuming bidding will skyrocket. So I couldn't blame him, but I was still a little disappointed.
Back to plan A then, the $700 jobby. That was on Amazon so not going anywhere. But I couldn't resist keeping an eye on eBay, seeing if Mr. Like New relisted at a price still in my range. He hasn't, but then I noticed a different auction that had run its course once with no takers, and got put back up again.
This was for the Elite RealPower, the flagship of the line. Capable of a 20% grade. Includes a heart rate monitor and 15 races. It retails for $1600 to $2000+, depending where you look. The auction was $879 with free shipping, new and 100% functional but with a broken wire clip that can be glued. This one is from a power seller who hopefully won't bail on the auction.
This was my journey, from rationalizing $400 up to almost $900 -- my thinking was, if I was going to spend $700, what was another $179? Especially when I'd be actually saving almost $1000. The clincher was when I realized I had a long-forgotten eBay line of credit that would give me 6 months interest free. It would be like my $500 oil changes, except getting something fun out of it.
The auction ends tomorrow (Thursday). I'll let you know. But I'm reasonably confident this will soon be me:
Luxurious hardwood workout studio not included
First was my newest tattoo, which I had been putting off until finding this image online and falling in "velo" instantly:
Velo means bicycle in French. My sister asked "Are you prepared to explain that ad nauseum?"
I love it, slightly less now that it's all scabs and dry skin, but this too shall pass. Tery finally got her first, a set of triathlon stick figures stacked up her ankle. Hers took about 15 minutes so I didn't get to hold her hand. I don't think she suffered much.
Biking. I was a fool to think I could go all winter without it, and I'm paying for it now. Even using the Wii Cyberbike religiously ("religiously" like people who go to church on Easter and Christmas -- I used it only three times a week or so), somehow 30 pounds snuck back, halfway back to where I started and where I vowed I would never be again. I blame the Cyberbike's complete lack of resistance. Evidently cardio isn't everything (or anything).
I eagerly took Mamba out last week when temps hit the 70's. It was glorious, but I certainly felt every last one of those extra pounds, especially on the hills, where I defeatedly stayed behind an old geezer barely pedaling enough to stay upright; I just didn't have it in me physically to pass him.
I used to dominate that path. I used to routinely do 20 miles a day. Now 10 miles has me clammy and short of breath. Demoralizing. Depressing. Utterly unacceptable. And every other negative adjective you can think of.
I'll bounce back, of course. But I'm already thinking of next winter and how to avoid this fate next spring.
I started shopping. I began with normal trainers -- the stand you clamp your rear tire onto and pedal for endless mindless hours. This seemed as appealing as my rollers (which I sold mid winter after trying them with Mamba and nearly breaking my neck). Ever so gradually I worked my way over to VR trainers.
These are essentially what I had dreamed of when I bought the Cyberbike -- it plugs into your computer and changes the resistance automatically when you hit a hill on the accompanying video course. I thought they were ridiculously expensive, and they are, for the casual biker. But this winter has taught me that this is more than a hobby for me: it's a lifestyle. And more than a lifestyle, a critical lifestyle that I simply can't afford to take 5 months off from.
(My killjoy friend Gerry said he would just invest in cold weather gear, try to prolong the season. Yeah, tried that. It looks great in the catalog, but in reality no amount of layering can stop the bone-deep misery of a 10-degree wind chill in your face when it's already 55 degrees or less. And eventually the path will get covered in snow and ice, and you're stuck back inside anyway.)
I stumbled upon an Italian company called Elite that had a line of four different machines. I'm going to take you through all of them.
I naturally started at the lowest, the RealTour which was about $400 -- which again seemed like a lot of money before I remembered that hated 30 pounds. Seemed to have mostly positive reviews, except for some complaints about a lag between starting a hill and the resistance kicking in, as well as being only capable of simulating up to a 7% grade (but given the 5% grade in my park that never fails to slow me down, even when I was in top form, this didn't worry me over much).
So I looked at the next highest, the RealAxiom at $700. People seemed generally happier with this, and it came with two DVDs (the DVDs themselves run $40 and up). This seemed like a better deal, particularly given how many times I try to save money and am invariably always unhappy with the cheaper choice. I even called Tery to tell her excitedly I had finally learned my lesson.
Then I peeked at eBay and found the next highest model, the RealAxiom CT which sells for around $1200, being sold "like new" for $400, including a mat and nine DVDs. So I spent a week reading reviews on this model and convincing myself nothing less would do. I didn't get too excited, I was sure I would get outbid. But all weekend I was the lone bidder, and with 24 hours left I was getting very, very, very optimistic.
Then the seller canceled the auction. I'm sure he was hoping to get much more than $400, but he should have started the bidding higher or put a reserve on it. No one lists an item assuming bidding will skyrocket. So I couldn't blame him, but I was still a little disappointed.
Back to plan A then, the $700 jobby. That was on Amazon so not going anywhere. But I couldn't resist keeping an eye on eBay, seeing if Mr. Like New relisted at a price still in my range. He hasn't, but then I noticed a different auction that had run its course once with no takers, and got put back up again.
This was for the Elite RealPower, the flagship of the line. Capable of a 20% grade. Includes a heart rate monitor and 15 races. It retails for $1600 to $2000+, depending where you look. The auction was $879 with free shipping, new and 100% functional but with a broken wire clip that can be glued. This one is from a power seller who hopefully won't bail on the auction.
This was my journey, from rationalizing $400 up to almost $900 -- my thinking was, if I was going to spend $700, what was another $179? Especially when I'd be actually saving almost $1000. The clincher was when I realized I had a long-forgotten eBay line of credit that would give me 6 months interest free. It would be like my $500 oil changes, except getting something fun out of it.
The auction ends tomorrow (Thursday). I'll let you know. But I'm reasonably confident this will soon be me:
Luxurious hardwood workout studio not included