Christmas Catch Up

By Brent:

Well the holiday season was good to me. I hope you all had great holiday's also. Typically, when I am into a hobby, I am overwhelmed by it. It's all I do and think about. This year was no different. This post is just an informative post to let you in on future posts that will be, umm, posted.

The Garmin Edge 500 cycling computer is an ingenious creation that knows more about my cycling abilities than I do. This little gizmo has the capability to give you so much information on the go, plus hooks you up to a free service on Garmin Connect that douses you with even MORE information.

The Garmin Cadence sensor and "upgraded" Heart Rate monitor. This work along with the Edge 500 to give me more information indoors on a trainer, telling me how fast I am spinning, and the heart rate monitor so when I collapse, the doctors can see where it all went wrong.

Cycle Ops Magneto trainer. This will be a difference maker during the winter months. This little beauty will hold me up and still while I continue to log miles indoors while its 4 degrees outside and the roads are caked with snow.

DZ Nuts jersey. Plain and simple. A new short sleeve jersey for the summer. This is my first true biking jersey. It's a little dumb how excited I am about this. Yet what could be more dumb.....

Castelli Leg Warmers. Yes. LEG WARMERS. (Enter images of me in Flashdance) Leg warmers because they are simple to put on and server a great purpose. Castelli because they are marketing GENIUSES and used a scorpion as their logo.

Castelli socks. Because nothing compliments Castelli Leg Warmers better. And seriously, look at that scorpion logo!

Paceline Chamois Butt'r. This was a lovely gift from mom and dad. The best part is they had no idea what it was, so when I informed them it was for your "undercarriage" they were a bit shocked. Ahh the grossness that comes along with almost all fitness activities.

I probably have forgotten something, but this was a great year for biking. Hope you all had a great holiday also! Look for future reviews of these hopefully great products.

Related articles

• Introducing heart rate monitoring and more! (runkeeper.com)
• Win a Basis Heart Rate Monitor Watch (valued at $199) (techvibes.com)
• Garmin GPS Watches for Runners: The Perfect "Personal Training" Guide (brighthub.com)

Last Minute Switcheroo.

By Brent:   

During the day Jeff and I had been talking and prepping for the group ride when we decided it would be in our best interest to call the shop to confirm there was a group ride to go to. GLAD WE DID! The owner of the shop was on vacation so there would be no riding. We quickly came up with a new plan. Once again Jeff would come over and ride our stationary bike, while I would use his trainer again and log miles on my bike. I was able to show off my Garmin Edge 500 to Jeff and we kicked on the TV. To keep with the spirit of cycling we watched the Cervelo Test Teams podcast called Beyond the Peloton. It is a personal favorite and well known series within the biking community. Now with the demise of the CTT cycling team and its joint venture with the Garmin cycling team, there are many people hoping these podcast continue on.

So with everything set up we hopped on our bikes and set off down the non existent road and pedaled our little hearts off. I managed to log another 16.51 miles averaging 76 rpm's and maxing out (for a split second) at 56.0 mph. The trainer gets buzzing pretty good at that point. I can only imagine the damage should some bolt give out and your rear tire would make contact with the carpet. It would be quite the sight to see.

With this 16.51 miles added to my previous figures, I am now up to 992.87 miles leaving me 7.13 miles to go to hit 1,000 miles of running and riding. This is something I will be pretty proud of and look forward to crushing next year. Can I hear 1,500 or 2,000 maybe?

After the riding was over it was "Geek Time". We hooked the Garmin up to the computer and uploaded all its information to Garmin Connect. This is some cool FREE software. Check out below my ride (mind you I forgot to turn off the GPS portion of it so the map is a little awkward, yet in the same breathe be impressed that I was in the basement, and I still picked up a signal!)

After "Geek Time" concluded we began plotting our outings for 2011. We will post those hopeful outings soon and add them to our Schedule tab.

See ya in 7.13 miles!