Time to get back on that bike....

Well, after a subpar end to last season and taking an extended break off the bike I've decided it's about time to start training in earnest for the upcoming season. I can now say I've actually been on the bike for maybe five rides so far this year. I've done a ride here or there, the trainer, but since last weekend I've officially started putting in base miles. I even got a new set of tried and true Rubino Pro's for the training wheels. I've been through many sets of those tires and they've always come through for putting in the miles.

I've been playing hockey all winter, but it's not the same as getting in the long miles on the road. It's great cardio, but now it's time to get that endurance up. I can tell I'm not totally out of shape, but also know I'm nowhere near where I used to be. Hopefully the long break is what I needed. I took such a sabbatical from biking that after last years Gateway Cup crash that took out my Easton EA90SLX's I finally got them sent back into Easton for repair. $130 to replace one hoop and true the other seems pretty reasonable. I was actually expecting to pay a lot more. They were a $700 wheelset so it's well worth it.

My latest dilemma is getting a new phone and plan. I like gadgets and now I've got to have a smartphone to include in my collection. I've had pocket pc's with wifi before and thought having it on the phone was so gay. I've seen a couple new phones like the iphone and blackberry touch screen and thought, these would be great to have for the road, not to mention accessing the web at high speed from anywhere. I guess I would say I'm somewhat addicted to being "wired". The GPS would come in handy driving to races out of town. I even thought about integrating the GPS into a cycling computer somehow. I've already seen a couple applications that make your smartphone into a cycling computer. I've already got my Garmin, but it would be pretty cool to have a color screen of the route your riding and not spend another $500 for a cycling specific computer. I've even seen that Garmin is coming out with a new phone.......I wonder what kind of applications that will include.

Note to all you travelers. I was just told by the young Grasshopper aka Casey, that he was walking through the airport the other day(on his way to Jelly Belly camp....lucky dog) and saw a bunch of pictures promoting St. Louis. One of which was of the Gateway Cup. He said it was a huge poster and I was right in the middle of it. That's pretty cool. I work at the airport too and seemed to have missed it. I guess I'm not getting any royalties for that one.