Wednesday, August 22, 2007

First ride in Phoenix

OFS got in his first Phoenix ride at oh-dark-early today. Since I'm on midwest time, getting up at 4:30 was pretty easy. Starting out at 67th, just north of the 101, I headed north to Thunderbird Park. It's an very gradual 2 mile climb to the trailhead and it was still dark when I got there. With no headlight, I waited about 5 minutes until there was enough light to see, then rode maybe 3 miles on the trails, climbing the hill in the southwest corner of the park. I was the only bike out there, but hikers were everywhere. The trail is pretty non-technical, but it looks like the park will be a good venue for weekday rides.

As mentioned in the earlier post, I'm not going to do much about the old part, but I established my benchmarks for fat and slow. I'm shooting for losing 30 lbs. Starting weight is three digits, including a 1, 2 and 6. Put them in any order you want, then subtract 30 and that's what I'm after. When the weight drops, the speed should also improve.

My charming son felt it was necessary to dis my bike a few days ago. It's a 10 year old Klein aluminum hardtail with a Rock Shox Judy XC. All up, it weighs about 25 lbs and I like it just fine. As long as I don't break it, I'll keep riding it.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I don't have a problem so much with your bike as much as where you're going to be riding it. Klein's are snappy, responsive, and very stiff. Great for smooth stuff, but I think you're going to find it brutal over the long haul, especially with a 63mm fork. I predict there'll be some bike shopping happening very soon after the house sells.

Anyway, glad you're getting out there. The prime 'nix biking is just getting going, come November you're going to absolutely love it.