Adventures with Chip, MTB

I had to buy him a burrito at Qdoba today, as incentive to drive to Bradley Palmer State Park for some mountain biking with me, but it was worth it. Chip and I had a great afternoon riding trails, getting a little lost, trying to avoid the areas where hunting is allowed... because being mistaken for a deer would be a bad. About halfway through our ride, Chip asked, "How many miles have we gone?" Ha. I was afraid to tell him I forgot to press the start button on the Garmin. "Ummmm... two?"

"That's not right", he replied. Funny how he instinctually knows how far we've gone, and yet still asks me how far we've ridden. Every time. On every ride.

"You didn't start the Garmin, did you." (More of a statement than a question.)

"Ummmm... no?" (He rolls his eyes, shakes his head, and rides off. I then start the Garmin.)

He was in a crabby mood for a short while after that, and later tried to convince me that he was just in a bad mood because he was thinking about school and his annoying math teacher... but really, he was mad at me because I didn't start the Garmin. I didn't have the numbers right. Sigh.

No Garmin, No Rules!

It was a great day for a great ride, though, and always fun to adventure with Chippy, my partner-in-crime. I'm crossing my fingers the new Kona 29er arrives this week. This amazing weather isn't going to last forever!

Garmin Woes

I have the worst relationship with my Garmin. I haven't used it much in my offseason, (No Garmin, No Rules), but we have new Vanderkitten teammies in our Strava group, and I wanted to get in the habit of uploading my rides again, so I took it on Monday's ride.

I headed out for a typical Marblehead loop around the harbor and out to Peach's Point... very cold. My nose started pouring like a faucet, and after sniffling for miles, and my head starting to ache, I attempted my first ever snot rocket.

I was not very successful.

I became fixated with the snot covering my sleeve, and in my hair, and narrowly missed a wall on Beacon Street. I jerked my handlebars a little too much to avoid the wall, but crashed. (More like a spill than a crash.) Argh. I ended up with a slightly skinned knee.

More annoying -- the screen on my Garmin changed. I hit the return button to get to the previous screen, and all my data was there, so I figured, phew! No problem. I finished my ride, incident free.

After slapping a band-aid on my knee at home, I uploaded my ride to Strava. OMG, the data didn't transfer! 16.2 miles was reduced to 4.1. (Beginning at the point I crashed, flying over the rooftops of Marblehead, ending at home.) The mileage recorded, (and I was able to upload it to Garmin Connect), but the map data was skewed. So frustrating!!!

I really need to make peace with my Garmin in 2015.

Tour de Cure 2014 and a Week of Rides

My busy week ended Sunday with the Tour de Cure for the American Diabetes Association. It was a hectic week after shaking off the RAAM Oregon (Crew) Challenge, and the weather was iffy, but I did manage to get a few rides in, including Friday's ride around Marblehead Neck in a light rain. I fell out of my routine of recording and uploading my rides to Strava -- My Garmin was totally dead since the week before, and I just kept forgetting to recharge it. Of course Ethan joked about it this morning and said, "You know that means your rides didn't happen, right?" (Haha.)

Without the Garmin, I couldn't upload to Training Peaks either, so it looks like I didn't do anything for two weeks. Curiously, though, I didn't hear a peep from my coach. I guess out of sight, out of mind? (Tsk, tsk, Coach. Too busy with your new team?)

Today's Tour de Cure was a great ride along mostly back roads through Topsfield and Georgetown, up to Newburyport. The route takes a few of my favorite roads, and it's been a while since I popped through Newburyport. I rode with a group from SpiderOne Racing the entire morning and it was terrific fun. (We also made a new friend, Keith!) Since I was away for RAAM the weekend before, and Mike was running Trav's Trail Run (also in Newburyport), I cut my ride early to scoot back to Swampscott in time for Chip's lacrosse game. I made it just in time. By the time 8 pm rolled around, I was glad the week was done. It's been crazy.

Day 25: 30 days of Biking, No Garmin No Rules (Sorta)

My ride with friend Carolyn had a twist today when she handed me a "No Garmin No Rules" sticker before our ride. "What does that mean?", I asked... getting a little nervous. 

"You hate your Garmin.", she replied. "It shouldn't be a problem." (True.)

We headed up to Manchester and Singing Beach, which at this point I know the route and mileage pretty well, so I didn't think much of it. We rode at a casual pace, chatting along the way, but not much slower than usual.

We got home in under two hours, but after the ride I felt like something was missing! I couldn't post it on Strava! I started thinking of the credo, "If it's not on Strava, it didn't happen." Oh wow. It nagged at me for two hours.

At 4:30, I needed coffee, so I grabbed the Garmin, rode down to Ocean House Surf and stopped by the beach. 5 miles of poking through town.

Yes. I think I'm a Stravaholic.

#30daysofbiking