Monday, November 24, 2008

"I Did Fun."

Not a lot to report for the week of work.  Lots of problems to solve around the office and more people are getting to know me and I’m getting to know them.  Tonia has been busy cooking me many good suppers and getting the house organized.  

Once again we tried to bike to the countries largest municipal park called South Mountain.  Last time we tried we just didn’t go, this time we got going around 8:30 am Saturday and made our way through the maze of the downtown’s one-ways and construction.  Once we got on the bike lane of Central Ave we moved at a pretty good pace.  Here’s a pic of our destination: the mountains in the distance.


Here’s Tonia rocking along behind me.


We hit a roadblock when we suddenly ran out of bike lane and were forced to turn around only a mile and half from where we wanted to be.  The road was just too busy to ride without the comfort of a bike lane.

We turned around and headed back home with Tonia setting the pace. 


When we were getting close to downtown Tonia noticed my tire was a little squatty.  We pulled over and sure enough I had a flat.  Luckily from my experience with Dave on a ride through Sabin I was prepared with my hand pump, tube and tire tool.  After a quick change we were back on the road.  We road home and sure enough what ever was in the tire was still there and I was flat again as we rolled into the house.  I took the tire off and found the tiniest little bastard sticking into the tire enough to flatten the second tube.  Not sure what it was but I had to use a tweezer to get it out.  I put in a third tube complete with self sealant, thanks Brian!  All in all it was a 14 mile loop.  Not too bad for Tonia’s VT training.

Tonia has gotten a job walking dogs for Fetch PetCare so she went off to training and I chilled around the house.  She hasn’t gotten any assignments yet, but I’m sure it will be cool to see different area’s of PHX.  When she got home we went to eat at Red Robin and I can only say, “That place never disappoints!”

Sunday I rode to my office on my own just to get a feel for how long it will take.  It took about a half hour to get there and I was in pretty good shape.  I rode home hard and shaved ten minutes off my time.  Once home Tonia and I chilled for a bit then took off to Papago Park to do some mountain biking. 

Papago is rated mostly with beginner tracks and easy rides.  Tonia and I bounced around a bit and still didn’t ride a third of what the park had to offer.  It was only about 6 miles we rode but Tonia rode all the down-hills and most of the climbs.  A few of which were very technical and covered with loose rock and sand.  We took it easy and Tonia’s quote was, “I did Fun.”  I assume it was a combination of I had fun and I did good. 



Here a few pics of what we saw on the ride. 


 


Till next week.

4 comments:

Simmons said...

Way to get out on the bikes Litchys! Glad you learned your lesson Trent. I know I have. You two are gonna be in stellar shape come next summer.

My verification word for this comment is "coride". Very fitting. Did I mention I miss you Trent :) I guess you don't know what you have till it's gone :) I cried on my bike ride Sunday.

Brian said...

Excellent update Trent!

Look at Tonia...rockin it in the drops on the road bike and muscling it up the climbs on the mtn bike. She's right, she for sure did fun.

Hopefully those sealant tubes work out better. Let me know when you need a case of them. :)

Cycling Scribe said...

Dave- It was really sad remembering those rides we took together. The Flat in Sabin, or the flies at Maplelag. Such good times.

Brian- I hope I don't need anymore tubes any time soon, but you wouldn't believe the nails on the bike lanes around here.

Heathrow's World said...

I'm enjoying your weekly updates. Its like you're so close, yet so far away...
Good job Tonia! She's gonna rock VT.