The Birth of the Blazing Saddles Bicycle Club?

That’s the best name suggestion I’ve heard for the group of BikeFitness.net regulars who ride together each week.

Sound okay to you guys?

Hmmm. Now we need a logo. Anybody have any artistic skill? Then jerseys.

Here’s a group of us at our unofficial star of spring ride at Stony Creek today. The snow piles may still be there but we insist, from now on… it’s spring!

Time to force start the outdoor riding season!

The 2010 bicycle season officially starts this coming Saturday, March  6. That’s when the Bike Fitness gang heads to Stony Creek Metropark  for a noon ride to officially kick off the outdoor riding season.

We’ve  been riding on and off ever since New Year’s Day but now we’re ready to say spring is here. The temperatures may still be chilly — in the  40s — but who cares? We rode many mornings last year from May through  early July with temperatures in the upper 30s. So we can handle 40 to  be sure.

Want to join us? We meet at the boat ramp at Stony Creek and take off at noon sharp. See you there,

Phoenix, live, rocks French (Yale Daily News)

In September of 2000, France gave us Phoenix; four months later, Apple launched the first version of iTunes. Only recently has Phoenix garnered the praise and attention it has merited; their latest album, “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix,” won the band a Grammy this past January.

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Phoenix, live, rocks French (Yale Daily News)

A winter ride around a frozen lake

Today was my birthday and with my buddy Pat Benson, I celebrated it with a nice brisk ride around Stony Creek Lake. The temperature was 23 degrees.

As a tractor equipped with a rotating brush cleared snow from the frozen lake in front of the boat launch for an ice skating and outdoor hockey rink, we bunded up and circled the lake on the perimeter road. The road was snow and ice free and with a bright sun and very light wind, our extra layers of clothing and baclavas kept us warm and – come the finish – almost sweaty.

It was my first outdoor ride since the New Year’s Day Flying Rhinos event in Clarkston and my knee surgery on Jan. 28th.

I wasn’t sure how the knee would handle the hills. And Pat was coming back from a hospital stay because of an infection. So both of us approached today’s ride with a gingerly caution.  But we both felt strong and probably could have done a couple more loops. No matter how you cut it, riding indoors on a trainer is no substitute for outside.

The knee felt fine and I pronounced myself officially back to normal after today’s outdoor ride.

I also can’t wait now for the outside season to reliably be underway. But even with the cold, today’s ride convinced me that winter doesn’t necessarily have to restrict me to indoor riding.

Alas, though, snow and ice will. And we’re forecast to get 10 inches of snow tomorrow.

Spring, though, is definitely coming.

Fix knee: Check

I’m ready… make that will soon be ready – for biking season 2010 now that I’ve fixed that pesky knee.

Turns out that I had two tears in my meniscus and some gunk that needed scarping. The whole procedure took less than half an hour and as I type this, about 10 hours after the surgery, I’m feeling no pain. I have the knee propped up on three pillows and am icing it.

That’s surely because I’m still pretty doped up.

But I’m able to put some weight on in and hobble around to tend to my needs. Which have been minimal as I’ve spent most of the day sleeping.

Mr ortho doc, Dr. Kyle Anderson, says I can even jump on my stationary bike tomorrow for some light resistence spinning.

And leave it for a biking buddy to be there. When I walked into the hospital at 6AM, guess who was already in the waiting room? Maury Potter. I thought for a minute that Maury was having surgery, too. Nope. He was there for me to offer support. How’s that for a good friend?

Rhino Polar Ride Starts New Year

There were about 135 of us braving a couple inches of fresh and still-falling snow and 23-degree temperature New Year’s Day as the Flying Rhinos Cycling Club welcomed in 2010 with its annual Polar Ride along the back roads of Clarkston, MI.

There were two routes, a 16 miler and an 8-miler, all on slippery road. Lots of riders fell. “It was like sliding into home plate,” said Wayne, one of our riders who, with Tina, went down just before the finish. Maury, another one of our Bike Fitness regulars, also fell… in the parking lot as he took his bike out for a lets-see-what-this-is-like shakedown run. That convinced him to shuck his plans to ride.

I managed to stay upright, though there were several patches of ice that had me swerving.

Here’s a picture of our crew… (click it to enlarge)

That’s (l-r) Wayne, Tina, Mike, Pat, Terry and Tim, with Maury behind the camera.

Pat, Terry and Tim did the 16 miler. I was planning to do the long route, to,  but, about mile two, my feet got so cold I thought my toes would fall off. With Tina and Wayne, I opted for the shorter route. I wore two pair of socks (one of them thermal) and a packet of toe warmers in each shoe but the thin nylon shoe covers I wore just didn’t stop the cold. I need better foot gear if I’m going to continue this winter biking.

I talked with Jeff, from the Kinetics Systems Bicycles store in Clarkston that sponsors the ride and he suggested studded tires. The good ones would set me back $100 a tire and the foot protection would be another $50 or so. I’ll keep that in mind. They’re only good in snow and ice and, the way Michigans weather has been this season, we haven’t had much. Besides, the outdoor season is only two months away. Right?

This is our first involvement with the Flying Rhinos, who have to have the coolest name of any clycling club out there. They had steaming bowls of hot chili at the finish line, along with brownies, hot chocolate, coffee and bagels.

All in all, it was a great start to a New Year, I hope to do at least 3,000 miles this year. Tomorrow, it’s on the indoor trainer.

Happy New Year.

Cold Weather Gear

As a bunch of us get ready for a New Year’s Day ride in the snows of Michigan, Terry Sykes has put together this photo that shows what kind of gear cold-weather riders may want to use.

Click to see full image size.

Darienites bring hope to African orphans (The Darien Times)

Take a look at almost any Darien child’s Christmas list and it will most likely be filled with the latest gadgets and toys; everything ranging from iPhones to Zhu Zhu pets. But according to some Darienites, the best gift you can give your child this holiday season can’t be found at any store.

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Darienites bring hope to African orphans (The Darien Times)

Indoor riding time

The Bianchi Axis is my indoor bike this year, now mounted on my Kurt Kinetics trainer in front of the TV.

As light snow fell outside, I did 45 minutes this morning, my first serious ride since I tore up my knee. It felt good to sweat again, though I must admit, indoor riding getss pretty stale, pretty fast, even with an iPod crankin out the tunes.

I’ve got a bunch of Spinerval DVDs and a new one from an outfit named Epic that I’ll ride along to over the next few weeks.

I’m looking forward to the New Year’s Day Flying Rhinos ride in Clarkston.

Meantime, share your winter training and fitness regimen under comments below.

Clarkston Flying Rhino New Year’s Day Ride it is

It’s a definite yes from me for the Flying Rhino’s Polar Ride in Clarkston, noon, Friday Januaru 1, 2010 at the Independence Elementary School 6850 Hubbard Rd., Clarkston.

There are two routes, a seven miler and a 16-miler. Details and a registration form can be found here.

Pain in my knee permitting, I’m planing on riding the 16 miler. The route is over what are likely to be snow-covered rural dirt roads, unless the always unpredictable Michigan weather turns warm and makes for mud. Either way, mud, snow, blizzar, rain, sun, clouds or blah…. it’s a great way to start the New Year.

I say pain permitting because I can’t get my knee surgery done until sometime in January. The sports medicine doc I saw yesterday said he saw no reason I couldnt do the ride as my knee now is as long as I didn’t overdo it and the pain wasn’t too bad.

That’s all I needed to hear.

Turns out there are three things wrong with my knee, the worst being the torn meniscus. I won’t bore you with the details but the hope is it can all be done arthroscopic. I see the orthopedic surgeon Monday afternoon for the final low down.

So, I’l planning on the ride. Who’s with me? Post under comments below.

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