Day 130: Take An All Day Bike Trip

     This is something that I've been wanting to do for quite some time (about 2 years). It was one of the funnest challenges so far and instead of me blabbering uncontrollably, I'm gonna just show some pictures from the trip and keep the blabbering to a minimum.
Heres the hard facts:

its about 24 miles from my house to the city of Boulder  

It took us about 2.5 hours to bike one way

We biked both ways

We biked all around Boulder during our visit

So we biked around 5 hours and over 50 miles for this challenge

I hope I don't forget this

I like it

Day 79: Learn How To Wheelie

  









     I went on a bike ride with my little brother (Sean) after spending a good chunk of the day skating around. We biked to my work so I could pick up my check and we enjoyed a complementary scoop of ice cream. Sean got the icing on the cake flavor and I went with an old favorite, Jamoca Oreo. We biked around for a while behind the strip mall where I work. I've always wanted to be able to wheelie on a bike but have never came close. So, thats what I spent the next 30 minutes trying. I determined the rules beforehand; I would try to wheelie for two parking spaces, only my back tire could be in contact with the ground and my front tire had to be airborne before the first parking space and I had to keep it off the ground till after the last parking space line. I decided to use the bike that Sean was on cause it was way smaller and would be easier to lift off the ground. I tried to balance through the parking lot long enough to break a sweat. Its surprisingly hard to get past the first parking space, and it takes a considerable amount of strength and balance to keep that wheelie going strong. Eventually I got it. I just barely got past that last yellow line and it sure wasn't pretty, but I got it. My foot flung off the pedal but never touched the ground, so I count it. Yeah I know, this is another lame challenge. All I can say is that it was too beautiful of a day to be stressing over this project.

Just hangin around

Day 69: Break The Thornton Speed Record (Bike)

     Let me start this blog off by stating that I failed this challenge. Don't go on reading and thinking that I did something cool today. I just want to soften the blow and let you all know that I tried, and I failed. But thats O.K. thats what this project is about. Its about trying, not necessarily succeeding. I wanted to break my old speed record on my bike. My record is 32 miles an hour, or so says the light up speed control sign that you see in neighborhoods. I've wanting to beat that record for a while but I have yet to do so. So, after work last night, I rode my bike to death hill (I just made that name up) with Jared. He rode his old Target issued moutain bike with rusty shocks and I took the stealthy Shwinn intersection. We took turns trying to beat the the record. My highest speed was 29 miles an hour and Jared's was 24. I was hallin' balls and breaking a sweat but I was still a solid 4 miles short of my goal. I saw a car speed through the street and the sign registered a "Slow Down" message instead of the actual speed of the car. Thats when I figured that this particular sign only went up to 29 miles before telling you that your speed is just reckless. That was a bit of a set back. Finding out that the sweat I just broke was for nothing is never fun. So I failed the challenge, but it wasn't all that bad. I got to ride my bike, and I'm getting in the riding condition for summer. And you know what summer means, a whole mess of bike ridding challenges. Can't wait.