Eclectic Echoes

This summer I have been riding a new bike for the commute to work and school. It’s been fun in many ways because the bike, a Specialized Tri-Cross, is a capable bike off road as well as being a decent road bike. What’s really nice is the bike feels much better than my older racer when Johann’s tandem attachment is mounted. The racer was so stiff and the geometry of the bike so tight that the tandem swamped it and every movement of Johann made the bike twitchy under me. Very uncomfortable. Tammy, Johann and I have now done a number of family rides to the beach or up River Road and back and the new setup is great.

Today Tammy wasn’t up to a ride, so Johann and I headed out for a ride up River Road. Before we have always stopped just shy of a hill that has a 7% grade and is about 1/4 mile long. Johann wanted to try it today (and last time too) so we charged up with him pedalling the whole way. Since he conquered the hill we went on through Old Mystic and did an errand at the hardware store then went to visit his favorite shop in Olde Mistick Village where he tries to stop in and say “Hi” to the store manager at least once a month.

We looped around and Johann discovered that, besides the sense of accomplishment for climbing the hill, he also gets to “rocket” back down it on the way home.

We also get to look at the statistics of each ride thanks to a Garmin bike computer and MotionBased.com

Clicking through the graphic will take you to the ride at MotionBased.com where you can also “see” the ride.

Last Ride Stats

Date: August 28
Distance: 16.6 km (10.3 miles)
Ride type/Bike: Commute / Tri-Cross
August Distance: 395.8 km (245.9 miles)
Year To Date Distance: 395.8 km (245.9 miles)
Weight Lost/Gained: +0.82 kg (+1.8 pounds)