Alameda Runners – Get After It!

We had an early season ride with the SFTri club today. It was officially called the “Season, Kick-Off ride”. I just love having the season kick off ride in January. We had a great turnout of close to 60 people at the start area. With that many people, we were stretched out all over the place. It was a lot of fun to be out riding with people with so many different riding levels. The ride leaders did a good job keeping us all herded together and not getting lost. As people started signing up, the leaders started adding more information to the ride log. The weather was perfect and the company was great.

I rode along with some people from the PacWest triathlon club. They told me about their masters swim program at the Mill Valley High School. I may join them for a swim some day but I don’t think they have a lane slow enough for me.

I stopped at Bicycle Odyssey in Sausalito to replenish my supplies and fix a flat. Tony the alleged owner was great. He did not have to be so nice to someone who is spending $40 to replenish a bike pouch. He told me what kind of rim tape to use, removed the packaging and lent me a pump to fill my tire. The CO2 bottles cost $4.00 each and are made of metal that has to be recycled. Regrettably, I did not take any pictures of the inside of the store. I will take some pictures, the next time I visit them. It is a truly awesome bike shop. We get so used to the big box stores, we forget about the cool shops that are run by great people who sell things at competitive prices.

Full blog post available after the jump:

It’s fixed!

I got a flat about 15 miles into the ride. It was my second flat in about 50 miles. I rarely get flats. It is really odd for me to get two flats in 50 miles. I am riding on new wheels. I could not understand how I could get flats on a brand new wheel. I voiced this concern to my new best friend Ken who just happened to be a bike geek. He took a close look at my rim when I got my next flat. He noticed how my rim tape was a little thin. He told me that I should replace it as soon as possible. About 5 miles later, I got another flat. This time we were one block from a bike shop. At the bike shop, Ken picked up some bike tape and some other spare parts for me. He saw me digging through my bike bag for money and offered to pay. He took off the old bike tape and saw some dings then found some metal chips under the tape. He fixed the flat and away we went. I am glad that I don’t have to worry about flats anymore.

The worlds friendliest dog

Another new best friend I met today.  This guy was so cool, I spoiled him for about 20 minutes after my ride.