Bicycling

When I have time, my favorite outdoor activity is riding my bike. I'm not a speed-demon, but I like to ride at a 15 mph pace, and I can hold that speed for distances up to 50 miles. But, if I'm in an Organized Bike Ride, I'll almost always stop an the rest areas and schmooze with the volunteers! (If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm not going to be coming in first any time soon.)

Join in the ride and pedal to support the fight against diabetes. By riding in the Tour de Cure, you will join over 20,000 other cyclists riding for a cure and riding to increase awareness of this deadly disease.

Did you know that more Americans die every year from diabetes than die from breast cancer and AIDS combined? Your efforts can make a difference to 17 million Americans who suffer from diabetes and the 16 million people in the United States with Pre-Diabetes.

Across the nation, riders at over 70 locations will be pedaling to find a cure, support education and advocate for those with diabetes.

Organized Bike Rides

I love organized bike rallies and you can find me in one almost any weekend that I'm in town. Leesa will usually join me. I usually do the sixty mile range, but I can go in excess of 100 miles. After an accident in 1998, I'll usually sit at the back of the pack and let the maniacs fight for the front.

When I lived in Texas, I would pick my bike rides from information found at the excellent Bicycle Stuff by John Sadowski. Now that I'm in New Orleans, I am a member of the Crescent City Cyclists and attend their rides. I miss the broad variety of rides we had in Texas!

My Equipment

In 1998, I replaced my very large, pink Nashbar touring bike with a new, deep blue, REI Novara Strada aluminum road bike. Leesa and I were at our local store during their winter sale, and they had the one XL size frame left and were selling it at half price. I couldn't pass it up! Later that day, the new Nashbar catalog came in and they had Spinergy carbon fiber wheels on sale, so I ordered those as well. It's a pretty unique bike, so, if you're looking for me on a ride, I don't think you'll have any problem finding me.

I am also a member of the Brooks saddle cult. These are old-style tensioned leather saddles, held together with copper rivets. You either love them, or think they are designed to be "ass-hatchets." These saddles are tough to find, but I got mine at Wallingford Bicycle Parts, who have an excellent selection and friendly service. Bill Laine lives in New Orleans now, and I'm looking forward to riding with him.

	La Squadra from the Brisbane Cycling Team. A gift from Leesa's parents and my favorite cool weather jersey. A bright Yellow please don't hit me! jersey.
	A team Australia jersey, which surprisingly gets lots of comments, even though I don't think it's authentic. The USA Team Trials jersey is pretty old at this point, but I still think it's cool.

Bike Repair

I also like to do some light repair work on my bike. A lot of what I know is courtesy of T. Patrick Bailey Jr.'s excellent WWW Bike Repair Shop, however, it's getting kind of worn down. It appears that Patrick has other things to attend to (like maybe school). Otherwise it's an excellent source of information on everything from small repairs, to exactly what tools you'll need if you want to open a bike repair shop of your own. Here some other preferred links: