RIDING MY TURBO BIKE

Tom's holiday gift to me was a turbo kit for my bike.

It's not really called that - it's an E Bike conversion.  Tom calls it an assist.  There is a battery and a little button to push which activates the motor and zooom, off I go.  It is a bit of an old lady gift - but with my knees, I'll take it!

It also allows us to expand our ride locales and terrains.  And I admit I have gotten a bit bored with our usual routes. It is especially useful for hill climbing, but was also put to use at the end of the day when I was getting tired and my knees were hurting.  We were able to use a route which had 10% grades as opposed to our usual 1-3% grade rides on the trails.  It is a little bizarre to use the assist.  When I start to bog down I hit the button and the motor just takes off as if am on a moped rather than a bike!

I knew exactly where Tom would take me on our first "assisted ride" and I was right.  He loves going up Dougherty Road through Dublin, San Ramon and into Danville.  The Iron Horse Trail we usually take goes around the hills - we went up and over.  Our 35 + mile ride lasted about 5 hours (with a stop at the Farmer's Market and a couple of drink and snack breaks.)

My gift to him was getting a hitch on my car and a new, smaller bike rack for our 2 bikes so we can travel light when we want to go ride out of the area.  He already has a whole list of new adventures for 2014 lined up!

LATEST BIKE TALE

The holiday weekend was a bust for bike riding due to strong winds so we took time off the bikes and explored a new gym we may join.


Tom and Zac all geared up.


This Saturday Zac was in town to help Tom clean out all the old sports equipment from the garage.  (Since he helps manage 2 after school programs in Salinas, he has been wanting to get that stuff out of our garage and into the hands of  kids who would actually use it.)

So we three set off early Saturday to get a ride in before the promised mid-90's heat descended.  It was nice and cool when we set off for Danville on the Iron Hourse Trail and his youthful exuberence kept us going at a high pace.  We hit the market stalls hard since I had two guys with paneers to fill with fresh produce, then turned back to Pleasanton.  We could feel that the heat was coming on fast - even though it was only about 10am.

We kept up a good pace on the way back and stopped at the BART station in Pleasanton to get some ice added to our now warm water bottles before the last 4 or so miles home.  As we were getting back on our bikes I begain to feel dizzy and was seeing spots.  I am not prone to the vapors - so I was kind of embarrassed.  But would have been more embarrassed if I keeled over on the road!

I had plenty of water sloshing around in my stomach and had eaten several samples of fruit and had a

handful of almonds at the market so I didn't think I needed a sugary drink - for some reason I thought what I needed was something salty, and Fritos seemed just the thing.  We sat in the shade for about 10 minutes and we munched the Fritos and I felt restored and made the ride home with no problem.

We were home by 11:30 and it was already 88 degrees - so I guess I can blame the heat.  I looked around on the internet for answers and it does seem that the salt was a good plan.  So I will consider that when I pack a snack - that is if I ride in the heat again!