My New Bike

I have been wanting a new bike for awhile now and finally took the plunge. There is a lot of talk about carbon this and carbon that as far as high end bikes go. I have known too many people who have cracked, smashed, or otherwise destroyed their carbon frames when they have crashed in races or training. I had decided to get something either Aluminum or Titanium. Luck for me my bike team is sponsored by a great little frame builder up in Massachusetts, Spooky Bikes. http://www.spookybikes.com/

I had it built up with Dura-Ace 7900 drive train, Feather brake calipers, 3T handle bars and stem, and the Edge 2.0 fork. I used the Fizik Aliante saddle I had and with my race wheels the weight came in at 15 lbs 13 oz. I am not a big weight weenie, but I very pleased with the build.

I have been riding it for just over a week and I am very happy with its performance. The most noticeable difference is its stiffness. I get out of the saddle to sprint or accelerate up a climb it seems to just jump from underneath me and all I have to do is hang on. It is probably a little more harsh over long distances, but I did a 90 mile ride this weekend and did not feel too beat up. It is definitely a race bike, so I was not expecting it to be the most comfortable ride out there. The next test will be racing this weekend with a crit, time trial and road race on tap.

Thank you Spooky Bikes for sponsoring our team, and thank you Bikes and More for building up the bike.

St. Augustine July 17-18 2009

I have been slacking on my blog duties, so I am trying to catch up this week. Theresa and I took off for the weekend on July 17 and 18 to visit the city of St. Augustine. We dropped off Sadie in the morning at a really great little puppy hotel just out of town and headed to the beach.

Our plan was to dip out toes in the Atlantic in the afternoon, but as is typical down here this time of year we were thwarted by a thunder storm. We checked into the hotel and watched the Tour de France stage. The rain had passed by dinner and we headed out to explore. I took this picture as we were headed back to the hotel. It is actually looking East and the thunder heads were picking up the reflection of the sunset to the West. Notice the rainbow cutting across the clouds.

Sunday we spent the day walking down St George St in the downtown area.

We stopped by the Spanish Quarter Museum in the morning before the crowds and spent a bit of time talking to the interpreters. We got our name written by the calligrapher and he kept giving us a hard time about it being a British name.

We also visited the oldest wooden school house. It is amazing to me that these old wooden building are still standing, and great to see how they have been preserved.

After lunch we decided to head down to the Lightner Museum. It is housed in an old hotel from the turn of the century. I didn't catch when it was actually built. They allowed as much photography as desired so I took advantage of the opportunity to capture some beautiful examples of furniture and stained glass.

After the museum we saw another thunder storm headed our way so we decided to head back to pick up Sadie. It was a fun weekend and we definitely want to go back to explore more of the area. There is an old Spanish fort, a light house, and lots more art galleries to see. We also need to get a chance to dip our toes in the ocean.

For the rest of the pictures I took, mostly of St George Street and the Museum, check out my album on Picasa. http://picasaweb.google.com/ksr321/StAugustineJuly2009#