Our bicycle Hash House Harriers club had a big ride Sunday. The next one is the 9th of October, two Sundays from now. Two friends, Theresa and Angie, founded the bike hash in October 2006, so the next ride (we call it a bash, which is also shorthand for the club itself) is our 10th anniversary bash. Neither founder lives in Tucson now, but they’re flying back for this event and will lay trail for the rest of us.
Since I live here and have helped to keep the bash going over the years, I’m assisting with the setup, going out later this morning to scout possible trails and borrowing a bike for Angie to use. We have an extra bike, but it’s been claimed by our granddaughter Taylor, who’ll be here that weekend and wants to bash too.
Did I mention Angie and Taylor are both staying with us the weekend of the October bash? Oh, and also our goddaughter Natasha and her little girl Georgianna, although they’ll mostly be out of town on side trips to Sedona, Flagstaff, and Albuquerque. That’s October in southern Arizona for you: visitors arrive and license plates change colors.
Back to the bikes. On our last trip to Las Vegas we put our old hybrid bikes in the back of the truck and turned them over to Gregory and Beth. We’re down to three bicycles now: my mountain and my roadie, Donna’s roadie, and Polly’s roadie (which for now still hangs on a hook in our garage).
Last time Angie was here for a visit and a bash she rode Polly’s bike, which wasn’t shifting right. I took it to the bike shop earlier this week and had it adjusted, so it’s ready now for Taylor to use on the 9th. I thought about putting the seat down on my mountain bike for Angie to use, but my bikes have super-tall frames and even with the seats down wouldn’t be a good fit. Another friend came through with a bike for Angie to use and I’m going to pick it up this weekend. I just hope I don’t have to replace any tubes or tires.
I mentioned in an earlier post that Polly had checked in. She said she was coming by to fetch the rest of her things, including her bike. We asked her if we could keep it until the bash was over and our visitors gone. I think she said okay, and in any case she hasn’t shown up. If she does come between now and then, maybe Taylor will fit on my mountain bike with the seat down … she’s taller than Angie.
You must be pretty bored with bicycle news by now, but there’s one more story to tell, this time about the stationary bicycle at Anytime Fitness. The franchise I go to is owned by friends, and it has three stationary bikes: two recumbents and one upright. I like to spend 20-30 minutes on the upright, first thing when I go in the morning. For the longest time there was never any competition for it, but lately two or three other members, all guys, have started using it and sometimes they’re on it when I show up. Yeah, I can work out on the treadmill or other machines while I wait, but it upsets my routine, and one of those guys puts in an hour on the bike … it can be a very long wait. The other day he was on it when I got there, showing no signs of quitting anytime soon, so I got on one of the recumbent bikes. My knees hated it and my feet kept slipping out of the pedals, even with the straps tightened. There was no place to prop my Kindle. I hated it. So before I left that day I found a scrap of paper and left a note for Dave and Nancy, the owners: “Please get another upright exercise bike! Recumbents suck big time! Signed, your friend Paul.”
Consider rowing. Much better workout than biking.
Where do you prop your Kindle? NOWHERE, THAT’S WHERE!
That’s why we put the rowing machine in front of the TV and put Buffy in the DVD player!