Forget this crazy weather- We are RIDING!

Kris and I hit the road this week trying to find a better bike course for our American Fork Duathlon on April 10th.  Construction has forced us to be creative and find something new.  

www.mapmyride.com can be a great tool for mapping a riding course (we have most of our group rides posted on there under profile TREKAF)

http://www.mapmyride.com/user_profile?u=607192876375 

However, it doesn't tell you construction issues or poor quality roads.  So this week we set off on a mission to find the perfect course.  I jumped on my Madone and Kris rode her Cyclocross XO2 (Her new road bike, 6.9 Madone, is being custom made through Trek Project One in Waterloo, WI- It's going to be super cool!)  We rode and found construction, we rode and found narrow roads, we rode some more and found great hills for interval climbs, but ..... still looking for the perfect 15 mile duathlon course. Stay tuned...

On a sidenote: Everytime we stopped for traffic signs, [well.. actually,... Kris is really good at stopping and I am still working on my bad habit of rolling slowly :) through stop signs] I couldn't help but make fun of Kris' noisy brakes.
I am mentioning this because we have had customers bringing their bikes in for service and saying their brakes are noisy during the winter/early spring time.  
Here is the solution:  Wipe off your rims and brake pads!!  This time of year there is so much debris, salt, dirt, etc on the road that the rims are filthy from it.  Also... now is a great time to check your brake pads or stop by and we will check them for you to see if there is enough rubber/cork left to brake safely.      
 
LAMBERT UPDATE:::

We had another fun adventure at Lambert Park yesterday morning.  Here was the route: Started with Middle, (found Rodeo Up was still bad) so we took River back, then up Wildcat, Indian, Zag, down Ziggy, back to Middle, then Lambert's Luge Down (look for green rock on left and then turn left) which connected with High Bench.  As soon as we got on High Bench, I looked back and Kris was right on my tail (she is really fast on the downs) so I guess the "slight competitive" side of me kicked into gear.  I started to pedal faster and took the next corner a little too "hot".  The next thing I know.... I saw alot of mud, a big tree, and a little tree.  Thinking quickly I chose the lesser of two evils and plowed right into the little tree.  See pic below ... tree saved!... bike ok! ... Kris got a huge laugh! ... Pride a little hurt.   

Think I am sticking with road biking the next few days until my balance gets on track and the snow GOES AWAY!! 


Pic- my bike nicely leaned against back of little tree after dismount