Bike, Stuff, And Prep for A New Year of Running.

Where Cheryl and Ethan's Stuff goes

Yesterday was a busy day.   We finally cleared out our stuff from the shed and had Stuff Etc.  come pick it up.   The guys where very cool about everything and carried it all off to the Coralville store for processing.  With a little luck, we will break even for the cost of them coming to pick it up...and possibly even have a little left over. (Our furniture always sells quickly there.)

Pick up was EASY.  No coupon needed.

With all that clutter out of the shed,  I could finally focus on repairing my bike.  It has been a long and rough road for the Giant Green Monster,  but Cheryl finally allowed me to get it fixed.   I knew it was missing several spokes, possibly had a broken axial, off line front tire and sticking brakes.

World of Bikes.   Where Bikes go to get Better

When informed of the "known" problems,  the mechanic suggested we ditch the rear wheel completely and put on a better, stronger, heavier duty one for "chubby guys like me" ( my words, not his) It is double walled for strength and has a built in bearing that is stronger because it is part of the actual wheel.

New Rear tire. rim. axial, and Cassette

 He also noticed that my rear wheel was showing the "wear lines" and suggested I replace the tread. ( outer wheel casing)

Even looks new from the side!

He said if you break more than three spokes,  there is probably a serious problem with the rim itself.   (I did not tell him that I had probably replaced almost a dozen spokes since I purchased the bike two years ago.)  We talked about other upgrades before he suggested I may want to consider a new bike altogether.   For the cost of the repairs,  I could understand why.

Close up of the new Tire Tread 

Old tire on the front was still good.

I decided against it...for now.   But the possibility for next year may still be there.   We shall see how the new tire fares against my "Heavy" abuse. There is a new 29 " tire with disk brakes that has captured my attention.  Very impressive.

New Bar Mitts protect from the elements.

With  the newly fixed bike in tow,  we ran in our usual place in Coralville.   A freshly repaired bike is a DREAM to ride upon.   I never realized just how much work I had been exerting to pedal that broken rear tire!  The new axial and rim is wonderful.   Similar to floating on a cloud.  I also purchased a pair of bar mitts for the colder days.   Sure, I have heavy mittens.  And I used them for an entire year before realizing that they kinda suck.  They hamper my dexterity and make my hands sweat...which eventually makes them cold.   So far, I'm impressed with the Bar mitts.  They are roomy and allow me to remove my hands and do things easily.   They are airy enough to allow my hands to breath and keep dry.   I'll have to report back on how they perform at keeping my hands warm....but they do keep them out of the wind...  one of the biggest factors while riding in the cold.

Our First Planned Run of 2017....Other than Boston. Running naked in the cold does not sound fun. 

So, Tomorrow we leave for the Fleet Feet New Year's Day Dash in Wisconsin.  It will be our first run of 2017.   Tomorrow will probably be spent traveling and trying to sum up the 2016 year.   There were lots of up and downs...  mostly downs to recount and hope for a better year coming up.  With Boston on the calendar,  there is much to look forward to.   I would hope that all of the trouble 2016 had to offer will pay dividends in the upcoming year.  We shall see.

Merry Christmas everyone!

So! What do you say about the best Christmas ever! ( ok, at least the best one in recent memory). Remember how back in June how we sold all of our stuff to move to Iowa? Well, we got it all back...or at least most of it. And the best part is that it is all NEW! IT is true we did not have a tree this year, nor did we wrap any packages. I just went around and put a big red bow on all the stuff that Stockings were able to buy for us. Our Kitchen with the tables, stools, shelves, and all the stuff on it ( except the fish) Popcorn popper, and cutting board. For the holidays we made cookies! Then in the living room, we bought a new TV, TV stand, coffee table, lamps, and sofa! Basically everything in the living room is new ( except the cats) then the bed room. I'm not sure if I posted any pictures of us sleeping on the floor ( it was kind of depressing and embarrassing at the same time) but now we have a bed, dresser, nightstands, and new lamps. Even the book shelves are new! It's funny how you really appreciate stuff when you don't have a nightstand for your lamp or a bookshelf for your Manga collection. Anyway, we were very blessed this Christmas in many ways and not just the stuff. I normally don't like getting too spiritual, but God was guiding us along this narrow path all the way and has given us back everything we lost and then some! I'm not sure if many people will ever understand the uncertainty of what we were doing or where we were going. And you would have to be pretty self centered to think that you were in control the entire time. But enough of that, Let's just say we had a wonderful and bountiful Christmas and we hope that everyone who is reading this blog had the same. Merry Christmas everyone! And Lets all look forward to a wonderful new year!