Buzzillions Blogs

Competing in the Wildflower Triathlon in May this year, I have to say I felt a little smug. As the designated runner on a relay triathlon team, I had spent $80 on a pair of sweet running shoes, rather than thousands on the gear that seemed to be standard for pro triathletes and weekend warriors alike. The aerodynamic helmets, bouyant wetsuits & aerobars seemed laughably excessive in contrast to the equipment needed for even the longest running race.  Suckers.

Dude, seriously?

Fast forward three months & I found myself shelling out a month’s rent on a brand new road bike.  Ironically, what brought me to this hypocritical juncture was my love of running. My self-diagnosed achilles tendonitis had been hampering me since well before the Wildflower race thanks to up to 50 miles of running a week. With a marathon closing in a few short months, something had to change.  Not quite ready to hang up the racing shoes altogether, I decided to focus on my training on quality, not quantity, with liberal amounts of cross training. I started prepping for my October marathon using the FIRST training program – three days of running and two or three days of cross training every week. The theory goes that cross training allows for better recovery between running sessions & prevents injury. Perfect.

Being a miserable swimmer, I chose biking as my cross training method. After checking reviews & taking the Specialized Allez & the Trek 1.2 WSD for a test ride, I bought the latter at my local bike store in exchange for my minimalist-runner soul & a good chunk of cash. A few days in & my achilles seems a little bit better. Hopefully, this will all pay off come race day. As for triathlons, I don’t see one in my future, but I know better than to say never.

Spring is quickly turning into summer and that means bike season is well under way. Whether you’re a spandex warrior or into tweed rides there’s something for everyone. It’s the time to be out rolling your style, spinning, or mashing. Even Lance is riding right now. The final stage of the Giro d’Italia was Sunday and The Tour de France is coming up in early July.

http://www.astsports.com.au/data/website/Image/Cycling/tour%20peloton.jpg

I’m not a member of the peloton but I do my best to ride to work every day – I’m a strong believer in the bike commute.  Bike commuting is great, it’s good for your health, good for the environment, and in my case it’s actually faster that taking the bus. A pretty sizable proportion of the Buzzillions office bikes to work, most days the office bike rack is overflowing.

As often as I’m on my bike, I don’t get out and ride for fun as much as I’d like.  I just signed up for my first benefit ride, Waves to Wine, what’s better than cycling through wine country and supporting a notable cause at the same time.  The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is putting on the 25th Bike MS: Waves to Wine this September.  175 miles in two days, better start training!

http://sf.streetsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05_28/kid_school.jpg

San Francisco had its first ever Bike to School day on May 28th.  The sf.streetsblog reports that organizers hoped to draw 500 hundred participants from the 22 schools that participated!  Another big SF biking event - Bike to Work day was on May 14th.  The events were really succesful, over 200,000 people rode to work!  It’s really great to see so many people on bikes, and who doesn’t enjoy stopping for bagels and snacks.   Still it is slightly amusing to have someone on the corner yelling “Thanks for riding your bike TODAY!” when it’s nothing out of the ordinary.

Get out and ride!  If you’re not racing that new carbon fiber ride from the future, get out ye olde penny farthing, or just hop on a regular bike and take it out for a spin.  Trust me, it’s fun!