Aug 04 (Morning)

FINALLY back on the bike again this morning! Friday’s ride home was cut short due to my second broken spoke. Then, Monday I didn’t ride as it was a holiday (and we were touring the Highland Valley copper mine that day). Tuesday Joe and Tammy came to visit (they’re from Nova Scotia), so I went to work early to leave early and thus I took the truck. So, this morning I finally got back on the bike.

Corrie and I bought a couple of heart rate monitors last week used off of Kijiji (well, opened but never used really so in great shape). They are Bios Fitness wrist watch monitors with chest straps. They’re nothing fancy by any stretch, but for $8 each I couldn’t argue. What better way to get into heart rate awareness than that? So, this morning’s ride was my first with the monitor. According to the basic formula, may maximum according to my age should be 188bpm. I hit about 190 coming down a hill out of Juniper (what?!?). Other than that, I was probably running about 85% the majority of the ride. Apparently, for losing fat, I’m supposed to keep it around 70%, but I find that unrealistic. Well, maybe I could do it if I took another 30 minutes or more riding to work very slowly… I did find it interesting, though, that the entire climb up out of Peterson’s Creek I was hovering around 175-180bpm (about 90-95%). I mean, I know it’s a tough climb, but I thought some of the other climbs were harder, yet I was usually around 75-80% elsewhere. Apparently I work the hardest up this section.

The ride was really good, a lot of fun. I just about made it up out of Peterson’s creek (about 1/2 the way up the bank), but I did make the rest of the climb which was cool.

Unfortunately, as I started riding up Summit I felt a bump bump bump on my back wheel. I got off and checked it out, and now my rear tire has started to separate from the bead!!!

Already my third setback in less than 2 weeks!

I did check, and I’ve put on 850kms on this tire since I bought it. Is that good? I don’t know. I would think that separation like this shouldn’t happen this quickly. The tread wearing down, maybe I could understand after close to 900kms. But to be falling apart? I wonder if I shouldn’t write WTB and complain? I know that this tire is a bear to get on/off the rim, so maybe in doing so multiple times these last few weeks I damaged the bead with the tire levers, I’m not sure. But now with 2 spokes, and this tire, I’m starting to get a bit frustrated. I am just about at 2000kms so far on this bike, so I suppose that’s a lot for an entry level bike with a Clydesdale rider on top, eh?

As the tread was getting low, so I did ask Brad and Taboo to order me in a new one while I was there this weekend. However, I will now have to throw on my old tire (the IRC which was cracking pretty good, why I replaced it in the first place). So, Corrie will come up tonight and give me a ride home (I don’t really want the tube blowing out, both because I just bought this tube, but also because if it does so while I’m riding the edge of Peterson’s Creek, I don’t relish the thought of being flown down to the bottom without my consent…). Well, another day another setback, here’s to hoping I have another good, trouble free month ahead of me after this though!