It's Gonna Take Longer Than Anticipated

Well, it seems that when I ordered my Arabesque group last November (off of ebay), it came with shifters which may be the clamp on type and not the braze-on type, which is what i need. I've been searching a lot today to try and figure out if I can get some sort of adapters that will allow me to use what I have. The original shifters that came off of the bike could possibly go back on the bike, but some of the internal pieces are breaking, so I'm not too sure if they will still be usable.

Then, last night while searching on ebay, I found some Arabesque shifters, and not knowing that thre were different types (clamp-on and braze-on), I bought them. So, I will be getting a set of clamp-on shifters that won't work on this bike. Oh well, I'll just list them on craigslist/BF and/or back on ebay. I'm still in the search for shifters....

I'm going to take the frame by my LBS tomorrow and have them clean out the seat tube - the powdercoater painted some inside and I can't get the seatpost installed. I'll also have them check out the bottom bracket area as well to make sure my BB will install. Maybe I can get the BB, crankset, headset, and derailleurs installed this weekend. I hope so. And get the bars wrapped.

Ordered some stuff from ProBikeKit this week too. Should be getting some Vittoria Rubino Pro tires in white and a set of Look KeO Classic pedals in black. They didn't have any Ambrosio White bartape:(. I'm gonna order some whenever it's in stock again....

Half Of The New Parts Are Here

Wow! I got some of my parts that I ordered last Friday. Parts have arrived from BikeTools.com. Guess I should get busy cleaning the rear wheel, huh? I can't really do anything else till I get the stuff from LooseScrews, which includes some tools for installing the bottom bracket and taking off the existing freewheel.

I might have something ready to go by this weekend! That would be awesome! A new bike for my birthday:).

I Gots A New Toy!

A while back, like last October/November, I had been doing some research on dslr cameras. I had pretty much narrowed my choices down to the Canon Rebel XTi or the Nikon 40D (I think). Then, I up and purchased a PowerTap SL the first of November and thought I better wait a while before I made any more large purchases.

My husband asks me this past Saturday what I would like for my birthday, which is coming up this weekend. I haven't a clue. So, he tells me that he's thinking of getting me this camera because of the things he knows I really enjoy, cycling and photography are my favorites. Awesome!! We purchase the camera and kit, which includes a very large carrying case, UV filter, and an extra battery/charger, as well as a 2G compact flash card. Sweet deal - got about $120 off of normal retail price.

Since it did cost a bit, he tells me that it is a combination of birthday, Valentine's, Anniversary, Mother's Day gift! That's cool with me.

Without further ado - I am the proud new owner of a Canon Rebel XTi!! So much to learn now - I'll have to learn how to use this thing in manual mode cause it's not something to be using the Auto mode in...hell, I've got a P&S for that:).

My New "Old" Bike

I was gifted a bike by glenng (BikeForums member) back in November that was initially to be my "beater" bike. It is a Lotus Excelle and I don't really know any more about it. Serial number is Y6N 759. When I received it, it had rust on it, scraps/scratches, paint missing, etc. I was very grateful for the gift, but my personality is such that I just couldn't stand the "beater" look. I was probably never going to ride it like that.

Very soon after receiving the bike, I purchased a partial Arabesque group off of ebay because I had decided I wanted to make this a nice bike. I had initial thoughts of trying to clean it up and slap the group on there and riding it, but never did - just didn't have the time required to clean it and I still needed some parts. Instead, the bike sat around my house for almost 2.5 months before I decided that I would just find someone to do the stripping and painting.

I took it to a local powdercoater last week and got the frame/fork back on Wednesday. All I can say is Wow!! I had it painted a bright red and I have plans to use white cable housings, bartape, and saddle. I have cleaned up the front wheel using Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish and need to work on the rear wheel this weekend. The brakes need cleaning as do some of the other parts that I will be keeping (seatpost, stem, handlebars). I also don't know whether to keep the headset or get something new. I have no idea if it's still good or not. Today, I ordered, hopefully, all the remaining parts I will need to build it up.

So, I will have something to work on for the next couple of weeks. Gonna be a real learning experience, as I have never built up a bike, but it should be lots of fun.

Here are some of the before/after & Arabesque pictures. I'll try to post more as it gets built.

Snow?? What Snow?? & Chilly Riding!

Yea, snow??? What damn snow?? Again, we are just teased by the white stuff here in Eastern NC. It didn't start snowing here till around 5pm Saturday and then it doesn't stick, but just melts because it's been raining all day and too warm lately. It did eventually cover the ground in a nice white blanket, but when I got up this morning, it was all gone! OK...how 'bout a really good snowfall for my birthday in 2 weeks?? I think that might make me the happiest.

It was pretty cold this morning, but the sun was out and there were no clouds in the sky. I finally felt good, after being sick Friday night and Saturday and not eating very much yesterday. I was hungry this morning, had a good breakfast (the usual) and thinking about riding....after some encouragement from a fellow BikeForums member, I got dressed and decided to go out for just a ride around town. I was a bit overdressed in the torso and underdressed in my legs. I wore a Craft ls baselayer, ss jersey, ls fleece top, PI Gavia jacket, polertec-type neck gaitor, PI beanie, Lands' End fleece lined, windproof gloves, PI shorts, Performance Triflex tights, 2 pr of wool socks, toasties and booties. Nothing was cold except my legs and toes. The toes eventually got warmed up after about 25-30 minutes. The wind was rough too - riding into 15mph winds for half of the ride.

I was going to go to the gym this afternoon, but will wait and go tomorrow. I told the SU (spousal unit) that I had joined the Rex Wellness Center on Friday. He, surprisingly, said he wanted to go as well. That's good. Peak Fitness is a hole in the wall here in Clayton. No classes, young people working there as "trainer" types, just not conducive for getting me to go there. Rex has trainers with 4 year college degrees and the atmosphere is just so much better. It's farther away from home, 12-13mi, but I could take half hour lunches and go after work and be home by 5:30pm. We'll see how it goes. I really want to get in there and work on the weights, hopefully, getting a bit stronger and also helping in my weightloss quest. 18 pounds to go.....

Picture from today's ride:

Eating Healthy, Losing Weight?

OK, I seriously have to start eating better! I am trying to do this, but it's hard to do when the rest of your family doesn't care to eat better. I'm the only one that's trying to lose weight and trying to train for the rides I want to do this year. Not sure how to go about getting the others to change the way they eat. Like right this very minute, just as I'm typing this post up, the kid and husband are noshing on Bojangle's Gravy Biscuit, Chicken Fillet sandwich and french fries. Am I eating any? Hell no. That's not part of my diet. Our supper is about the only good meal for the rest of the family.

I don't eat out at fast food places unless it's some place like Wendy's, where I'll have a Spicy Chicken sammich, baked tater or salad with it. No Hardee's, McDonald's, Burger King, etc. Lunches are usually brought from home or ocassionally I'll have something from the local Hibachi Japanese place (hibachi chicken/scallops with veggies and about .5 to .75c of rice with it). Other than that, I'm a brown bagger:)

This morning, I'll probably just continue to have some saltine crackers since I was sick last night. Even if I weren't sick, I wouldn't be eating that stuff. I think I either had a 24hr virus last night or got sick from the stuff I ate last night. I had fixed this Taco bake stuff (Kraft Mac 'n Cheese, hamburger w/taco seasoning, layered with together with cheese and topped with salsa & more cheese) Wednesday evening, didn't fix any supper (because I wasn't riding today), so I had leftovers. That mess is going in the trash.

So, back to the eating better part...to give you an idea of how I eat I'll list what I've eaten this week and this is similar to my usual eating habits:

Breakfast (6am):
Low-Cal Thomas whole grain English muffin, 2 slices turkey bacon, egg or
1c cooked oatmeal with .5tbsp Smart Balance butter, honey, cinnamon, raisins, chopped walnuts and .25c 1% milk
16oz water

Snack (9am):
Usually a banana or apple
24oz water

Lunch (12pm or 1pm on lunch-time ride days):
Nature's Own whole wheat bread with Boar's Head turkey, baby Swiss, 1 tbsp mayo, mustard
Piece of fruit.
Will alternate with large salad w/ tomatoes, bell pepper, broccoli, cukes, 1 tbsp cheddar cheese & chopped egg. Newman's Lite Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing
16oz diet sundrop

Snack (3-4pm):
Yoplait yogurt (digestive health kind) or
8 Wheat Thins with a triangle of low-cal/fat Laughing Cow cheese or
banana
16oz water

Supper (6pm):
Some sort of grilled/baked chicken, pork loin chop, or fish
2-3 veggies
decaf ice tea or water

Snack (8-9pm):
Yoplait yogurt or
banana

Sometimes, I don't have this last snack (or any of the snacks!) tho. Just not hungry sometimes. I don't know, I'm just frustrated with trying to eat well and not getting much support at home. "let's have Mexican tonight", "let's order Papa John's", etc. How do I get around this?

I guess I am eating pretty well, whatcha think?? But, I'm not losing the weight as fast as I want to. Maybe going to the gym and doing weights will help this along. I'm trying to ride the bike 3x during the week and the weekends, with longer (3+ hr) rides one of the weekend days. I've got 20# (at least, then re-evaluate) still to lose and would like to have this done by my planned WNC ride in May. I guess it's possible to do so in 4.5 months.

(not done, but will go ahead and post this...will add more later)

Snow??

Snow?? Hell no. :(. Wintry mix was forecast for today, but alas, all we get is rain. Not that we don't need some rain around here, but I really do want some snow!!! The last great snow we had in the Raleigh area was in January 2000. Seven farkin' years ago!!!! Sigh. Just give me 8-12" of snow on a Thursday morning and I'll be just as happy/ecstatic/giddy as a 7yo. Then I'll be ready for the faux Spring and hot Summer to arrive....maybe sometime before March we'll get some snow. If I see any snow on my trip to the foothills Saturday, I'll have to get some pics!!

So, I get no snow today, only rain, and I therefore, cannot ride. Guess that's OK. I'll ride on Friday. Yesterday, when I rode, I tried to scout out roads which would be good for doing my intervals on. I think I've found one or two, about a 15-18min ride from work. Means that I will have to take a longer lunch on interval days. The one I've found that I think will work well, is ride out Rock Quarry to Battle Bridge to Brown's Field (think that's the name) and start the interval on this road. I'll take this road to Old Baucom and ride till I get 8-10min worth of interval done. Good thing about this section of roadway is the pavement is way smooth, there's 2' of pavement beyond the white line, and it's somewhat up grade, and very low traffic. I can ride up for the interval and soft pedal back down for the rest period.

Snow?? There is now the possibility of snow on Saturday, supposedly starting as rain and turning to snow later in the morning. I was supposed to go visit with my Dad then, but I think I'm going to call him and reschedule. I don't want to have to drive there & back in that weather nor do I want to get stranded up there. I really don't want to go at all, for reasons I won't post here, but it's something that I am going to have to do.

Since I'm not riding Saturday (most likely) I might just see how the legs feel for doing an interval or two tomorrow on the new route. They may say "No!" but then again, it could be a "maybe". Just have to see.