Yesterday evening was the Bow Cycle Customer Appreciation Night. I had received an invitation in my email and I had planned on going, just to be social, since I expected some of my cycling club to be there. The invitation mentioned that there would be discounts on parts and accessories, but I already had a discount as part of my club membership.
I also had a need to get their mechanics to look at the brakes on my commuting bike, so I put the bike rack on the Mazda and threw my bike on there and headed down just after 6. When I got there, it was a zoo. I had to park a block away from the store, and the store itself was a madhouse of people shopping, socializing and waiting in line to pay for stuff. I hadn’t expected that. I got my brakes seen to (they work great now) and then wandered into the crowd.
I knew exactly what I was looking for, so I didn’t fight the crowds to browse. I checked the price on an indoor cycling trainer that I’d identified as what I wanted:
A sales guy came over and started talking with me and I was debating whether or not I wanted to wait in line with a big box; then I found out that I’d save 35% on it for a savings of $129. So he went and got one out of the storeroom and I got in line. I had a nice conversation with an asian woman who was also picking up a number of cycling accessories, so the time went fairly quickly.
So I set it up last night, and tried riding it for a few seconds, and it worked as expected. It’s not as interesting as cycling, but it will help to keep me fit over the winter.
I took my first "spin" on the trainer this morning. The trainer came with an instructional DVD which was a 45 minute workout. It was a good workout with lots of sweat. It pushed my cardio hard. I won’t do a hard workout every time: probably most of the time it will be spinning while watching TV.
Now the weather has gotten nicer. I bought the trainer on Thursday, and I have ridden to work on the Friday and now on the Tuesday. Yes, it’s chilly in the morning, but I’ve got clothing to handle that no problem.
My steering was a little rattly, and the Bow Cycle folks had their service station set up by Ed Worthy Park this morning, so I stopped and they tightened it all up.
That is very convenient! Don’t freeze your nose! We cleaned up leaves and Dad did the haul away. You should have seen the Katsuras this year – all three were beautiful. I do love the colour. How are the colours in Calgary? Have a good week.
Today I bought new tires for my bike. I thought that the rear one looked a little suspicious after I put a grand total of (drumroll please) 820.9 kilometres on the trainer this winter.
The trainer now is going away until next fall.