I have been debating whether to buy a new bike computer, or use my old Cateye Micro CC-6000. The Cateye Micro CC-6000 is probably around 15 years old, maybe more. I was looking around and saw that new bike computers seem to be a lot cheaper than when I bought the Cateye Micro. I don’t remember what I paid for it, but I seem to remember that it wasn’t cheap. Many of the new bike computers also seem to be wireless. That would be cool. Of course, the wireless models are more expensive. A wireless model might be better for my mountain bike. But then I already own the Cateye Micro. I will probably just hookup the Cateye Micro for the time being. Since it has been sitting around in a box for at least 13 years, the battery is probably dead. Maybe at lunch, I will pick up a new battery for it just in case. Then tonight, I can work on getting the unit installed on my bike. If it doesn’t work, I can always buy a new wireless model.
I wanted to get a cable lock for my bike, so I can ride it to some stores, do a few errands, and ride it home. I hesitate to even ride it to the restaurant where my wife works to have lunch until I can lock the bike up outside for the short time I am inside. So after work, I stopped at the local sporting goods store to see what cable locks they had. The had a small selection. Most were either Master Lock brand or Kryptonite. The cables came in sizes from wimpy, to extremely heavy. They also had some U-Lock type locks as well. I bought a combination cable lock made by Master Lock. It was 5 feet long, and 5/16 inch in diameter. It also came with a bracket to mount it to the seat post. I brought it home, and tried to mount the bracket to the seat post. But the seat post was a smaller diameter than the bracket was designed for. The instructions suggested using a rubber shim. So I ran around the house looking for a piece of rubber I could use. A piece of old innertube would have been perfect but I didn’t have one. I tried some weather stripping, but it compressed to much. Finally I found a foam outlet plate backing thing. I cut a couple pieces off of this, and it would work. But not with the bracket attached to the seat post, I had difficulty attaching the cable lock for storage. If the bracket was too low on the post, the lock wouldn’t slide into the place. If I moved it up a little but, I couldn’t slide the lock on as the reflector was in the way. I don’t want to remove the reflector. I moved the reflector up as high as it would go, but this didn’t solve the issue. I looked for other places to mount the bracket, but didn’t find a place that would be very good. So I an going to return the unit to the store, and maybe try another model. Maybe a Kryptonite.
I have been wanting to get a new bicycle for quite a while now. I used to have a Trek road bike over 12 years ago when I lived back in Seattle. But when we moved across country, I didn’t bring it. I have been thinking that riding a bike might help me in my training to climb Mt Rainier next year, as well as climbing the Adirondack high peaks. It wont hurt my karate, or general fitness either. I have been watching bikes on eBay, and actually bid on a cheap bike, but got outbid. But I went down to Dick’s Sporting Goods, and they had a pretty good selection of bikes. I don’t need a $2000 bike. But I do want a quality bike. I know Diamondback is a decent brand of bike, or at least it was a dozen years ago when I used to ride. The Diamondback Sorrento is nothing fancy, but is a solid basic mountain bike. I have never own a mountain bike. Heck, I had never even ridden a mountain bike before. The frame is all aluminum, and it came fitted with Shimano hardware. The Sorrento comes in several different colors. Mine is Electric Blue. It cost $289 plus tax.
As I said, I haven’t had bike for over 12 years, so I haven’t ridden a bike for that long. I took my new bike out for a ride. I guess it is like they say…it’s like riding a bike. It was a short ride of about 2 miles. I rode to the top of a local hill. I had the bike in the lowest gear in spots on the way up. When I got to the top, I turned around and came flying back down the hill…well not too fast as I am still feeling out the bike. I had the bike in top gear, and was spinning the cranks. Even with the short ride, I was feeling it in my quads. I guess I was hitting different parts of the quads than I am using while running, or doing karate. Good!
Come next year, I am going to be in the best shape of the my life!