Thursday is history, Friday is the 13th...

What a busy two days this has been. Yesterday was the day I drove into Flagstaff to pick up my new bicycle. But since I was going "into the big city", I figured I'd get a little shopping done along the way. First stop was Walgreen's where I picked up a few items on sale, next stop was Target. Both were close to the bike shop and had been previously scoped out for location.

Needless to say, I spent too much money at Target but I did pick up some badly needed items as well as a few good things on sale. (Promise you won't tell, I picked up 6 new paperbacks - 4 of them were James Patterson's, love his style and a nice change from my normal romance stuff). As I was leaving Target I noticed a Great Clips in the strip mall across the street. Since I wanted to get the bike picked up, I figured I could come back after that.

So next stop was Single Track Bike Shop (no website, sorry - 575 W Riordan Rd, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, 928-773-1862) to pick up my bike. I wanted to see if they had a luggage rack that would work and they did. I added that and a kickstand (bikes don't seem to come with them anymore..what's up with that???).

The fun came when it was time to adjust the seat. Wait a minute....this is SOOOOO different from slinging my leg over my motorcycle seat. I felt so high up...seat crammed up my....well, you know. LOL! They almost raised it till I put the pedal at full down position and they saw my leg was straight. The tough thing was trying to sit on it while not moving....had to use one hand on the counter for balance. I figure it's been close to 40 years since I road a bicycle...I see another learning curve ahead. GULP! Maybe I will dig out my motorcycle armored clothes to wear those first couple of times....

Then I got to bat my baby blues and pull my "grandmother to 15" routine and get them to assemble the bike rack I had NOT bought from them (they didn't have it in stock or I would have). Of course talking motorcycles for 30 or so minutes with them (all under the age of 30 I would guess) probably helped more.... So they assembled and mounted the rack & accessories, showed me how to put the bike on it and off I went.

Next stop was Great Clips since it was around 4pm and I figured on a Thursday they might not be too busy to fit me in. I was right...got right in and the gal that cut my hair, Kelly, knew EXACTLY what I wanted, even without the photo I normally bring in (it was in the RV, of course). If I get back to this area next year, she'll be on my list!

Fast forward to Friday....no idea it was the 13th. Hard to keep track of things like dates...LOL! Today was photographer day....remember my mentioning the interview for S-Life, the new magazine for Suzuki owners. I have had headshots professionally done but never outside shots like this. Spent close to two hours...what an experience. He took shots with the bicycle and I, me in a chair with laptop all posed in front of the car with a little of the motorhome showing behind. Then we moved the car to down in front of the caboose motel rooms here the Canyon Motel & RV Park and he took another whole set there with me posing as the cheesy tourist. Too fun!!!

So it's now 2pm and I'm whipped....think I'll sit and read a bit before venturing into town to see the motorcycle rally. The event officially started today and I want to check out the vendors....looking for a little leather tool bag to hang on the front of my handlebars. Much cheaper than the ones from bike shops (and they tend to be too big or too small). The park has had at least 4 more rigs check in today with a variety of motorcycles & methods of hauling them.

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

Take Two: Tourists, Transmission, Transportation & Tummy

Tonight will be a mish-mash of things....so sit back, put your feet up and, hopefully, enjoy.

First, the tourists....I think they must have flown in recently and were still really in a different time zone. I did close my window while they were getting ready to eat (traditional style....wives running around & cooking, guys drinking beer with their feet up). I noticed that shortly after dark all was quiet....and they were gone by 8:30 this morning. So whoever you are...my apologies for expecting the worst. You were good neighbors (Yes, they put the picnic table back where the got it...how many times does THAT happen with typical weekend/vacation campers?)

I thought I had posted about my transmission but guess I didn't get specific enough for some folks. The did replace the front seal but while in there they discovered some type of fitting/plug that was loose and tightened it. Needless to say, fresh fluid and filter change were done. When then did the 30 step inspection check, they mentioned the air filter should be changed soon. Since I knew I would be hitting some mountains over the next few weeks, I decided to have it changed. They did install my transmission temperature gauge (it ran under 200 all the way from Camp Verde to Williams) and I had them torque my tires again (since they had been pulled back in Tucson when I had my brakes done). Better safe than sorry... Anyway, no leaks currently...keeping my fingers crossed that we've licked this battle.

Now to the third T - transportation. (Well, it really is about bicycles but using four T words was more fun.) I got on the scales this morning and my weight is now 1.2# over my allowable maximum. I had already started cutting back on snacking, McD food and coffee with cream & sugar (which I do normally at McD). But I know I need to exercise...plus my arthritis is getting worse. I get really stiff after an hour in the car or sitting. I wake up with my neck & shoulders hurting. I go to be with my back & knees hurting, too.

Osteoarthritis is a catch-22. You need to exercise to keep the joints flexible and lubricated but it hurts to exercise. I am trying to walk every day but I know I will do much better with a bicycle. After reading that my friends Nick & Terry ponied up (see June 2nd blog) and got Trek Navigator bicycles, I knew it was time for me to get one as well. In an earlier blog I wrote about bikes and got a TON of wonderful input. The two bikes that stood out were the Trek Navigator and the Electra Townie.

I found two bike shops in Flagstaff and one of them was a Trek dealer (neither sold Electras). I drove over there this morning and ordered a Trek Navigator 3.0. Initially I ordered the 2.0 ($90 cheaper) but when they called the factory, they found none in stock. Since it's the change of the model year for them, there was no way I could wait. I then looked at the Trek Pure but after some thought and discussion with the guys in the shop, realized it wouldn't be as good for me in the off-road riding. So I rationalized that the money I got for selling motorcycle gear would pay for the bike, so I went for it. This is what it will look like...it's Willow Green.



Now for the final T - Tummy. Today was a good day...breakfast was vanilla yogurt with strawberries and a hard boiled egg. Lunch was a double fiber, whole wheat bread sandwich with sliced chicken breast. Dinner I cooked 1/2 box of Zatarain's Red Beans & Rice. When it was about half done I tossed in some of the shredded chicken. Delicious and filling at about 330 calories. Okay, I promise to NOT write what I eat every day....honest! LOL!!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna

Who knew it would be so hard?

What in the world happened? Where did they go? Have I been asleep for 50 years? Today I started looking at bicycles, figuring the I need some way to keep my face in the wind and hanging it out the motorhome window isn't going to cut it. All I wanted was a simple 3-speed like my bike growing up. Simple task, right?

Wrong....somewhere along the way bikes went high-tech. Now I was aware of the 12 & 16 speed thing as well as mountain bikes. But what I wasn't aware of was a whole new world out there, a world that had terms I've never heard of: DX-7300 ASR suspension, 18-speed ENZO twist shift, 6-speed FIS deraillur, steel linear pull brakes, steel 3-pc. crank, bash guards. Huh? Okay, guess a bash guard might be like the engine guard on a motorcycle (previously called a crash bar until that was determined to not be "polite") but what the heck is a deraillur and why does a bike need a 3 piece crank? Who in their senior citizen right mind needs 18 gears (although there was a mountain bike with 21!)? My motorcycles only had 5!

There are a few familiar brand names....Huffy, for one. That was the bike that my kids wanted (and got). Schwinn for another. That's the brand from my childhood, single speed and three speed. But there are others that are totally foreign to me...Tomasso, K2, Dekra, Anza and Van Dessel. Then there are the unexpected brands...Polaris, GMC, Jeep, Cadillac and Lamborghini. The manufacturers have obviously taken a page from motorcycle popularity. I saw the several Iron Horse models and even Kawasaki is represented (and for my motorcycle friends, they even have a "Hardtail"). Who knew?

But the biggest shock of all is price....I expected something in the $100-150 range. Yes they are out there (but with WAY more than I need for features) and even a few under $100. But the majority are in the $400-$2000 range with several over $3000. Boy, do ya think they saw us coming? Jeesh!

I don't want a single speed so now have to concentrate on reasonably priced multi-speed bikes and try to find one that has a natural seating position (no way am I going to assume that bike racing position...I'd never straighten back up...makes me feel like a pretzel just thinking about it), and is lightweight so I can easily lift it on and off a bike rack. Right now the mountain bikes actually seem to be the best solution...they have the upright position and are typically lightweight, whereas the "cruiser/comfort" bikes are much heavier. Factor in that I would like to be able to ride in less than stellar road conditions, the mountain bike makes even more sense.

So do I go with the bike crowd and get a Kawasaki, or maybe the sports car group with the Lamborghini, or even maybe my gun friends with a Smith & Wesson model? Actually, right now a Mongoose seems to be at the top of the list. Do you think someone offers training classes to learn how to shift all those gears? ;-)

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna



P.S. Just in case you think I'm not safety conscious, I even found the perfect addition to a bike helmet. ROFLOL!!!