30- Whew

I did it!

Given that we weren't able to get out last evening a 7am start time was decided upon.

We managed to be on the road by 7:25.

It started as quite a muggy foggy and a bit dreary day. But it did clear up some. Although the humidity never let up.

You may notice from my new picture up there that I've added some awesome things to my bike.

First there is the strange blue tube. This is part of an idea I had a while back. See I fail at water bottles. I have this bad habit of taking a drink then reaching down to put it back in the cage. But then I miss the cage, drop the bottle, and my back tire then runs right over it. Ooops.

Actually I had this idea before that ever happened but its a fun story so moving on....

I was thinking about/ discussing with Jo the usefulness of a Camelbak (that tiny backpack looking thing that has water and a tube from which to drink it running up over the shoulder). She said that she had used one and wasn't the biggest fan because the weight really can get to you on a long ride plus the whole makes your back hot. So then I came up with the idea of making a kind of water pouch that would hang from the frame on ones bike and then you could have a tube from which to consume the water. I would occasionally speculate on how I would accomplish this (I figured that sometime when I had too much free time I'd hang a plastic bag and use a tube from the hardware store or something and see if the idea was at all feasible.)

Jo and I however have this quite interesting dynamic going on. As with the formation of our riding team I spurt out random ideas and then she goes and actually does them. So this week a box from amazon showed up. She had purchased just the inside plastic part of a camelbak as well as the largest bike frame bag she could find. These items were promptly installed on my bike.

Over all I was very pleased with the system. The whole keeping of tube on frame and having it mobile enough to easily reach my face could use a little work. But I declare the idea good. I should patent them and sell them.

Second and more obviously noticeable/cool but it had less thought involved which is why I talked about the other first is my new 'hood' ornament. I sewed him completely by hand being as he is so crazy tiny using a pattern I found a while back online. He's awesome I love him and I'm making Jo one. We're also planning a trip to Jo-Ann fabric later today and I plan on getting many awesome colors from which to make many awesome penguins.

Think I could sell them to raise a bit of extra $ for the ride?

Thats all for now. I ought to try and do something with my day now.
Wish me luck that the next 30 won't hurt so much.