Commuting by necessity

So, my car has been in the shop for the last couple of days for some major maintenance (water pump and timing belt), so I've had to ride the 17 miles each way on the Brompton.  Having the Brompton has been very handy in this situation... I was able to drive to the auto shop, then bike away.  And I'll be able to stuff my bike into my co-worker's Camaro when the car is ready to be picked up.

However, I gotta say that I've feeling pretty beat, primarily because it's been really chilly in the mornings (mid-30's F is chilly for Arizona).  That, and my knee's been bugging me... I've changed my setup a little bit, so I wonder if that has anything to do with it.

My car should be ready to pick up after work tomorrow.  As much as I like to ride, it'll be nice to take a few days off.

Great cycling advice from Rivendell Bicycles

During my roam of the interwebs I somehow came across this Learn About Bikes section from Rivendell Bikes.  It had lots of quality (and very realistic) info on it.  I haven't read all of it, but here are some of my favorites so far:

Commuting by Bike

Tips for happy riding

A kit for one night out (camping)

Ride on, Tucson 2013 photos

I had mentioned this Ride on, Tucson event in a previous post.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous after having record low temperatures earlier on in the week!  There were plenty of cool bikes being ridden, including a Bike Friday tandem.  The Tucson Brompton Bicycle Meetup club was there representing with 3 Bromptons (2 more were supposed to show up, but had to cancel at the last minute).

By all accounts Patrick Dempsey was a cool dude.  He was happy to take frequent stops and sign stuff, get photos taken and chat.  Unfortunately I didn't get to talk to Tom Danielson, but I sure he was happy just relaxing and enjoying the ride.

I have a video of a lap around the course... I hope to get it edited shortly.

Early crowd at Ride on, Tucson

Rickshaw for doggies!

Extra lids 

Brompton Meetup Group members

Patrick Dempsey signing a spanish "Can't Buy Me Love" movie poster.

Patrick signing a Tully's mug for one of our Meetup members.

Road Holland apparel

Disclosure:  I am not being compensated for this post or the coupon code, just sharing my experience with the company.

I first heard of Road Holland from a review from Path Less Pedaled.  The jerseys were slick and fairly conservative... stuff that I wouldn't mind wearing off the bike.  The fabrics used have a varying degrees of Merino Wool Poly blend (Merino wool is pretty awesome).  However, my main attraction to them was that the garments are made in the USA (Miami, FL).  Finding any clothes that are made in the USA is nearly impossible these days.

The garments aren't cheap, and that's because they're not cheap.  These are very high-quality jerseys that feel really comfortable.  I'd rather pay a little more and be happy than to save a few bucks and be agitated.

Hilversum jersey with additional arm sleeves

I got an email last week from Road Holland informing me that I had been one of their top customers last year (I had bought a few jerseys).  As a thank you, they sent me a bag of coffee as well as a coupon code for 25% off (FMA25) to share with family and friends (which means you guys).  This is a limited time offer... the code is only good until the end of the month (January 31)!

Coffee!

An awesome belated Christmas present!!

A couple of friends of mine gave me a pretty awesome present... A Brompton artwork t-shirt!

The art was done by Andy Scullion and can be purchased at his web storefront on RedBubble, along with some other Brompton and bicycle themed shirts.  The shirt itself is made by American Apparel, which is actually in the USA (downtown Los Angeles to be exact)!

I'll be rockin' this garment soon & often!

New Garmin video featuring my hometown!

This Garmin video showcasing the new Edge 510 & Edge 810 GPS units cell phone interaction via bluetooth.  The video was shot in two locations:  Girona, Spain and MY HOMETOWN of Tucson, Arizona, USA.

At time 2:40 the Garmin rider riding along a stretch of land housing retired military planes (affectionately known as the Boneyard, and previously mentioned in this post).  This location is about 1.5 miles from my house!

At about 3:00 the pair of riders are starting at the base of Mt. Lemmon, approximately 11 miles from the Boneyard.  The route on Mt. Lemmon is about 26 miles long & starts at an elevation of about 2550 feet and ends at 8200 feet in the town of Summerhaven.  You can actually climb a little bit higher, but most people stop at Summerhaven.  It took me about 6 hours to do this climb on a road bike.  A lot of elite professional riders do this climb in about 2 hours.  The ride down is a big adrenaline rush - it took me about 45 minutes to get down, averaging at about 45 mph.

The control room also looks like it's from Tucson, but I can't confirm that.  If anyone knows, give me a holler!

I know My Orange Brompton and The Brompton Bumble B are rocking Garmin units, and perhaps I will join them soon!

Tucson peeps: There's a new ride event in downtown next weekend!

Tucson Velo website announced a community ride in downtown Tucson being hosted by actor Patrick Dempsey (of Grey's Anatomy and Can't Buy Me Love (a film made in Tucson) fame and pro cyclist Tom Danielson.  The ride, dubbed "Ride On, Tucson!", is set for Sunday, January 20, 2013 from 1 - 4 PM.

The route is shown below:

The route is approximately 2.5 miles and will be closed off to car traffic.  Riders are encouraged to ride as many loops as they want!  I hope to bring a lot of people from the Tucson Brompton Bicycle Club Meetup Group and get some good photos and maybe some video!

Additional details are at the Ride on, Tucson website.

10,000 views!

Thanks to all of you who visited the site and helped me achieve 10,000 pageviews!  I hope everyone is having a great new year so far.  Now that the holidays are over I hope to have some interesting content to post up!