Rookie - Rookie - Rookie 53x21x19x18x.....

Since I haven't used a power meter in a number of years, and I work out on a dumb (not a Smart) trainer, I've had to rely on the knowledge of the gearing that I use on the trainer that I've used for years and years.  It may be an iffy assumption, but I assume that using the same gearing combinations on the same trainer will give me the same resistance year over year.  I have a cadence sensor so that is a known part of the equation as well. Throwing out the window the wear on the trainer, I've gone with this for years.

Things went wrong this year when I started my detailed workouts on the trainer.  I'm using a different bike this year than last, and the gearing is different.  Actually, every year over the last 10 I've used different bikes and I've done the math. Never mind, I thought, I'll compensate a bit this way and a bit that way and call it good.

That would have worked.  Actually, it did work.  But I've been suffering like a 300-pound cyclist in the Pyrenees.  That's because.... I didn't do the math.  When I actually counted the teeth on the cogs I was using, I concluded that I have been doing my hardest workouts to START with.  The bright side is that I have still been killing the workouts (and perhaps it's slowly killing me, too).

The bad news is that I am still capable of the biggest rookie mistakes.

2021 Adventure - We Bought a Bike Shop!

It's been a long time coming.  In reality, just about a lifetime.  I've thought about owning my own business for years and years, and so has Deanna. And on January 1st, the Beautiful Mrs K and I became the new owners of South Side Cyclery in St. Louis.  The truck came with it, too.

What started as a casual conversation nearly a year ago became reality after months and months of Covid-19 stress and chaos.  The family that had owned and managed South Side for 80+ years were ready to move on to an easier life, and we were anxious to do something bigger for ourselves.  With our amazing family behind us (our business partners among them), it finally happened.

Tony and Donna made the transition an incredible experience.  We came in a few days before the new year to begin mapping out some different displays and making room for inventory and found cards all over the store.

We knew right away that not only was this a good decision, but it was the only decision we could have made that made any sense at all.

We hope so.  We sure are going to make one helleva go at it!

One month in, and we are still smiling big!  Much of our life is on the back burner, and we haven't had a day off yet.  It's different, so says any business owner, when it's your own baby. Actions don't feel like sacrifices when the goal is so important.  And just so everyone knows, there is no way that I could do any of this alone.  As many years as I have in the bike business, I still don't have all of the skills.  Lucky for me I have this wonderful woman beside me and my beautiful family behind me.  Otherwise, it would just be another job.