Category: Bike

Schwinn Meridian 3-Wheel Tricycle

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, Exercise, Health, WeightLeave a comment

trike with 4 locks

I wanted to ride my new Schwinn Meridian 3-wheel tricycle to the store. I bought it a month ago and it’s been sitting in our back yard ever since. I haven’t been allowed to ride it because my partner is afraid I will hurt my leg, or perhaps get into another accident and break something else. I insisted on going to the store on the trike because I wanted to buy him a anniversary gift, and I really wanted to ride it. It’s like giving a child a cookie, but saying you can’t eat it, although in this case, I bought it and I’m being told I can’t ride it. He isn’t wrong for worrying because I’ve broken 2 bones so far on my bike.

The new Schwinn Meridian 3-wheel tricycle is very difficult to ride at first. I was on the right side of the street and I was quickly heading towards the sidewalk. I thought I was going straight, and in fact I held the handlebars like I was going straight, but for some reason I was actually going to the right. I had to quickly hit the brakes before I hit the sidewalk and the back of a car. That thing stops on a dime. I mean, literally, I squeezed the handlebars and it stopped so fast that I nearly fell off. I did actually, but I landed on both feet, thank goodness. I discovered that I have to veer to the left to go straight, which makes me think the handlebars aren’t on right, but they are. I even triple checked, and they are on straight.

I think that it will take time to learn the quirks of that bike so I will be comfortable enough to ride it when I need/want to. I reassured my partner that I won’t be riding that bike as fast as I normally would ride my old bike. I said I wouldn’t be racing, and he said YOU’VE BEEN RACING? I laughed and said no, I mean I won’t be going 10-12mph, instead I’ll go slow like 7 or 8 mph like an old man. When I cross streets I will walk it instead of riding it, which you are supposed to do anyway. I’ll also only ride it in residential neighborhoods instead of busy streets. Even streets with a bike lane have cars parked in them, so I end up with a very tiny amount of road. I prefer neighborhoods anyway.

I won’t be going to the gym until April 15th, so I still have a few weeks to heal, even though the doctor told me I was completely healed. I really look forward to going to the gym, even though I’m terrified to go on any bike now. I guess if I fear breaking another bone in my body, then I will be even more careful than I normally am, and so I shouldn’t worry about it. My commitment to Planet Fitness ends in September, that is if they didn’t add those months that I had my account frozen, if that’s the case then probably December. I really hope I make a big difference and lose a lot of weight by then.

Did you notice the picture above? I took a picture of it after I put all the locks on it when I got to the store. There is the U shaped lock that attaches to the handicapped sign with the steel coil attached to the front wheel. Then of course a coil cable attached from the seat to the frame, that way I don’t have to worry about someone stealing my seat. Trust me, it’s an issue lol. Then 2 more coiled cables attached to each back wheel. You think it’s paranoia, but if you think that, you’ve never come back to your bike minus a wheel or the seat. It happens more than you think. Trust me, it’s happened to me.

My New Tricycle

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Me on tricycle

My Schwinn Meridian 3-wheel tricycle came today. YAY! It took me about an hour to put it together in the kitchen. You would think that it would be difficult to put a big thing like this together when you have a broken leg that is still healing, but I didn’t have too much problem. Well, except for a couple of issues.

Assembling my new tricycle was pretty much a cake walk with the exception of the fenders. The front fender went on without a problem, but the instructions said to install the fender first, then install the front wheel while the tricycle was upside down. Ok, no problem. But when I installed the front wheel I found a problem. The front of the fender was raised 3 inches above the wheel, but the back of the fender which is next to the frame is sitting right on the wheel, which means it would always rub against the wheel. I don’t know what the fix is, so I just turned it around so it’s on backwards, and it works.

The back fenders on the other hand are both installed correctly and they also rub the tires. The box that it came in was really damaged. I honestly don’t know if it was damaged from Amazon or UPS. When the driver dropped it off, he banged on the wood (we have wood paneling outside lol) then he rang the bell and ran to his truck and literally drove away before we could even open the door. Why do they do that? They used to wait for you to come to the door, then have you sign something, now they don’t even wait for you to come to the door. For all I know they could drop it off and someone could steal it before I even get to the door. Not that they could since it was a 71lb box lol.

schwinn box 1
schwinn box 2
schwinn box 3

Anyway, getting back to the tricycle lol.

So after I put it together, I went out on a little test ride in front of the house. I got on and tried to use my good leg to get me going, but for some reason I couldn’t. I’m so used to using my right leg, so I used my right leg, which isn’t a very good thing because it took a lot of force to get me going. But it didn’t hurt, so that’s a good thing. It was really difficult to turn right because the street slopes. The middle of the street is a higher elevation than it is at the gutter, so when I tried to turn right, I had a bit of trouble. I wasn’t sure if it was the handlebars that wasn’t aligned with the front wheel, so I adjusted it and I still had problems. I’m sure when I can start walking again I will have all the kinks worked out and turning won’t be that big of an issue.

My partner was freaking out about me getting through the doors because this bike is so wide. It’s got a badonkadonk lol. The back of it was really difficult to get through the door because of the caps on the axle on each side. I got it out of the kitchen and out the front door, although it took some doin’ to get it outside. When I was finished with my test ride I went to put it in our patio and I noticed that I had more of an issue getting it in the patio than I had getting it out of the front door. I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do if getting it in and out of the patio is going to cause problems for me. But I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do. It has to go in our patio, there’s no question. So I guess I’m just going to have to suck it up buttercup and deal with it.

I love the color, and I’m going to have to find a matching nail polish because there are already scratches on the paint from the shipping. It doesn’t bother me much, but it bothered my partner. He wanted me to send it back. Screw that noise! It’s going to get more scratches along the way, so who cares. But, I’d still like to find a matching color just so I can fix it if it gets crazy scratched up.

Riding this tricycle is awkward for me, but perhaps it’s because I’m not used to riding a tricycle. I’m sure it will get easier and I look forward to more practice.

Schwinn Meridian Single Speed Adult Tricycle

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Schwinn Cherry Meridian

I finally ordered my new Schwinn Meridian Single Speed Adult Tricycle. I’m very excited because I’ve wanted one of these for years. They’ve always been way out of my price range because I never have that much money and I can never successfully save that much money. The only way I would be able to buy something this expensive is if I won a sweepstakes, which I actually did, hence why I was finally able to buy it.

The sweepstakes in case you are wondering is from the National Consumer Panel. I buy groceries, then scan the groceries with my cell phone, then send them the information and I get points for every week I am active in the program. I also have the opportunity to get 150 points or put 50 points towards monthly sweepstakes by doing surveys. They send me lots of surveys, and they don’t really take that long.

After I broke my leg, I think I waited a couple of weeks, but I emailed them to tell them that I broke my leg and I won’t be able to scan groceries for awhile, and they put that note in my account, and a week later I got an email telling me that I won the monthly sweepstakes of $500. I got another email a few days later telling me it was a mistake, that it was only $250, but they were still going to send me the $500 anyway. Well, I received the first $250 last week and the second $250 came today, so that’s how I was able to buy the tricycle.

The tricycle will help me rehab my leg and it will also get me back to the gym. It will also be a bigger help buying groceries with the bigger basket in the back. My old bike had a basket that I built that was smaller, and this one actually looks so much safer lol.

So thank you to the National Consumer Panel for making a typo and sending me more than I should have gotten, but you helped me buy my tricycle and you also helped me buy groceries. We were running out of money this month because my bills are killing me. Oh and I will get back to scanning soon because I can start putting pressure on my leg in the next month to month and a half.

Broken leg for Christmas

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, HealthLeave a comment

I used to say that all I wanted for Christmas was my 2 front teeth, but what I really want is mobility.

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So I was riding my bike to the gym as I always do, but on December 8, 2015, the city was grinding up the street at Hughes Lane, which is the street I ride to get to the gym. At first I was riding in the gutter before I noticed that I was coming up on the ground up street. I usually stay in the gutter to keep my distance from the cars where there isn’t a bike lane. I was actually doing pretty good in the gutter for quite awhile, until my bike decided to go into the street. That’s when it all went wrong. I was doing okay for a little bit until my front wheel hit the gutter, which was a little higher than the street. I lost control when my front wheel hit the gutter and fell onto the sidewalk. A car pulled over and asked if there was anything she could do, but I wasn’t sure what damage I did, so I just asked her to hand my phone to me to call home. My partner put the bike in the car then tried helping me up, but I knew I broke something, so he called 911 to have an ambulance take me to Mercy hospital.

The emergency room doctor at Mercy hospital ordered x-rays and told me it was broken in 2 places. They actually sent me home in a brace with a referral to an orthopedic clinic. That was Tuesday night and they were closed when my partner called them from the hospital. He had to call them back on Wednesday morning. They called back on Thursday night to tell us that they are rejecting my case. I don’t know why, but I’m thinking they don’t take Medicare and Medi-Cal. They told us to go to Kern Medical Center, so we actually got in the car and drove to the KMC emergency room. They told us that the orthopedic clinic is closed and they would be closed on Friday too, so our best bet would be to come back on Monday morning at 6:30am. They only help the first 20 people, so be sure you’re here before then.

I’m sure there are better places than KMC, but it literally was the only place, so we waited. We arrived at 5:30am and there were at least 8 people ahead of us, and more came after us. They looked at the x-rays from Mercy hospital and told me I would need surgery to put a plate in my leg. That was Monday the 14th. They scheduled my pre-op for Wednesday the 16th and surgery for Friday the 18th. They called us when we came home asking if I was still there, and of course we were home, but they wanted me to come back on Tuesday the next day for pre-med because they rescheduled my surgery for Wednesday instead. That was extremely fast, but it’s best to get it over with. This is the brace they sent me home with after surgery. It’s supposed to help with my rehab when the stitches come out.

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I can’t really get around too well because it’s too painful. My partner doesn’t really want me moving around too much anyway because I’ve already fallen twice. The first time was the first night when I broke my leg on the 8th. I got up to go pee and I did fine getting to the bathroom and coming back to my room, it was trying to get back into bed where it all went wrong and I fell backwards. The second time was when my partner helped me back into my bed after my appointment at KMC. I fell forward onto my bed. Ever since then he doesn’t want to to get out of bed for anything. He gave me a bottle to pee in and he bought a portable toilet for $100 at Walgreen’s to do the TMI thing lol.

They told us to change the dressing, and when we did, we noticed that they stitched me up with staples. Ouch! What am I, paper?

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I wanted to be able to go to the living room for Christmas to be able to look at the tree, but I’m set up nicely in my room, and I really didn’t feel like having to lie on a couch in an awkward position, so we just nixed the idea and I spent Christmas day in my room enjoying my new PS Vita and my new lava lamp.

We go back to KMC in a couple of days for a follow up, and I’m hoping they will remove the stitches because it looks healed up. The staples hurt, a lot!

So what’s going to be my future gym goals? Well, when I’m able to walk again, I’m sure they’ll send me to a clinic to rehab my leg or to teach me how to exercise my leg to get it back to bending again. I’d also like to go to the gym that I’m actually paying for whether I go or not. I’m sure I can walk on the treadmill at 0.5mph just to get my leg bending, but I’m not sure what they will allow me to do. My partner won’t let me ride my bike again. We’re going to give it to a neighbor. He wants to buy me a tricycle, but that’s months down the road, and he’s going to drive me to the gym from now on. He could use the exercise too. We’ll see what happens next.

Baleaf Men’s Thermal Cycling Tights

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, Cycling, ExerciseLeave a comment

Winter is coming, and it’s going to be brutal in Bakersfield. People in the mid-west don’t believe that California is capable of getting cold, but trust me, it can get pretty chilly in Bakersfield. That’s the main reason I stop riding my bicycle for exercise when it starts to get cold in October.

I can handle a little bit of cold weather, but not on my bare skin. When I ride the bike, I try to wear tight fitting clothes. The only bicycle clothes I have are bicycle bib shorts, I never bought the pants because I could never afford them. I prefer to buy my bike clothes online because they are much cheaper than at the bike store. You can shop at the bike store, but they are going to jack up the prices and you won’t be able to try them on. Bike Nashbar is usually reasonable, but their prices are still a bit out of my price range right now. I bought my bib shorts from them only because they were on sale. I went back to their website for the bib pants, or even just a regular pair of bicycle pants, but they were too expensive for me right now.

My next option was Amazon. I searched for bicycle pants and found Baleaf Men’s Thermal Cycling Tights Size XL for only $20. The shipping was free if I bought $35 worth of stuff, but I didn’t have that much to spend, so I paid the $5 shipping.

These pants have a few features that I was hoping for. They are tight enough for the bicycle and they have fleece inside to keep my legs warm while I’m on the bicycle. They also have a drawstring which will come in handy when I start to lose some weight from going to the gym 4 days a week. They also have pockets, not that I really need them since I keep everything in my gym bag. I don’t like to keep things in my pockets on the bike because I’m afraid they will fall out. These pockets have zippers so there’s no chance of anything falling out. The pockets are good for those times I’m just riding the bike to the mall or to Michael’s because I will have a place for my wallet, phone and keys.

This makes me so happy because I really like exercising, but I hate that I can’t exercise when it’s too cold outside. Now I have a reason to keep going to the gym this and every winter.

Update: Well, so much for this idea. Unfortunately, my calves and thighs are way too big. These pants were so tight that there was no possible way I could put them on without the seams bursting lol. It would be a shame to waste $25 on a pair of pants I would probably end up having to throw away because the seams kept coming apart. So I sent them back. I have awhile before it starts getting too cold, and I have a pair of sweats that I can just wear to the gym for now.

EyePet with Camera and Secret Agent Clank

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, Cycling, Exercise, SparkPeopleLeave a comment

Secret Agent ClankMy Amazon order finally came today with the EyePet with camera and Secret Agent Clank. Unfortunately, the camera did not work with my PSP. I read every word on the box and I read every word in the description on Amazon, and no where did it say anything about compatibility with the PSP 2000. It did say that it was not compatible with the PSP Go, but that was it.

I went back to Amazon and it shows that if you buy the EyePet game with a PSP 3000 it would cost such and such amount of money, so that right there tells me that it is probably only compatible with the 3000, which I do not have. That really sucks because I was really looking forward to having that camera. I’m not willing to upgrade just for the camera, because if I’m going to upgrade, I’m getting a PS Vita.

So I went to my orders on Amazon and requested a refund. They paid for the UPS shipping label to send it back to them and I will get refunded when they receive the product.

I was more than thrilled that I had Secret Agent Clank to play with. I got my shoes on with “The Spark” from SparkPeople and rode on the bicycle while playing Secret Agent Clank for 40 minutes. The only reason I stopped was because my butt was numb lol. I looked at the time on the bicycle computer and was like oh cool, 40 minutes. Done and done! I didn’t even miss a beat while on the bicycle either. I kept riding the same speed as usual, maybe even faster. It was fun, but I had to get off the bike.

So far my experiment worked. If I play a video game on my PSP while riding my bicycle on the bike trainer, I will not even notice time flying by. I could probably ride the bike for a couple of hours without ever noticing that I’m actually exercising lol. Although, that won’t happen with my ergo bike seat. I’ll need to buy a beach cruiser seat for comfort. Perhaps if I had something more comfortable to sit on, I might be on there for 2 or 3 hours. Hey, it could happen.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and you know I will be on that bicycle for at least 40 – 60 minutes before and after dinner. I really hope The Spark has a good warranty, because that thing will be smoking by the end of the day.

New PSP Games

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, Cycling, Games, PSPLeave a comment

Castlevania EyePet Jak & Daxter Secret Agent Clank

I’ve been having fun riding the bicycle in the patio with my new bicycle trainer. I’ve been listening to music with my Dell DJ, but it gets boring just sitting there in the same room looking at the same thing, which is a door and a bunch of junk lol. If the patio were cleaned up and there were furniture to look at then it might be more pleasant, but I’m sure I’d get bored of looking at that too.

Yesterday when I was riding on the bicycle, I decided I would bring out my PSP and play a new game that I recently bought at a pawn shop that was closing. I rode the bicycle for 36 minutes while playing and it seemed like time flew by. I would have kept going past 36 minutes if it weren’t for the fact that my butt became numb because of the way I was sitting. I have an Ergo bicycle seat, so I really should be holding on to the handlebars to stay upright. Playing with the PSP kind of moved me in an awkward position, so my butt became numb lol. I’m going to buy a new seat next time I go to Target. They have the beach cruiser seats which is probably more comfortable anyway.

I have a page on my website for all of my PSP games. These 4 games in particular are EyePet, which I bought specifically because I wanted the camera lol. I know it’s stupid because I have a good camera on my cell phone, and I have a good video camera that takes pictures, so why would I need a camera on my PSP? Well, considering it’s only $13 and it comes with a game, I thought it was worth the price, and I want to buy all of the accessories and games that I can before they stop selling them.

I bought Secret Agent Clank because I love the Ratchet and Clank games. I have one of them and I loved it, but I haven’t played it in such a long time that I have no idea what I’m doing. I bought Jak and Daxter because I love the Daxter game that came with my PSP. I have always wanted to play this one. Castlevania is a game I’ve wanted to play for a long time. It’s not the same as the other cool PSP games like the Daxter and Clank games, it’s like a side-scroller you would see with Nintendo and Sega games. I actually love side-scroller games.

PSP_Real_View_V-Screen

This is a PSP Real View V-Screen Depth Enhancer. It acts as a case for your PSP, and when you open it, you can pull down a magnifying glass that makes your game bigger, and it is supposed to add 3D to your 2D game. I watched a YouTube video to see how it works, but the reviews weren’t so great. I bought it anyway because like I said about the camera, I want to buy all the accessories and games that I can before they stop selling them. I want to experience everything I can before I can’t anymore.

I had something similar to this for my Game Boy, but it wasn’t a case, it just slid over the top of the game boy and you could see a bigger screen, it also had a light. It didn’t turn my 2D game into a 3D game, but from what the video reviews said on YouTube, neither does this lol. I really don’t care too much about that. It was only $5.29 with free shipping. You can’t beat that.

I have more games in my PSP Games Wishlist on Amazon. Of course, Sony Online Entertainment stopped making new games for the PSP because they are focusing more on the PS Vita which has a smaller game stick rather than a UMD Universal Media Disc. So much for it being universal. They also have downloadable games in the Playstation Store that I can buy, but unfortunately my new WiFi Cable Modem uses a specific security that my PSP cannot connect to, so that has totally screwed up my ability to ever connect to my WiFi again. No more browsing the PlayStation store for games and no more browsing websites, not that I needed to, and no more using Skype.

These games and the Real View V-Screen Depth Enhancer will arrive either this Friday or Saturday, or in the middle of next week. I really look forward to the Jak and Daxter game. I have so many games now, but I haven’t finished all of them because I get bored with them. Maybe I will put it on my bucket list to actually finish a game that I started to get some kind of closure on each game. That would be nice lol.

The Spark of Fire Under My Ass

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, Cycling, Diet, Exercise, SparkPeople, WeightLeave a comment

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This new gadget that lives on the laces of my left shoe has really lit a fire under my ass. Now I know why it’s called The Spark. Every day since I’ve had it, I’ve been walking to the store and walking longer distances when walking the dog, and I’ve been riding my bicycle on my trainer in the patio. The first couple of times it was all I could do to stay on it without dying from the pain in my thighs, but since I’ve had the Spark, I’ve been using it for as long as I can. Yesterday I only got off of it because my show was coming on. Today I woke up early specifically so I could spend as much time on the bike as I could. I was only on it for 36 minutes, but I’m working my way up to a longer ride.

The goal they gave me for steps is 6000. The first day I barely made it to the goal, the 2nd day was basically the same, but the 3rd day, well, that you can see in the image above. Of course, that’s not all from walking, most of that was from the bicycle. You see, it doesn’t just log my cycling, it considers my pedaling to be steps. My nutritionist wanted me to walk 10,000 steps per day, well, here you go.

Sometimes I buy something and feel real good about my purchase, while other times I feel like I have made a huge mistake and regret it. I am so happy that I found this because it got me off my butt and made me think about how much time am I going to spend walking today, and how much time I’m going to ride the bike today.

IMAG0747SparkPeople also sent me a workout DVD called Total Body Sculpting with Coach Nicole. The exercises look pretty good. I haven’t started using the DVD yet, but I plan on soon. I want to buy the weights first. They have workouts that are beginners, intermediate and advanced. They also give you a week planner so you aren’t doing the same exact workout every time. The SparkPeople website even has these workouts available in the list of exercises so I know what to log. All I have to do is watch the video and then when I finish, log it with the exact amount of time I did it and I get the calorie credits. Cool, eh?

So I feel so much more motivation than I did before. If I ever get to the point where this DVD isn’t working, I mean when it becomes too easy and I plateau, then I will have to buy another one that is a bit more advanced. I will also have to step up my cardio as well. Perhaps I could do the 2 hour bike ride and then 2 hours of exercise DVD. Hmmmm… I better not count my chickens before they hatch lol. We will see how it goes, yes?

So… until then…

Spinning

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, Cycling, Diet, Exercise, WeightLeave a comment

spinning

Oh boy, this bicycle trainer has got me spinning… A sad pathetic attempt at humor lol.

Spinning 11 12 2014

So here I am today compared to yesterday. Yesterday and every other day that I used my bicycle trainer for exercise, I only used 1 gear and I had the unit resistance roller on 1 twist. Well, that’s not going to help me get the exercise that I need to lose weight. If I want to get a good workout, I need to mix it up a bit, so I twisted it 2 more times and started using my gears.

The last post I talked about not being able to use my gears because I installed my bicycle on the trainer wrong because it wasn’t connecting to the wheel since it couldn’t reach the nut, so I put a new nut on there from the front wheel. Now that it is stable on the trainer, I can use my gears.

Yesterday I rode for 14 minutes and rode about 3 miles or so, but because my work out was low intensity, I only burned 187 calories. Today I rode the same amount of time and the same amount of miles, but I switched my gears and rode a bit faster or slower depending on the gear I was on. I considered my workout medium intensity today, and that was 262 calories burned according to the Noom app.

This is what I did. I have 15 speeds on my bicycle. The right gear has 1 – 5 and the left one just has an indicator which is thick with an H to thin with a L, which I assume is high and low. I’ve never really been a gear person. Anyway, what I did was I put the left one all the way to the H, then I started out with 1 which is basically easy, like down hill. Then I switched to 3 which seemed to be like going straight on level ground, then 6 which seems to feel like going uphill. So I would start out 1, go to 3, go to 6, go to 3, go to 1 and so on for 15 minutes.

I honestly have no clue what the hell I’m doing lol. I watched a spinning video last night on YouTube and OMG that guy was doing a warm up for 5 or 6 minutes and that was basically my workout today. That was all I could do. I’m just not in very good shape. When I got off the bicycle, I had to go take a shower because I was drenched in sweat, and I felt nauseous.

Sure, 14 minutes is not a lot of time, but I have to work my way up. When I first started riding my bicycle on the bike trail I think in 2010, I could only ride 1 mile and I was dead lol. I worked my way up to 2 miles, then worked my way up to 5 miles, which actually took me to the bike trail, but I couldn’t actually get on the bike trail because I was too tired and sore. I would have to take a 15 minute break just to heal my legs up so I could ride back home. Eventually over time I was riding my bike 22 miles every day on the bike trail and would come home and wouldn’t be sore or anything. That’s how it has to be with this bike trainer. I will start out slow, but eventually I will get to the same point that I was with riding the bike on the bike trail, but since I’m at home, perhaps I could just do half of the ride in the morning, then the other half in the afternoon. I think that is doable, but I have to work up to that point.

So this is a great start and I will keep working on it.

Ascent Fluid Trainer

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, Cycling, Exercise, Health, Weight1 Comment

20141029_143707_Android

My Ascent Fluid Trainer from Nashbar arrived via UPS on October 29. Setting it up was a breeze and my bicycle looks really nice on it, but there is a huge downside, and that’s the noise it makes. Holy crap that thing is loud. It’s not really that bad if I have music playing in my ears, but everyone else can hear it. You get used to it after a while.

I installed my bicycle computer on the back wheel and reset my computer so it can start over from scratch. I rode on it for a few minutes and burned a total of 19 calories lol. But let me tell you that this trainer is so good that my thighs were on fire. I had to stop and start again, again and again and OMG.

It was definitely worth the money that I paid. I was hoping this could be something that I could do in 30 to 60 minute intervals throughout the day, like after every meal or something. I was hoping to clear a space in the dining room for it, but that’s totally out of the question because of how loud this thing is. I wanted to put it in my bedroom because I can watch TV in there while I’m on it, but I don’t think that will happen any time soon. If I had a 10 speed then that would be one thing, but I’m not bringing my mountain bike in the bedroom because I still need to use it to go to the grocery store every now and then, and it’s too much of a hassle to walk it through the kitchen and hallway and through 4 doorways. If it’s not a permanent fixture, then it’s not going to work out. If by chance I do find one, then that would be awesome and I will try it.

One thing that I didn’t realize about this thing is that when I switch gears, my back wheel moves and hits the right side of the resistance unit roller. I did that and found it was especially difficult to ride, so I got off and looked and saw a bunch of black dust on the ground. I was grinding the rubber off my wheel. Oops! Well, so much for changing gears. I read that you are supposed to position the wheel on the back of the trainer so it provides you with the resistance you need, then switch gears on the bicycle to make it easy or hard. Well, that’s not going to work with my bicycle lol.

IMAG0728The next time I rode my bike on the trainer, I noticed that as I was riding, the bike would move and the wheel would slide on the roller and it would grind the end of the roller as if I had switched gears, but I hadn’t. I would get off and move it back into position, but it would do it again and I didn’t know why. I then thought that perhaps it was because where it screws onto the axle, it didn’t have anything to hold on to. There is an Axle Support Cup that wasn’t able to grip onto anything. The right side has the nut in the Axle Support Cup, but it wasn’t able to grip the nut on the left side. I was having a difficult time thinking of how I was going to fix this if I didn’t have a 2nd nut to screw on to the left axle. My partner suggested that since my front wheel doesn’t move, why not take one of the nuts from the front, and use it on the back, so that’s what I did and it worked. Maybe I can switch gears now.

I’m glad he suggested that, because I could have continued to ride the bike without that nut on there and with my luck, I could have broken either the axle, or the trainer itself, and perhaps I would end up having an accident and end up breaking a bone. Wouldn’t that be just my luck? That’s all I need lol.

Anyway, I hope to get a lot of use out of this thing because I need a lot of exercise. If anything new happens or I get new information I will blog about it.

Nashbar.com / Fluid Trainers / Ascent Fluid Trainer