National Lampoons Renovo Vacation

Renovo: That little getaway famous for drugs and not being pronounced like it's spelled (Renova) hosted a great mini-vacation for us over the weekend with some friends at their hunting cabin. The best way to spend time up here is doing whatever the heck you want. I wasn't at home, so there were no chores for me to do. No lawn mowing or laundry or walls to paint, only the fun stuff.

Playing some wiffle ball? Check.

Video games with the fellas? Check.

Attempting some fun spud gun antics? Check.

Hilariously failing at spud gun shooting? Check.

Jumping/swinging off of tall things into water? Double Check.

Quoits? I think you get the picture.

Name game? Oh god, let's not talk about the name game.

Shooting a bow for the first time in my adult life? Ahyup.

This trip allowed me to cross some stuff off my to do list for the summer. We have a similar cliff/rock jump locally that I've been wanting to do, but I feel that this rock jump was an excellent substitute, and the rope swing was just an added bonus (though a bit more terrifying).

I came back a few pound heavier and I was hoping to improve my diet this week, but it hasn't been any better. We haven't been doing real well planning our meals which is really like a highway to the dieting danger zone (not unlike the highway to the danger zone, though less cool), and it definitely doesn't make anything better.

A few positives over the week, though. Playing quoits over the weekend motivated me enough to set up my own pits at home, I went for a bike ride this week (yea, only one, I know), and we made another dent in our student loans as of today (7/30/2010). The dent wasn't as substantial as I had hoped it would be, but the damage was done and it definitely won't buff out.

I see I took my sweet-old time writing this post and it's almost time for another weekend. Awww shucks.

Debt countdown balance as of 7/30/2010: $4,842.47

Dr. Bicyclelove, or How I Learned to Love the Riverwalk

As quick update on riding around my house, I went out again this past Tuesday and it was slightly less terrible. I tried to maximize my speeds downhill so I had less pedaling to do uphill. I'm probably the first person to ever think of this, I know. If you notice the image to the left you can click on it and read some notes that I made about the ride.

Looking at the elevation data on the graph, it seems pretty apparent that the GPS in my phone isn't quick enough to update the elevation accurately as I'm going fast (fortunately, this doesn't happen often). This is probably a problem with any GPS to a point, but this if the first time I noticed it. If you look at the left half of the graph, you'll notice that the elevation data is much smoother (faster). On the right, however, the elevation is much more defined. In theory, the elevation data should be a mirror image because it's the exact same route. Just goes to show as much as I love my phone, I can't rely too much on it for super-accurate GPS data.

This time, however, I wanted to talk about the Riverwalk that was constructed as part of the market street bridge project. The bad news is that I have to drive to get there (ok, ok, I suppose I could ride my bike - but I won't), but the good news is that it's very nice and relatively easy to ride on, depending on the IQ of the people you share the path with.

The route I rode on 7/13/2010 started and ended further east down the bike trail, closer to Montoursville (and Club Fred, the local strip joint!). I was going to do a shorter route but parking was an issue, and I could use the exercise.

So far I consider this trip to be my best, it was almost 9 miles and I kept my average speed up to almost 14mph. The whole route was pretty flat, and if it wasn't for having to slow for ignorant users of the path I could have probably had my average speed above 14mph, maybe closer to 15mph.

If you look at the graph, the last stretch of ride was flat and practically deserted road, so I tried to finish strong. I wasn't in the super-duper-racer tuck position but I was pedaling about as hard as I felt I could get away with, and it looks like I kept a solid 20mph for a half mile or so. In real cyclist terms that's probably not that much of an achievement, but again I felt like it was a good effort on my part.

After the ride on the 13th I was itching for another ride. The following Sunday, Amber had some shopping to do at Lowes and Walmart so I thought I would pick up the bike route there and ride the riverwalk loop and back.

I wasn't in any particular hurry so I wasn't trying to set any speed records, I was pretty pleased overall with my effort. 15 miles in 1:15 is fair for me, especially considering the foot traffic (average moving speed of 12.4mph). This was my first relatively long ride and aside from my wrists going numb I felt pretty good. I think I could comfortably go longer distance, assuming I could find a route long enough with few hills and little-traffic. My best bet is probably just to do a few extra loops of the riverwalk, but we'll see.

For some nice validation, Amber told me that she was happy I was getting some use out of the the bike. This weekend we're going to be away with some friends but I may take my mountain bike along if I'm feeling ambitious (i.e. not a chance).

Not surprisingly, I've found that I've been sleeping better on the nights that I've been biking (or exercising), and sleep has always an issue for me. I'm guessing my body never gets tired enough from sitting behind my desk all day - who knew this exercise stuff was actually useful!

Needs moar speeds

About a month ago, the time finally came for the first real test of my frug-cycle and, more importantly, the dude doing the pedaling. I planned to ride the "long walk" route Amber and I take when we're feeling not quite so lazy, basically down the road and back for a total of 3.4 miles. I thought it wouldn't take me too long and it would have been a nice break-in for me and the bike.

If there is any good news to come out of it, it's that the first half of the route is very easy, aaaannnnnd that's about it. The way back up is not enjoyable.

Referencing my Gearin' Up post from last week, I had my handy dandy nexus one with mytracks running to give me the breakdown of the trip. That is, assuming I could make it back home.

What I gained by going to the tall, skinny tires of a road bike and a lighter frame, I believe I lost (and then some) by having half the gears. I don't know much about elevation change and what "steep" truly is, but here are some numbers:

• The total distance of the trip was 3.40 miles, so 1.7 miles each way.
• Of that 1.7 miles, i would consider 1/2 of it to be "flat", and my definition of flat is something that I can comfortably pedal without wheezing. That leaves .85 miles of "hills".
• At the bottom and the top, the elevation is fairly consistant, the big elevation changes are in the middle. Over the .85 miles of hills, the total elevation change was 309 ft, which makes the average grade for that 6.5%.

Not knowing much about cycling I can't say if that's actually high, my estimates are off, or I'm just a big wussbag. To an out of shape 28 year old on a 10-speed, an average 6.5% grade over a mile felt damn near impossible. As a small victory, I didn't stop or get off the bike, though I did ride in circles for a bit before tackling the last big hill.

A few days later I tried the same route with similar results, still no stopping (except for my heart), and I still haven't stood up to pedal. Is that the key, or am I just that far out of shape? Please don't answer that. Below is the first trip, I don't think I captured a mytracks log for the second attempt.

The Final Countdown

Hindsight being 20-20, I really should have started to document our debt-free journey long ago instead of starting when we're already in the home stretch. I think it would have been more motivating to be able to keep up with our progress on a monthly basis or so, but yet here we are. Better late than never, I guess?

Amber and I got married October 11, 2008 which marked the day that I was no longer debt free. While we did a great job saving money and paying for our wedding in cash, it was once again time to buckle down and look toward our future.

Through some relatively frugal living, generous wedding gifts, some help from uncle Obama (first homebuyer tax credit), and hard work, we will have paid off ~$50,000 of student loans and bought a house in our first two years of marriage. Never one to shy away from complimenting myself, it is an amazing accomplishment.

What's the secret? Well, there isn't one. I read this book, it gave me the ideas and the motivation to do something about my debt (We've probably bought 15 of these so far to give away as gifts so far - If you want one, ask!). Aside from the book, here are some general guidelines that have helped me just starting out:

1. If you're not already, keep track of all the money you spend. This can be an real eye-opener when you see how much those fast food runs add up over time. I'd recommend doing something at least like Mint.com (which does all the work for you), even better would be doing a spreadsheet or a program like Quicken.
2. Create a budget and stick to it. Base your budget off figures you've gotten from past months spending, and what you think you should spend in the categories. Don't freak out if you have to adjust these over time.
3. Minimize your spending. Do you really need a new MP3 player or laptop? That monthly subscription to fantasy football forum? Nope, you don't. And don't try and justify it, either. (I'll punch you in the face)
4. Pay yourself / your bills first. Every payday I'll update my quicken file with the income, and then everything I have to pay until the next payday. This will tell me "what I have left", so I know how stingy I have to be. If I'm out of money coming up on payday, then I guess I'm not going out to eat. Easy as that.
5. Plan ahead! If you know your car inspection is coming up and you're going to need tires, then start setting money aside for it. Life's little surprises can un-motivate you really quickly. Constant vigilance, citizen!
6. Plan for what you can't plan for. Set some money aside that is for emergencies only. If something comes up, you won't "lose traction" or add to your debt.
7. Make some extra money. Whether is be a side job or selling stuff on craigslist, any extra income will help you reach your goals.

Amber and I don't have a tremendous income, but without car payments or a $130 cable bill, what we do make lasts pretty well. We only have to concentrate on getting our mortgage, utilities, and living expenses taken care of, and then anything left over is thrown at the student loans.

Every two weeks (on payday) I feel a great satisfaction pressing the "Make a Payment" button on the AES website and watching the student loan balance drop. We're really in the home stretch now, and honestly it's going to be weird in a few months when we don't have any super-aggressive debt payments. But somehow I think we'll make do :)

7/16/10 Debt Counter: $5,842.47

Gearing up

Now that I have a bike suitable for riding, I guess it's time to get some use out of it. But hey, let's not get crazy here - these things take time. Far be it from me to jump right in and do something silly like exercise or get into shape. Instead, let's talk about cool stuff that will make my biking experience better, also known as Zen and the art of justifying my purchases.

Let's get the boring stuff out of the way. I already have a helmet, so I'm good there. I have a bike pump. While it would be cool to have those clip-type pedals, my low priced bicycle isn't bothered by such things, no fancy shoes needed. Instead, let's talk underwear. As a guy, our choices suck:

• Boxers: Not enough support for me, thanks. Plus I couldn't decide on either the budweiser frogs or the corona branded boxers.
• Boxer Briefs: Promising, but after a few wears and washes, they lose their tightness around the thighs. So it's all bunching, riding up, and uncomfortable south of the border. Fine for my desk job, but loses points for constant-adjustments-needed-in-public while walking, running, or moving at all.
• Bikinis: Embarrassing just to type, enough said.
• Scooby Doo Tighty Whities: Where are there adult sizes? WHERE?

Until recently, I thought I had no real options left, then I learned about compression shorts. While I don't usually want things in that area to be compressed, all important parties are left in their natural un-compressed state. I think they're pretty much spandex for men, or herein now referred to as mandex. They come in boxer-brief form, so immediately they have that going for them and are moisture wicking so they "breathe" (god help anything that's breathing my swamp ass) and won't chafe. Since I'm getting uncomfortable just thinking about that word and what it means, let's just say they seem to be where it's at, the bees knees if you will.

The problem is that the big name in compression shorts is under armor, and let me just say I don't want to have to take a second mortgage just for something to hold my junk in place. After some sleuthing I found that Target has some affordably-priced shorts made by champion for almost a third of cost of the underarmor shorts. If they work a third as good (which would still be roughly 100x better than my previous undergarments), it would be well worth it's weight in mandex. Moral of the story, I bought a few pairs and they are great. Currently living happily ever after.

Apparently biking shorts are pretty much exactly this (and have been for a long while), but have padding. You'd think with our almost limitless ingenuity we could have engineered a better bicycle seat. Something closer to a lazy boy than a broom handle. Just saying.

Enough talk about the lower half of my body, let me introduce you to my newest (unhealthy?) obsession: My Google Nexus One. It's so awesome that the sentence before this one needed capital letters on all the words. True story. Anyway, after a while of saving my pennies and almost unlimited whining and spouse annoying, I finally took the plunge and I couldn't be happier with my purchase. Stuck with AT&T, I thought I might have to get an iPhone, but I really wanted to support the android platfrom due to it's openness and lack of smelly hipsters. The Nexus One was the obvious choice.

I could go on and on about my precious but I'll try and stay on phone. TARGET, I mean. Yea. What does my awesome phone have to do with biking? Thanks for asking, I like an involved audience. One of the cool apps recommended by my friend Dave is called Mytracks which uses your phone's gps to log your position, speed, distance, elevation all the while plotting your route on-top of Google Maps. You can then upload your route and publish it publically (or keep it private) if you feel so inclined, and a google docs spreadsheet gets generated with the data from your route.

To round out the package (wait, we're not talking about underwear anymore, right?), I picked up a belkin armband for my phone with some birthday money so I can use it while walking, running, biking, or most likely just making me look impressive. It's made for a iPhone/iPod touch but it works just fine for my phone.

Now that I have some more toys, I'm starting to run out of excuses. Will I actually ride the bike over a measurable distance? Will it be mysteriously mauled in a poetically-tragic bear attack? Stay tuned and find out!

$3 Bicycle

The bicycle has got to be one of the coolest and under-appreciated inventions in modern history. I can still remember a younger version of my fast-approaching-30-self getting excited over each of the many bikes I've owned (and ruined) in my childhood. The bike was my first real taste of freedom, like it is to many kids. As we all grow older, fatter, and lazier the wonder of the bicycle escapes us faster than reaching our flabby arms out the window for our drive-thru McDonalds treat.

Having absolutely no data to back me up, I'll say that the bicycle is the most efficient means of human powered transportation. Without hills in your way you can cover a lot of ground quickly without using a whole lot of energy. Gasoline required? Zero. Calories burnt? Plenty. It's a win-win (until you factor in the size of your hind parts and how they'll feel trying to get acclimated to a narrow bicycle seat again).

I'm by no stretch of the imagination an anti-gasoline tree hugger ("the stable" at home contains two cars, a motorcyle, a go kart, and a truck - with high ambitions for adding more and more - did I mention I'd like more toys?), but I still love a good bike ride to remind myself that I can move my considerable mass around using only my own leg power.

Last year my wife and I bought our first home out of town in a gorgeous country setting. We're both "country mice" so we love the area, but thanks to the rolling landscape, it's made it hard to go for a leisurely bike ride and not throw up or have a heart attack along the way.

My bike at the time was the bottom-of-the-line Trek mountain bike complete with absolutely no suspension, 21 gears, and meaty tires that hinder-more-than-help any riding on the road. Of course, that didn't stopped me trying out the 4-mile road "loop" around the house last summer and promptly swearing off ever doing it again. I'll spare you the bulk of my excuses, but the hills are steep and numerous, and I'm too stubborn to stop and get off the bike (or pedal standing up). In between gasps of air, my brain slowly calculated my stubbornness to roughly equate to ten times my lung capacity. As I'm coming into the home stretch, every bit of my lungs, mouth, throat, legs, and brain ache, throb, or just stop working to some degree. You know, the home stretch after a 4-mile bike ride. Pitiful.

There had to be a better way, and again the stubbornness wouldn't allow me to drive my bike somewhere just so I could ride it. After talking to my friend Jon (who has been a bit of a bicyclist in his time), he told me that a road bike would be more suited to biking on the road - imagine that. I've never owned a road bike before but the large skinny wheels were more aerodynamic and lighter, which helps reduce pedal effort and increase overall speed. Hey, sounds great. Where do I sign up? Over there? And it costs $600? For a cheap one? Oh, well then. I'll pass.

Fast forward to this year, my lovely wife comes home from yard-saling with a answer to my road biking needs: A "vintage" Giant RS920 for the I-kid-you-not sum of $3 (if the blog title and website name hadn't tipped you off already). After cleaning the chain, adjusting the brakes, and putting some air in the dry-rotted tires, I took it for a short spin up and down the road (the least amount of hills possible) and wouldn't you know it rides well, shifts well, and fits me perfectly (being a bit short this was very pleasing to me). Chalk it up to fate, or the gods smiling down on me, whatever the case I don't want to waste this opportunity.

In the short term, I see this blog as a motivator to not let my $3 gift go to waste and hold me somewhat accountable for my goals. More generally I'd like to use this as an outlet for different thoughts on life, careers, being cheap, and how they typically all tie together. Stay posted for some updates on everyone's favorite $3 bike.