Fun & Fitness over 50

I did get out today even though it was still rainy and the roads were wet.

I'm glad I did. I felt great.

Had some trouble with my chain though.

I'm really lazy about maintenance. The poor Raleigh has been idle most of the winter and I haven't even lubed the chain. I was out Monday in the rain and I should have cleaned and lubed it then. I was having a little trouble shifting down from the big chainring. I have a compact crankset and it's harder for the shifting because the disparity in sizes between the two rings is greater than with a standard set.

So I went out again today without lubing the chain and I had to stop a couple of times on hills to get the front to shift down. I dropped the chain once when upshifting the front gears.

I wiped the bike down after but I still haven't lubed the chain. Got to find the lube, rags, degreaser, etc.

I am also experimenting with recording audio while I ride. The idea being to have an audio blog or podcast and ultimately do video in the same way. I get a lot of my ideas for my blog while riding, naturally, and I've thought about doing this for a long time. I've got the use of a BlackBerry and downloaded some free software called VR+ which acts as a digital recorder and then uploads the recording as an MP3 to the web when you're done. You can also get the audio transcribed for a fee. The one thing that is a problem with this software is that it doesn't have voice activated recording so unless I'm constantly prattling, there is a lot of dead air on the recording. I have a pocket tape cassette recorder (tape .. what's that, Daddy?) I could try but then I'd have to "play" it into the computer to digitize it. Uh-uh. I think a regular digital recorder would be a better option although I really like the automatic uploading of the VR+. It's set and forget and it's there (when it works, sigh).

My idea for the video is to get a helmet mounted VHoldR camera (they are really cool ... about $329 for 1080p HD) and supplement it with a Flip type of device. I'm looking at the Kodak PlaySport which just came out last Sunday. If you get one, let me know how you like it. They list for $149 and also do 1080p HD.

Anyway I started recording and yapped the whole 50 minute ride and when I was done ... no recording! Ain't technology grand?