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Sunday, July 22, 2007

BIG Wheels!

From left to right are my oldest set of wheels to my newest. Notice the progression of girth over time. I am now about as fat as you can get. And I gotta say, it's a lot more fun to gain fat than it is to lose it.

Date:
July 21
Mileage:
25.1
July mileage: 599.7
Temperature upon departure: 56
Inches of rain today: .17"

Shortly after I hung up the phone upon learning that Geoff had won his big race this morning, I hauled my touring bike up the stairs only to see a big cardboard box waiting at the top. It had my name on it! I tossed my bike aside and raced down the steps with the package, tearing the tape to shreds with the first knife I found. When I looked inside, I squealed. Out loud. Like a 4-year-old girl at a princess party.

The box held the wheels that I impulse-bought on eBay on the Fourth of July. On July 3, I received an unexpected federal tax return in the mail. The next day, I won the bid for wheels that I had been drooling over for seven days. The final price - exactly 63 cents less than the amount of that check. Large Marge rims with Endomorph tires - the kind they put on Surly Pugsleys and other fat bikes. New snow bike project! Yeah!

They're so cute. Look how small they make Geoff's new 29" rims seem.

Afterward, I took my woefully anorexic road bike out for the planned ride. I was having such a good morning, I pedaled the 25 miles out to North Douglas and back with an average speed of 18.7 miles per hour. By far my best ... and I didn't even have to enter the pain cave once. It was probably the fact that there was almost no wind ... but I like to think it was the big big wheels waiting for me at home.

Now I just need a frame ... a bottom bracket ... a new seat and stem ... Hmmm. I have things to buy, money to make. To eBay!

16 comments:

  1. Sick rims, yo! It's like the whole hip hop culture...the bigger the wheels, the better.

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  2. Jill, this is Crazylady, Tom Stormcrowe's wife! Just dropped by to let you know that YOU'VE BEEN TAGGED!
    http://crazyladysquest.blogspot.com/

    Nice wheels, by the way!

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  3. Looking forward to hearing how the new set up will compare with last winter's.

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  4. Finally sucumbing to your Pugs dreams eh? :)

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  5. Nice tires! I don't know anything about snow biking, but it's fun to learn about it on your blog. Great average on your 25 mile ride! Also, congrats to Geoff on his latest win!

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  6. OK, something about this post inspired me to check out my bikes, measure width between chainstays, order up a Pugsley fork for $65 and research Nokian tires. About a month until the first dusting of snow in the high country!

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  7. Jill, you are in for sooo much fun when you get your snow/mud bike built up. Looking forward to more reports as you get a frame, build it up, and start taking rides on it. Can't make out the hubs on the wheels, are you going to make any changes to the hubs or go with what's on the wheels?

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  8. Did you get so excited that you took a bite out of the tire on the left? Those things look like they'll go through anything!

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  9. eBay is awesome. Those tires are HYOOGE. Hope they offer you hours of snowriding fun. I wonder if they'd cut through humidity that makes the air feel like pea soup!!!

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  10. Now you can run OVER bears and tourists!

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  11. Nice wheels!
    Here's a techie-type question that you may be the expert on: What kind of rain gear are you wearing nowadays? I see you wearing some in a previous post pic. Fairbanks weather is going sour and I need to keep training---any advice from your rainy cycling part of AK?
    E.
    Congrats to Geoff! Tough race!

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  12. Good, fat tires make ALL the difference in the snow. Very cool, you'll love 'em.

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  13. I bet you are SOOOO excited about these tires. You really need to build yourself a real snow and ice bike this year. Men I am envies:) That will be one sweet ride. Happy parts hunting!

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  14. "big wheels keep on rollin', proud Mary keep on burnin', rollin', rollin', rollin on the river . . "
    Love the new moto-cross tires! :^)
    One of the wrenches here at a LBS has a pugsley; they are so cool!

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