An Amazing Final 2008 Miles Biked Update

We haven't ridden our bikes very much recently due to the onset of cooler temperatures and darker evenings. So this will be my last 2008 update.

Steve 557.1
Kristi 449.3
Kylee 360.0
Kenna 360.0

After all those miles, Kylee and Makenna ended up riding the exact same distance this year.

Makenna's

Kylee's

Miles Biked Update: October 16, 2008

Total number of miles biked in 2008.

Steve 549.8
Kristi 441.7
Kylee 355.2
Kenna 355.0
Landen 32.8

Landen's bike computer broke about two weeks ago. (The wire wrapped around the handle bars twice and snapped.) So, that's his final total for the year, which he rode in about 6 weeks.

After about six months of bike riding this year, Kylee and Makenna's mileage totals are within .056% of each other. Pretty typical for our identical twins.

The last few times Kristi and I have jogged, Kylee and Makenna have pulled Landen in his bike trailer behind their bikes.

I Ride My Bicycle

Today I put the gas can in our old bike trailer and headed off to the filling station. I saw Rocki in her driveway on the way. I stopped to chat. She said that I really look like an Amishman -pulling my gas can behind my bike.

When I got to the gas station, the only other person there was an Amishman who was also filling up the gas can he had pulled to the station in his bike trailer.

Here's a little fun that will cost nothing but a little bit of my pride. Just try picturing me riding my bike while you listen to the song embedded below. I bet you can't do it and not laugh at me.

I Ride My Bicycle

Round and round the town we go on our bicycles,
Round and round our pedals go, moving fast, moving slow,
Up and down the hills we go, huffing, puffing as we go,
Riding to the greatest places you could want to go.

I ride my bicycle to work every day,
And I take my bicycle, home every night,
Dealing with cars, who get in my way, and,
Dealing with potholes left and right.
And, when I ride, my bicycle at night.
I use a handle bar head light.
So I can see where I'm going.

I ride my bicycle to the grocery store,
And I take my bicycle, when I run my chores,
Dealing with drivers who yell, get out of the way,
Because they think I ride my bike real slow.

I try to ride, my bicycle really safe because,
I don't think that roads are safe for race.
I watch out for cars, cuz cars are dangerous,
I watch out for trucks, cuz trucks endanger us,
I keep my eyes upon the road.

Round and Round the country we go, on our bicycles,
Round and round our wheels go, clicking, ticking as they go,
Up and down the hills we go, building muscles as we go,
Riding to the greatest places you could want to go.

Lyrics By Greg Spence Wolf and Paul Glover
Music By Greg Spence Wolf

Miles Biked Update: September 27, 2008

Miles biked in 2008:

Steve 536.8 miles
Kristi 435.9 miles
Kylee 342.7 miles
Kenna 343.6 miles
Landen 30.1 miles

Last two week totals:
Steve 27.7 miles
Kristi 37.4 miles
Kylee 28.2 miles
Kenna 28.0 miles
Landen 6.6 miles

Miles Biked Update: September 13, 2008

So far in 2008:

Steve 509.1 miles
Kristi 398.5 miles
Kylee 315.4 miles
Kenna 315.6 miles
Landen 23.5 miles

Mountain Biking at Winona Lake

From what I've read, one of the better mountain biking trails in the Midwest is the trail in Winona Lake, Indiana. Kylee, Makenna and I rode this trail once last year. We went again today. We stuck to the beginner trail, taking the long loop once and the short loop once.

We ride bike so much we should really go to Winona Lake more often, because riding a trail like this is just a barrel of fun compared to our usual riding routine. I sold my mountain bike last spring, so I tackled the trail today on my Trek hybrid bike. The girls have good quality kids mountain bikes and they ride a lot, but are certainly not powerful riders. They are seven years old and have to walk their bikes some on this trail, but there are spots where the difficulty level is just right for them.

Kylee taking it easy down a pretty steep hill.

Miles Biked Update: August 29, 2008

We haven't added any family members since my last update 19 days ago, but we did add a bike rider. About two weeks ago Landen learned how to ride his little training-wheel bike. I put a bike computer on it about one week ago and he has been a bike riding machine ever since. He probably has logged more miles than any of the rest of us the past seven days.

Miles biked in 2008:

Steve - 482.8
Kristi - 386.6
Kylee - 294.1
Kenna - 293.3
Landen - 12.1

Miles Biked Update: August 10, 2008

My 200th post to this blog - to celebrate, I offer another edition of the ever boring "Miles Biked in 2008 Update."

Steve - 454.2
Kristi - 344.8
Kylee - 261.4
Kenna - 259.3

One of the goals both Kylee and Makenna set for the summer was to bike 250 miles. They both surpassed this goal since my last update. Good job girls!

Miles Biked Update: July 30, 2008

It's been a couple weeks since I updated the Gall family totals for miles biked in 2008. Kylee averaged 3.84 miles per day over the last two weeks. As of July 30:

Steve 408.4 miles
Kristi 303.1 miles
Kylee 230.5 miles
Kenna 225.2 miles

I've also taken up jogging the past few weeks. So far, I've been jogging exactly one mile. Today I had my best time yet; 8 minutes, 28 seconds. I've been wondering how good (or bad) my times are. Today I found the "Age Graded Calculator" at runnersworld.com. For a 37 year old male, 8:28 comes in with an age graded score of 43.3%. Definition:

Your age-graded score is the ratio of the approximate world-record time for your age and gender divided by your actual time.

Age-graded scores have been categorized into these broad achievement levels:
100% = Approximate World Record Level
Over 90% = World Class
Over 80% = National Class
Over 70% = Regional Class
Over 60% = Local Class

You know who I see almost every single time I jog and bike for exercise? Mark Ingle. He must think I run and bike all day long.

Miles Biked Update: July 16, 2008

I had to go to Bremen for a teacher training workshop this week. I've wanted to ride to Bremen for years, but never seemed to be able to work it into my schedule to try it. Leave it to summer to get the chance to try something new. Tuesday I did ride my bike to Bremen and back. It's an 8.7 mile ride from my house to the school. I averaged 12.0 miles per hour on the way and 10.9 miles per hour on the way home.

It was a great ride, especially in the morning on the way. I said hello to lots of our Amish "neighbors," heard horses crunching on grass, and saw things along the rode I would never be able to notice while driving.

Here's the miles biked update for each bike riding Gall so far in 2008.

Steve 315.4 miles
Kristi 231.6 miles
Kylee 176.7 miles
Kenna 181.9 miles

Also, Landen has probably ridden in his bike trailer around 150 miles this year.

Miles Biked Update: July 8, 2008

Since the last update 8 days ago:
Steve 62.0 miles
Kristi 37.8 miles
Kylee 29.5 miles
Kenna 32.8 miles

Bringing the 2008 biking totals to:
Steve 264.2 miles
Kristi 189.7 miles
Kylee 156.4 miles
Kenna 161.2 miles

Miles Biked Update: June 30, 2008

The Galls have cumulatively biked another 86.1 miles the last six days.  The totals for 2008:

Steve 202.2 miles
Kristi 151.9 miles
Kylee 126.9 miles
Kenna 128.4 miles

Miles Biked Update: June 24, 2008

Three more Galls have topped 100 miles biked in 2008 since the June 13 update. We took our bikes with us to Family Camp, and biked quite a bit there (which is quite different than Nappanee; at camp it's either coasting downhill or pedalling like mad up hill.) Here are the totals as of June 24.

Steve 169.0 miles
Kristi 128.0 miles
Kylee 113.0 miles
Kenna 113.3 miles

At Family Camp: Makenna's on the bike, Kylee's on the scooter. This hill was a blast to ride the scooter down! I could coast all the way to the lodge, which you can't even quite see in the picture.

Miles Biked Update: June 13, 2008

All four of us have logged quite a few more miles since June 4. Here are the totals for 2008 as of June 13.

Steve 130.3 miles
Kristi 97.7 miles
Kylee 91.3 miles
Kenna 93.8 miles

Product Review: Planet Bike, Protege Bike Computers

Our family has used Planet Bike Protege Bike Computers for a number of years now. We have used each of the wired models; Protege 9.0, 8.0 and 5.0.

The Protege 5.0 features:

• speed
• ride time
• trip distance
• odometer
• clock

The Protege 8.0 adds:

• speed comparator
• average speed
• maximum speed

The Protege 9.0 has all of the features mentioned above, plus a thermometer.

The instruction manual is easy to understand. Installing a Protege bike computer takes about 30 minutes. If you can set the time on a digital watch, you should have no trouble setting up the computer. It is important to measure the circumfrence of the tire accurately. To do this, I put the valve stem directly at the bottom of the tire, draw a line with sidewalk chalk, then walk the bike until the valve stem makes one revolution. I then draw another chalk line and measure the distance between the lines. The direction book tells you how to convert the measurement to millimeters, which is what you enter into the bike computer.

It can be a little tricky getting the magnet lined up with the sensor correctly. They do need to be lined up correctly and come really close together.

Once installed, using the computer is a breeze. You simply push it up in the holder for a few seconds to reset the trip odometer. The display is easy to read, even in bright sunlight. The information is amazingly accurate. How accurate? We did a family test of their accuracy today on the way to the supermarket. We reset the trip odometer on all four of our computers at the same spot, then checked them when we got home. Here is the result.

In our test all of our computers recorded distances within .03 miles (highlighted in yellow.) Some of the slight distance variation could be from tiny variations in routes as well as differeing riding habbits (like swerving back and forth.) All in all, our test shows the computers are very accurate.

We have never had an actual Protege computer fail, but we have had two wire harnesses fail over the past few years. Also, my mom lost a Protege computer because it fell out of the holder. I can think of no other negatives to these comptuers.

We have also tried a Schwinn bike computer and found the Planet Bike computers much nicer to use.

I highly reccomend the Planet Bike computers. They run about $15 - $25 at most online stores. If you enjoy riding and like gadgets, you'll love a Planet Bike Protege.

Miles Biked as of June 4

Kylee, Makenna, Kristi and I all have bike computers on our bikes. They produce plenty of information; speed, average speed, odometer, trip distance, trip time, etc. Here's a rundown of total miles ridden so far in 2008 for each bike-riding-member of the Gall clan.

Steve 90.4 miles
Kylee 80.1 miles
Kristi 71.1 miles
Kenna 70.2 miles

(We don't actually call Makenna, "Kenna." (Well, Kylee does sometimes.) It just made my little table look way better.)

How To Bring Groceries Home on a Bike

After work today Kristi and Makenna went to Dick and Trudy's (Kristi's parents) to pick up Landen. So Kylee and I got to spend some time together. We decided to rides our bikes out to CVS to buy some Tic Tacs. It was a little chilly though, so we decided to stop at Martin's Supermarket to see if they had Tic Tacs there. (It's closer.)

After we got there, I thought that Kristi would love it if we brought something home for supper. So we looked around for something simple we could bring home. We ended up finding some Bountahn's egg rolls and chicken fried rice. On the way to the check out I spotted Martin's reusable shopping bags for 99 cents. I decided to buy one thinking it might make the ride home easier.

I was thinking that the reusable bag would offer better protection from tire-bump than the flimsy plastic bags. But when I got to the bike rack, I flung it over my shoulder, purse-style so I could use my hands to get the bikes off the rack. I thought to myself, "This is actually a really comfortable way to carry this bag. I'm going to try riding this way." So, I did. I rode all they way home that way, and actually forgot the bag was even there.

Now, I get a little uncomfortable holding Kristi's purse for her for even a moment in a store parking lot. But this bag has "Martin's" emblazoned on both sides - it couldn't appear to be a purse. But you know what? This was such a comfortable way to carry the bag that I would ride with it like that regardless of any apparent silk screening.

And yes, Martin's does have Tic Tacs.

The Tandem

We have a forty year old Schwinn Twinn tandem that my mom and dad bought in the late 60s. I used to ride in a baby-seat on the back when I was a toddler.

When I was in middle school it was the coolest ride around. My friends and I used to fit as many as seven people on it. Mike, Toby and I did some pretty amazing "tandem tricks" along the golf course rode in Nappanee during these years. Well, I'm not sure how amazing they were, but I know I would not attempt them today as they involved completely rearranging the seating positions of the three riders without stopping the bike.

The past few years we've used it as an extra bike. My dad and I rode it last summer when he was here. Kristi's parents use it sometimes to go on family bike rides with us. Pastor Paul and Laresa rode it out to McDonald's with us last summer. Recently, Kylee and Makenna have grown tall enough to ride on the back seat. I know it won't be long until Kylee and Makenna can ride it together by themselves. Who knows, maybe some day their kids will be riding the tandem.

Five Things

Five quick things:

1. Sending me into a bike shop is dangerous to our finances.
2. They started tearing down the bowling alley.
3. There are really big snapping turtles in the ditch by our house.
4. The playground was really busy today.
5. I don't actually understand what sushi is. I should look it up, and try it.

Bike Switch

I sold my mountain bike! The new owner is an 11 year old boy from Saxtons River, Vermont. I was hoping to avoid having to ship it. Although, I am glad it sold because I already bought my new bike, a "bike path bike" this time. Definitely a step down on the coolness factor, but a step up in riding comfort. The new bike is on order and is supposed to arrive early next week!

Mountain Biking

I took up a new hobby a year ago, mountain biking. I bought a decent quality bike for this endeavor. Only problem is I only actually mountain biked one time and that was with my then six-year-old daughters - on the beginner trail. (Full Disclosure - I did ride it to the top of Nappanee's sledding hill a few times as well. Does that count as a mountain in Indiana?)

My bike is now for sale.