Zwifting made better thanks to the Bicycle Center in Brookfield!

The Bicycle Center was having a Zwift and CycleOps smart trainer demo the week before Thanksgiving.  

As part of the test ride, they were holding a little contest to see who could sprint the fastest. I had arrived straight from work and wasn't really thinking that I would give a try but it looked so easy so I gave it a go.  

I got on the CycleOps Magnus trainer wearing my work pants, an undershirt, and my right pant leg stuffed into my sock. Fortunately, I was wearing sneakers due to my broken ankle and that being the only type of shoe that I could wear with my brace.

Thursday night shop ride with the Bicycle Center

I have been trying to get a lunch ride organized at work for the past week and so this Thursday I bring my bike but no one else brought theirs.  Leaving work around 5:15 I checked in with my wife to see what was going on and I wasn't really needed at home so I turned around and headed over to the Bicycle Center in Brookfield for their shop ride.

Besides some of the shop employees, like Will and Shawn (below) the only other person I new from doing one ride last year was this older gentleman from Belgium, named Louie.

Ironically, today's route was exactly the same route I rode with the shop last year, and the only time I rode with them.

We headed towards Route 25 in a round about way because Shawn didn't want to take everyone up Silvermine Hill because it's steep and winds and would be bad for a group of cyclists at rush hour.

At the intersection of Wewakama there were some nice Dames Rocket flowers

Technically an invasive there are still really nice to look at and very fragrant

Of the 20 riders starting out, about half made it to the intersection with Wewakama.  From here an A Group took off and I stuck with B Group.  By the time we got to Clapboard Road in Bridgewater, the B group had dwindled down to 5 riders!

We were really running late and the sun started to set by the time we got back to Route 25

I think this was the 3rd ride this year on the Cannondale this year.  I am so behind in my riding and the year is almost half over and I haven't even broken 1000 miles yet!

The Randomuter is back!

There was only so much that I can do.  Tighten a cable here, adjust the B screw there, but on one of my commutes last week, the chain suck incident was the final straw.  I dropped the bike off with Shawn at the Bicycle center and trusted him to do his magic, and that is what he did.

Turns out there was a lot more wrong with the drive train than what I could tell.  The cassette was missing a spacer and the rear derailleur needed to be completely reset.  The hanger was bent and it needed a new cable and housing.  When I got it back and took it for a test spin it was a whole new bike!  

Back on the Bike!

It's been nearly 2 weeks since I have ridden a bike.  After Father's Day I got so busy with work that I couldn't commute and then I spent a week in Canada fishing and got back Saturday night.  Sunday morning I headed out on my 30 mile course around Newtown.

I came up on this guys in Brookfield Bicycle Center kit but wasn't anyone I recognized.  His name was Nick and we rode together all the way to the split with Hattertown and Sugar Street.  He headed back to Brookfield on Sugar street and continued south.

Hat City Cyclefest

Will, my brother-in-law, and I rode the Hat City Cycle Fest on Sunday and it was a glorious day to be on a bike!  Our plan was to do the 80 mile course and depending on time (Will was flying to England that evening) we would see about going for the Century. 

Day 2 of no biking, but I got a new jersey today!

Last month I rode every day.  A few days were just a mile or two for some test rides but the point was to get as many points for the National Bike Challenge.  I kicked but on my team, too.  However, these past two days I have decided to take a break.  I did happen to swing by The Bicycle Center in Brookfield on Tuesday and pick up one of their new riding jerseys.  I will be wearing that on Sunday when I do my first century ride, 100 miles!

Brookfield Bicycle Center Shop Ride

My first shop roadie ride with the Bicycle Center.  I almost didn't make it because my manager called me into his office at 4 PM for a short conversation on a few ideas that I had and that snowballed into an hour and forty minutes meeting.  Since I rode to work on Thursday, I got changed and hopped on the Cannondale and pedaled my ass off to get to the shop.

My Local Bike Shop: The Bicycle Center

If you live in northern Fairfield County and don't have a favorite LBS (local bike shop) then I would suggest that you check out Shawn Emerson's Bicycle Center on Federal Road in Brookfield, CT.  Not only is Shawn a great mechanic but he is wealth of knowledge about all types of bikes and a great problem solver.  Case in point, I bring the Fredmobile in see why the front derailleur isn't working right and he figures out the problem right away but needs to keep it over night.  No problem there, it's snowing out and I have to go out of town anyway.

Returning from trip and swinging by the shop not only does he fix the derailleur when one of his guys was road testing the bike he noticed the front brake acting funny.  It turns out my Rube Goldberg solution for the front cable hanger wasn't so hot after all.  Turns out, Shawn just so happens to have the part I need!  That is service!

The shop has been newly renovated and his selection of items is fantastic.  I always find what I am looking for at his shop and when he doesn't have it he can order it for me and sometimes have it the next day.

There is only one shop that I will trust my bikes with and that's The Bicycle Center.  If you haven't been in to the shop, I suggest you pay him a visit and tell him Mark sent you!  For more information about The Bicycle Center, click on their logo on the right on the blog and check out their website.