Monterey-PG- Marina-Almost to Castroville

I woke up this morning at 8:30 and decided to go on a long bike ride due to eating to much here at my Nana's house. I put my Trek in the trunk and head over to Pacific St in Monterey. I did not want to bike out of Carmel because theres just too many steep hills. I parked on the side of the road and assembled my bike. I then biked down to the Fisherman's wharf where I catch the trail to Lovers Point. I stop at the end to stretch before my long ride.

I start heading towards Seaside. I take a path off the scenic path to go into the State park. BAD IDEA! There was so many hills between Seaside and Marina in the State park. I continue into Marina and pass the Best Buy and REI. I make it to the Walmart in Marina but decide to just keep going towards Castroville. The bike path to Castroville after Walmart was just too boring. It was just flat road through the harvest field. I make my way all the way to the hwy overpass and just decide to go back. I believe Castroville was not that far away from where I started to head back.

The way back was hilly, but not that steep. There were a couple straightaways where I was able to get some water. Seaside back to the car was a piece of cake. I shall just try to go to Castroville next time.

31 MILES

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2003 Trek 1200

I have been tinkering around with my bike. Trued the wheels a bit more and tuned the front derailleur. I have been messing around with my ride stance. I flipped the stem, but it was just too low for me. My neck was just killing me. Maybe i just need to stretch more. I decided to lower my stem to decrease the height. My seat is now an inch higher than my handlebars. Who knows, maybe later I will just end up flipping it.  I really love the Tiagra shifters compared to the Sora. It just feels natural shifting.

Friday Ride to Monterey-Sand City-Lover's Point

This was my first long ride around here in Carmel/Monterey. I have always wanted to utilize all the bike paths around here. It is a very bike friendly area. Noone cut in front of me or zoomed my next to me. The only bad thing about biking around here are the BIG HILLS! Going to Monterey, I was just FLYING down to Monterey. It was a bit scary because there are a lot of tree stumps poking out of the cement. I probably hit my fastest speed in my life going down the hill parallel to HWY 1.

The overall ride was very scenic. The bike paths are right next to the bay. There are a bunch of tourists at some places, but they stuck to the side of the pathway. I plan to add a couple more miles next time I go out. I thought I would hit at least 30 miles. I will probably try to bike to REI or Walmart in Marina next time. ADIOS!

21 MILES

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Scenic Carmel

I arrived in Carmel today. Decided to take a short bike ride around the coast. SO MANY HILLS!

3.3 MILES

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First bike ride!

I went out this morning at 8:30AM because I was so excited to try my bike out. The ride to the waterfront is an easy ride. I wanted to explore a bit more. So I kept on going down sonoma blvd and got to the bridge. I just went over and took a pic at the end. Decided to go back home and tune up the bike a bit.

12 MILES

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FINALLY!!! A BIKE I WILL KEEP!!!

I picked up a bike today from a man in Pacifica. He was asking $550 but I managed to give the first offer for $500.

I went to his house and he had a couple nice bikes in his collection including a lightspeed and cerevelo. He was selling this beautiful 2003 Trek 1200 because his son did not catch on to cycling.

He changed a lot of stuff on the bike including:
- The top of the line Shimano Mountain biking XTR cables
- Specialized Body Comfort seat.
- Clipless pedals W/ Nike size 10 cycling shoes!
- Longer stem

He REALLY cleaned up the rear gears and took off the plastic protector. I really love the look.

It has Tiagra components all around which I was really looking forward to. The brakes do not have the Tiagra inscribed on them, but I am sure they are the original brakes.

I am loving the looks and feel of the bike. I am content with my purchase so far.

Another bike sold!

I sold my "new" Red/White Trek 1200. It was just way too big for me at 60cm. The guy I sold it to was a total ASS and wanted to lowball me at $420 when I was pretty firm on $500. I managed to bring him up to $450. That was still great because I originally bought the bike for $340. He also had a fleet of bikes in his garage that he was selling. A Jamis Ventura caught my eye and I offered an equal trade. But he was asking $595 for the bike and wanted me to pay an extra $80. The bike was in new condition but its MSRP is $610. But I would might as well buy the newer version of the bike for a little more. But no...the Jamis was not my ideal bike.

Now I am without a bike!

NEW RIDE!

So I have not been cycling around in a while. School is taking a toll, but I am almost done for the semester. SAD NEWS! I sold my Bianchi! I really liked the bike, but I was looking for a more modernized bike. I wanted to pick up a single speed bike, but maybe in a couple months.

So GOOD NEWS! I picked up a 2001 Trek 1200. So far so good. I though the Sora derailleurs were gonna be POS, but the original owner really had this bike nicely tuned. The Sora shifters are flawless for now. I do plan on changing them to Ultegras. But I am happy with the purchase plus I got a GREAT deal. Lets just say I made a good profit from selling my Bianchi and buying this one.