AZ Revolution Reflections by Keith Blair

2011-11-11T20:10:00.001-07:00

Eat Smarter

Six bad habits you didn't know you had and how to change them.

ByKelly Bastone

Diamondback Podium Two or not?

2011-09-14T20:14:00.000-07:00

It’s been several weeks since my last post and I am sorry for that, I’ve been more busy concentrating on speeding up my rides, shortening them and working on training for the 30 miler I’m doing at the Scottsdale Cycling Festival this October 2. I had originally wanted to do the full 70, but seeing as though I haven’t cracked the 30 mile limit (28.5) I had to tell myself I wasn’t ready.

I have been riding a ’11 Specialized Hardrock, which is a hard tail with front suspension. This is the bike that was in my price range and fell into the category that my LBS (Local Bike Shop) recommended for me getting back on a bike and hitting the trails and the canals in the area. However, I’ve peaked on my speed and am dying to get faster so I can join a “C” (slower) riding group. I know I’m capable of going faster, but I have nothing left on this bike. I believe that there is just too much resistance on the knobby tires and lower gearing made for more off road type riding.

Long story short, I’ve been looking for an “affordable” road bike, but affordable doesn’t really cut it. Bikes sure are expensive, and I don’t see how I can justify spending thousands of dollars on a higher end bike yet (or maybe at all.) I realize you get what you pay for, but my checkbook has a limit.

I believe I’m resolving myself to the Diamondback Podium Two available at Dick’s Sporting goods. It’s more along the lines of what I would consider a department store bike, but a higher end version I suppose. It’s a gorgeous bike, with fairly good components, and gets pretty good reviews.

I just wanted to put it out there and see if anyone could offer any feedback or offer any suggestions to aid in my search. I’ve explored the “used” bike arena as well however not knowing a ton about bikes; it makes me nervous buying something used.

So there you have it…. where my mind has been in the Cycling world for the past few weeks. I should be back this weekend with a nice long ride with some new pictures and a new route to share. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

Put a Lid on It

2011-08-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

Why you should wear your helmet—even if you can lawfully ride without one

By Bob Mionske

No state requires adults to wear a helmet when they ride (although some municipalities do). But you could still face legal consequences if you fail to strap one on. Consider this scenario: A negligent driver hits you, and you sue him for the cost of your medical expenses. However, his insurance company claims that you were negligent for not wearing a helmet. The outcome of the case will depend on whether the jury decides it was reasonable for you to ride without one. They might not: Many people believe that helmets prevent all head injuries, although it is still possible to suffer one while wearing head protection.

However, in places where personal liberty is prized over safety, the “Where was your helmet?” argument won’t play well with the jury, so defense attorneys will decline to make that assertion. And in some areas, case law will prevent the absence of a helmet from being introduced into evidence. In Oregon, such a defense is prohibited. Still, insurers will shift blame to cyclists when they can, so in areas where such evidence is allowed, expect more arguments like these.

Nationwide, the law on helmets is evolving. Until it is settled in favor of cyclists (assuming it is), think of your helmet as an insurance policy: It might not prevent every injury, but it will protect your legal rights.

Helmets Are (Not Just) For Kids

The map above shows the age at which cyclists can legally ride helmet-free in each state. Bonehead alert: Whatever the law, helmets are a smart idea for cyclists of any age.

Research and assistance by Rick Bernardi, J.D. Thanks to attorneys Phil Coats, Jim Freeman, Megan Hottman, Ken Rosskopf, Brad Tucker, and Peter Wilborn for sharing their thoughts.

http://bicycling.com/blogs/roadrights/2011/08/16/put-a-lid-on-it/?cm_mmc=BicyclingNL-_-667798-_-08232011-_-put_a_lid_on_it

Phoenix to Mesa thru Papago Park

2011-08-07T21:51:00.001-07:00

Ride Stats
Courtesy of Cyclemeter 5.0 for IPhone4:
Ride Time: 1:22:05
Distance: 14.92 miles
Average: 10.89 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 20.82 miles/h

Today, I wanted to try something other than the standard loop ride where it’s usually repeating part of the ride heading the other direction. My thought was to drive somewhere, leave my car, take a bus or train far enough away and travel back. What better way to ensure a nice ride, thank to leave my car in a place I HAVE to ride to in order to get back? Kind of a sick/dangerous training philosophy, I'm sure you will agree.
I drove to the Mesa Park ‘n Ride and hit up the Valley Metro Light Rail. Arrived 10 minutes early as I was told to on their site, went to the vending machine to get my ticket only to realize they don't have a dollar changer and took only coins and card. As I pull out my card, swipe for my ticket, I hear the Ding Ding....and watch my train pull off 10 minutes early... Weak!! At least Train number 2 was sitting there waiting and I was able to board and sit in the AC (it was already about 88 at 6:30am.) The ride was only about 15 minutes to Phoenix and in no time I was at 44th / Washington (also the airport entrance AND one of the stations I worked on back at TranSystems.) Swung by the old digs so I could shoot a few reflection shots prior to hitting the road.

All geared up, I was ready to set out, and make my way back to my car about 14.5+- miles away in Mesa. Very excited, I cranked up my tunes and hit the Cyclemeter start button and was off. Instantly I noticed the humidity was much higher than usual (about 38%.) Those used to the humidity will agree that is not high, but for the desert and our "dry heat" that is not dry at all! As I was headed up 52st street towards McDowell I realized I hadn't heard anything from Cyclemeter which lets me know current speed, distance etc. [Definitely a recommended app for cycling] So I quickly pulled over to take a look. NO GPS?? WTF? Not a cloud in the sky and I can't get a GPS signal? Odd... so I rebooted the phone and GPS came back up. Off on the road again.

View of Camelback Mountain

Next stop the top of Mcdowell Road at Papago Park, this turned out to be quite a challenge! I've driven over this countless times and never thought of it as much of a "hill" but about 3/4 the way up i could feel a serious burn in my legs! Bonus!! Felt great tho, most of the training I've been doing has been on fairly flat ground. This was quite an elevation change.

Looking Up McDowell Road

I reached the Top! Whoop! I didn't even have to stop, simple played the gears and worked the bike all the way to the top. This was a nice achievement and looking back on downtown Phoenix really made the uphill "battle" feel worth it.

Downtown Phoenix behind me

Of course the obvious benefit to the uphill battle is the awesome downhill coast which follows. This was sooo much fun. I flew down that hill, though only reached about 20 mph top speed, but its a fairly long slope so it was a nice relief to the burning legs.

Down towards Scottsdale

Cactus!

Next up was Gavin Parkway which runs between McDowell and Van Buren. Its a nice slope too and goes by the Desert Botanical Gardens and the entrance to Papago Park. Its been a long time since I've hiked this park, but it was nice to ride thru it on my bike, I'd never done that before.

Papago Park

Papago Hole in the Rock

Passed thru Papago Park and on my way into Tempe. This is a great ride because I get to ride across Tempe Town Lake which is a nice change of view when living in the middle of "dirt." Tempe town lake also offers many different trails, Fishing, boating, Event venues and many other activities.

Welcome to Tempe

Tempe Town Lake

Mill Ave

Home of the ASU Sundevils "Go Devils!"

202 / 101 Transition

Unfortunately, at this point, my phone/camera mount on my bike broke and my pictures of this adventure end. Phone had to go back in the bag. Fortunately, this was end of the scenic part of the adventure and there are no pictures for the final 3-4 miles but I assure you that you aren't missing out at all. It all ended well though, after about 1:20 minutes I was back at my car and ready to head home, shower and start the day.

Today's trip was alot of fun, I'll have to plan some more trips like this in the near future as I really had a good time. I liked the one way approach to riding my bike and can't wait to do it again. Hope you enjoyed the trip, stay tuned for future rides!

Everything You Wanted to Know...

2011-08-04T20:26:00.000-07:00

Everything You Wanted to Know

About Shifting Your Bicycle's Gears,

But Were Afraid to Ask...

by Sheldon "Shifty" Brown

Understanding Your Gears

Multi-speed gears allow you to climb hills comfortably that might force you to stand up and "pump" or even get off and push if you were riding a one-speed. They also allow you to go faster downhill or with the wind at your back.

Cadence

Every cyclist has an ideal "cadence" (pedaling speed), and an ideal amount of resistance from the pedals. When you are pedaling at your ideal cadence, you are putting out the greatest amount of power that you are able to sustain efficiently. You select your cadence by shifting gears. The gear needed to allow your "ideal" cadence will depend on the slope of the road, the wind conditions, and your own condition at any given time.

High or Low?

"Higher" gears put more resistance on the pedals. If you select a gear that is too high for the conditions, it will force you into a slower cadence.
Pedaling slower than your ideal cadence is wasteful of energy. You also run a higher risk of muscle strains and joint damage, particularly to the knees and hips.
"Lower" gears make the pedals easy to turn, so it becomes easier to spin to a fast cadence.
Pedaling faster than your ideal cadence can allow you to generate an extra burst of speed, but you will tire yourself out too soon if you try to maintain an excessively fast cadence.

The Perfect Bicycle

If you had a perfect bicycle, with an infinite number of gears, you would always be pedaling at the same cadence, with the same amount of resistance to the pedals. Of course, the bike would go slower uphill, and faster downhill, but your legs would not know the difference.
Inexperienced cyclists often pedal at a cadence that is too slow, (too high a gear.) They sometimes think that this is better exercise, because they have to push harder on the pedals. This is an illusion.

Power lifting or swimming?

Consider two very different types of exercise: Power lifting vs. swimming. After you have lifted the 200 LB barbell half a dozen times, you go take a shower--high force, few repetitions. Swimming, on the other hand, involves very little resistance--you are only moving your hands and legs through water--but with many repetitions.

"Pushing" vs. "Spinning"

"Pushing" a high gear at a slow cadence is like power lifting. It is good for building up muscle mass and bulking up your legs, but it does little for your heart or lungs, and you can hurt yourself if you overdo it.
"Spinning" a lower gear at a rapid cadence is more like swimming. The rapid motion, with many repetitions makes the legs supple and flexible, it is highly aerobic, and the light pressure that goes with this style reduces wear and tear on the joints. With practice "spinning" becomes easier and more comfortable.

Securing your feet

Toe clips or "clipless" pedals make it easier to spin effectively. They also enhance safety, because they keep your feet from slipping off of the pedals. They take a bit of getting used to, but experienced cyclists find them invaluable.

Nuts & Bolts of Derailer Gears

On a 10-speed bike, the front of the chain runs over one of 2 "chainwheels" or front sprockets attached to the pedal cranks. The rear of the chain wraps around one of 5 sprockets attached to the hub of the rear wheel. The 2 chainwheels times 5 rear sprockets give 10 theoretically possible combinations. This set-up requires two separate gear shifting mechanisms or "derailers", one for the front 2 and the other for the rear 5. This is as complicated as bicycle gearing gets.
A 27-speed bike is just the same, except that there are 3 chainwheels in front and 9 sprockets in back. There are still just two derailers, and two control levers.
The control on the left side shifts among the 2 or 3 front chainwheels; the one on the right shifts among the 5-9 rear sprockets.

How Derailers Work

A derailer leads the chain from one sprocket to another, while the chain is moving forward. The front derailer is a simple guide that moves the chain from side to side.

The rear derailer is a bit more complicated, because it also contains the spring and pulleys that adjust the length of the chain as it moves to different-sized sprockets.

Always pedal forward

The chain can only move sideways while it is also moving forward. For this reason, you can only shift while you are pedaling forward.
The rear derailer shifts using the bottom of the chain loop, which is under light tension from the derailer's pulleys and springs.
The front derailer shifts using the upper part of the chain, the part that transmits power to the rear wheel. As a result, the front shifting will not work so well while you are pedaling very hard, or slowly, or both.
The rear derailer can usually shift under full load, but it is better for the chain to ease up a bit during the shift.

What's What

Try to visualize gear shifting in terms of where the chain is, rather than by rote memorization of positions of the shift controls.
The sprockets that are closer to the middle of the bike (small front, large rear) give the lower gears. The outer sprockets (large front, small rear) give higher gears.
Try to avoid the gears that make the chain cross over at an extreme angle. These "criss-cross" gears are bad for the chain and sprockets. Especially bad is to combine the inside (small) front sprocket with the outside (small) rear sprocket. This noisy, inefficient gear causes the chain to wear out prematurely.

I take no credit for the previous article, this was written by Sheldon Brown and
reposted from his website at http://sheldonbrown.com/gears.html (An Excellent resource for Beginning Cyclists)

[Product Review] PowerGrip Sports Pedal

2011-08-01T20:01:00.000-07:00

Purchased at REI

Product Link: Power Grips Sport Pedal Kit

Purchase Price: $44.00 + tax

Personal Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

My intention for purchasing the Power Grip pedal kit was to start off with a 'secured' foot/pedal setup like a pedal+clip+shoe combination without the larger upfront investment to see if I like the feel of that kind of setup. After doing some research it seems that choosing this combination gets complex / expensive very quickly. The $44 dollar price tag made this choice a no-brainer, and the obvious cheaper option / worthy smaller investment.

The install was super easy and took less than 15 minutes. They come in the box full assembled so there was no setup out of the box. Simply unscrew the old pedals with a wrench and install the new Power Grip Pedals. The trickiest part is adjusting them to fit your feet. This is done with several screws on the sides of the pedal that allow you to better fit the strap to your specific shoe. I wear a size 11, Nike cross training shoe for riding my bike, and unfortunately is seems that my shoe may be a little wider than these straps are intended. The shoes do fit, don't get me wrong, but getting my feet into the straps is a little harder than I thought would be the case, fortunately they do sell an XL version of the straps which I have yet to try. The straps cross the pedal diagonally and the idea is that you insert your foot in a pigeon-toe manner, then straighten out to cinch the strap down on your shoe, giving you the additional power available with the up/down stroke of pedaling.

Installed Angle 1

Installed Angle 2

The learning curve is fairly short, after only 2 rides, I really like the Power Grip Pedals and can easily see using them for a while and putting the Clip/shoe combo on hold for the foreseeable future. The power difference was fairly significant, using my Cyclemeter app for IPhone 4 app I was able to see that I've raised my mile per hour speed from a previous average of 11.5-12.5 up to 16.5mph at my peak on my last ride.

I'm very happy with my recent purchase, and plan to look into the XL Straps to allow me a little more foot room and ease of getting my feet in and out of the pedals. I only gave it a 4 of 5 stars because of the smaller straps, I feel that a size 11 shoe is pretty average size and would have liked to see them use a longer strap as a base configuration.

Finally, though I spent the $44.00 and feel that they were well worth it, I found that with super saver shipping you can get this same kit for a little over 5 dollars cheaper at Amazon.

Thanks for reading my review and Happy Cycling.

Hunt Highway / AZ87 Loop

2011-07-31T21:23:00.000-07:00

Ride Stats

Courtesy of Cyclemeter 5.0 for IPhone4:

Ride Time: 1:50:18

Distance: 16.47 miles

Average: 8.01 miles/h [Due to injury]

Fastest Speed: 16.73 miles/h

Ascent: 2194 feet

Descent: 1899 feet

Today I decided to head south towards the edge of Chandler which meets the edge of the desert for the southeast Valley more or less. Chandler City ends at the Hunt highway for the most part, and originally I had intended to venture across the Hunt Highway headed east to see if there was anything good out that way (Little did I know fate had different plans for me.) I left the house about 7:30 with a perfect temperature of 82 degrees and fairly low humidity. It was an awesome morning for riding, and I was really excited about pushing across the 20 mile mark (which I’ve yet to achieve.)

I started off from the house headed down the Paseo Trailwhich is my usual canal ride, and headed off south. I passed Paseo Vista Recreational Area which until the past few years was working landfill. The City of Chandler decided to invest in a completely new purpose and covered in in 30 feet of rocks, crushed granites and boulders and turned it into a recreational area, interesting idea though I thought it a bit silly at first. Paseo Vista offers a decent range of amenities (Disc Golf, Playground, "Bark Park" and an Archery range.) All in all it’s a pretty nice setup and worked out nicely, though it does look a tad funny rising 30 feet above a fairly level Chandler.

Approximately 5-6 miles later, and as I neared my turn around location I passed up an older gentleman (Yes I have a thing with old people passing me) who was out for a ride. We exchanged pleasantries and he mentioned he was from Florida and was out on his daughter's bike for a ride and enjoyed the "dry heat," never mind that it was still about 25% humidity (not exactly dry for us.) He asked how far this part of the canal went, and I told him we were about to reach the end. I mentioned to him that it went about 12 miles in the opposite direction so he could turn around and enjoy some of the trail heading north. As I wished him farewell and good luck and started to turn my bike I caught some loose gravel and with my new Power Grip Pedals,that had my feet secured nicely into place fell flat on my side and skidded to a halt. OUCH!! The gentleman, probably less than 10 feet away at that point, turned around and asked if I was ok and then asked if this was my first time out. Talk about humiliating. I've been riding roughly 3 days a week since February and never took a spill of any kind until today. So today I add my first "badge of road rash" to my list of cycling accomplishments. At least it was nothing more, for that I am thankful.

OUCH!

My first thought was anger towards the pedals, then of course felt pretty dumb, because I really had no one to blame but myself, take it easy on new equipment!! I have to admit the Power Grip Pedals are a bit hard to get in and out of, and are not really made for wider feet. [Just assuming here since my "wide" feet don't fit in as well as I thought they should.] They do seem to be of a pretty strong construction and for 40 bucks made much more sense than diving into a new pair of shoes, clips and pedals prior to knowing if I like my feet secured to my bike. I did notice a huge difference in the amount of power being delivered at the crank since I could know apply power in the down stroke and the upstroke and my numbers even show that I hit 16.72mph on today’s ride which is considerably faster and not bad for my mountain bike with the knobby tires. [For reference my previous average was about 12-13.5.]

Anyway, shaking off my recent spill, brushing off the gravel, dusting off my clothes and my pride, I drank some water, took a couple deep breaths, remounted my bike and started my journey home to clean up. I'll have to save the Hunt Highway excursion for another day....

Heading back, there was quite alot of airport traffic this morning and I thought it would be a great opportunity to get some pictures of some aircraft landing at Chandler Airpark. As I raced towards the edge of the airpark there were several Bi-Planes which appear to "dive bomb" in their landing approach. That was pretty spectacular to watch; unfortunately I was not able to get any video. As quickly as I reached a good spot for photographs the air traffic ceased. How unfortunate! So... I have no cool pictures of planes landing to share.

16.5 miles later I return home, a few new scars, a few new memories, a couple pictures to share, a decent story to tell and another ride under my belt. What did I learn today? Take it easy on new equipment; you never know how it will affect your ride.

After Thought:

I've decided, after doing a lot of reading, I will be reposting some interested cycling articles that I have found useful and would like to share. I've noticed some improvement in my riding (and a decrease in pain) since I've read some of these articles and since no one really ever taught me to ride a bike, someone else may find this information useful. As always thanks for reading and stay tuned.

7.5 miles on broken Pedals!!

2011-07-27T19:38:00.002-07:00

7.5 miles on broken pedals isn't too bad. I went on an afternoon ride after work today, took the short route since the day seems so short when having to work. I really needed to push thru a few miles and clear my head, it was a tough day. I recently started a new job as a Tool Install Designer for a contractor down at Intel Ocotillo. Not really my line of work and requires a lot of thought, concentration and coordination (not a relaxing job by any means), so the riding helps clear my head after work.

It appears that I’ve cracked my first set of pedals this past weekend, my bike is only about 550 miles “old,” but these pedals are toast! The other day, I’d heard a loud pop, over the sounds of my playlist which is cranked nicely in my ears, but I assumed this was just a chain slip. This made for a difficult ride today since I’d completely forgotten about that, about I mile into the ride I realized a flexing feeling on the down stroke of each pedal. The outer back side edge of both pedals is completely separated. Boooo.

It’s a good thing I recently picked up a set of Power Grips Sports Pedals at REI. The idea behind the purchase was to not go the route of buying new clips and shoes but still allow me the additional power on the upstroke of pedaling (and to save a few bucks). I can’t wait to get these installed and get back out there. I’ll let you know how they work out. Stay Tuned.

McQueen Park to Kiwanis Park Loop

2011-07-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

Today I decided on a trek across the Western Canal which is an ongoing city project that runs E/W thru Gilbert, Chandler and Tempe. Taking this route, I’d start out in Gilbert at McQueen Park and loop out and around Kiwanis Park in Tempe (approximately 9 miles away).

I ventured out about 8:00 this morning, as quietly as a bull in a china shop, though I don’t think I woke anyone. Got a little smarter this time… picking up some power bars and a Gatorade PRIOR to the point where I thought I was going to pass out and die (Yes that was last weekend.) Got my new Hydration pack loaded up (always nice to have pockets) and was off on my adventure! (Review on that in the near future.)

Leaving from McQueen Park and heading towards South Mountain

The trail starts off in the dirt as this section of this $18 million project has not yet been started. Its quickly noticeable that there is quite of bit of work left to do on this trail since there are still several “major” roads that need crossing along the trail that still have no crossing lights or even crosswalks. “Insert archaic Frogger comment here.” Navigating across these roads proved fairly simple with Saturday morning traffic being at a minimum on most of the roads. Slackers… where is everyone?

Drought? Really?

Loop 101.. that doesn't really Loop

"Informative Sign" [Hard to Read]

Interestingly enough, I "closed" a loop in a riding adventure I went on many, many years ago, and when I pulled into the area I had an instant feeling that I'd been there before. That point, where the canal ends and the trail starts to head north, had been the end of a riding loop from when I had lived in Tempe in the late 90's. I had turned around at this point to head home some 10+ years ago. (Yes, apparently I've been here, for the most part, for 18 years later this year.) Anyway, I thought that was pretty cool.


No ducking for rogue golf balls!

End of my Loop for today on the Western Canal

Entrance to Kiwanis

I've reached Kiwanis!! I've always loved this park. I wish Chandler had some lakes like this. Unfortunately, it seems, they only build lakes in Chandler for rich people and their houses AND then they gate their communities so we don't get to see them at all. Thanks Google Earth for letting me see what only the rich can afford. Pffftt...

They were following me!!

Breakfast Break

The shot above is where I chose to take my breakfast break and chow down on a PowerBar and Gatorade before heading the 9 miles back home. This is a very peaceful spot, was very quiet and serene... BUT if I stayed too long I would be headed right into Snoozefest 2011. The ducks don't deserve to hear me snoring! Time to get moving and head home.

Cool Bridge

Heading back, it’s always nice to see old people in their sleek gear and expensive bikes fly by…just like they do in their Caddies on the freeway… NOT. Sure makes my “I think I can” engine go into hyper-drive! Of course two minutes later, my burst of energy is spent, I’m breathing like I’d just ran a marathon… and they are way beyond my field of vision and quickly fall off into obscurity… I’m back into my iTunes playlist thinking I’m hauling butt once again. I’m telling you, some of those old people can go! Good for them.. for now… I can only aspire to be that fast.

Not the angle I wanted but you get the idea...or do you?

Today's ride was about 17.5 miles, and done in about 1:30, not a great pace but lots of new views which is as important to me as the pace. Hope you enjoyed, Thanks for reading and stay tuned.

Tumbleweed Excursion

2011-07-22T17:40:00.000-07:00

Curse you Arizona Sun!! You are "scorching" my ability to put in any decent saddle time. At 108 degrees, and a nice scorching wind, I still managed to crank out 9.5 miles. Today I'll try to post a few more pictures of my riding adventure.

I started out on my usual canal "Paseo Trail" towards Tumbleweed Park. I was deep in the riding zone and I cranked thru the park and totally spaced taking some pictures. Next Time.

Next stop Chandler Airpark. Not many planes flying out this time of day. Oddly enough we still see hot air balloons in the morning on occasion.

Chandler Control Tower

Chandler Air Park and the Runway

Interesting Plane...

At this point in the ride, I was feeling like a single point of "scorched Earth," or maybe ants when you put a magnifying glass on them. Though the temperature hadn't changed much the hot wind does a number on you, feels like a convection oven.

This picture really shows what it felt like out there with the sun just beaming down on me. "Time to head home and stick my head in the oven....too cool off." (J. Kukowski, 2011)

Sun directly behind me

All in all, it was a great ride, short but well needed. Stay Tuned.

[Product Review] Coleman Revel 8L Hydration Backpack

2011-07-17T20:55:00.000-07:00

Along with the launch of my blog, I can also submit my first review. I purchased a Coleman Revel 8L Hydration Backpack to use on my rides. I've been using a military type issued Camelback that has done me great service, however it has no pockets, so it is not working well in that capacity.

My initial bit of confusion lies in the name of the pack being a Coleman Revel "8L", yet only holds 2L of water. My guess is that perhaps it holds up to 8L of water and gear? That aside, the Coleman backpack is nice looking, sturdy, durable and of the quality you should expect for Coleman outdoor gear. It comes in Black as well as several other colors. It has deep pockets, gear separators and a nice phone/mp3 pocket that has a soft liner to keep your phone/player scratch free.

As for the Hydration bladder, this is where I found the quality heading immediate south. As I pulled it out to clean and fill for use this morning, I instantly noticed several warnings in a watermark style on the bladder plastic which I could not fully make out. Using a bright light to view, and to the best of my vision, I could barely make out the warnings which were: a temperature range warning of -20 to 50 degrees, no milk, and no fruit juices. Fair enough.

The hydration bladder is just not made of a quality plastic that I can see as a lasting piece of equipment. I'm not sure how well this will work with using ice, which is pretty important out here (unless you like hot water within 45 minutes of your start.) The hydration bag is very flimsy and "hangs" from the top of the inner pack by little Velcro straps. There is no reinforcement on the bag so my thought is that these will not hold out well in the long run and are probably not a good choice for cycling.

That aside, my biggest complaint and most obvious was that the moment I filled it and placed the bag back in the pack, the nozzle, where it attached to the bag started leaking. Had I not felt the bottom of the bag before venturing out, I'd be very disappointed to find my wallet, phone and other gear soaking wet. Yes, in less than 5 minutes the bottom of the pack had about 1 inch of water in it.

Like I said it’s a nice pack, but the bladder was a flop in my eyes. Needless to say, it is headed back to the store, and perhaps my next review will be on a new Camelback Hydration pack. Stay Tuned.

Welcome Aboard!

2011-07-17T20:30:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my latest project "AZ Revolutions". My name is Keith and I will be your host for this site. I'm a 30 something, cycling, hobbyist from Chandler, Arizona and I've decided to share my adventures with you in this fashion. More about me later.

My 19.5 mile, Sunday morning, cycling assault began in Chandler, Arizona, around 8:15am with a "mildish" temperature of 87 degrees and humidity level of 22%.... Across sidewalks, and paved trail, across dirt and railroad tracks... passing runners, and cyclists, ranchers on tractors and people on horseback...and ...well its always interesting to see what people will do to their back yards when they think no one is looking. There was quite a lot of "traffic" today, bikers and runners mainly, but everyone is always so friendly out on the trails.

I sliced across three AZ cities (Chandler, Gilbert and Mesa) today before circling about at the US60 to make the final trek home. Today's adventure was a partial run of the Paseo Trail as well as a continuation of the Canal Trail that runs many mile north across the Metro cities.

By the time I returned home about 10:30 the temperature had already risen to about 96 degrees and the humidity had dropped to about 15%. Already warming up to be another hot day in the Valley of the Sun.

I took a slower pace today since I planned to take a lot of pictures. It should be well worth it and a worthy start to my cycling blog. Once I get a bit more used to this blogging format I'll add more images to the posts to spice things up. Until then enjoy the images on the right bar slideshow.

Canal riding sure is fun. Stay Tuned.