The fat bikes have arrived!

On Saturday the 19th January 2013 to complete my birthday week Amanda and I received our new bikes.  :)

New bikes

Here are a couple of facts about the bikes, the tyres (tires if you are American) are 4" wide and run at low pressure to allow you to float over the snow or dirt, they recommend 5-10psi.  As most people who know my wife know she likes the colour purple a lot.  Since we were finding it difficult to find a purple bike we went with a silver frame and purple accents (cables, nipples, seat clamp) it looks amazing.

Next extra is the reflective tape you can see in the above pictures, since the wheel rims we bought have cut outs in them for weight saving purposes, you get the opportunity to add something a little different to the wheels. (I've seen a photo of one guy who installed lights in his cutouts, here)  We sourced some retro reflective tape from http://www.identi-tape.com/ which allows any light to be reflected back towards the source, hence the reason the flash from the iphone photo above can't cope with the picture so well.

All that was left to do was take them out for a short spin, here is Amanda heading out for a short ride.

Amanda out for a ride

This is me heading out in the snow that arrived later in the day.

Me out for a ride

Finally a shot of my bike in the woods.

Bike in the woods

This week there was also a story on NPR about Fat Bikes here is the link

The next couple of projects will be adding some skis to the wheels on the trailer so we can all get out together.  Some thing like this will be completed in the not to distant future, just waiting on our things from Bogota to arrive so I can make some measurements.  And making some stands for the bikes like this. 

Well that is all from me for now more riding stories and manufacturing stories to follow probably. 

Finally some mountain biking

So after not riding a mountain bike off road for almost 2 years I managed to hire a bike and get out on a ride on Thursday by myself then got really lucky and joined a group ride on Thursday evening.
It was the first time I had ridden a fat bike which is a Mountain bike with extra wide rims and tyres (4"wide) and it was great fun.

This is a stock image of the bike I was on

907 Fat Bike

Casting long shadows at 2pm

Following tracks

Looking back

There is a lake under here

This is the route we took during the group ride and I had a blast, snowy singletrack forest trails.  The bike rides kind of like a tractor and climbs really well over just about anything.  Can't wait to ride one with the brakes set up the right way around.  

Since finishing the ride Amanda and I have taken the hire bike back and ordered two bikes for ourselves.  Can't wait until we get them, hopefully mid January.  Once again thank you to Amanda for being such an amazing wife so I could be a little selfish and get out for a ride.  

8 States of running

2012 has been an interesting year for the Blades family during which I have managed to go for a run in eight States in the USA, we didn't plan this but sometimes things just work out that way.  While filling out this post I realised I missed an opportunity to run in Kansas so looks like we will be returning one day to Kansas so that I can run in all 50 States of the USA!  During these runs I have managed to cover a variety of terrain from beaches to snow.

So here my 8 States of running for 2012

1. Florida

Beach run with Amanda

2. Texas

Shoe test during our short trip to Texas

3. Oklahoma 

5km race on closed roads and I won a medal :)

4. Colorado

Near the airport from another hotel, least this was at a lower elevation compared to where I had been running.  :) 

5. Nebraska 

Gravel road running in the heat :) followed by water skiing.

6. Missouri

Cool and windy, should have turned the other way from the hotel and picked up the bike trail, oh well live and learn.

7. Arkansas

Warm run with nice drivers.

8. Alaska

Brrrrr!!! Moose stopped play, didn't think I would ever be writing that.

A Train, A Train.....

A train a train

 Since we had confirmation that we would be leaving Colombia and heading to Alaska Amanda and I have been telling Fiona that we could ride a train.  On Saturday the 8th December we came through on our promise when we took the Christmas trip on the train up here in Anchorage.

The trip lasted 2 hours and was an out and back trip.  On the trip Alaska rail had enlisted the help of some singers, a magician and jolly fat man in a red suit to entertain the children.

Waiting at the station

We were at the station at 9am for the 10am train, I think they were staggering people to try and avoid big lines of people, it worked for us as there was no line, later on that was not the case.  At 10am we had boarded the train and set off on our ride.  First we got to experience some singers, they performed all the usual Christmas songs, next we had a magician, then judging of the colouring competition and finally for our car we had Santa and Mrs Claus.

The scenery we saw whilst on the train was fantastic and not driving enabled Amanda and I to both look at it rather than one person drive whilst the other takes fleeting glimpses.  All in all the trip was a huge success although Fiona was having nothing to do with Santa even though she had been telling us she wants a green and red present and a present for someone else who Santa won't be able to bring one for which was rather cute.

Ice Climbing road start

Look do you see it

Freezing before getting on the train

Ahhhh Santa Claus!

In other news
We are now living in temporary accommodation, this is until we can move into a house which we are trying to buy, yes we found one though it is not a sure thing yet we are still working out the finer details.

The current place we are staying in is so much better than the hotel for a few simple reasons :-

1. It has more than one room
2. It has a garage so I don't need to clear the car off all the time.
3. It has a kitchen as eating out was wearing really thin.
4. It feels like a home although there is way to much stuff on the walls for Amanda and I.
5. It has a garden with fresh snow so Fiona could do this!

Snow Angel

We have enough space for a Christmas tree.

Mini tree

And finally for this post, on Tuesday night Amanda was told at work to bring her computer home since they were expecting a storm to move in overnight and driving would be difficult during rushhour.  Luckily for Amanda the snow wasn't so bad first thing in the morning, about 3" fell overnight.  After dropping Amanda off I was not so lucky since Fiona and I needed to get things on Wednesday so we were prepared for the arrival of the cats that evening. It is safe to say during my shopping trip the blizzard conditions arrived and during the remainder of the day we received another 6" which made driving a little challenging.  Here is a photo taken after a 1 hour trip to Walmart.

Post Walmart

PS - I still find it strange that when it snows here the whole world doesn't come grinding to a halt... UK please take note!

First weekend in Anchorage, Alaska

So we arrived in Anchorage Alaska on Wednesday evening.  Due to the colossal amount of luggage we were travelling with we asked nicely at the car rental desk and we lucky enough to get a free upgrade to a minivan so at least we could all travel together to the hotel.  

Travelling light

First impressions were it was cold!!!   Thursday was spent running errands and our first visit to the Doctor with Fiona since she arrived with a really bad cold from Bogota, we think of this as Bogota's leaving present for us.  For the UK people who are unaware cough medicine is only available as prescription here boo! however Fiona is definitely on the mend yey!  We also stopped at the Subaru dealership to look at cars and actually bought one, well tried to at least.

Morning after breakfast

After our breakfast trip to Ihop then a trip to find car insurance where we really got lucky,  Friday was spent looking at houses which left us a little downhearted, lots of money and not so great houses.  We followed this trip with a visit back to the car dealership where we managed to get our new car, yes you can buy a car that quickly if you are lucky and have a sales person who is willing to work on his day off.

Saturday was more shopping, setting up a P.O. Box and looking a houses again.  We also returned the really nice purple coat we had bought for Fiona as it already had a small tear at a seam after only one day :(.  So far we have not seen any houses that meet our criteria but we shall keep looking.  With a bit of luck we will find a great house.

Sunday we went shopping yet again but we finally think we have at least some warm weather gear that will last us a while.  We also took a trip out to Earthquake park so Fiona could throw some snow at Daddy which is one of the big things we (Amanda) have (has) been telling Fiona she will be able to do once we arrive in Anchorage.  Lucky for us Fiona really liked the snow and didn't even seem to mind the cold though that could be because she had lots of warm clothes on.  Mum and Dad only had jeans on which was big mistake :)

getting ready to stay warm

About as high as the sun got today

Throwing snow at Daddy

Snow shower

Amanda's car,  studded tyres are an excellent addition.

Ok that is all from me for now Amanda is now at work and Fiona is currently sleeping which is not really surprising since we had to wake her this morning before we went to breakfast.  Next week we are going on a train a train where we will probably meet Santa.... We may have even found a suitable house by then although I think I see some pigs flying by the window :)