4luvandlife

Pearl Izumi came through and backed up their product. i called Erik's Bike Shop yesterday and was told that a brand new pair of replacement shoe covers are waiting for me. Same bike shop but 2 different locations and 2 different salespeople and 2 different results. One "not our problem" and another "we'll have the Pearl Izumi rep look at it". Again, not a rant but good info for the future.

bought a pair of Pearl Izumi shoe covers in mid-January for $60. i love them but they both ripped in the sole within a month. took them in to Erik's Bike Shop today in hopes of a replacement as was told to contact Pearl Izumi. Here is my email to Pearl Izumi: I bought a pair of Pearl Izumi Booti’s in mid-January this year for $60. They are the Booti PI F9 Mountain Barrier size XL. I really like them but within a month of regular wear they were both ripping in the sole. It looks like they will not last many more rides. Please see the attached pictures. I took them in to the dealer that I bought them from (Eriks’s Bike Shop) in St. Louis Park, MN. They told me to contact you for a repair or replacement. Please advise on the next step to get these replaced or repaired. Thank you, xxxxxx This email came back from a Pearl Izumi robot in about 30 seconds (way faster then any human could have responded to): Hi Dan, Sorry to hear you're having a problem with one of our product...

77 minutes. 20 miles. felt like 26 degrees. a beautiful fog coming off Cedar and Calhoun lakes. the lakes are melting up into the sky. top of the midtown building also wrapped in fog. the past week has been great for the path clearing off. almost totally clear now. usually riding temps between 26 and 33 the past few morning outings. layers are down to tights, long sleeve jersey, light windbreaker, shoe covers (may not need those), helmet liner, and regular gloves or lobster gloves. figured out how to get the shuffle to play podcasts so i am now rolling to the Currents songs of the day and that is pretty awesome. the shuffle has been great. regular ipod stops working at about 20 to 25 degrees out.

pretty boring stuff right now. been getting closer to consistent rides before work since the lobster gloves made it more humane out there. funny enough the temps rose almost as soon as i got those and now they are a little too toasty. usually going between 45 to 75 minutes and 12 to 18 miles. today was my first try with intervals. 3o seconds on, 1 minute rest, repeat...repeat. feels like i am a long way off from where i want to be when i do that but it does feel good to break off some rust. Theo Wirth closed the trails yesterday so i am pure path and road now for the next 1 to 2 months probably. riding the path the past couple weeks has felt like riding on the edge of a receding glacier. every morning i start out a little excited to see how much ground the pavement has gained on ice over the previous afternoon. it is sort of like watching grass grow and cheering on the grass.

been in a bitter battle with old man winter the past week or 2. for some reason the same gloves that worked fine last year were not working. painful fingers on a few rides made me decide to give a pair of Gore gloves a go. the first ones i tried had me briefly wondering about frostbite about 30 minutes in. turned around and went home with plans on returning those to REI later in the day. got some pearl izumi lobster gloves and i think i am all set to keep my fingers in March.

got out to ride before work today. felt good. first ride before work of the year. nothing like starting in the dark and riding first light. out the door at 7 and the temp "felt like" 16. no wind and about 70% himidity I think. felt pretty good. rode for about 45 minutes and then back for breakfast with H. if it was clear i probably could have started about 6:45 today. i had 3 layers on the legs and 4 layers on top. tights, shorts, and windreaker pants on the legs. long sleeve t-shirt, long sleeve jersey, and then 2 fleeces up top. had the new shoe covers on and the new gore helmet liner over the baclava. shoe covers and helmet liner were good additions. sunglasses today, no goggles needed. race at Hillside on the 21st. Pugfest. something to ride/look forward to. lets do it old man Winter.