Bike-swim was great, except...

[dreamshark]

Actually, it went beautifully except for one thing - some asshole stole my bike computer. Completely pointless, since it isn't good for anything without the mounting bracket, which they left. They also took my bike light, again leaving the mounting bracket. The bike light was an inexpensive one that I have been thinking of replacing with a bigger one, but I'm very annoyed about the bike computer. Grrr.

Other than that, I had a great time. I've thought for some time that the north beach on Harriet is the best swimming beach on the chain of lakes (not counting Cedar Lake). It gets deep very quickly once past the wading area so it's possible to swim without those disgusting water plants clutching at you. The area between the baby floats and the outer buoys is nice and wide with only a few swimmers, and quite long. I swam two laps and it took almost 20 minutes, which should be about a quarter mile.

It was VERY cold, however. How did you know, quility? Usually by the end of July the lakes are a lot warmer than this. Once I got used to it, it felt great. But it was a bit of a shock at first; the last place I swam was in the Caribbean, which is as warm as an indoor pool. It was funny to get back to normal buoyancy after swimming in sea water for a week. I had to actually work at treading water while I was fixing the strap on my swim goggles.

Comments

[quility.livejournal.com]

I am so sorry about your bike computer! ARGH!! That would make me so angry. I'm amazed you aren't letting it spoil your day. Especially after we figured out we both really don't care to bike unless we know how far/fast/etc we have gone. :( *HUG* I'm so sorry. What idiots!

I had no idea how cold the Lakes are here - I was in a stream in WI a few weeks ago tho and it was shockingly cold. So I was just going on that.

I'm glad you were able to go out and bike and swim and have a good time despite the idiots. I'm not sure if I feel more inspired to try it now or not.... if it weren't for the thieves I would definitely want to try it - so I will try not to let them steal my fun too.

Go you!

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear about the thefts! If I had to guess, I'd think the lakes are still cold because the summer has been relatively cold - not enough really hot weather to warm the water much.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Fortunately I can afford to by a new bike accessory or two without having to give up buying groceries or something. And as it happens I have a pretty good idea how many miles were on the odometer (about 1500) so I can just buy a new one and set the old mileage into it. Unfortunately, I don't quite remember what brand the old one was. I bought it only two years ago, so there's a halfway decent chance that I can replace it with another one that is compatible with the bracket that's already on the bike. I'm planning to just take it back to Alt Bike and Board where I bought the bike and computer in 2007 and see if they still have the same model in stock.

I'm relieved that they didn't steal my bike tools or my seat or the nice grocery pannier hanging off the right side. I specifically did NOT have my expensive bike commuter pannier on the bike because it looks like a backpack and would be very easy to steal. Heck, they didn't even notice the $20 bill I had tucked into the little handlebar bag. Not a real professional job here.

[(Anonymous)]

You might want to poke around a bit on eBay in the bike accessories.

When my cellphone was lost/stolen a few months ago, Verizon told me it would cost $135 (plus tax) to replace the phone. I spent about 20 minutes poking about on eBay and found a good-condition used one on eBay from someone with a good reputation for $36 (which included shipping)...

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

1) I would like to get the same model so i can just slip it into the existing bracket. I don't remember what brand and model I had. This makes it hard to buy on Ebay.

2) I want a new one RIGHT NOW.

[jolest.livejournal.com]

Sorry. That previous anonymous suggestion about eBay was from me. I hadn't noticed that LJ had logged me out.

[kaustin.livejournal.com]

If you want to check the water temperature before you head out you can go to the Minneapolis parks beach status page.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Wow, you're right! Water temperature AND e coli concentration. Interestingly, the water temp at that beach has supposedly dropped almost 4 degrees in one week, from 74 to 70. That hardly seems credible - it hasn't been THAT cold and there's a lot of water in that lake. And in the "nice to know" category, the e coli count has been in the negligible range all year.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

"No activities are offered at this time that match your criteria." How's that helpful?

K.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

You have to poke around a little bit. Try this.

http://www.minneapolisparks.org/default.asp?PageID=626&aqtype=beach