Back at it!

 After a 3 week hiatus I am back on the bike. 

Why have I not been riding? Well, its simple....LIFE. In order to move forward you have do to the work to move forward. Moving in with Christine is a big step forward. Taking two households and combining them into one is no small feat. Getting 90% of the way there in 2-1/2 days was how we did it. Thanks to the massive help from our friend Stacie we managed to empty my apartment completely, move massive amounts of stuff to storage, and nearly empty Chris's apartment. This included all the furniture, televisions, freezer, 5 total bedrooms, one cat, and one dog. We buried ourselves for 2 full days to get it all done. 

How did we celebrate? By going to Cedar Point for 2 days. It was a good way to 'relax' for a few days after some major hard work. I say relax, because I walked around 8 miles each of the 2 days we were there. lol. Good times!

When we got back there was still a lot of work to be done. Bathroom fixtures, curtain rods, and organizing continued for the next week. We are now mostly settled and enjoying our rental house. 

Whew.

Last Thursday I planned to ride no matter what. While still fighting with Giant and determining that they are going to be no help, I brought home my road bike. Tom and I headed out for a quick 18 mile ride around the lake. I told him it was going to be a slow ride because I hadn't ridden in weeks. He joined anyway because riding solo is boring. We met just down the road from me and headed out. Around 7 miles in Tom says "I thought this was going to be a slow ride"....as we were cruising down Monroe. I was feeling pretty good, so I was just riding. Thankfully the legs didn't leave me on this ride. We got back closer to Tom's house and chatted for a bit before heading our separate ways. Solid ride to get back on the bike. 

Last night Lisa invited me to the TNR that R3 Cycling team has. I used to be part of their team, and life just put me on a different path. Still, I had not been on a group road ride in many many years. Gravel and mountain bike groups...yes....road...nope. There was five of us riding. Started tame enough as we headed south out of Kalamazoo. The route turned us into the wind and we all tucked into our group. 2-2-1. D and J were pulling for a long turn and then it was time for B and I at the front. D tucked into the group and we drove into the wind for a while before I peeled out and Lisa took my spot. Overall it was a solid group of people to ride with. Some varying levels of fitness to make it interesting. Always fun to tuck in behind a wheel and ride fast a few inches from another wheel. I didn't realize how much I have missed it. We managed 25 miles and all went our separate ways. Most shocking to me was that I felt good the whole ride. Maybe I needed the rest after a hard first half of the year. 

Its good to be back and I will be riding more consistent again. Got a lot of time before LJ100 in 2024 but I have to get the work done now. More miles and less weight. With no MTB for the moment I will be riding mainly gravel and road. However, I will take the fatbike out too for some love. With the new fork its a lot more fun to ride.

My strava does tell me that I have lost some major fitness though. My level was over 65 at lumberjack. The ride last night it was 33. So, clearly I have some work to get back to where I was and I hope to raise that number before The Fast Fitty in a few weeks. Hit me up if you wanna ride, I will be around! 

The GIANT downfall

 All good things come to an end. 

For me, this appears to be my long term relationship with Giant Bicycles. I currently own 3 of their bikes. I know many people that ride these bikes and have been very happy with their products. However, while the company makes some great bikes...the warranty department and customer service has gone downhill. 

I remember a few years go when Giant had an excellent rep for our area. He is a great human and just all around good dude. He would have made sure that his customers were taken care of. Now, the warranty people are offering less and less and pushing their customers away.

First off, I get it. As a big company you just can't give away the farm when something goes wrong. My Anthem SX is currently 8 years old. But, that shouldn't matter when the company offers a lifetime replacement warranty. If Giant isn't going to honor the warranty....WHY DO YOU OFFER  the warranty? To me, it is a shady operation. They say they will replace your frame if it breaks, but here I am fighting with them to get them to replace the frame that broke. They claim "this is an upgraded frame" from what I currently own. But I still don't believe that dropping almost a grand for a frame is considered a lifetime warranty. 

Frustrated.

Because I wasn't planning on buying a new bike right now....I don't have a bike budget right now. This means, I don't have a pile of hundreds laying around that I can drop on a frame. Then on top of that, I would need new wheels, fork, etc. because the broken bike is a 27.5 and the warranty purchased frame is a 29er. While I don't have an issue going to 29er, I would still need to drop 4k more to get it rideable.

So this is where I am.....rock....hard place.

Since Giant isn't going to budge....they are forcing me to budge. I won't be buying a replacement frame that should be free (in my mind). Instead, I will ride the other bikes I have for the remainder of 2023 and I will go back to Specialized bikes in the spring. This was going to be my plan anyway. Giant just drove the last nail in the coffin for me to make that decision. 

Goodbye to Giant Bicycles. I will not buy another bike from you. I will continue to ride the bikes that I do own, but I just can't justify spending thousands of dollars with a company that doesn't want to take care of its customers down the road. 

Take care.