I wasn't expecting these developments to happen these past few months, but they did. I guess I sort of jinxed things. It's nothing good or bad, just a reminded that life is in a constant state of change and staying in your comfort zone is not always a good thing.
Do I want to expound my thoughts? No. This is something I will only discuss with my wife and maybe some close friends. Aside from that, I will try to keep things within my small circle of trust.
Out.
Yeah you guessed it. Filler blog time!
Seriously though with the amazing increase of fuel prices and salaries remaining the same you do have to think twice about what kind of car you drive to get the most bang for the buck. Plus I was talking about this with a good friend of mine last night.
What I'd want first for a two-car garage would be a small daily driver that you can still bring to out-of-town trips. Ideally an automatic so that you don't have to worry about clutch stuff in stop and go traffic. Plus the engine should be very economical, maybe at most 1.5L or smaller. The car should be relatively small so you can park it in parking areas without worrying if you can squeeze in between cars when you go in or out. It should also have decent space, so a hatchback.
I'm honestly thinking a Kia Picanto. You can choose between a 1.0L or 1.2L engine, it's a hatchback, it's small, there are automatic transmission variants, and the rear seats are 60/40 folding, I think. Other small hatches are available but I honestly prefer the Picanto because of the 1.2L engine and the split folding rear seats. The Mitsubishi Mirage is also an option because of the engine size, but I don't know if the rear seats are split. Bigger options are of course my dream car Honda Jazz and a Kia Rio hatchback. I think Ford has stopped selling the Fiesta and Focus here in the Philippines.
The dark horse small car would be the Suzuki S-Presso. I really like that car as well, and it's also very affordable compared to the other cars I mentioned. Biggest drawback is that there is only one variant being sold here, a manual transmission variant. Aside from that it has great ground clearance, great interior space for such a small car, and I really like how it looks.
For the other car, which will be used more as a number-coding car, an out-of-towner, or a utility car, I'm picking the Toyota Rush. Yes there are cheaper options, like the Suzuki Ertiga, but the Rush has the most air bags of cars of similar body type.
I used to dislike the Rush. I thought it was an overpriced Avanza. Now that I've done my research though I'm starting to like it just because of the cargo capacity and the air bags. It can seat five to seven people, plus the cargo space if you fold the 3rd row seats makes it a very practical car.
So there you have it. I wish I could own a Kia Picanto and a Toyota Rush. Those two cars are ideal for me considering the times we're in now. Both can be used as daily drivers, both can be used for road trips, and hopefully both have good fuel economy depending on driving style.
Out.
Yesterday was the very first time I had ever ridden along the East Service Road. Ever. And today I did it again, going through a loop where I turned somewhere about two kilometers from here and taking a road that led me to the back of our subdivision. I used my gravel bike.
It was pretty thrilling to actually finally ride outside the subdivision. I treat myself as a total beginner in cycling basically because I stopped biking after a crash I had in grade school and only started seriously cycling a few months ago, when I made it a goal to assemble a gravel bike.
It's basically a 3.5km loop that I do, something that takes me around 12 to 15 minutes inside the subdivision. Outside it's much faster since there are almost no humps and almost everyone outside is going way faster than me. I probably average around 15-16kmh inside the subdivision, but outside whenever I get the chance to check my cyclocomputer I ride at around 20kmh or so.
Yesterday when I finished my ride my hands were numb and sore. Today I felt like I cracked on the way home. I've been trying to adjust my bike's setup as well as my own fitness levels to avoid these things, and I'm glad that riding outside gave a reality check of the stuff I need to improve on.
My core strength needs improving so I don't lean too much on the bike. I've seen countless bike videos on youtube of bike fitters and cycling channels saying that engaging the core is important. I've also read a few articles from what I believe are legitimate and trusted sites that do say that one of the most important factors in riding well is the core strength.
My stamina also needs improving. I think the reason why I felt like I cracked in this morning's ride was because I tried pedaling on smaller gears today. Maintaining a high cadence with more effort is of course draining, and since I'm doing intermittent fasting I'm basically running on "empty" whenever I ride in the morning. Lesson learned, at my current fitness level I should go use the bigger gears.
I also need to work on my balance and spatial awareness. Cycling on public roads is very different here in the Philippines. You've got public transportation, motorcycles, other cyclists, and other vehicles sharing the road with you and they're not really bike friendly. So I need to constantly remind myself to ride at a slow but decent pace, stay on the right, keep a cool head, and make sure I'm riding properly.
Overall I'm quite happy and motivated at what I have done. I'm realizing a lot of things I need to improve as a cyclist, and I'm feeling a level of freedom. I do know I need a lot more training to do before I can even ride further than what I'm doing now.
I'll probably ride inside the subdivision again this week and ride outside on Sundays, when there are hopefully less vehicles on the road.
Out.
There are two things I really need right now. New prescription glasses and a haircut.
I think I last had my eyes checked in 2018 or 2019. Since then I've noticed I can't really read while wearing my glasses, which apparently comes with old age. I'll need those two-way lenses where the lower half is for reading the the upper half is for normal needs.
Apparently if you're near sighted you won't be needing reading glasses as you get older. However your normal prescription lenses do affect what you can see up close, and up close I can't really read anything anymore unless I remove my glasses.
As for the haircut, I've been trimming my hair since the pandemic lockdown started way back in March 15, 2020. I've gone through different styles, from fully shaved, a mohawk, to figuring out a nice fade. Sadly I've decided to grow my hair long, in a style similar to an undercut. I don't know how to trim the long parts of my hair so I probably look pretty weird right now. I need a pro to fix my hair so it can grow and look the way I want it to look.
Out.
My gravel bike is finally done. All I need to do is buy some miscellaneous stuff I will be needing, like chainstay guard, maybe reflective tape, and maybe a clear protective sticker to protect the bike's clear coat from dings, some of which I've already done.
I'm not going to pretend that I did it all myself. The major part of the build I had loads of help from Coven, my mom's long time chauffeur (or known colloquially as 'driver' here in the Philippines). Coven's been riding bikes for the longest time and he does have experience building them. Without tools, even.
Here's the thing though, I don't agree with some of his methods. He did tune the rear derailleur but I want to tune it again since I did see some very good Park Tool videos on youtube. In other words, I really want a "best of both worlds" scenario where I will be fine tuning stuff based on videos I've seen online but I will be doing some things based on what experience, and Coven, has taught me.
I probably would love to say I did 80% of the work, but without that crucial 20% the bike would still not be done. Coven saw that part of the frame where the rear wheel would sit needed filing. He was also crucial in installing the star fangled nut into the steerer tube. I did try to do the install myself but I honestly couldn't hammer the thing in and I did not want to risk breaking anything.
Coven also checked the brake cable installations I did, he tuned the RD, and he adjusted the rotors, that seem misaligned. Aside from that he also gave me some shifter cable end housings because all I bought were for brake cables, which were too big.
The fit is great. I am not experiencing any of the aches I felt riding Coven's (formerly my Dad's but he gave it to Coven) road bike. I do believe geometry wise my bike has a shorter effective top tube, which is probably why I don't feel the aches.
Youtube and the internet is a great source of information for bike fit, bike maintenance, and bike assembly. However experience is still one hell of a teacher.
Out.