Gran Fondo San Diego

I just registered for the 100 mile Gran Fondo San Diego recreational bike ride. Very excited to say the least. I've been reading Bicycling, Triathlete, and the the free Competitor SoCal magazines for tips on how to train for events such as these. I have two whole months to prepare for this ride, which starts at 7AM Sunday, March 1, 2009.

www.GranFondoSanDiego.com

eBay Bites, Big Time

More time than it's worth. I ended up with only eight dollars in profit after paying shipping, transaction, and listing fees. But then there's the time spent researching prices and costs involved with selling these items, looking up information to properly list each item then listing the items. Then, after they sell, if they sell, there's time spent packaging them up, driving to the post office, and standing in line to mailing them. There must be a better way.

Selling Stuff

If deciding between what to keep and what to sell weren't taxing enough, I now find myself having to screen possible buyers for con artists. I'm advertising items through craigslist.org, auctioning items through ebay.com, and selling books on half.com and amazon.com. I think as far as time is concerned though, it may be more cost effective to get a second job or trade up for a higher paying one.

See what I've listed so far with my seller account at ebay.com.

Daily Bike Ride

I'm going to start riding everyday again. I feel great when I do. It helps me sleep better, keeps me in shape, keeps my back from hurting, wakes me up in the morning and gives me energy that lasts throughout the rest of the day. I just returned from a ride along the south ridge of Los Peñasquitos Canyon. This is my usual route. I warm up with a ride from the house to the east end of Calle Cristobal, about a mile, and start my workout from there. After 2.4 mi Calle Cristobal turns into Sorrento Valley Blvd. I follow this another 1.3 mi to Juniper Park Ln. This is the last light before heading down the hill into Sorrento Valley. I turn around there and head back to complete the circuit, which ends up being 7.3 mi, not including the distance from the house. I'm getting all these measurements from Google Maps.


View Larger Map

I enjoy the ride. The roads have bike lanes along the entire route, the pavement is smooth, and there's relatively little traffic along the way. There is the occasional city worker parked in the bike lane, but they're easy enough to go around.

I'm also going to start recording my daily computer results and setup a website where I can keep track of them, set goals, calculate calories burned, and graph the results over time. If anyone else is interested doing the same, let me know and I'll configure the site to support multiple users.

Liquidating Assets

Starting to sell everything off. Whatever I can. Figure it best to get some of these items up before Christmas. I've moved a good deal of my things from storage and am now sorting through everything. Will be posting soon on craigslist.org, ebay.com, amazon.com, and half.com.

Would like to set up an inventory website too so I could quickly and easily see or show what I have in stock. The site would also allow me to sell more directly instead of having to go through one of the online marketplaces.