And a new season begins

And with an unusually mild day in February, my 2009 season begins. I made it out yesterday -- a nice little hilly sixteen mile ride during a windy 50-something degree day. It was awesome. Of course, I don't have a lot to report here - just that it feels great to be on the road again /Willy Nelson starts running through my head.

Unfortunately, I wasn't quite in as good of shape as I may have been. While I've been pretty diligent about hopping on the stationary recumbent bike this offseason, we've had some problems with it. First, a few weeks ago, we lost the ability to change the resistance -- we could say "1" or "8", but it would just give us something in the middle . . . then, a metallic clang came about last week and there was no resistance what-so-ever. That was kind-of cool -- push the pedals and watch them turn & turn & turn. However, "kind-of cool" does not make for a good workout. As such, we bought a spinning bike off of eBay . . . I set it up on Saturday, and haven't yet gotten on it (because I went actual riding on Sunday). Yay, stream-of-consciousness tangents! What I was trying to say was that I have a bit more around the middle than I should, and my average speed on the flat portions was closer to 15 miles per hour than the 20 miles per hour that I'm used to. At the end of the ride, continued into today, my hamstrings are screaming at me -- but I'll be back to normal after 2 or 3 rides like that. If I can be regularly commuting by April, I'll tackle the Waggoner's Gap / Doubling Gap ride by early May. Once I manage that, I'll be ready for anything.

My hope is to drop my two primary bikes off at the local bike shop (LBS) sometime in the next week or two, as I have a free tuneup for each of them. After that, should the weather hold, I'll be back to commuting in March - hopefully working my way up to 4 times a week by April. Then, of course, there is the Tour de Cure in late May, and SAGBRAW in early August. With all of that on top of random weekend rides and the commuting, I really think my goal of 5,000 miles in 2009 is quite attainable. Of course, check in here for updates.

Getting Light Outside

It's been awhile since my last post -- but I don't have a whole lot to write about -- I simply haven't been biking much. There have been the occasional trips outside when the weather has been nice, but there has been nothing with me and commuting -- it's been far too dark. Yes, there are those bicyclists out there who think it's NEVER too dark to bike - but I disagree. Some of the places I go through are quite heavily trafficked, and if there is even a question about whether or not I can be seen (despite my very flamboyantly orange reflective getup), I don't want to risk it.

My last trip into the office was in late October . . . the Winter Solstice was on December 21, and now, I'm leaving the office to daylight. Mind you, it's still near pitch-black by the time I get home, but we're moving in the right direction. I think, by the end of February, I'll be back on the road.

My goal this year is to bike 5,000 miles . . . if I can average 4 trips to work a week, we're looking at 31 weeks to get there - which leaves me just shy, until I consider weekend rides and charity rides, and a biking vacation this summer. I think I'll get there -- but we'll track progress here.

Stupid Cold

So, I didn't get to bike in today. I was planning on it, seriously! It's just, when I walked the dogs at 5:00 in the morning, with the ground frozen . . . and when I realized just how cold I was when I got back into the house (even though I was all bundled up), I realized that I don't quite have the gear for truly "cold weather" riding right now.

Tomorrow is supposed to be considerably warmer in the morning . . . can't bike in on Thursday because of choir practice, but I will get in at least one day this week.

Starting to get dark

I think I still have a few weeks of riding left, but I definitely feel the end of the season upon me. Mornings are downright dark -- and while the evenings are generally nice, dusk is usually around the corner by the time I get home. I think the time change (October 19) will be the certain end. I am hoping that I can keep this up until then.

My last ride (Tuesday) was the first ride on the new bike -- today's ride was the first ride without the backpack (I couldn't ride yesterday -- had dinner with the littles). I will admit that the beginning of the ride was really, really weird. It seriously felt like I was missing something. While I have an empty back for many rides -- it's never to work. After today, I really don't know why I waited so long to get a rack -- it's really much easier to ride without a significant weight between your shoulders.

I'll start taking my work clothes home today -- two or three shirts and a pair of pants at a time -- in a week, I should be free from stuff at the office (although I may leave an emergency change of clothes behind). This will be really, really nice when I realize that I need to dress up - but all of my stuff is at the office.

I'll probably finish Slaughterhouse Five on my way home tomorrow night (leaving the office a little early to have dinner with some friends) -- I think Dreams of My Father will be my next one.

First Day on the New Bike

So, I haven't said much about it, but last Monday I ordered a new bike. I had an hour to kill after meeting Duffy for dinner and symphony rehearsal, so I stopped by the bike shop. I mentioned that I was looking for a "dedicated commuter" that would possibly be able to take me on some medium-sized tours, should I want to go "really, really green" for vacation. They had a Bianchi Volpe from a few seasons ago in a frame my size -- as it was an older model, they had a great deal on it. I bought it.

While my Giant OCR 1 was getting the job done, for the most part, for my daily commute - it was lacking.

1. First, I'm really, really tired of taking a backpack into the office. After an hour-long ride, my back is disgustingly sweaty.
2. I have to keep a store of dress clothes at the office - which works most of the time . . . only, should I need a certain shirt or something at home -- well, I'm out of luck. Taking business professional clothes to work in a backpack isn't really going to work.
3. If I get caught in a sudden rainfall, I end up getting covered in road muck, and the OCR1 does not have enough clearance for fenders.
4. If I want to go to the grocery store for more than a few items, I have to take a car, because I can only fit what I could fit in the backpack -- and while the OCR1 works for me plus a backpack - I don't know how well that frame would hold up with me, a rack, the backpack, plus a couple of dozen pounds of groceries.

Additionally, even if I did put a rack on the bike - that would make it that much heavier, getting in the way of my long, fun rides. What I was looking for was to make the Giant the "fun" bike, while getting a "utility bike", and that's what the Volpe gives me. The bike is probably between 8 and 12 pounds heavier than the Giant, and it feels like you're riding a two-wheeled tank. But, it is quite responsive, and is actually pretty fast. I miss the carbon-fiber forks absorbing road vibrations -- but, I was looking for utility, and I got it. This bike feels like you can use it for just about anything: from going around the block, to my 20 mile commute to work, to taking it all of the way across the US. Of course, I've only had it for one ride - but it was a fun ride in.

The plan now is to start bringing clothes home from the office. I will always have an "emergency suit" at the office, just in case I should need something at the last minute, but the bulk of my clothes will be home. I'll transport the day's clothing to and from the office in the Two-Wheel Gear Suit Pannier. I found a used one on eBay, and it should arrive tomorrow. I'm looking forward to that. I'll take a couple of shirts a day home -- and I need to see if I pass any dry-cleaners en route.

I am also bidding on a couple of Arkel panniers to allow me greater grocery coverage -- those close in a day, and I think I'm in a pretty good position to win those. In time, I'm going to need a child trailer - which would make grocery shopping really, really easy (heck, you can probably fit more into one of those trailers than you can some car trunks) -- but they're expensive. Of course, the main goal of said trailer would actually be to bring a kid along, but we're not quite there yet.

A "Highly Visible" John

I was going to write about how beautiful it was this morning, but I fear that I'd just sound like a broken record. That said, while it was really, really cold, it was a very, very nice morning.

Duffy wanted to sleep in for a few extra minutes, which meant that I showered first, which also meant that I got an early start to the day. I typically leave the house right around 6:00 in the morning (I get into the office, then, between 7:00 and 7:15 -- depending on how hard I'm pushing myself and how much luck I have with lights), but I started pedaling closer to 5:30 this morning. This is just slightly before sunrise - meaning that I actually had to use my headlamp to aid my visibility (I typically put it on "flash" so that I know people can see me).

A few unexpected things about coming in earlier:

• the Purina plant hasn't opened yet, meaning that I don't have to smell dog food as I pass
• all of the breakfast places seem to make super-large quantities of bacon first thing in the morning, so the stomach growls early
• the big dog who I am convinced can pull free from his chain hasn't been put out in the yard yet

Mmmmmm, bacon.

Anyway -- I am still wearing those silly little tattoo arm warmers (yeah, mom, I'll work on a picture for you), but I also wear a very, very loud orange reflective (and wicking!) shirt. This is on top of the flashing headlamp and blinking rear light. Apparently, drivers can see me as much as half a mile away, if I am to believe the stoplight conversations . . . I actually went so far as to get a lined vest and a bomber jacket made of the same super-reflective material for times when things are even colder than they are these days . . . being seen is important - especially at sunrise.

Stupid Weather

So I had symphony practice last night - which meant that I didn't bike in. However, I did manage to have dinner with my wife - which was a bit of a surprise, so that was nice. Now that my knee is feeling almost completely better, I really thought that I was really going to enjoy a four-day commute.

Whoops.

This morning started out pretty good -- I woke up just after 5:00 with the dogs (well, Snickelfritz decided that 4:30 in the morning was a better time to wake up, but I managed to get myself back to sleep). I knew rain showers were predicted, but I figured if I could get on the road soon enough, I'd avoid them. Well, as I turned the last corner on the walk, the sky lit up with lightning . . . and it's no fun riding in a thunderstorm.

As a plus, when I don't ride in, I do get to get another hour's worth of sleep!

So, I'm hoping to bike in Wednesday through Friday -- let's keep our fingers crossed - the weather looks like it'll cooperate this time round.