Happy New Year!

Solstice

It's officially winter. Although, the change really took place before Thanksgiving, which really marked the end to all hope of moderate weather here. I was very consistent on my bike until then, but faltered a little when the temperatures dipped into the -20s (yes, that's minus twenty degrees Fahrenheit). Now I am back on my ghetto winter bike though, fighting snow banks at the intersections and trying to keep my chain on. I'd be lying if I said I didn't think it was fun, because I have a blast plowing through snow. I'd probably be a good candidate for a Fat Bike. Santa, are you listening?

12-13-13

Random pic Friday (the Thirteenth)

Summer Dreaming

Be Prepared

I have found that appropriate preparation before a ride can make all the difference between a fantastic ride and sheer misery during your bike commute, especially at this time of year. For me, checking the weather becomes an activity approaching a level of religious zealotry. You never know for sure when things are about to turn foul, or at what time of day: rain mixed with snow, frozen in the morning, 50’s in the evening. I’ve also found that the 30’s-40’s can be the worst for finding the right balance of layers for keeping comfortable.

Ice Ride

As an example of what not to do, a couple of days before Thanksgiving I had a decent ride to work, 30 degrees and sunny. That day, I happened to have not checked the weather report for the afternoon before I left. I had assumed that it would be about the same or warmer… as it had been all week long. I was bummed when I walked outside to go home that it was slightly raining and was just starting to freeze to the ground. Glad that I had set out before it got terrible, I slowly rode through the ice needles that were projected into my face from the heavy wind.

The weather here has pretty much got steadily/abruptly worse since then. Not counting the -20F windchill we have had the past few days, I have been pretty comfortable on the bike since that pre-Thanksgiving ice ride because I have been prepared for it with the right layering, thinker gloves and a wooly turtleneck.

After a mini-blizzard hit Wednesday, the roads have been horrid. It hasn't warmed up enough for the ice to melt even with the help of road salt, so it is a bit precarious on a bike. I obviously have had to put away my slicks since this photo from just the other day, and have pulled out my winter bike. Over the summer I have ideas of an overhaul to prepare it for this winter... but all of those plans didn't ever materialize and when I pulled it out it was the same as it was since I abandoned it at the first sign of spring. I had to monkey with the front derailleur cable because it has slipped and wouldn't keep the bike in a proper gear, making it unrideable. Thinking that I had it in order, it worked pretty well for most of my ride into the office on Thursday. However, the chain came off just before I arrived and I coasted the last block to my building. For the ride home, I was in a tight spot without any emergency tools (they are  still safely hanging in the small bag attached to the saddle on my road bike). Fortunately, I was at least prepared with a pen that held the derailleur in a workable gear for the climb home. Time to get prepared. Although the minus 0 temps have me wanting to give it all up until spring again. Let's see if I can stop myself.

Thanksgivukkah

Happy Thanksgiving!

My Brother-in-law Homer spotted this blinged-out fixie (not to mention the amazing blue wall), which prompted a back and forth about how we could bling out our rides in similar fashion. If anyone knows how to add spinners, please let us know. In the meantime, I found a youtube video on painting your rims... a worthy project for this Thanksgivukkah weekend (which won't come again for another 79,000 years - so make the most of it!).

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Was checking Blog Stats. This was pretty wild:

Autumn Leaves

The trees have grown pretty bare, are no longer as pretty as they were a few of weeks ago. Fall has brought gusty winds, and with it falling leaves. I actually had a blast on a particularly blustery day riding beneath trees that were dropping their leaves in sheets. They were everywhere, sticking to different parts of my bike, getting caught in the vents of my helmet.

I felt like a kid looking up as I passed under the trees. I tried to get some pictures as the leaves fell, but the low light didn’t offer anything for my iPhone to grab on to. So I will just have to keep the moment in my mind.

 

Yesterday my niece posted the Johnny Mercer lyrics to “Autumn Leaves.” I grew up on and love the Nat King Cole version (a musical taste passed on from my grandfather), and now associate it with wooing my wife. I think the song is actually about missing a lost lover after a wonderful summer, so I will try not to associate it with riding my bike through the falling leaves… as appropriate as that might also be.