Chilly Commute

Bundled up in the morning for the ride in. The legs were a bit chilly and the exposed part of my face ached when I first started, otherwise I was nice and warm when I arrived at the office.

Spoke with Corey G. about improved winter gear for a couple of areas and as a result am planning on looking at some liner gloves and winter specific footwear.

If it's going to be this cold, I wish there was at least some snow on the ground for improved visuals.

Saturday ride

Saturday ended up being a beautiful day. I was planning on going on a 10 AM group ride but after looking at the weather outlook for Sunday I decided I better stay home and get some chores done. So I spent 4-5 hours raking leaves, cleaning the gutters, and general clean up of the backyard. We finished a little after 3 PM and I was ready to relax for the remainder of the afternoon. Thankfully Katie nudged me to go out for a ride as it very likely is the last nice weekend day for quite some time.

I ended up heading south at 27th and Hwy 2 due to the pretty strong wind out of the south. I rode to Saltillo Rd. on 14th and fought a nice headwind most of the way, which made turning around just that much better. On the way back I stopped at my mother's "grave", which I do pretty regularly during my bike rides and took a quick picture of the La Cruz in front of her final resting place.




My mother gave me a hard time when I got fat a number of years ago and she never got the chance to see me in shape again. But by the one year anniversary of her death I had lost 50 lbs. Her death, due to cancer from a lifetime of smoking, was a factor in motivating me to make some lifestyle changes to live a healthier life not only for myself, but also for my family. There are no guarantees in life, but it doesn't hurt to do what you can to give yourself and your loved ones the best chance possible.

Stop. Roller Time

I saw a Kreitler 4.5" Challenger roller setup on craigslist last weekend that came with a headwind fan but lacked a belt to attach the headwind. After a few emails and a missed appointment (Oops, I forgot to put it on my calendar) I finally managed to make it over to the very nice guy's house this evening to check them out. He had bought them used, off of eBay I assumed, and had never used them. I decided they were in good shape and made my offer, which he accepted.

I've tried a few times with the Casseroll single speed and haven't really gotten into a groove, but I'll keep practicing and will probably try it with a geared bike so I can start with a lower gearing than 48x18.

Yehuda Moon's Ride

After some research, starting with going through all of the existing Yehuda Moon and the Kickstand Cyclery comic strips and even dropping an email to the author asking if the bike is SS or geared (I saw conflicting images, but it ended up being an internally geared hub), I have found exactly what I was looking for.

I discovered an interview the author had given a while back where he discusses the exact bike he and Yehuda ride!

Interview
http://quickrelease.tv/?p=425

Bike (The 108)
http://www.dutchbikes.us/specials/special_mechanic.asp

Unfortunately it is $2000, so I will be holding off on that purchase. But an internal hub such as the SRAM i-Motion or Shimano Nexus Red Band look like they would make a useful thing to try out on a commuter. I imagine these hubs work best with horizontal dropouts which would make something like the Surly Cross Check a great candidate for the base frame. Then an i-Light hub or something similar for the front and I'd be on my way to commuter nirvana...

Riding the bus is nowhere near as fun as riding your bike

I decided to try giving the Lincoln bus service a try in my attempt to diversify my transportation options now that I am without a car/truck. I rode the bus home from work Monday evening and with it being a fairly direct route, it only took 10 minutes of riding time before I exited the bus and then I walked another 10 minutes to get home. Total moving time was 20 minutes plus another 5 waiting for the bus. My normal bike commute door to door takes < 20 minutes.

Today I rode the bus home from downtown with a departure time of 5:10 PM. I got off the bus shortly after 6:00 PM and walked the 10 minutes to get home. So a moving time of an hour plus I waited approximately 5 minutes at the downtown bus stop. This same ride door to door usually takes me 30-45 minutes, depending on weather and how much I'm carrying.

Bus cost: $1.75/ride. Bike cost: A lot more if you ask my wife, but I'm sure I could work a priceless cliché in there somehow.

I think I'm done with the bus experience, but it's nice to know that it's an option. After next Tuesday I won't have to venture downtown two days a week, which should simplify my scheduling and allow me to ride the bike(s) almost exclusively.

Looking forward to it.

Sunday, Monday - Happy Days

Ben and I decided to go out for a Sunday morning ride. After Mother Nature called right as I was about to head out, as it seems to be the case all too often as I'm wanting to leave, I met up with Ben at 27th and Hwy 2 at 7:10 AM. I was quite chilly when I first left my house, so much so that I was thinking of clever ways to excuse myself from the morning ride without losing too much face. Fortunately for me, I got comfortably warm during the 10 minute ride to our rendezvous point.

We said our greetings and quickly headed south on the rock island. The headwind made it quite a chore to remain upbeat at times, but the conversation was great. Once we got on the limestone at 14th and a bit south of Pine Lake Rd, we came across a field that had 11 deer feeding, including several families (?) of deer with their young ones. As soon as they heard us approaching most of the deer hightailed it across the bike path in front of us back into Wilderness Park.

Experiencing nature first hand is one of the biggest thrills I get when riding my bike. Being a part of it, where you're traveling with a mindset so different than when driving a car. You smell your surroundings and feel the changes in the wind and temperature, all the while going at a pace where you can actually take in everything going on around you.

One of the topics of discussion as we're riding south is the comic strip Yehuda Moon and the Kickstand Cyclery and the bike Yehuda rides. I told Ben I was thinking of modifying the Volpe or maybe appropriating a new Cross Check frame and building up a commuter bike based on Yehuda's. The new Cross Check color is quite sexy.

At any rate, a good clip into the ride I start feeling slow. I figured it was due to my feet being cold and achy and kept riding for a few miles until I looked back and discovered my rear wheel was extremely low and doing its best to resist rolling. This was just outside of Princeton and by the time I removed the big piece of metal which looked like a massive staple, I had stopped long enough for both Ben and I to get uncomfortably cold. We went on to Princeton before it was decided that the prospect of going the remaining distance to Cortland didn't sound nearly as good as it did the previous night when we were warm in front of our computers. So we turned around and headed downhill, with a tailwind, back to Lincoln.

Monday morning saw me dropping off my road bike that I've gotten no where on and didn't have much desire to work on lately. Thankfully the guys at MWC are top notch and I'm sure they'll have it done in the time it took me to install the headset. I can't wait to see it once it's all done and get out for some nice road rides this spring and summer.

Big Dummy Family Fun

Emma, Simon, and I decided to ride downtown to catch the parade. Unfortunately we left too late and I was too slow to make it in time. We arrived downtown just as everyone was going back to their vehicles. Kids were bummed but good sports about it. It's about the journey not the destination, right?

Insurance savings == win

I called the insurance agency I use for all of my vehicles and home this morning to have them remove the truck from my policy. After removing the truck my new 6 month premium for full coverage on just the van is $193. I'm very very happy with this reasonable amount. A little over a year ago we were paying $1000/6 months for both the van and truck, due to me having a few speeding tickets on my record and also being with a bad insurance company that just charged way too much, which I discovered once I started looking around. I switched providers and was paying ~500/6 months about a year ago, which was a huge savings for the same coverage from the bad insurance company.

$800/6 months in savings = $1600/year plus the $500 for the yearly registration fee I would have paid for the truck and I'm well on my way to justifying the Fargo Complete Bike. :)

Officially Truck free

It's done. Dropped the truck off this afternoon. I was more nervous about the situation than I thought I would be. Good times ahead.

Updated: I found it amusing that I almost got taken out by an old guy driving in the Performance Toyota parking lot as I was leaving the dealership. I was going straight out of the parking lot and the guy apparently didn't seem to think much about turning right into me as he was turning left.

The ride home was great until I took a short cut and rode behind the Alamo center. I was fine until I was almost all the way through the 'alley' and got caught riding through a layer of pure ice and went down nicely on my left side. It was one of those slow crashes where you just have to laugh at yourself for putting yourself in a dumb position. Lesson learned on day one of being truck free.

Blah

I need to do a much better job of updating, but it's tough when you're kind of in a funk. Quick list of some cool stuff that's been going on.

1. Thanks for the winter/rain gear suggestions (especially Butch). I now have 4 base layers (2 patagonia, 2 craft), 3 wool jerseys (1 swobo, 2 surly), and a craft jacket which is working very nicely. I've been riding in all the chilly and wet weather we've been experiencing with various combinations of these layers and have had great success.

Office Closet with some of the cold weather gear

2. Salsa Big Momma - Got this ordered and going in record time thanks to the guys at MWC. It was somewhat of an impulse upgrade, but I had an eager buyer for the Dos Niner frame, which made it a bit easier to stomach. I got the suspension setup on Sunday with Katie's help and took it out for a 25 mile ride during the first snowfall. So far very happy with it, but I haven't taken it out to where it really wants to go. I think the 29er stable is complete: Karate Monkey setup as rigid/SS, Mamasita setup as a geared hardtail, and now the Big Momma for the full suspension. I'll post some pictures shortly.

3. Interest in Coffee - I think the colder weather had a bit to do with it, but I started enjoying coffee after drinking some non-crappy stuff at a meeting where there wasn't much else to drink. So I got a decent coffee machine and have enjoyed trying different blends from various places. Never to leave well enough alone, Katie and I went to a local coffee shop and tried several espresso drinks, some of which were quite tasty and others that'll require a bit more growing into. Then I decided I should get something for home, did lots of internet research, and purchased an entry level espresso machine for home. It arrives later today so hopefully I can get it figured out.

4. 1 week until I turn in my leased truck. I'm 3 parts excited and 1 part nervous to start my "carfree" adventure. (I say it in quotes because Katie is a wuss and won't commit to hauling around 5 kids on the Big Dummy + Burley, so she's keeping her minivan) I figure the worst case is I decide I need a car and get one and save some money during the time it takes me to come to that conclusion. Hopefully it doesn't happen for a while.

I'll end this post with Emma enjoying her little brothers' trike this summer.