Iron Horse Heritage Trail

It looks like the City of Portage will start constructing a second multi-use trail across the city. See where it will go here. Now the town of Porter needs to get it together to build their small section of trail (labeled the Porter Brickyard Trail on the map)! Apparently homeowners near where the trail is planned to go can't see the value of having the trail near their property. IMHO some people just don't get it...hey, build it near my house...please!

My Route to Work

Bike route to work

Not a fit day for man nor beast...

If I had another way to work, I really wouldn't have ridden my bike today. I left my car at work last night and Cathy had already left for work by the time I got up. I just got my new bike clothes from Lou at Foxwear-this would be a good test. It snowed overnight and the roads looked slushy when I looked out. No clipless ride today! The temperatures were just below freezing. The wind was out of the east-never a good sign around here. (When I got to work and checked the weather on the internet, it said 23 mph, with gusts higher!) The only positive in this was that at least I would not have a headwind the entire way as my ride is mainly south to work. As I headed out I was wearing my sunglasses (don't ask!)but the combination of fogging and rain quickly made them worthless. I was worried about traction but the roads were primarily wet so this wasn't a problem. The wind WAS a problem. As I mentioned above it was out of the east and gusting. Several gusts pushed me towards the edge of the road. Not having my feet attached to the pedals added to the challenge since my feet slipped off of the pedals. I have upgraded my commuter with Performance Campus pedals (one side cliplees, the other side platform) just for this occasion, but hadn't really ridden the bike without toe clips or clipless for quite awhile. Once while looking down to flip the pedal so I didn't clip in by mistake, the wind nearly blew me off the road and into the ditch. (note to self-don't wear the shoes with cleats if you don't plan to use them!) The Foxwear rain pants seemed to be working like a charm, and, they're cut long enough so they don't expose my boot tops to run off when I'm riding. The jacket-well, Lou never said it was water proof. It worked well to shed the wind but the wetness began to seep through. This was uncomfortable but not cold. My hands and feet were my real problem areas. The lobster mittens I was wearing were soaked and were sucking heat from my hands instead of keeping them warm. The mud flap on my front fender neatly diverted spray from the road onto my right foot. I have a pair of Stormsocks on but, they're not waterproof either. My feet were soaked. Wiggle my fingers, wiggle my toes, wiggle my fingers...you get the routine. Miraculously, I didn't take much longer than usual to get to work. When I got there my fingers couldn't manipulate the fastener on my bike helmet. After I warmed up I promised myself never to do this again...until I get some waterproof socks and gloves!

bike commuting #6

I didn't do a lot of commuting over the winter but I did get my first lessons on how to stay warm:

hand and foot warmers
Col d'Lizárd Icebike tights
Stuff from Foxwear

I used my studded tires a few times and they worked great. Now that the temperatures have warmed a bit, I figure I'll get more into a commuting routine again. For now I'm focusing on commuting on Mondays and Fridays. I may transport my bike to work by car a few times too since I sometimes need to car to get to appointments. I'm running the remaining days in preparation for my trip to the Michigan Trail Marathon.



2007 Miles=425
Total miles=2075