Cycling the Fourth Season

I've been commuting year round for several years now.  However the winter always challenges me.  It's not the snow as much as the cold.  I've never quite gotten the knack of keeping hands and feet warm.  This guy at Ice Cyclist seems to have some good tips.  I will definitely be upgrading my  footwear this year!

Almost Famous

A photographer from the Gary Post Tribune was in one of the few cars I encountered running from my house to Wilson's Shelter at the Indiana Dunes State Park and back. The local report estimates that we got over 20 inches of snow over the last twenty-four hours.

Goundhog Day

Bill Murray would be proud. I had the perfect winter commute yesterday. The ice had finally melted off the road so I switched out the studded tires for my skinny tires. It felt like I was flying. It was cold but not too cold. Alas, it was bright and sunny, so the chubby woodchuck saw his/her shadow. Today-up to 18" of new lake effect snow!

Tempus Fugit

It's been awhile since I've posted! Summer's almost gone. I spent most of August away from any running due to a recurring injury that reduced me to a walk at the trail marathon I went to at the end of July. I just returning to running now-September. I put together two record (for me) months of bike and commuting.








July bike miles =555
August bike miles=634.9
2008 bike miles =3186.85

Price of a gallon of gas=$4.25

GO CUBS!

Bike to Work Week-Day #2

Well, I made it to the end of the driveway before I noticed that my front tire was flat (again)! Lucky for me I have some old tubes hanging up in the garage. The strong south winds are bringing warm temperatures with them. Today is supposed to be the warmest day of the week. Just my blue nylon vest and a light Patagonia long sleeve today. The wind gusts rocked me from side to side. I'll be looking for them to help me rocket home tonight.

As it got closer to time to ride home, I watched nervously as a red blob crawled across the weather radar. Would I get home before the blob arrived? Nope. As soon as I clicked into my pedals for the ride home, the rain began. I'd packed my Red Ledge rain coat in case of rain so I stayed dry for the most part. The temperatures were fairly mild. There was one huge flash of lightning but then only rain. All in all a tolerable ride home. I stared down at my tire periodically to make sure it was still inflated. When I got home I checked the tube I'd removed in the morning. One of the three patches on the tube was leaking. Time to retire (a pun) this tube!

Bike to Work Week-Day #1

I made a goal to ride to work every day this week. Day one started out unseasonably cool. My hands were on the edge of going numb. I had the wind at my back (off the chilly lake) on the way to work.

The ride home was excellent. The temperature wasn't much warmer but without the wind, I was comfortable. The clear night sky still showed a warm glowin the west, suggesting the sun had just set. The moon was already high in the sky. There's something magical about a bike ride in the dark!

Groundhog Day

Well, the groundhog didn't see his/her shadow around here, but you can't tell by the weather over the past couple of weeks. We've been under a "Flood Warning" continuously for two weeks now due to some heavy rains. Tom Skilling has been going slightly mad on the evening weather! I've already got four February bicycle commutes in February, compared to none last year. One commute left my regular cycling shoes wet enough so they didn't air dry for two days. Last night I slid home on three inches of new snow. It was an adventure! I'm learning to commute in colder, winterier (is that a word) weather this year. As Richard Dreyfss would recommend-baby steps.

My old Nissan was put to rest a week ago. The repair bill of $2000.00 was just too much. I was hoping to get 300,000 miles but 226,000 is not bad. I'm reminding myself and anyone who reads this blog (both of you) that the greenest way to use a car is to buy used, keep it maintained, and run it as long as you can. It seems like Earth-friendly environmentalism has become trendy these days (For example, I saw a hybred Ford Escape SUV on the way to work the other day). But as with many other things in our whacked-out society, this seems to be more form than substance. President Bush did sign an energy bill that will finally mandate higher fuel economies but we lag behind much of the world in this.

January bike commute miles:163.2
February bike commute miles (so far):81.6
Total for 2008: 244.8

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!

Spring!?

I figured I'd better post something. Meteorological Spring began a few days ago and since then we've had record highs in the 70's and more snow (not much more). I've commuted by bike three times in the last week. I'd commute more often but haven't figured out how to get around while at work. I got a bike rack thrown in with the Trek 950 I bought last fall and I've attached it to my old car. It seems to work but I haven't actually transported my bike with it yet. Here's a sunset picture from over the weekend. As you can see there were small icebergs just off shore.

Valentine's Day Snow

I caught up with this couple just before sunset at the top of Mount Holden. I forgot to get their names. It was a wonderful evening to snowshoe at the park.

Winter has Arrived...

Around six inches of snow has fallen in the last week. There's enough (barely enough) so that I did a little snowshoeing at the park on Monday. The cross country skiers have been out too, although, a bit more snow would really improve things for them. The photo above is almost from the same location as the photo from January 13th. North winds and cold temperatures have resulted in lake ice. There's still plenty of open water away from shore which means we could still get significant lake-effect snow if the wind is out of the North. The beach is frozen and snow free. A wonderful place for a morning run!

Oh yeah, we got some snow...

January 17, 2007-Trail #7 at the Dunes State Park

Calm Before the Storm?

The weather-people are promising snow, sleet and freezing rain for this weekend so I put the serious looking snow tires (Nokian Extreme 120's) I picked up awhile back on the commuter bike. I've got this good deal from the running shoe store where I work a few hours a week so I didn't have to pay retail. Now I may actually get a chance to try them out! The lake had those slow low-roar waves breaking on the beach this morning when I was out there for a run. With no lake ice, any storm has the potential to seriously erode the beach. I saw water marks within feet of the dune grass and the wind was not really blowing that hard yet. The last predicted storm was a dud. There's only been a trace of snow at the park all winter so far. Oh, if you look real closely you can make out some of the Chicago skyline in the distance.