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!

Moose Mitts

Well I suppose I'd better post something so my two readers out there don't think this is a zombie blog-living on for eons after I'm off to the Great Beyond. I bought some Moose Mitts to combat what has become chronic cold hands during the winter. The Moose Mitts are also called pogies. The temperatures plummeted this week to near zero and I've wimped out on my commuting. Maybe fortified with my Moose Mitts I can venture out over the weekend when the weather supposed to moderate to the 30's during the day. I've also purchased some Snow Sneakers to keep my feet warm. I'm looking to break my personal record of +9 degrees set last year. Bring on the winter!

Biker Who Runs

I told my running buddy that I'm officially the biker who runs, not the runner who bikes, but I saw this license plate on the way back from Kansas a couple of weeks ago and it seemed like a sign that I should reconsider. Now I run one day and it takes two days to recover. However, I'm racking up some impressive commuter mileage! In April I covered 557.9 miles, a new monthly record (I think). May has even been better. I've got 645.4 miles in May and still have a couple of days left. I'm going to try to run a bit more but this biking thing is getting pretty intense!

It's about the bike...

So I sold a mountain bike frame on eBay. The entire bike cost me $65.00 on Craigslist . I sold the frame for $102.00. Nice, right? This comes on the day I picked up my new touring beauty, a 2009 Jamis Aurora. Then I find this interesting little bike gathering coming to Chicago in July. Somethings going on here and I'm not sure what to make of it. I'm definitely commuting to work tomorrow.

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!

Resolutions-Welcome to 2009

The beginning of a new year is a wonderful experience, isn't it? So much summing up of the past year and then looking ahead over the next twelve months.


1. I resolve to post more often to my blog!

• I hope to up my readership from one to two!

2. I resolve to end 2009 in fitter health than I begin it.

• 2008 was a tough year, fitness-wise. I went almost three months without running a step. This is a personal record of sorts for me. Since I've returned to running (in about September) my running mileage has been very low but I'm injury free. I'd like to average at least five days a week running or at least 260 days running this year.
  

3. I resolve to continue to commute to work by bicycle.

• I haven't totaled up my bicycle miles yet but I had already exceeded my 2007 mileage by the end of October (I think, I need to check). I bought my commuter bike for about $300 dollars. I thought I'd paid too much at the time but it has more than paid for itself. By the way I thought about naming it Floyd in honor of Floyd Landis. Needless to say I've changed my mind. I'd like to commute at least once every week throughout the year. This will be tough during the winter as I still haven't figured out a reliable way to stay warm down into the teens. My personal record for cold is eight degrees-it was not fun!

4. I resolve to get my professional license. I won't bore you with details here. This has been a decade long process. I need to get it over, already!

What else?

Wish List (these are not goals or resolutions so much as things I think about): New bike; ride around Lake Michigan with Steve; complete Pike's Peak (ascent)-not likely this year; new job; a variety of home repairs/improvements; hike Appalachian Trail; backpack at Glacier National Park.

That's it for now. I'll be back to post my 2008 bike totals and maybe a picture from today's New Year's Day run at the dunes.


Price of a gallon of gas: $1.59

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 #4 & Day #5

Thursday morning I got a few bonus miles in when my route was closed so they could replace a culvert. It seems we just can't quite let go of the cool weather this year and today was no exception. I was actually hoping to use a work vehicle to get to the detention center where I facilitate a group every Thursday afternoon but there was no vehicle available. I walked the 1-1/2 miles to the detention center and back. Lucky for me it was dry. I wore my new Cascadia 3 Trail Running Shoes for the first time (I didn't get the red version!). They were great! The evening ride was overcast but dry. My mind always wanders more during the ride home, maybe because when it's dark there's not as much scenery to look at. I've composed some wonderful blog entries riding home only to have them dissolve away as soon as I park the bike in the garage. I guess it's only for the moment-kinda like one of those sand paintings.

Friday! Bike to Work Day! It was my turn to bring donuts at work so I rigged a flat base to my rear rack so I could Velcro the donut box there. Sorry, no pictures. I also stopped for some coffee at the "coffee hut" in Valparaiso. I bought a thermos awhile back that keeps a big cup of coffee hot for several hours. It won't quite fit into a water bottle cage so I just stick it into my pannier. It was a nice sunny morning and a great morning for a ride. Too bad I had to work.

So I did it-I went all week without a moment in a car. The price of gas hit a peak of $4.05 for a gallon midweek and slid slightly lower by today ($3.89/gallon). I rode 139.8 miles to commute to work five days. Assuming I get about 27 miles/gallon (I think I can actually get a little more than this), I saved 5 gallons and about $20.00!

Bike to Work Week-Day #3

The morning commute is a misty foggy blur. It's a comfortable 58 degrees. I've developed a sort of kinship with the landmarks on my route-especially the animals. There's a guy with his dog on the bike path I see many mornings-big guy, little dog. There are the three horses at the small farm just south of town. There's the Dalmatian who runs up to the edge of the road to bark at me but always stops before actually getting to me. There are two big white guard dogs that used to run along the fence barking at me, especially on my evening ride home. I think I've become so familiar to them that they no longer waste their energy on me. I've seen them looking blankly at me as I'm riding by. There are four turkey vultures who seem to have taken up residence in the abandoned barn that marks my halfway point to work from home. I usually see them at the peak of the barn warming up in the morning. Two more dogs that I used to see up on the roof of a house aren't there any more. I figure the owners finally figured out how they were doing it and put a stop to it. Of course riding to work and home allows me to see and hear all kinds of birds, raccoons, rabbits,squirrels,possums, and occasional coyotes, deer, and foxes. I've had near misses in the dark with a few of them.

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!

Still looking for Spring

I got snowed on riding home from work last week!

I trained more this year for the Michigan Trail Marathon and ran evan slower than last year. It's frustrating to know I ran over an hour faster for the same race less than ten years ago. It's not only aging that's taken a bite out of my speed. These knees of mine are constantly aching. The food was good at Zou's Zou's and there are a couple of more Starbuck's opened along the route to the race. Next year the REI in Ann Arbor will definately be on the tour! Of course I didn't do myself any favors in the run by doing my longest bike ride in a couple of years (76 miles) a week before the race. I got to practice my flat fixing routine during the ride too-I got two flats! Did you know that the glue in those little tubes that come with the flat kits will evaporate if given enough time?

It was my best bike commuting month so far this year.










March bike miles=333.4
April bike miles=469
2008 miles=1128.8
Price of one gallon of gasoline=$3.59 (and rising)

Signs of Spring

We moved our clocks an hour forward last night but everyone made it out at the regular time for the run. Steve can't help but slip into his Henning Falkenstein imatation as Joe finds the first skunk cabbage peeking through the ice on the Cowles Bog Trail this morning. The shelf ice still hugs the shoreline as we crest the big hill before the beach. Yesterday there was significant lake-effect snow just west of us. The birds seem to be unusually noisey as we run through the woods. The tug of war between winter and spring is being played out. Spring will win this war eventually of course but how long from now? The college basketball tournament selection takes place a week from now and the season ending games are on television this afternoon as I change my commuter bike tires over from studded snow tires to "summer" tires. All together now "Here comes the sun...do, do, do do......."


February bike miles=163.2

;^)

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

Happy New Year

In case you haven't seen this already...





Happy New Year from the shores of snowy Lake Michigan!

Updating my bike miles

I continue to do most of my miles commuting back and forth to work. I was gone for a week in November. I already have about as many miles in December as I had in November.

August bike miles=319.2
September bike miles=174.6
October bike miles=308.9
November miles=163.4

Miles for 2007=3340.5
Miles since June 2006=6279.5

Follow up to my earlier post-I've figured out how to attach my DIY headlight!

Stuff

I made it through the trail marathon in Bloomington, Indiana, over the weekend, albeit, slowly. Steve and I camped near the finish, then rode the bus to the starting line. Steve won a slab of wood signifying a top three age group finish. I won nothing. It was good.

Into the Wild was playing at the local theater so we decided to go see it. Beautiful movie but it seems they glorified this guy's journey more than was necessary. He really was a pathetic hero to my way of thinking-a sad way to die. I read the book awhile ago.

I've been bike commuting the past two days and not running. My knees are still aching from the trail run. It reminds me I'm not as young as I used to be. I used to bounce back from a long run and be back running within the next day or two. Now, it takes longer.

It looks like I may be riding home from work tonight in the snow (and the dark). I've still got slicks on my bike so it could get interesting-I'll just take it slow. Combine this and my recent headlight woes (my battery seems to not hold a charge very well over the last couple of weeks) and I'm feeling a bit anxious. I hope my 6:00 PM appointment doesn't show so I can start an hour earlier. I've got a home-built headlight that really works great but I still haven't figured out how to attach it to the bike! Maybe I'll get time this weekend. By the time I get home during the week, I just haven't mustered the energy to figure it out. I did try a couple of velcro-inspired options but it just wasn't secure enough. Buying a new light isn't out of the question but I shutter to think about spending more for the light than the bike is worth. We'll see how it goes.

Falling Back

I'm sitting here on a Sunday morning trying to get motivated for a long run. I'm planning on running the Tecumsah Trail Marathon in about four weeks and I really haven't trained for it (this is becomming a theme for me!). I ran about 20 miles four weeks ago and it felt pretty good. I've been running minimal mileage since then. I'm up an hour earlier then usual because the time changed last night. We move our clocks an hour back and stay one hour different than most of Indiana and Michigan but the same as Chicago. What that means to runners and bikers is that afternoon workouts will be ending after dark. Many bikers have put their bikes up by now anyway. There's a chance of snow in the weather forecast this week.

Our high school cross country season ended a week ago. I always feel a little down afterward. Our team made their goal of running in the state meet-this year for the seventh time in a row. We return all but one runner in our top twelve so our future looks promising. Every year, I struggle to manage my time between cross country and my regular job as a counselor. I'm constantly rushing from work to practice or from practice to work. I suppose I should feel relieved that I can give this lifestyle up for awhile but I don't.

My bike commute miles have been lower the last couple of months, mostly becasue I need the car to get back and forth from work to practice. I have been averaging 2-3 days per week. I've also been doing some modest mileage on the weekends.

I watched a little of the web cast of the Men's Olympic Marathon Trials that was held yesterday in Central Park. I've run that loop a couple of times. That's a tough marathon and an imprerssive time by the winner. By the way I was saddened to learn of the death of one runner, Ryan Shay.


I guess I need to get in gear if I'm going to do this run. We're heading for the dark season.

Where have I been?

Time flies sometimes, doesn't it? Seems like yesterday I was mourning the end of the Tour de France, and now it's a few days from the beginning of Autumn.

I had 319.2 biking miles in August. I was gone for a week at cross country camp so no riding. I'll update my yearly mileage in another post (I may just wait until the end of September now).

I bought a replacement computer on Ebay, a Dell Demension 8200 series computer for $62.00. I think it was a pretty good deal although the cost of upgrading the RAM memory is a little steep because the memory modules must be installed in pairs. I'm hoping to add this computer to the new wireless network I have at home. The primary reason I went with a used desktop is when I went to Best Buy to purchase a cable to attach my printer to my lap top, the cost was $36.00! At that point I figured for a few more bucks a could buy a used computer to connect the printer via the serial cable I already had and network it to the laptop. I'm still waiting for the Dell to arrive in the mail.

I got my yearly late summer, allergy-driven, cold about a week and a half ago. As usual it began with bronchitis-like symptoms. It started after I tried to set a personal best for the bike ride home from work a couple of Thursdays ago because I had a crazy strong tail wind. That night I couldn't sleep because I had this familiar "post nasel drip" (a nice way of saying that crap was clogging my throat!). I tried to ignor my sickness for a couple of days, hoping it would just disappear on it's own, but that didn't work. I eventually took a day to just sleep and read in bed all day. I did get a good ways into the sixth Harry Potter book. I finished it yesterday and am ready for the last book now. I'm almost back to noraml except I'm still coughing more than is normal for me.

We're in the heart of the high school cross country season now. Our team Chesterton High School is ranked in the top 20 in the state so far. Our traditional goal is to qualify to compete in the state meet that is held at the end of October. We're cautiously optimistic about our chances. As I may have mentioned elsewhere, I'm the assistant coach.

That's where I've been!

July Bike Miles

Did an 80 miler this month on July 22nd. My longest ride in awhile. It helped boost my July miles. A also had a Sunday 50 miler this month. Steve says I should just improve on my last month's mileage by a mile or two-kind of like the East German weight lifters used to do-so I can break last month's mark every month. I think I may be tapped out unless I cut back on my run miles. With cross country gearing up I doubt it.

July miles=588
2007 miles=2374.4
Miles since June 2006=5313.4

21 commute days. The running store is now closed on Sunday so I don't have quite as many commute opportunities.