Despite the recent record-high temperatures, I've been off my bike recently. Why? I've been out of town for a few days, visiting my grandmother. She and my grandfather (my father's parents) have been a source of stability in my life. They bought their house in 1947, and she lives there still (my grandfather died in February of 2006). My trips east have been too few of late--a function of lack of resources and lack of vacation time--but it was good to get back. I plan to attend the Louisville Bicycle Club's New Year's Day ride tomorrow, and if weather cooperates ride to work for my return to the working world Friday.

traffic lights

A friend's blog had comments a few weeks ago about stop light timing and its effect on average traffic speeds in the downtown area. I was thinking about this post during some recent travels downtown, as some of the streets I travel on a regular basis are within the grid of the timed lights. However, while many of the one-way streets are synchronized, some of the intersecting two-way streets are not so well-organized. Perhaps a better way to put it would be that they are, indeed, synchronized, but in such a way that guarantees one has to stop for each light.

I'm referring more to streets in the eastern section of the grid--Campbell, Wenzel and Shelby come to mind--on which I travel fairly often, but on which I must stop for almost every light and wait a LONG time for a green. It's also hard to do the "as soon as safe" departure from a traffic light, as motorists almost willfully misunderstand the maneuver and rail at that cyclist who just blew the light. Or, as has happened, I start out to follow another motorist through the intersection, only to have that motorist stop suddenly to offer me safe passage!

Examples

In an earlier post, I mentioned that keeping a blog has been viewed by some as egocentric behavior--why does anyone else care what I'm writing about my own life? I've been thinking about this in conjunction with why I write about my bike to work efforts as well. I mentioned accountability in that same post as one factor--seeing my own efforts described online later on encourages me to continue, and knowing I'm keeping track of my own efforts and having that record where others can see it...well, it starts getting fuzzy from there.

A bit less than three years ago, my grandfather passed away, after gracing us with ninety-four years of his company (well, I only got to enjoy forty-five years of that, but...). A few weeks later, I typed out some thoughts relative to one of the many lessons I learned from him. Here is a link to that piece. The gist of the thing still holds. I'm making my point about riding by riding. Writing (or blogging) about it is beside the point, but it helps me want to ride more, and is therefore a good thing for me to do.

Even I admit that it's cold

Historically, I have been one of those disgusting people who didn't get cold. In high school, my band director nicknamed me, "Old Anti-Freeze" after I arrived at school one morning wearing a flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up, no coat, and not complaining about the cold at all. It was about 6 degrees Fahrenheit that morning.

However, in one of what I suppose is one of those "as we get older" things, my metabolism hasn't supported that ability as much. I'm noticing a much more pronounced dislike for cold weather than has been my norm this year.

One result of this is that I'm not even a little bit interested in riding a bicycle if the temperature is below freezing. I've worked on it a bit this year, and managed with temperatures in the mid-twenties, but once it's below 25, I'm done with riding outdoors. I don't want to put on enough layers of clothing to be able to ride. It's that simple.

Small wonder that I didn't ride to work today, with the morning low about 5F and wind chill readings in the -8 or -10F range. Tomorrow's weather doesn't look to be an improvement, as it is supposed to snow early in the day, with the snow turning to rain as the temperature gets above freezing.

The holly-daze season is also going to be a factor for me. Holiday family gatherings will dominate my off-work focus for this week. Scheduling gatherings has been nightmarish--with all the split families and attendant obligations, it's hard to get everyone in one place at one time. It kind of makes me wish I didn't have so much family, but then I wouldn't have the support system I now have (nor would I be in a place to offer such support to others within the system). Add to this that I'm planning to visit relatives in Virginia soon, and my non-work time is busy.

Thursday again

Yet another day I didn't ride to work. Since I was driving, I gave my s/o a ride downtown for an appointment she had this morning. Got to work early, looked at the C-J web site, and found that a small plane had crashed this morning. The pilot died in the crash, sadly. On the positive side, the only real estate showing any damage was the golf course on which the pilot tried to land--no houses were hit. I feel bad for the pilot's friends and family.

The Holly-daze season is, of course, upon us. The holiday party at work is Friday, and I may or may not get to ride my bike tomorrow (I've been a weather wimp about riding this week--something about ice on the roads...). It's an "on the clock" thing, so I will go, and likely have a bite to eat while there, but I don't feel like I'm really a big part of the work experience for most of my coworkers, as I'm off in my own little hamlet most of the time.

Winter Storm Warning

Since folks around here have so little skill at driving on winter-weather-affected surfaces, and since I have a corporate function to attend after work this evening that requires more stuff than I'm ready to haul on my bicycle, I drove to work today. Big deal, right? Why am I putting this on my blog?

Frankly, I'm using this as a diary. I'll be able to look back on it and work toward managing my self more effectively (or not--new habits are hard to get started some times). There seems to be a lot of introspection, perhaps it's fashionable this time of year or something. Gee. Me, being fashionable. THAT's odd.

Wet Monday

What with the prognostication from the weatherliars saying something to the effect that the sky will indeed fall (or at least drop ice on us), I opted for the cage today. No need to be a target for ice-aided directionally-challenged folks on my ride home.

I will need to drive tomorrow as well, as the agency annual meeting is tomorrow evening. This event, while not overtly mandatory, is hard to not attend if I want to stay employed. The dress code is such that I am not outfitted to carry all I'll need on the bike, so I'll drive. This event will also preclude my attending the Trainer Tour, which is the last one of the month. The church where Trainer Tours are held has other plans for the room--something to do with an upcoming holiday or some such.

Fried-day again

Was able to ride to work again today. I've ridden the Raleigh quite a bit more than I expected I would, and I keep wondering why, since I've been such an avid recumbent guy for so long. Some reasons include: I haven't taken the time to completely rid the Vanguard of its rear brake squeal, and that squeal ruins much of the calm I get from riding; the Raleigh is a bit easier to get into and out of the office; it's simply different.

It has its own idiosyncratic traits, however. It has developed a noise that I have tracked to the saddle springs. The leather saddle is tearing at a couple of the rivets anyway, so I got another saddle for the bike (Yippee! I get to break in a Brooks saddle!). I'm not fully satisfied with the brakes, but given that the original brakes are center-pivot, properly-sized replacement brake sets are going to be hard to find. I have a set of the old Scott Matthauser brake pads saved from another bike I used to have and I may try them this weekend and see if they grab better.

All this working on bikes stuff makes me wonder if I need to get back into the bike shop biz full time...

Narcissism

A post on another blog got me to thinking about this topic, the sentiment being "why does the rest of the world need to know what I'm thinking?" I've given it some thought, recently and a week or six ago, and I'm still not sure I know the answer. Perhaps it's partly an online diary, so that I can go back at some point and see what I was thinking at a particular time in my life. It's partly a way to celebrate one's successes and commiserate when things don't go well, especially in our somewhat more insular society (compared to a few decades ago, or at least what we like to remember from those years). As far as my bike commuting, writing about it helps me hold myself accountable for riding instead of driving--it's a motivator toward doing what I want to do anyway.


...and I get to show off a bit.

Short work week almost over

Wow. Two articles about cycling in the C-J in three or four days--one an op-ed from Jackie Green and another an article about a new bill giving police an accountability path that is being pushed for by Bicycling for Louisville among others. Predictably, the vehement anti-bicycle chest thumpers are all over the C-J online forums, hammering on a few cycling advocates who are mostly presenting calm, reasoned, intelligent discourse.
After letting the rain convince me to not ride yesterday, I rode today. Rode to the agency office on East Liberty, then to my own office in New Albany, only to find an email, sent about the time I left the agency office, telling me to be at the agency office at 9:30 (It was about 8:55 when I saw this). Oh, and it's about a 40-minute ride from one office to the other. For the day, I will have four bridge crossings instead of my customary two.
I rode the Raleigh today, just because. It has developed a new noise that seems to be coming from the saddle--an old abused neglected Brooks B-66 that was originally worth much more than I paid for the bike. I have another saddle in reserve (another B-66, of course), and will likely install it in the next few days so that I can ask whether the old one can be repaired.
I intend to do the Trainer Tour this evening, although I don't know that I'll feel very strong.

Day off

I'm taking a couple days off work, partly to use some vacation time that I'd lose otherwise. I get to do some stuff around the house, ride a little bit, do some reading, go for another bike ride...a great day, in other words.

There is a piece in the C-J's Forum by Jackie Green today, suggesting a crackdown on irresponsible use of the roadways and encouraging folks to visit the website: www.safestreetslouisville.org. Of course, the usual hue and cry from the anti-cyclist twits is in evidence, along with some reasoned responses to the vitriol by folks who "get it." It's a shame we cannot levy extra taxation on "being a jerk." It would pay off the national debt in no time.

A bit nippy out there

I had to drive to work yesterday (well, maybe I didn't have to, but it worked out best to do so), as I needed to pick up some plumbing parts for the apartment building where I work--the parts were at a place on Bishop Lane, which is way out of my way, and I didn't have time to ride that far out of my way. I drove today, too, as I have a personal weather limit for cycling that is several degrees warmer than the temperature at the moment. I'm bummed, but I'll be okay. I at least got to ride a couple days.

I've gone to two of the LBC's Trainer Tours so far this year. Last night's session found me not ready to spin that hard. It was a tough workout, and I was lazy for too much of it. When I got home, I was tired and a bit sore, so I got some benefit from it, but it was not a fun time. I suppose it really isn't supposed to be fun, though, and I know that doing these workouts will help me when I do more club riding in the spring (and when weather and time permit over the winter). It WILL get better.

Trainer Tours

Last night was the first Trainer Tour of the season. The Louisville Bicycle Club offers 20 club miles credit for participation in this. The set-up is that folks bring their bicycles and stationary trainers for said bicycles (some folks use rollers--more on that some other time), set them up in a large room and do a cycling-specific workout to one or another in a series of videos. It's much less boring that doing such workouts alone, as there is some opportunity to socialize before, during and after the workout.

I plan to use these for "speed work," and use my regular commuting time to maintain general fitness. What I found last night was that my speed strength is way down from what it has been, despite the mileage I'm getting on my commutes. I was pondering this instead of concentrating on the workout part of the time, which may have been a factor. Oh, well, I have to start somewhere, I suppose.

Trainer Tours are Tuesday and Thursday evenings (with a few holiday exceptions) from now until the end of February (and there may be a few in March). Go to www.louisvillebicycleclub.org for details.

On another front, relating to my spill of a few weeks ago: Since I know people who know other people, my expression of outrage reached ears of folks who want to make that crossing safer for all cyclists. Ideas are bouncing around as I type this, with an eye toward painting something close enough to Uniform Traffic standards to help motorists realize that cyclists need to follow a certain path to cross the tracks safely, and help cyclists navigate that crossing safely by giving them room to do so apart from motor vehicles. More as it develops.

back to the bike

After wimping out yesterday due to wet weather and having to haul stuff, I rode this morning. I have to rush home this afternoon, so that I can participate in the LBC's "Trainer Tours" tonight. This will be my speed work for the winter time, with my commuting being my general maintenance work. At least that's the plan.

On my way to work, I sometimes count the cars that pass me on the bridge. This morning, the twenty cars that passed me waited until AFTER I had passed the mid-point (approximate--I'll call the middle expansion joint the mid-point for ease of use). Some mornings, I'll be passed by thirty or so cars, some mornings as few as fifteen. Afternoon pass counts (from pillar to pillar) usually range from thirty to fifty, with some well beyond (I don't count them on days I'm too busy riding safely in heavy traffic). I sometimes catch sight of an unusual truck as I approach the bridge and look for it when I get to the KY side to see how my speed compares to the interstate speed. Often as not, I beat folks who are in the right lane to use the exit at the end of the Kennedy bridge. Some weeks ago, I mentioned elsewhere that I got to Mellwood Avenue at Spring Street east of the old Stock Yards in time to see a truck cross the bridge over Mellwood on I-64 that I had noted as I pulled away from the old Colgate plant. I'd had to stop for no telling how many lights, but still made as good of a time for a slightly longer distance than someone using the interstate!

wet weather

I admit to not being fond of riding in wet weather. I just don't like it. At all. Coupled with near-freezing temperatures, I REALLY don't like it. While I hate to drive over that, I'd rather not get out and have no cage around me if it gets icy this afternoon, as it could if the snow in the forecast comes as predicted. Besides, I had more stuff to haul to the office than I had room for on either bike.

Lazy holiday weekend

What a lazy weekend. I took a four-day weekend of sorts last weekend, so the combination has me feeling a bit lethargic. With a forecast for snow, I may or may not ride to work Monday morning--I'll see how it looks in the morning, but I am skeptical of riding when it's icy/snowy/wet anywhere too close to freezing. I don't want to be the buffer between that errant motorist and the bridge abutment.



In any case, it's back to work on Monday, and I still have to burn off some paid time off before mid-month, lest the time go into some black hole or other. I'm only allowed to roll so many hours over to the next payroll year, so I'll likely take another couple days off next weekend or next week.


After the excitement of last week, though, I hope to have a calm week. It looks like I will get to move in some new tenants, which will make my week better and my boss happier. Might get another tenant squared away this week, to make it better still.


At least I had time to do some reading this weekend. Reading a book, with a cat on one's lap--now there is the life.

I got my one ride in this week

I had not ridden to work since Thursday of last week. I was off work Friday and Monday, but had make an appearance in court over an eviction process. Since it was raining enough to make getting there with court clothing an iffy prospect, I drove. As mentioned, I was late getting out the door Tuesday morning, and drove again. I was glad I had in the afternoon, as someone crashed on the bridge (and died as a result of that crash), which closed the bridge to all traffic for a couple hours, which would have made my trip home even more frustrating. On the other hand, I got to see Susan Tedeschi play at the Brown Theater last night, and my whole week got better. She richly deserves all praise she gets as a musician and singer.

I rode to work today, as it will be my last opportunity to ride to work this week (I'm off Friday for the holiday!). It was a chance to test my newly-repaired shoe covers (yes, they are warm as I remembered), and test my willingness to ride with cold fingers. Aside from the cold fingers and brief times with fogged glasses, it went fine. I plan to leave work early this afternoon and savor my ride home in daylight.

Tuesday thoughts

Where to begin? I drove to work today--long story short, the dog was at least partly to blame. Our morning walk didn't yield any solid results, and took long enough that I would have been late going by bicycle. I had some stuff that I kind-of needed to do before going to work, so I stayed home that extra twenty minutes or so and drove. Good thing, too, as the bridge was closed earlier in the day due to a crash (motorist died after hitting the side superstructure of the bridge), and was expected to remain closed until well after I needed to be home. I have a concert to attend tonight.


On other topics: I have gotten too close to violence lately. Not my own rage of a week and a half ago, but violence done by others to others. Yesterday, my travels took me to within a half-block of a recent (as in an hour or two prior) shooting, near the intersection of 22nd and Lytle Streets in the Portland area. Today, a car was found in the Ohio River, less than a mile from a point on my bicycle commute route. The occupant was found, dead, in the passenger seat. The investigation led the police departments to the building I manage--apparently the victim was close to one of my tenants. This leads to an unsettled feeling--one I do not relish, but cannot name. I simply do not know the right expression for it. I could stay home, rather than go out where this sort of thing could get even closer to me, based on some sense that I'm attracting violence, but I don't think I'm attracting it. I think it just is, and I happen to be traveling near there at the time. If I'm attracting it, I would rather attract it away from home. I don't want it close to my home.

Off work today

I took a vacation day today. Got some errands done out in the east end (anyone need some reflective vinyl? I got some). Scheduled the day off without thinking about a work-related court appearance scheduled for today, so had to do that. I didn't feel like rigging to haul court clothing on the bike in the rain, so I drove to that obligatory appearance.



Now for a very short work week--Tuesday morning should be dry and at least over freezing temperature, but Wednesday morning prediction is for mid- or upper 20sF. We'll see how it goes.

It's a weekend

After assuring that I had Friday off from work, I did some errand-running, got home, relaxed a bit, then rode to the Bicycling for Louisville Open House. I met some new folks, socialized with them and some folks I already know, commiserated regarding my fall a week before, networked a bit, and rode home. On the way home, I reacquainted myself with why I rarely ride the eastern ten blocks of Liberty Street--that stretch of pavement is terrible.

I didn't get any cycling in on Saturday, as I needed to do some family stuff. I hope to ride the 2:00 LBC ride this afternoon, just to get out on my fast bike for a bit. I have Monday off from work, so my work week is two days instead of three. I doubt much will happen on Wednesday, so I expect a light week. At least I'll get to ride to work once or twice...