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...

A flurry of activity

Okay, so snow flurries are a big deal around here. I was getting ready to leave work and realized that at least part of my ride home would involve snow flurries. Aside from some angst due to the feeling that I had apparently mis-read the forecast, and was more prepared for warmer temperatures than colder than my morning ride to work, I chuckled, imagining motorists thinking "oh, that poor sot, riding a bike in this mess," or, "what a lunatic, riding a bike when it's snowing," or some such drivel. I also remembered, once on my way home, that I had not charged the battery for my "see where I'm going" light, and that it would not last all the way home. I have the "be seen" light on each commuting bicycle, so I have >some< forward visibility, and the roads I travel after dark are not totally devoid of streetlights, so I knew I could get home with more safety margin than I've had in the distant past, but still. I was glad to get off the bike. Now to find a second charger to keep at the office--the two bikes have different light sets, and neither charger works with the opposing light set, despite that they came from the same supplier (VistaLite). I likely will not ride Friday morning, simply because the temperatures are likely to be below my minimums with current clothing options.

Thursday ride to work.

This is weird. I actually chose to ride a wedgie bike two days in a row. Who'd 'a' thought? I think my reason for opting to ride the Raleigh today is that I need to fix the rear brake on my Ryan--it's terribly noisy with the new pads I mounted, and I need to fix that. The 3-speed is nice and quiet. It's a bit warmer today, so the ride was more comfortable temperature-wise. It's going to be much cooler tomorrow, though--perhaps below temperature threshold in the morning. We'll see.

Toes are cold, but I'll be fine

Lower temperature today than yesterday, by a couple degrees Fahrenheit. I tried a slight variation on my footwear, with minor success. Base layer of thin wool cycling sock, followed by mid-to-heavy-weight Smartwool sock, then Gore-Tex(tm) sock, then cycling sandal. My feet were no more uncomfortable than yesterday, with one pair of the same weight heavy socks and cycling shoes. I also rode my Raleigh 3-speed today, just to be different. I am very pleased with the way that bike rides, now that I have rebuilt the wheels and installed new tires and chain. It's much smoother than it was, and if it wasn't an "upwrong" bike, I would say it's a pleasure to ride! Torso layers were the same as yesterday. Gloves were a different pair, and they are not as wind-resistant. My hands (primarily my fingers) were uncomfortably cold part of the ride, but not painfully so.

It's chilly out there

I usually consider 30F my low threshold for cycling. Below that temperature, I often don't feel like putting on enough layers to ride. I trust my bicycle to not have mechanical failures (more a trust in myself as a mechanic for preventing them), but still have concerns over how I'd deal with, say, a flat tire (something that requires a bit of dexterity) in sub-freezing temperatures. Even so, with reported temperatures in the high 20s, I rode to work today. I had to push myself out the door, but I rode. I had one more layer than I did yesterday, everywhere but on my feet. I couldn't find my shoe covers last night or this morning, and my girlfriend reminded me that she plans to repair the left one where a seam ripped last season. Plan B for tomorrow is to wear two pairs of socks, a pair of Gore-tex shoe liners, and my sandals (since I can open them a bit to allow for the extra bulk). All that in shoes would cut down circulation, and make my feet even colder. The other key to keeping my feet warm is keeping my legs warmer still, and I may add a wind layer to aid that process.

Bicycling for Louisville

Bicycling for Louisville is having an open house this Friday afternoon, from 3-7 o'clock. I plan to be there at some point, likely from 5:00 or so until whenever it's time for me to go home. I hope to see some more bicycle commuters there! Bicycling for Louisville is located in the Christ Church Cathedral building, at 421 S Second St.

Back to work

Rain kept me from riding to work Friday, but I rode today. No sign of my Suburban Assault Vehicle "friend" today on Frankfort Avenue, so it was a pretty decent ride. Quads were a bit sore from the exertion--I'm wondering about the pedal distance now. Overall, I felt a bit stronger than usual, but it could be an illusion.

Looking ahead, I get dry weather all week, so I'll get to save money by not buying gasoline (yay!).

Over the weekend, it was announced that I am running for VP Education in the bicycle club. The outgoing VP was grateful. We'll see how it goes.

Also over the weekend, I got to reassemble my "bus bike," a 1974 Raleigh Superbe. I built a new set of wheels for it, as the old rims were very rusted and going through brake pads like crazy. That $25 bike has now had new rims, spokes, brake pads (x2), cables, tires (second set), tubes, chain and pedals, plus now also has an old VistaLite set and flashers mounted. Next comes whatever minor mods I need to make so that the rack will accept panniers, and getting the fork lock re-keyed. Eventually, I'd like to fix the factory light set, but as parts for the dyno-hub are not available, it may not happen. The biggest improvement in the ride has been the tires--Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires ROCK.

Cagers need to learn to drive.

An otherwise good ride to work was spoiled by a stupid cager.

Aside from the rage, which is cooling, I'm fine.

I was approaching the rail crossing on Frankfort Avenue, and a white suburban assault vehicle was crowding me from behind. I signaled with my left hand that I was going to be moving side to side, then swerved to the left to set up for the off-angle crossing. The impatient motorist then swerved to the right and passed me on that side, blocking my intended path across the tracks. In my efforts toward recovery, I was unable to stop before crossing the track, and my front wheel got caught in the tracks. I of course fell immediately, although fortunately I was almost stopped at the time and the fall was not damaging to me or my bicycle.

I all but bounced off the pavement, cussing a blue streak. I got the bike back up, did a one-second inspection, and got on the road. I rode through the bolus of adrenaline, saying, "ride out the rage, ride out the rage." The motorist got lucky on a couple of traffic lights, and got away from me. No other witnesses were in a position to chase down the motorist for me.

I don't know the traffic codes well enough to know the exact terms for what the motorist did wrong. My layman's terms would include: Improper passing, reckless driving and leaving the scene of an incident (my fall that s/he caused). Given my "druthers," I would add wanton endangerment, but I doubt that would hold.

Adulterations

I've decided that for now I will remove the "adult content" ticker, and just see how things go. If people actually start reading my blog, and commenting, I may change things. It just doesn't seem worth the extra step of access at this point.

musings on precipitation

For now the second day in a row, I drove to work. Yesterday, I had a marginal excuse--I had a case of light bulbs to take to my office, and they don't fit on my bicycle as currently configured.

Today's excuse was thinner--I'm just not interested in riding 13 miles in the rain on my way to work today. Over time, I will get the right gear to make such a ride less uncomfortable, but rainy cool weather has never been a favorite of mine, and riding in it really sucks when I then have to be presentable at my office.

One problem for me in this is that I had been on something of a roll lately--over a three-week period, I rode ten times in thirteen work days (I took two vacation days one of those weeks). I had ridden over 200 miles since I had last fueled my truck a couple weeks ago.

On the other hand, my rainy-day bike is closer to reality. I bought an old Raleigh 3-speed a few months ago, and have been modernizing a few things here, cleaning and tuning a few things there, in order to have a bike that would fit on the TARC bike racks. The tires I'd been able to get locally aren't the greatest, though, so I ordered a set of Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires for it, and they arrived Monday. I've ordered a set of modern aluminum rims to replace the battered, partly rusted steel rims that came on the bike, and they should be in later this week. I get to build a new set of wheels soon, which is a restful pastime for me--kind of a zen thing, to be honest about it. I need to create a couple bits of hardware to allow me to attach panniers to it, and it will be ready to go!

It's a cool bike--a then top-of-the-line commuter from Raleigh, built in 1974. It has the aforementioned 3-speed hub, but also has some neat details, like a built into-the-hub dynamo that powers a headlight and taillight (the system is not operating at the moment, perhaps due to burned-out bulbs which are hard to find), fenders, a rear rack, a Brooks saddle and a locking fork, which I will take to a locksmith and see whether it can be made functional again.

I'll fit that into my copious free time, along with traditional fall chores like clearing leaves from the gutters of the house and raking the leaves from my neighbor's Maple tree to the front of the property so that the works department folks will haul them away.

On the "adult content" thing...

I ticked that option as I see myself as periodically posting things I wouldn't "read in a family newspaper," that being the yardstick by which I define whether it should only be viewed by adults. I doubt anything I would post here would be considered obscene except perhaps in language. I may "un-tick" that option later.

welcome

to my entry in the world of 'blogging. I really don't know how much I'll put here--some of my thoughts are such that I wouldn't expect others to bother reading them.

We'll see, now, won't we?