Over, already? (a year, and a vacation)

I'm back from my travels. I've not been on a bike since Saturday, the 24th. It's New Year's Eve. Jenn is in the kitchen fixing chili for tomorrow's Polar Bear Ride and Chili Cook-Off.

The trip was a great break from the norm for me. We took the new-to-us Toyota rather than fiddle with the expense of renting a car.

The focus of the trip was a more-or-less annual visit to my grandmother's house in Williamsburg, Virginia. My grandmother turned ninety-five early in December, outliving her own mother by at least three years and her husband, my grandfather, by a few months so far. She is still in good spirits, despite that her hearing and eyesight are not very good. My father now lives with her most of the time, going to his home in Staunton for a few days now and again to help my stepmother with things around that house.

That house. My grandparents bought the house in 1947 or so, and have been there since. It was built in the early 1930s to demonstrate the then-new concept of building residences with lots of concrete. The outer walls are concrete block, the floors are concrete (with hardwood flooring over it), the foundation and such are concrete... In the living room, there hangs a framed reprint of an advertisement that features their house, touting the fire-safety and economical aspects of the style of construction. The house has a screened-in porch across much of its rear wall, done for them in the 1950s by the man who was the primary builder when the house was first erected. There is a small bedroom and bathroom off the dining room, that was converted from the garage that was originally there. When I was a small child, my great-grandmother used it as her bedroom (yes, my grandmother's mother, who was 92 when she passed in late summer of 1969--I was eight years old at the time). That house has been something of a touch stone for me throughout my life--all the places I've lived, all the places I've been, I've always been able to think about that house as a grounding point. For several years, I spent the nights of my visits sleeping on that porch, in part to keep my grandmother from having to launder sheets after I left (or having to launder them myself before going...), but mostly because the porch was such an important part of every visit I've ever had there.

Until my grandfather ceased his gardening activities in the 1990s, just about every visit featured a meal with something out of his garden. The garden is neglected, now, as neither my father nor my grandmother has the energy to maintain it. Same with much of the other landscaping, although they have a fellow who comes to do what he can to keep up most of the yard. Even so, there are a couple of plants that are descended from things transplanted from where I-64 now goes by Covington Virginia (where we lived when I was in Kindergarten). My grandparents both had "green thumbs," and enjoyed having flowers, interesting shrubs, and that aforementioned garden in their yard. Sadly, I never learned how to keep such a yard so tidy and so green--my limited talents run more to making bicycles work reasonably well.

While in Williamsburg, I got to show Jenn some more of the surrounding sights. As you know, Williamsburg was the capitol of the Colony (and the Commonwealth) of Virginia for many years. It is but a short bike ride (shorter than my daily commute) from Jamestown (or James Towne, if you prefer), and not much farther from Yorktown. Jamestown was, as you know, the first permanent English settlement in North America, and the original capitol of the Colony. Yorktown was, of course, the site of the last battle of the Revolutionary War. A fair bit of early American history happened within a day's bike ride of my grandparents' house.

It's not all about history, though. One thing we did that was pretty entertaining was to take the ferry across the James River from Jamestown to Surrey. It's a fifteen- or twenty-minute ride from shore to shore. You can tell the locals--they stay in their cars most of the time. The tourists (and those locals entertaining tourists) often get out of their cars and feed the seagulls. The seagulls know this, and are willing to be entertaining in their efforts to catch pieces of bread or peanuts that are tossed aloft for their dining pleasure. It's a lot of fun to watch them flying in station-keeping mode waiting for food.

It's far too late to make a long post short, and I'll have to say more about the trip at a later time.


My bicycle miles total for the year 2011 stands at 8042. The "instead of driving" miles total stands at 7284.8. The commuting total stands at 5591, a hundred and fifty miles short of my total miles for 2010. That shortfall represents about six days of riding to work, and may suggest a goal for 2012: have the commuting miles for 2012 exceed my total miles for 2012.

Another goal that comes to mind is to simply ride instead of driving whenever I can, and see where the numbers go from there.

I DOOD IT!!

A couple weeks ago, I was wondering whether I would reach the 8000-mile goal I had set. I don't expect to ride much next week, as I will be visiting family in other cities.

However, as I rode to work today, I reached my 8000-mile goal for the year. Without planning ahead for it, I figure I reached the goal on Rollington Road, the descent on which is one of my favorite parts of my morning commute. The title for today's entry also notes that I remember Red Skelton appearing on television some time in my childhood, using his catchphrase. I may not know much of what has been on television over the last twenty years, but I still have bits and pieces of memories about broadcasts from decades ago.

I suppose the actual figure is off that by a mile or two (or ten...), due to various possible errors, but I've tried to reduce errors where I reasonably could. I hope that any variances even out--there were probably a few miles I didn't record, and maybe a tenth here and there that got over-recorded.

While much of what I've put in this blog over the last year has been crowing about the numbers, making this a numbers-chasing year, I haven't felt like I was chasing numbers to the point of it being tiresome for me. I haven't burned out on it--yet. A friend made the comment a couple weeks ago that focusing on the numbers could lead to burnout on biking. My countering strategy has been to bike whenever I could do so instead of driving, and enjoy how the numbers piled up instead of riding to get the numbers, if that makes sense.

A number I hadn't considered until a day or two ago was the quantity of miles commuting. I've tagged my rides as being for commuting (getting to and from work, with some small side trips that were more-or-less on the way), counting toward the CO2 total (riding for utility, including getting to work and errand trips), club, errands, and so on. The online log keeps track of these rides by tag separately and cumulatively, and gives me the breakdown in the report section. My commuting miles for 2011 YTD total 5566, less than two hundred miles shy of my 2010 total. Had I been focusing on this number all year, I might have been able to invert that difference if only by a few miles. Wow.

I don't know that I'll get as many miles next year. My riding patterns will differ somewhat, in that I won't be doing the New Rider Clinics as often (if at all). I may get to do more club rides, which could offset the Clinic riding. It's too soon to say.

It all seems so anti-climactic somehow

After crushing my earlier 6000-mile goal for this year some time in September, every single mile I've ridden has set a personal record of some sort. My CO2 mileage topped my 2010 total mileage early in October. It's almost become ludicrous, in a way. On the other hand, plans are afoot that may keep me off the bicycle for a few days near the end of the year, and that 8000-mile goal is *right there.* I only need to log two hundred miles to reach it.

My total bike miles for 2011 stands at a fraction of a mile shy of 7800 as I type this. Part of me wanted to go back out and ride that fraction of a mile, but I figure I'll go on an errand of some sort today and get that number--or not. I know I'll get that partial mile on my way to work Friday, if nothing else happens.

My CO2 miles, that I also refer to as "riding instead of driving" miles, now total over 7060 for the year. This, to me, is the larger news. I know several folks who have far more bicycle miles for 2011 than I have. I don't know many who have so many miles and have fewer miles on their cars.

A friend cautioned me recently to not focus too hard on a numeric goal, that I would lose out on why I ride. I recognize that danger, and will probably not focus on numbers as much next year (or I may--who knows?). I often tell customers at the bike shop that having a cyclometer (aka: cycle computer, odometer, et al) helps them quantify the fun they are having on their bikes. This has been a year of quantifying the fun for myself. I'm not burned out on it, yet, either, surprisingly. I don't know what sort of tracking I'm going to do next year, or if I'll track just to see what happens instead of aiming for some goal. On rereading some of my posts from early this year, I think my focus was on bettering prior successes rather than on the final number of miles. When I amended my annual goal to 8000, I remember having the sense that I was roughly three-quarters through the year reaching the 6000 mark, and thinking that 8000 would not be a big problem. Goals are set to be exceeded, after all. Exceeding the goal makes us feel superior to something, I suppose.

Little bits and pieces time:

A woman was in the other day asking about power meters for her husband's winter training program, and when I told her that the power meter would connect to his computer so he could track the efficacy of his training regimen, she rolled her eyes in an "I know--he's so engrossed with data" expression, half wondering whether she really should enable him by getting him the gizmo he thought he wanted. She WAS glad to know that the PowerTap hub was not specific to trainer use, and that many riders keep them on the bike year-round (except for events). I've been obsessed with enough numbers this year--I don't need to do power graphs for utility miles, nor pore over the data to see whether I should have eaten that pulled pork sandwich the other day.

My term as VP Education with the Louisville Bicycle Club is winding down. I have about a month left in office, and aside from a brief presentation or two at the Club banquet in mid-January, not much left to do. I need to decide what I'm going to say and organize it appropriately. I think I have one or two jerseys to get to folks, but most of that is done. I'm not yet sure who my successor will be. I don't know that I'll have a lot of time to help with the 2012 program, although I also don't want to leave it completely. I am examining other avenues to help teach cyclists that won't be such black holes of time in other parts of my life as being a Club officer had become.

The new-to-us car seems to be doing well enough. I drove it to a party we attended Saturday evening (and home), but Jenn has put far more miles on it than I have--not a bit of surprise to that, of course. We got it for her to drive to work when weather and time constraints keep her from riding (and I still rode to work in rain a few times in the last two weeks, including times since we bought the car and I could have driven the truck).

I keep thinking I need to run in my studded tires fairly soon, as in BEFORE I need them to get to work. Maybe I have an excuse to go for a bike ride, now.

Shocking news!

Put away drinks and food, take a deep breath, then read on.

We bought another car yesterday.

It's nothing fancy, mind you. It has a lot of miles on it already, but it's been well-maintained for the most part (there was some rust repair that isn't "pro" work, but it doesn't look bad from the next lane). It's an older Corolla four-door that is almost the antithesis of my Thunderbird Super Coupe of the same era--front wheel drive, automatic transmission, modest power plant, cassette (!) player in the dash--but my goal this time was a car that for fifty thousand miles (four or more years at current driving rates) would serve as basic transportation for us when bicycling is contraindicated.

We bought it from Peter Burkhart, owner of Saint Matthews Fence and Deck. I have known Peter for a few years, and was even a neighbor for a while. He and I have several friends in common. I have no reason to distrust him (although I have double checked some of the facts on the car).

It has its little idiosyncrasies, of course. The key that fits the door does not fit the ignition switch, but one key can be cut to fit both. I'm not over-fond of the window tinting, but it doesn't look bad. The rear window defroster grid doesn't seem to work, but it may have been disconnected by the tint installer (I've heard of this being done).

The general sense is that this car will get Jenn through the winter for days when she isn't ready to tackle snow tires on her Globe. My truck's current tires have never been good when the roads are wet--I can just about spit enough moisture to get the rear tires to spin. The ballast I habitually put in the back helps some, but the truck has enough other problems--the defroster doesn't work well, in part because the air conditioning system doesn't work (A/C helps dry the air in the defroster system), there is a head gasket leak allowing exhaust gases into the water jacket that I don't want to pay to fix, and so on. I'll keep the truck around for a bit yet to enable cargo hauling, especially since the next big project at the house involves built-in shelves for the "office."

And, if we find something else that will fill more needs for us, we can let my younger stepdaughter take this car to college with her next year. She's getting ready to graduate, and is not ready to do the totally car-free thing while working toward an advanced degree in Occupational Therapy.

In any event, if it goes fifty thousand miles before it quits, ownership costs will be less than thirty cents a mile. If it has any value at all after that time, the cost per mile will drop a bit. If it goes fifty thousand while we own it, that would be almost six years at current usage rates--not a bad deal, compared to buying something at four times the cost that won't go ten years for us.

It's December, already?!?!?!?

It's time to make plans for the next couple of months, and make those plans known to folks. We will be doing a couple of courses of Tool School, one each in January and February. Typically, I do these on a Monday-Wednesday-Monday-Wednesday evenings sort of thing, or Tuesday-Thursday, etc. It's a four-class course, meeting from 6:30 to 9:00 or 9:30 for the four evenings of choice. I've also done some Saturday or Sunday afternoon classes as part of a series. I need to make the schedule today and tomorrow so that it can be announced early in the week.

Today is also my grandmother's birthday. She is 95. Yes, I said 95. She is my only surviving grandparent, as her husband, my grandfather, died in 2006, a few months short of his own 95th birthday. These are my father's parents--my mother's mother died in 2000 (I think--I'm not sure at the moment). Mom's father died in 1966 or 1967. I am tremendously fortunate to have known three of my four natural grandparents (and my stepfather's mother!). As a child, I knew my great-grandmother (my father's mother's mother) as well. She was 92 when she passed in 1969. There is no telling how long Mom's father would have lived, had he not had his horrible accident in the early 1950s--his burns led to a cascade of complications that kept him in a nursing home from well before I was born until his death, and I never really knew him.

With all this genetic longevity in mind, it makes sense that I remain active as long as I am able. I attribute some of my father's parents' lives to my grandfather's gardening. Until he quit keeping a garden (he was in his late 80s by then), every single visit to their house would involve at least one meal featuring produce grown in his yard. My grandfather walked to work most of the time (he was a Chemistry Professor at William and Mary, and their house was a mile or so from his office). Both of them were active to just about their practical limits--my grandmother still likes to putter around in her yard when she can, despite her failing vision and hearing. It would do me well to make better food choices than I do, but I'm guilty of taking advantage of the convenience of prepackaged imitations of real food too much of the time.

As a side note, I wonder what the long-term effects of prepackaged foods will be with regard to the average life spans of American citizens.

Since the month of November is now over, it's time for some numbers as well: Thursday evening's return to home from work got me over the 7500 mile mark for 2011 YTD (sadly, that was on the first of December, not in November, but that's the way it goes). My ride to work Friday morning got me over the 6800-mile mark for bicycle miles "instead of driving." I rode 500 miles in November, down from November 2010 by sixteen or twenty miles.


There was another post on the kycyclist recently from a fellow who is commuting along my corridor, telling of his near-crash at a left turn lane. I responded to him, of course, encouraging him to look at other places for the left turn that offered better sight lines and such. He had posted back in the summer about riding the sidewalks along Westport Road to stay out of traffic, and I had responded at the time that he would be much safer being part of traffic and taking the lane instead of hugging the fog line.

I'm reminded that each of us has a starting point when it comes to cycling. I did not become what some consider an uber-commuter overnight (I haven't really become an uber-commuter, anyway...). It has taken me a lot of miles over a lot of years to learn what I've learned. My responsibility to the community remains to encourage intelligent cycling, based on not just my own experience, but that of those whose opinions I have learned to respect (including some that significantly differ from my own). Even though I am stepping down as the VP Education for the Louisville Bicycle Club after this term is over (next month), I figure I will still be involved in the local bicycling community as an advocate and educator for a long time to come. I may not do as much of it this coming year--I have things I want to accomplish at home, as mentioned before--but I won't go away completely.