Miles and miles

A look at my mileage stats, just for giggles:

So far in 2011, I've logged 368.6 miles. By the time I get home from work tonight, I will have logged over 390 miles. I am helping Andy Dyson move tomorrow, so I'll get in a few miles that way, and I hopefully will ride to work Monday, which will get me over 425 miles for the month.

I logged 425 miles in May 2010. The five lowest mileage months for 2010, from worst to best, were January (65), February (187), June (271), December (382) and May (425). Humorous side note: May, the fifth month of the year, was my fifth-lowest mileage month for 2010--in part due to home-buying stuff that was happening at the time. June was very low due to the two week hiatus from personal cycling called RAAM. February and January of last year were a time when my temperature threshold hadn't gotten down below 30 and we had a LOT of ice on the roads. December had a week or more of icy, fouled roads plus the "holly-daze" mess.

Going from my worst cycling month of 2010 to the same month of 2011 having more miles than four or five months of 2010 is kind of a kick. Makes me wonder what I'm capable of doing the rest of the year. 6000 miles should not be a big problem to accomplish for 2011. Jenn and I intend to get in a fair number of club miles on the tandem, which should yield an annual total closer to 7000.

Beats heck out of driving...

A few weeks ago, I made a lot of noise about being on the Ergon Commuter Team. I found out that I will be waiting until some time in March before I see my box of gear. That's okay, I suppose, as it is coming to me free of charge, but I was hoping to put some time on the stuff on a snow bike. Of course, the budget has kept me from getting a snow bike, so I have even less reason to complain.

Yet another odds and ends post

Last Thursday's mini-blizzard was severe enough that we put the final meeting of our January Tool School on hold. We finish it tonight. I've been thinking about when to do another class in February, and need to finalize the dates this week (since, of course, it's almost February).

As is usually the case, this Tool School group is made up of good folks. Maybe there is some self-selecting mechanism at work--I rarely get any one person in these classes that is problematic (if pressed, I could come up with one person who wasn't as attentive as I would prefer), and have not had a troublesome group.

I've now had two days of driving to work instead of riding bike. We had some snow yesterday morning--an inch or so--plus a meeting scheduled far enough away that riding wasn't going to work in the time I had to get there. The roads were not quite clear enough for me yet this morning. Hopefully things are warming enough that I can ride tomorrow. Even so, I don't know that I'll best too many of last year's monthly totals this month. My next, um, er, milestone is the December 2010 mileage (382 miles), which I may outdo tomorrow if I get to ride to work. Next one after that is May 2010 at 425 miles or so, and if I get to ride to work Monday, I just might beat that. I've already beat January, February, both of them combined, and June of 2010 with my January 2011 miles. Not a bad start for the year.

I keep thinking about that ice-day bike...I even got a bike of the model I'm considering for the store's inventory, just so I can check it out first-hand. It looks good, and seems like it would work well enough. I have mixed emotions about some details at the left rear triangle area--it doesn't look like it will accept my Burley trailer, for example, but it will probably do okay with the Safety 1st one. If Jenn and I find it useful to haul stuff in both trailers at once, I'd have to ride the Raleigh, as it's the only one of the fleet at this point that will pull the Burley as configured. It's mildly surprising that the inexpensive (when new) Safety 1st trailer fits more of my fleet than the Burley, a fairly expensive line of trailers.

Speaking of trailers, both of mine will be in use this weekend, along with a slew of others. Andy Dyson, Executive Director of Bicycling for Louisville, is moving this weekend. I caught wind of the details on Facebook, oddly enough, but if you would like to help and don't "do" facebook, drop me a line (since facebook likes for you to have an account before you can see stuff on it).

"It's Soup Yet!"

A couple months ago, our friend Ian was hit by a car as he waited for his turn to proceed through a traffic light. The woman took off without waiting for a police report to be filed.

Long story short, her insurance company provided Ian with enough money to get a new bike. Being the kind of guy Ian is, he decided to give Bluegrass Bicycle a chance to help him out with replacing the bike.

Sadly, when we first discussed it, Surly was out of Big Dummy bikes! They had some on the way, but it was going to be late December or some time in January before they could ship the bike to us. When they were getting close to being able to ship, I learned that there were over forty folks watching for the bikes to be available. They released fifteen or twenty bikes, so I made sure I ordered one as soon as I learned they were available.

It arrived at the store today.

That's a lot of bike. The box is 73" long, and weighed about fifty pounds with the bike inside. It's not a complicated assembly, though it does take a while to get all the stuff on there. I got to test-ride it briefly, to be sure Ian would have brakes and accurate shifting, and it's a great ride. The picture shows some details that still needed to be handled before Ian could take it home, but it's road-worthy for being the Soup Express!

Tuesday is soup-cooking day for Ian. Wednesday is his biggest delivery day. He wanted to ride his old bike out to the store and have me move stuff over to the new bike (and, I suppose, take the old one home on the trailer), but it wasn't to be. Still, I had the pleasure of seeing one happy Souper Man!

Now I want one. I don't have any place to keep one, but I want one. *sigh*  I don't know what I'd DO with it--I don't have the cargo to haul that I need one, but...maybe one day.

The truth is out!

Commuting by car crushes your soul!

The Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M recently released its annual Urban Mobility Report. In it, they discuss why and how traffic has gotten worse over the last two decades. Also discussed are topics like travel times, and the difference between travel time index and planning time index.

I did see a couple comments suggesting that modal changes would reduce congestion--using public transit, car-pooling, or bicycles as opposed to personal motor vehicles.

The entire Report takes a while to read--longer than I have at the moment. I will be reading more of it in the coming days and sharing some thoughts here, I hope. If you take some time to read it, please comment on what you find.

Ah, the hassles of winter...

I had planned to take the morning off, then attend a meeting downtown with Bike Louisville's Education sub-committee. However, Wednesday evening, we found that our furnace was not working well at all--it was often blowing cold air rather than hot air.

Thursday morning, I called the HVAC folks who had installed the unit, as they are usually a pretty good outfit. I made arrangements for their tech to come by this morning.

He found a switch that had somehow been turned off. It seemed a simple enough cause for the symptoms, so he charged me for the service call and went on his way. However, about an hour after he left, I noted that, again, the furnace was blowing cold air. I called the tech, who told me he would call the office. I hadn't heard anything by about noon, so I called the office myself. He had called, but they hadn't gotten down their list as far as my name yet.

Anyway, the second tech arrived a bit after two. He poked around inside the furnace, finding a dirty flame sensor, a wire connection that had somehow gotten unplugged, showed me some diagrams and how to read them, waited for the machine to prove that it was going to work right, and then went on his way.

About an hour later, I found that, again, the furnace was blowing cold air. I called the HVAC outfit again, and they told me they'd fine another tech to send my way.

He arrived about 5:00 or 5:30. Since he was primed to look for intermittent problem-causing failures, he almost immediately noted some discoloration on the PC board that controls the furnace. He pulled it to inspect its reverse side, and saw damning evidence that it had gotten hot and that the resistors had failed. He also found indications that this was not the original circuit board.

$320 more later, I supposedly have a furnace that will be reliable for a while longer.

A couple years ago, I was working in a program that tried to find money to fix furnaces for low-income elderly folks. Having experienced that, I know how fortunate I am. I have a fairly well-insulated house--certainly compared to the houses of some of those folks I tried to help. While it's a burden in the short-term, we can afford to fix this out of our own pockets. We can afford to pay the gas bill to keep this furnace running for a while longer.

It's good to have heat when the low temperature for the night will be around 10F.

Of course, I missed the meeting, having to be around waiting for the HVAC techs to arrive. I also missed getting to ride a bicycle today. I had intended to ride to Feeder's Supply to get cat food, or to ValuMarket, since one potential mission was going to be a trip to Lowe's to return some furnace filters for ones that are not so restrictive and the two are close together. Having to wait for the technicians to arrive put the kibosh on those plans, too.

Snow forecast

Our community is all atwitter (does that have something to do with a large number of twits?) over the weather forecast for Thursday. Something like three to five inches of snow--maybe six, depending on forecaster--expected to fall some time Thursday.

Bah!

Aside from not having a snow bike, meaning that Jenn and I would have to coordinate our commuting using the one car, I find this worry over a few inches of snow baffling. We get snow every year. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I know folks who are happy to have *only* six inches of snow on their yards this time of year (meaning: a lot has melted off since the last foot of snow fell a week ago).

It could be far worse: This is not Atlanta, after all. My sister spent a few years in Atlanta in the early 1980s, as a student at Emory. I recall her glee that she was getting friends around with relative ease when there was an inch or so of snow on their roads one time, just because she had driven in snow here under our mother's tutelage, and knew to be smooth in applying control efforts and to think ahead planning for less traction than she had.

Still, that this town gets so worked up over half a foot of snow is really bewildering to me.

In the interest of disclosure, I will have to say: I used to drive a wrecker. I did a LOT of pulling cars out of ditches on "snow days." I was able and wiling to put my truck in places that many of my coworkers avoided, simply because I knew how to make use of the traction I had. I also knew when to stay out of potential trouble--most of the time. Sure, I got stuck a time or two, and learned from those experiences. I also learned to drive in snow during the aftermath of one of Louisville's bigger snowstorms--the 1977/8 winter had at least one two-foot snow dump on us. My car at the time had bias ply tires--not even snow tires--yet I got where I needed to go, learning about traction and "slideways" driving as I went. I learned about using the throttle to steer when the steering wheel doesn't do all it should--something front wheel drive cars don't seem to do as well, although they don't seem to have the same frequency of the problem, either.

In the mean time, I'm always surprised that the weather forecasts don't start with, "This weather forecast brought to you by Kroger, since we have an over-stock of milk and bread we need you to buy so that we are not stuck with it." It seems that would be a bit more honest...

Mid-month Sunday stuff

I am now set to begin my third term as Louisville Bicycle Club VP Education. The Club's annual banquet was last night, and part of the club business on such occasions is election of officers. Nobody stepped up to run against me, meaning that either a) I'm doing a good enough job that nobody figures they can do better or more likely b) I'm doing it well enough and nobody else wants to do it.

It isn't like it's a power trip or anything.

The cycling year is getting off to a good start, as I mentioned yesterday. I now have 231 miles for the year, compared to 252 that I had by the end of February last year. Jenn and I rode the tandem to Baptist East/Milestone Fitness Center for the 2:00 club ride, rode the ride, and rode home from the ride. Both of us were a bit chilled by the time we got home--we had both under-dressed just slightly. I was actually pretty warm around my shoulders most of the ride--as shown by the fact that my shirt was sweaty in that area, but that sweat was cooling off a bit faster than I like on the three-mile ride home.

Since I live outside Ian's delivery zones, I hadn't taken opportunity to try any of his soups. I had some stuff to drop by his house the other day, and procured a sample of his peanut soup to share with Jenn. We planned to enjoy it after the ride today, and boy, was it good.

Tim mentioned on his blog the other day, and I had linked to Facebook a few days before that, that Ian got some good press on the Surly Bikes blog a bit more than a week ago. I don't know how Surly got wind of all this--other than the fact that I've been in contact with them on a weekly basis getting updates on when we can get Ian a new bike to pull the soup cart. After the hit-and-run just before Turkey Day, Ian had been off the bike for a few weeks. Now, he's riding what's left of the bent Big Dummy, hoping it holds together until the new one arrives, hopefully later this month. Surly is awaiting some parts from Xtracycle before they ship bikes to dealers, so don't go fussing at Surly. No real need to squawk at Xtracycle, either, at this point--I'm given to understand that the parts are in transit to them already, and it's only a matter of time before things get delivered and we get to have Ian on his new rig.

I got to ride to work today!

Not quite halfway through January, and I've bested my mileage for February of last year. If the weather doesn't dump more snow on us between now and then, I'll best the total for January AND February 2010 by the end of next week. I only need to ride to work twice and do a trip to the grocery store.

Mileage for 2011 to date: 200

January 2010 miles: 65
February 2010 miles: 187
March 2010 miles: 548.76
First quarter 2010 miles: 800.76


If things REALLY go well, I'll best the first-quarter 2010 miles by the end of February. 801 miles is possible. Not particularly likely this time of year, but possible. I'm a quarter of the way there, two weeks into the year.

I've not been one to set goals like this in the past, but I think I'll shoot for six thousand miles this year. It shouldn't be too hard to do. I might even try for seven thousand.

Second quarter miles will be a bit tougher to beat. I did not drive to work even once in April of last year (Jenn picked me up twice--once for house-hunting, the other time for really bad weather). I drove some in May. We'll ride more in June this year than we did in 2010 simply because we are not working RAAM this year. We might do a bike tour that month--no decision yet, but we'll need to make one soon.

Second quarter 2010 miles: 1309.06
First half 2010 miles: 2109.82

Put in those terms, I should be able to best last years first-half record with a margin.

Of course, all this record-setting will make it harder to break my personal record next year.

Heh.

Denver to Louisville

As you know, I'm on Ergon's Commuter Team for 2011. I haven't gotten my goodies yet, but am eagerly anticipating the arrival.

I have been keeping an eye on Ergon's blog, too, and the folks at Ergon posted today about a Mayoral candidate in Denver who had a fund-raiser at Great Divide Brewery recently. Candidate Chris Romer is in favor of extending the scope of Denver's bike infrastructure.

The reason I find this noteworthy is that several years ago, our own then-Mayor Jerry Abramson cited Denver's fairly extensive bike path network when he asked that the first Bike Summit happen in 2004 or 2005. That a candidate wants to improve on an inspiring system is great. That the existing system inspires leaders in cities like ours is even better. It shows that we can do it, with the right focus of political will power. Help me encourage our new Mayor to focus some of that will power, won't you?

Snow bike thoughts, part whatever

Since I don't have enough money to buy a snow bike this week (or month, probably), yet am still thinking too much about it, I decided to look at my log for January and February of 2010. As it turns out, I've logged 174 miles since the first of the year. In February of 2010, I logged 187 miles. In January, only 65 miles.

Those numbers were estimates, based on reading my own entries in this blog, as I didn't start logging daily miles until March. Those numbers may have been on the low side, since my cyclometer was miscalibrated. Still, I'm not as worried about monthly mileage now as I was. My riding weather threshold has lowered a bit since then, so I'm more likely to ride this month than I was last January.

I still want a snow bike, but I'm not as focused on buying one right now.

I don't have a bike with snow tires...

...so I drove to work. Again. For the second time this week, and what will likely be the second of a string of times, as the temperatures are not high enough that the roads are clearing off effectively. There remains a small ice floe at the south end of my street. I can get around it by using other streets, but those streets have some of that annoying fake brick that jars the bike's lights into far more pieces than they were designed to have.

I keep wanting a snow and ice bike. We don't have the money for me to buy one this week, or month, so I get to spend money on gas instead.

If my commute was more urban, I might be able to make do with the bikes I have--I've ridden the Raleigh on packed snow, and it did reasonably well. All the clothing layers I would be wearing would serve as padding if I fell--a little bit of padding, anyway.

Last night was the first night of our seventh Tool School class. I normally limit the class to seven students, but wound up with nine this time for some reason. It's a good group of folks, so I think we'll be okay. Having nine students will get pretty busy for me the last two nights--good thing Bob will be there to help me with the hands-on stuff we'll be doing.

Mikael has made a couple recent posts concerning bike infrastructure in cities other than Copenhagen. In one such post, he mentions that it's tiring to hear "it's just Copenhagen," or "It's Copenhagen and the Netherlands, but nowhere else," as if those are the only places that "get it" when it comes to the desirability of bike-specific urban infrastructure.

He makes a good point--many other cities are beginning to get the idea, and make the investments. I want very much to see Louisville "get it," in ways that our No-Longer-Mayor Abramson started to see.

It takes a LOT of political will power--usually more than can be utilized in one term of office. There are many "anti-cyclists" in the local community, and much of the infrastructure discussion is focused on the Ohio River Bridges Boondoggle instead of surface-level projects that would cost less to do, cost less to maintain, and serve more people--in part by taking traffic OFF the existing Interstates and thus reducing pressure to build Interstate bridges.

That lowly little old me can see this but lofty politicians cannot says something, but I don't know what it is. Despite letters written to various people who are at least titular leaders in the community, I feel like I'm standing in front of a steamroller with a cap pistol. Or one of those gag guns seen in the clown shows that spits out a flag with the word BANG on it. The powers that be want big bridges, they want to spend a ton of money before creating big bridges, and they seem to want to drag out the pre-construction BS long after it's due to be done.

I suppose the delay could be okay with me if it really gave me the feeling that we could impress upon the powers that be that the idea of having two more Interstate-level bridges is more a 1950s-era solution than a 2011-and-beyond solution. Gas will likely never be as cheap as $2/gallon again, as it was when the two-bridge thing started really gathering steam. It seems more reasonable that we could build several bridges on order of the Clark Memorial Bridge for about the same money, connecting neighborhoods instead of interstates, and improve traffic flow to a far greater degree compared to two Interstate bridges. It also seems that if one such bridge is taken out of service due to some unforeseen event like a barge getting loose and hitting the supports, the traffic diversion would foul up more bridges by less rather than REALLY fouling up one bridge (this is about what happened to the Sherman Minton bridge in 2009--inspectors cleared the bridge for use shortly after the event, but that morning's drive time was BRUTAL for a lot of people).

Such smaller bridges would allow for more bicycle-friendly travel across the river, as well.

But what do I know? I am one of those crazy folks who rode his bike to work this morning, into the teeth of a headwind the whole way, thinking that if the wind continues until I go home I'll have a SWEET tailwind and a fast trip home!

A recent post on Copenhagenize discusses how that city prioritizes cycle-ways in its snow cleanup efforts, and briefly touches on why. Citizen cyclists, as Mikael calls them, are so large a factor that not clearing the cycle infrastructure first would mean that tens of thousands of folks would suddenly descend on the public transit system or get in cars, causing a much larger traffic problem for all involved.

Would that we had such a situation in Louisville Kentucky.

Mikael also observes that few folks in Copenhagen use snow-specific tires--in part because the cycle ways are cleared so well and so often.

I thought about that a moment, given my recent post pondering whether to buy a snow-specific bike (which would have studded snow tires). I observed in his comments section that much of Copenhagen is relatively urban--even in residential areas. My own commute is mostly suburban in nature, with a fair bit of rural thrown in for good measure. Even the suburban areas have greater elevation changes than I ever seem to see in Mikael's photos of Copenhagen. I've not looked at a topographical map of that city, so I don't know how varied the terrain really is. He may have streets like those in Seattle that figured prominently in some youtube videos recently seen--cars and trucks sliding down a hill on icy pavement and stacking into one another with noises that only a body-shop owner could love.


I don't have anything quite so daunting in my commute--the steepest climbs in my normal route are on Houston Lane and Rollington Road between Pewee Valley and Westport Road by Forest Springs North subdivision, and traffic through there is usually pretty light. I expect that if the road was impassable, I could use grass berms and ditches on either side, if I get a snow-day bike as I'm considering doing.

One thing that has occurred to me is that the snow-day bike I'm pondering could eventually replace my old Raleigh three-speed. I don't know whether this would happen, only that it's a possibility. I've surprised myself by how fond I am of that old bike, after all the years I spoke disparagingly about "wedgie bikes." Of course, some tempering of my attitudes came as part of working in the bike business, so I'm not as vocal about recumbent bikes being superior as I once was. I've had to recognize that the "different horses for different courses" analogy fits well when it comes to bicycles. I also have found that the correct number of bicycles in the garage is n+1, where n is the current number of bicycles in inventory and n+2 is the most the garage can hold. At the moment, however, I need to get some boxes out of my garage so that I can get to the n bikes we currently have.

Snow vehicle choices

As I mentioned the other day, Jenn and I are considering replacing my aging pickup truck, or adding a gas-powered something, or otherwise augmenting my ability to get to work when it snows. As also mentioned, I'm considering just buying a bike that I can outfit with studded snow tires for days when there is ice on the roadways.

One bike I'm contemplating is a Specialized Crosstrail Disc. I like that it has the 700c wheels and will accept wider tires like the 40mm Schwalbe Marathon Winter. I can get off the side of the road if traffic gets really stupid. It doesn't have the fanciest brakes or fork, but I don't figure it makes sense to buy a more expensive rig for the little bit of mileage I'm likely to put on a winter bike. The rear drive is seven-speed, rather than the higher-end nine- or ten-speed drivetrains I maintain for customers, but I also ride a '74 three-speed, for cryin' out loud!

A very similar bike that is also in the running is the Specialized Hardrock 29 Disc. Aside from some minor differences in geometry, these seem similar enough that the choice comes down to color. Since the Crosstrail's wheelbase is longer, it would probably serve me better on the road (the primary use for this bike being transportation).

In either case, I can use the Ergon goodies I'm scheduled to receive soon as part of my being on the Ergon Commuter Team on either bike. 

Part of my interest in Specialized bikes at this point is that I work for a Specialized dealer, and can get better pricing on their products as a result. As it happens, if one is going to get a wedgie bike, as I sometimes refer to non-recumbent bicycles, Specialized makes a wide variety of very good ones, suitable for many applications.

First post for me this year

The Holly-daze is more or less over, now, and it's back to work! And, of course, I rode to work this morning.

Discussions over the weekend included whether to buy a different gas-powered vehicle, given the realities of our commuting and other wants/needs. My truck now has something like 225,000 miles on it, and will not last forever. The other car has been out of service since April. We've done reasonably well on one car and a bunch of bikes, but we haven't tried it in winter. Yet. At least, not a full winter.

One alternative idea was that I could get a bike better suited for winter roads, so that I could ride to the store from the end of TARC service lines if things are icy (using yards beside the roads if need be...). I have a set of grips and pedals coming from Ergon in the next few weeks, and this would be a great way to put them to use--enabling me to wear footwear that would be warmer than my usual cycling shoes or sandals, even WITH the Planet Bike shoe covers I recently purchased (more on those in a bit). I could get a really nice mountain bike with larger wheels and disc brakes, and that has room for some manner of fenders and ways to attach cargo racks (or use that Ergon backpack I'm about to receive), for well under a thousand dollars. And that's buying high-end new stuff. If I look around for something used, I could do for less money still. A car would cost several thousand dollars the first year of ownership. I'm kind of attached to the idea of not adding a monthly car payment to the outgoing budget lines!

Oh, those Planet Bike Blitzen shoe covers: NICE! They are warmer than the ones they replaced, AND more comfortable. I'm glad I got them. They are easier to put on over my big shoes than the old ones, too. I haven't tried them with my sandals yet, but will soon (a favorite way to deal with cold weather being to wear two pairs of warm socks with Gore-Tex socks in my sandals, to avoid constricting blood flow in my feet, then put shoe covers over all that for additional warmth). The sandal outsole is wider than that on my mountain bike shoes (Lake MX250 Wides, circa 2002).

Last post of the year in this blog

A couple of final blog thoughts for the year, in no particular order:

I am now listed on Ergon's blog as being part of the 2011 Ergon Commuter Team! I'm looking forward to seeing the new gear I'm getting, and testing it so that I can tell folks about it.

My final total for bicycle miles logged for 2010 is 5744. I could go out and ride another six miles to round it up, or I could change correct a few log entries from before we moved, or I could leave it as is.

It is now 12:3-something somewhere in the world. It will soon be midnight somewhere else in the world.

See you next year!

End of year thoughts

A few random thoughts:

I've logged a bit over 5700 miles for the year. If I went back and corrected my log entries from the time I was at the rental house, I'd probably get over 5900, if not 6000. However, I decided a couple months ago that it wasn't worth the effort. I'll just shoot for the 6K for 2011 by riding a bit more. Jenn and I will probably do some more club riding on the tandem this year, as well.

My 5700 miles is short of the mileages that some folks I know are putting down. Some of my friends and others I know are showing 8000, 8500 and 9000 miles for the year. Wow. Maybe when I grow up and don't have to work for a living (ha!) I can log miles like that. On the other hand, riding that much would take time away from other stuff I really like to do.

Gas prices are a hot topic in the news these days. The current price per gallon for regular as I type this is somewhere in the $3.15 range in Jefferson County. There have been predictions that we'll see $5/gallon prices in another year or so. I hate to see it, since so many people feel compelled to drive EVERYWHERE they go and it will have an effect on their budgets (and on the overall economy). However, high gas prices get a few more folks thinking about human-powered transportation, and once folks find ways to meet their transportation needs with bicycles (or by walking, or using public transit...), some will keep with it. Hopefully, some of those folks will come to classes presented by the Louisville Bicycle Club or by Bicycling for Louisville, so that they will know how to ride according to the rules of the road (and know when the rules may not apply to a situation).

Of course, some folks ask why I ride, implying that gas prices are a primary reason. Gas prices--or, more accurately, reduction in budgetary outflow buying gasoline--is one factor, of course. I've enjoyed riding to work for many years, though, even when gas was relatively much cheaper, so it is not just about saving money on gas. Saving money on car insurance is a smaller factor, but it's there. Same for making my car last longer by not using it as much (and thus not having to replace brake pads or other wear items as often).

I also save money on things like gym memberships by not needing a gym for aerobic exercise. Cycling doesn't give me much in the way of weight training exercise, but I lift stuff around quite a bit at work, and in the course of doing work around the house. I will probably add some weight work this year to maintain some muscle tone and mass this year.

Another thing I'm thinking about incorporating into my goals for the coming year is rock climbing. I used to climb a fair bit at Rocksport, but got out of the habit after a back injury some years ago. I enjoy the challenge rock climbing presents--I often refer to it as three-dimensional and not only in the x- y- and z-axes sense. It is a mental challenge--figuring out how to use the holds that are there. It's a physical challenge, of course. It's also an emotional challenge--"Do I trust myself and my gear?" Climbing in a gym is a great way to exercise, so that may be a big part of my workout routine in the coming year. It's not difficult for me to get to Rocksport from work by bike, so we'll see how that goes.

Gym climbing prepares a person for climbing on real rock--at least physically. It doesn't teach as much about how real rock challenges the climber mentally, though. On real rock, the holds are not bolted to a plywood wall, so they are not as obvious. Sometimes, real rock holds are inside cracks in the rock--something not many gyms replicate a lot. The last time I climbed on real rock (many refer to gym climbing as "climbing on plastic"), I was with a now-former girlfriend who had a VERY hard time with the transition from plastic to sandstone. I don't know how I could have done a better job of preparing her for the change, or that it mattered in the long run. I want to spend more time on real rock this year, if I can manage it. It would be good to have more time on the "sharp end of the rope," as the expression goes, as it would build my confidence a bit.

Jenn, her daughters and I are going to Rocksport this afternoon to play on the wall a while. We'll see how the experience goes, and see if it will be a part of our schedule going forward.

New shoe covers

On yesterday's ride to work, I noticed that my left shoe cover was coming apart. Actually, I had noticed that the fabric under the toe was failing some days ago, but there were some strands holding it together until yesterday morning. They gave up in the cold, such as it was.

Figuring that there is more sub-freezing weather to be dealt with between now and spring, I ordered a replacement pair of shoe covers yesterday. I had thought about getting some from Pearl Izumi, since my newest tights came from them and are quite good. No luck--their XL won't fit on my shoes, and the two cold-weather models that will be available in XXL won't be available for another month or more (what's the point of stocking them in February, gang?). Few of our suppliers have Craft shoe covers in stock at the moment, surprisingly. However, both QBP and J&B Importers stock Planet Bike's shoe covers, and J&B ships next day via UPS Ground sort!

I wound up buying a pair of Planet Bike Blitzen shoe covers instead of their Comet model, as they seem to have better wind resistance and insulation. I ordered the XXL size, which they indicate fits US shoe sizes from 11 1/2 up (but not far up...I don't think these would fit size 14 shoes, for example, but they might).

Ian Ritchie, aka The Soup Guy was by the store yesterday, and I mentioned to him that I had ordered these. He'll be interested in my eventual review of their suitability (or is that soupability?) for temps in the <20F range.

They arrived a while ago, and I'm pleased to say that they fit over my shoes with ease! I'm looking forward to seeing how they do in colder riding weather (I didn't really need them today, since the low this morning was over 30F).

Weather problems for folks "up east"

Boy, am I glad I haven't been caught up in the snow problems being "enjoyed" by folks east and north of us! Flights canceled or delayed by days, roads blocked, hotels full to over-flowing, and such cannot be any fun for the folks affected.

Of course, there are folks who really don't understand weather, climate or what causes weather to change or dump feet of snow on us. Pat Robertson is one such person. The link goes to a Huffington Post article that details Robertson's contention that the blizzard is his god's way of delaying "gay" activities (by punishing millions of people?).

I'm trying to find some way to rationalize his viewpoint. He wants people to believe that he believes it, and I presume he wants gay people to eschew their true selves and "be straight."

A couple months ago, I enjoyed reading Darrel W. Ray's The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture. The book begins with a chapter on how viruses work, to show why the analogy of describing religions in viral terms works so well. In later chapters, Dr. Ray discusses how religions (not specifically christianity, but also Islam and others) and the people who lead them (pastors, priests and other vectors, in consistency with the metaphor) use sexuality, guilt and fear to control religious people (hosts, to carry the metaphor).

Pat Robertson is one serious viral vector. Those who wish to not take him seriously fail to see the damage he can do to society with his heartfelt idiocy.

Holly-Dazed, and a new team membership for me

It's the week between christmas and New Year's Day. It's sunny today, but kind of cold (upper teens when I left the house this morning). One of my neoprene shoe covers failed on the way to work today, so that foot was a bit colder than the other when I arrived at the store. I've had Jenn fix them before, but there doesn't appear to be enough fabric left for another repair. Given that these were $45 (retail) covers some eight years ago, and that I paid wholesale for them, I figure they have served their useful life span. I've ordered a replacement pair, and should have them tomorrow. My rides home tonight and to work tomorrow will be marked with cold toes, but I'll survive.

I know folks who use flat pedals and warm shoes for riding this time of year. I'm fond of using shoes with SPD cleats for the 12.8-mile ride each way, and haven't tried using boots other than my mountain bike shoes or sandals with good socks as it typical for me. Soon, however, I will have some almost-flat pedals to test.

Several weeks ago, I learned of a contest for blog writers who cycle-commute sponsored by the folks at Ergon-USA. I made mention of it in a post to the local utility-bike list server, in case any other locals wanted to enter. I also entered, just to see what happened. The other day, I got email informing me that I've been chosen to be on the Ergon Commuter Team for 2011!

For being on this team, I get to talk about the goodies I get from Ergon. I get to put their logo here and on my Facebook profile. I get to (shamelessly) see how many times I can link to their web site in the text of a blog post.

And, of course, to type about their products, I get to have some samples of their products to enjoy! I get a pair of grips (I've chosen their BioKork), a pair of their gloves, and one of their cool backpacks to use for hauling stuff. I even get a pair of their new pedals to try out on my Raleigh! I'm looking forward to seeing how this stuff works for me, and sharing my opinions with all three or four of the folks who read my rabbiting-on-about-stuff here.

The backpack thing will be a different deal for me. I'm not usually one to use backpacks, mostly because I've been a recumbent guy for so long (nineteen years this coming March!). Since I wear a reflective jacket most of the time I'm riding in cold weather, I'm concerned that a backpack would block the view of it from overtaking road users' perspective. A friend asked me about backpack-vs.-on the bike bags, and my opinion is that the bike is hauling the weight regardless, so why should the weight also be on me?

That said, I see the value in having a backpack for many folks, some of whom lack the ability to park their bikes inside while at work (I work in a bike shop--my riding to work is part of my public image). A backpack makes it easy to ride up to an anchor, lock one's bike to said anchor, and walk away without having to remove panniers from the bike's racks. I have a couple of small packs that I've not used for utility cycling, so having a cycling-focused one should be interesting.

I'll be typing more about these goodies once I have them "in hand" and in use. Keep your eyes peeled--all however many there are of you!