It's not always the bike slowing you down

I wanted to deposit my paycheck this morning on the way to work, so I stopped by the bank branch nearest my commute route--at Hurstbourne and KY22, across from The Summit shopping megaplex.



When I was done there, I was faced with the choice of riding back south to Westport Road or taking the more direct route to work, KY22. I was a bit later than I really wanted to be by then, so I opted for the more direct route. Yeah, KY22 is a bit nervy for cyclists, but I've got that chip on my shoulder thing going.



Shortly after crossing under the Jefferson Freeway (some call it the Snyder...), I saw a farm tractor coming the other way, equipped with round-bale loading gear front and rear, followed by a pickup truck pulling a wagon for hauling round bales. They were followed by a LONG line of cars--probably more than fifty. I figured that nobody would pass me for a bit, since I was occupying the only eastbound lane and am not in the habit of letting folks pass me in a narrow lane. I could be smarmy and say, "Sorry 'bout your luck," of course...

Anyway, over the next half mile or so, I was passed by a few cars. After a while, though, it started seeming that traffic in my direction was very sparse. After I passed the entrance to Briar Hill subdivision, I noticed what appeared to be that same farm tractor about a half mile back. I was moving fast enough that I could reach Central Avenue in plenty of time to pull off and watch the parade of motorists behind that tractor--all fifty or so of them!

Once there was a sufficient break in traffic, I continued on my way. It was a bit over a mile to Crestwood from where I pulled off, and in the first half mile, several more cars passed me, only to have to slow again when they encountered the line of traffic crawling along behind the tractor (of course, folks that were not the first ten in line had no idea what the "problem" was, or why it didn't go away once they got past that pesky bike rider...). My last half mile approaching Crestwood was spent riding as part of the line waiting to get through the traffic light at KY22 and KY329 (at the Dairy Queen).

I was chuckling a good part of the time, knowing that anyone behind me (and a fair number of those who passed me in that last mile or so) could NOT blame me for slowing them down, even though they did not realize that the delay was caused by something gas-powered.

And, by the way, my return home will tip me over the 600 mile mark for April--AND the 1400 mile mark for the year to date!

hehehehehe

Home again!

Wow. I drove more on Sunday than I had in almost all of April to date. I drove more in the seventy-two hours from Sunday morning to Tuesday evening than I have in the entire month of March and April prior to Sunday.

I took my sister to Charlotte, North Carolina for some testing related to a medical condition. She is embroiled in a battle with an insurance company over their denial of a claim, and her attorney felt that corroborative testing would help their case.

Without going into details, the trip was worth doing.

I got a chance to remind myself that I can drive longer distances well enough that I'm okay with doing my job on RAAM in another month or so. I also got to test some ideas on a "go bag" to keep in the cab with me.

I was concerned that my trip would prevent me reaching my goal, stated a few days ago, of logging six hundred miles on bicycles in April. As of my departure Sunday morning, I showed about 518 miles.

However, I also needed to visit my Chiropractor after driving something like 1150 miles in three days. My Chiropractor (actually both of them--a husband and wife team) has an office in LaGrange, a mere seven miles from the store where I work. It took me about thirty minutes to ride there, and another thirty or so to get back to work. It added fourteen miles to today's riding, which puts me at 556 miles or so for the month. The 48 miles I'll do riding to work and back tomorrow and Fried-day will just barely get me over that goal line.

On the ride home from work (yes, I rode the Raleigh, mostly to get over my foul mood caused by the rain), I was climbing out of the small valley behind Pewee Valley on Rollington Road, when I saw a bird in the roadway. It looked big--bigger than a crow--but vultures usually don't just hang out walking in the roadway.

As I neared it, I realized that it was, indeed, a turkey vulture. I was concerned about passing it, to some extent, in that I didn't want to startle it into a mistake like flying into me. Those things weigh up to five pounds, and a five-pound bird striking one beak-first would be painful. I rang my bell to get it to face me, and sure enough, it took flight exactly away from me, but not before letting me get within fifteen feet or so of it.

It took roost in a tree and watched me as I cycled past. I was moving too fast to be considered dinner, I suppose.

Fine with me.

Aw, phooey

As I type this, it's raining. I really dislike riding in the rain. I'm debating driving to work, knowing that doing so will spoil a streak of riding that has lasted since late March.

If my ride to work was more like five miles, I'd probably go ahead and ride. That it's an hour of getting soggier by the minute takes much of the fun out of cycling to work.

Part of the problem is that my rain gear, such as it is, gets hot fast. I'd be as wet from sweating as from rain--although a bit less muddy.

And when I looked for my rain cape yesterday, I couldn't find it.

The cape I have is fair for light rain and short rides, but is far from waterproof (unlike the claims made on the web site where I bought the thing).

I may see if I can find it, though, and ride the Raleigh.

edit added: After typing the above, I realized that I was in a foul moment, and could get out of that mood by riding to work, despite my usual aversion to riding in the rain.

I also figured out where the cape was hiding.

Yeah, it was a wet ride, and I couldn't figure out why it felt like I was riding into a headwind (aside from the usual additional drag attributable to the cape). Motorists weren't any nicer or uglier than usual, although I didn't get quite as many out-the-window comments as on some rides (I figure the twits who would yell out their windows had them closed due to the rain).

Oddly, the bottom bracket on the Raleigh felt loose once I got about a third of the way to work. I didn't feel anything in my ABC Quick Check, although I admit to having rushed through that a bit. When I got to the store, well before opening time, I tossed the bike in a repair stand long enough to tighten the bearings a bit, and it feels much better now. I also hammered in that pesky right wedge pin again--I don't know why this bike is giving me more wedge pin trouble than any other such crank I've fixed in the last thirty years, unless it's a matter of no longer being able to get decent pins.

Anyway, I may leave work early this afternoon if I can. A friend has an art show opening tonight, and it would be good to see the paintings.

And I'm in a better mood, having continued my list of days not driving to work.


Just to keep from driving (myself nuts).

May is Bike to Work Month

I was looking at my ride log on mycyclinglog.com the other day, and noted that I am on track to exceed six hundred miles for April. This will barely beat my mileage total for March.

I've not done many club rides these last two months. I drove out to Westport to do a couple of Larry's excellent WINGS (Westport Incremental New Goal Series) rides--once on my own, and once with Jenn. I've done a couple of the Saturday afternoon LBC rides from Bluegrass Bicycle after my Saturday shifts there as well. I've even managed to do a couple of the Sunday afternoon rides from either Heine Brothers' or Baptist East/Milestone Fitness. However, I've not done a lot of long-mileage days.

In other words, most of my riding has been getting back and forth to work. The last time I drove to work was in March.

Accordingly, I'm not really in the target audience for things like Bike to Work Month/Week/Day, despite being a staunch proponent of biking to work.

Instead, I'm one of those folks who encourages others to try it. Once a week. Once or twice a month. A few times a year.

I've heard the usual excuses--"I can't arrive at work all sweaty," "I can't afford the extra time," "I have to haul stuff," "Work is too far from home" and more. They are just that--excuses. If one really wants to ride to work, one can do so. Where there is a will, there is a way, as the old saying goes.

I don't mean for that last paragraph to sound so condescending. I also fully recognize that for some, the idea of riding a bicycle two miles seems an almost Herculean task. "Five miles? Ten? Impossible for me!" they say. I'm fond of recounting a friend's confession that "seven miles is a goal" when it comes to riding a bike. As an advanced cyclist, I find it useful to think of such folks and remind myself that I, too, once considered seven miles a long bike ride.

At any rate, Bike to Work Month is coming. Soon. There are all manner of local challenges and celebrations in the works, aiming to get folks to consider riding instead of driving. There are education programs, as well--both the Louisville Bicycle Club program, which I manage as the VP Education, and those presented by Bicycling for Louisville.

I fully realize that most of those who read my online blathering are already bike-friendly. Many of you ride to work or to do errands at least once in a while, if not often. To a large degree, Bike to Work Day/Week/Month observations, while they celebrate your efforts, are also to encourage our friends who are not so enthusiastic about the idea. We want to help them get that old bike out of the garage/shed/basement, air up the tires, lubricate the chain and cables, do that ABC Quick Check, strap on that helmet and go for a bike ride. There will be a few preparatory rides leading up to Bike to Work Week and Bike to Work Day--one is on Saturday, so that folks aren't pressed for time and can figure out routes without the stress of having to look great at the end of the ride (and share tips for regaining that great office-ready look once at the office), there is another the Friday before Bike to Work Day (May 14th), and of course on Bike to Work Day itself (May 21st). On Bike to Work Day, there will be an assortment of incentives--I think Heine Brothers' Coffee is going to offer a free cup of coffee to anyone stopping by on their bikes during their trip to work, for example. The Bike to Work Day team are working at getting more incentives implemented as I type this.

As I learn more, I'll post more here. Encourage your friends to try biking to work.

Hooray!!

I just heard from our realtor: We have a signed contract on a house! There were a few nail-biting moments, as is often the case with house purchases, and there is still much to do before we move in.

Next step for me is to decide on a home inspector and termite inspector. We get to do the loan application in the next few days as well. Hopefully we can lock in a decent interest rate that will remain in effect until closing. The seller is delaying the closing a bit due to some family plans, but we'll get possession of the house in early June.

I get to move again. Right after coming back from our RAAM trip. I get to go from driving an RV for a week to driving a moving van for a couple days. It will be a LOT of work, and a good part of it is going to have to be done in May (packing stuff we don't use all the time, mainly).

Time to buy the boxes...

Drat

For several months, I've been hearing periodic ticking from the rear wheel of the Vanguard. I've put threadlocking compound in the rim joint, I've inspected the spokes numerous times to see if any were broken, I've checked the cassette and freehub mechanisms, and have never found the problem. The noise went away for a time, but recently has not only returned, but gotten worse.

I had some down time at the store today, so I got the bike in the stand and removed the rear wheel for more detailed inspection. The spokes are all nice and tight, none are broken, and the cassette is fine. In the course of cleaning it, however, I noted that there was an odd line of schmutz around the shell, parallel to the flanges. I cleaned it off, but there was still a line. Sure enough, I have a crack in the hub shell. It's all the way around the shell. My hub is being held together by the collective forces of all that spoke tension and the axle holding the flanged ends to each other.

There doesn't seem to be any danger of catastrophic failure--it's been like this for a year or more. Still, it's an opportunity for me to build a new wheel for the bike.

This is the second wheel built on that hub. I built it early in 2001, shortly before I bought my V-Rex. It remains the only wheel set I've built using all alloy spoke nipples--and purple ones, at that. The hub dates to some time in 1999, when I installed it to replace the Sovos hub original to the bike (the rim on the original wheel was about dead, due to an assortment of pothole mishaps).

More than ten years on a hub and nine years on a rim, with something like ten or twelve thousand accumulated miles, is good enough, I suppose. They are wear items, after all. I'm no small guy at 220#, and the Vanguard has a heavy rear weight bias. Since I built this wheel, and have not been gentle to this wheel, I'm okay with needing to replace it. I built it to ride it, not to hang it on a wall and look at it.


On other fronts, I've been surprised a few times of late by folks who tell me I look thinner. I've not been doing any active work on weight loss--indeed, I've lost maybe fifteen pounds (or ten, depending on what the scale says tomorrow morning) since this time last year.

I suppose I may be altering my body composition a little bit by riding instead of driving. Logging my miles has proven to be even more effective than this blog at helping me make sure I ride to work more often than driving (although the fact that the car is in Georgetown with my younger stepdaughter is also a factor over the last couple weeks).

That I am apparently building muscle mass while losing body fat is interesting. I'm not losing any inches off my waist, I don't think, but my kilts are fitting a bit more loosely around my hips...

No stress today...

We got a counter-offer from the home seller. Wow. She came down a whole six hundred dollars from the listing price.

We've countered the counter-offer, and expect to hear a response tonight.

No stress at all. Nope, no sir.


On my ride to work today, I got to enjoy tracking an eastbound train as it went eastbound from St Matthews by listening to its horn. As it neared various crossings the horn would sound, and I could hear it clearly from Westport Road. It seemed that I was almost keeping up with it--the timing of the horn and the angle relative to where I was told me which crossing the train was nearing.

angst-laden day

"When in trouble, when in doubt,
Run in circles, scream and shout!"

I'm reminded of this expression when I think about my level of angst today, where it originates, what I'm going to do about it...

We made an offer on a house last night. To finalize the sale, we have to get financing, pay for an assortment of inspections and insurance plans--the usual first-time home buyers' hurdles. Lots of folks do this sort of thing every year. Some of those folks have more financial resources than we have, some less. Some have good reason to worry, some ignore those reasons and buy more than they can afford.

We looked at our budget pretty closely prior to this decision. There isn't as much room for error as I'd like, but this house is in excellent condition, it's fairly new (ten years or so since construction), and our incomes should improve over the coming year or two. We'll figure something out.

In any case, I have a raft of errands to run soon--starting with a trip to the bank once it opens, and continuing with an assortment of not-really-related-to-home-buying tasks. Life goes on regardless of what happens with the offer we've submitted.

We've looked at eight or ten houses, after culling from dozens more based on their MLS profiles and a few drive-by looks. There have been some that we really liked, but couldn't afford, some that we sort-of liked, but which were almost inaccessible, some that we could have lived in, but were never passionate about, and some on which we differed sharply in how we responded to them. Some had decent locations, but were crappy houses. Few have walkability ratings on par with the house we have been renting for the last two years.

I hope we get this house. It's a charmer. It's in a decent area, our commutes are shorter by a few miles, and the trips to the grocery won't take much longer. I can envision riding to Jenn's office with her on my way to the store in the mornings, without being far out of my own travel path.

It's going to be an adventure.

More Saturday thoughts on Sunday morning

There wasn't enough house-hunting to be done Saturday afternoon, so I rode the club ride from Bluegrass Bicycle before heading home. I wound up with just under fifty miles for the day--and had I gotten organized, would have ridden another few on the Raleigh to do some shopping just to trip the next color in the MyCyclingLog report.

I rode yet a different bike on the club ride. I'd ridden Jenn's Giro a couple of times, including once on the club ride last season, because it was a) there, with my Strada at home, b) I either didn't have one of my own bikes there or c) didn't want to ride the Vanguard, wanting to ride something faster. On that fairly hilly/rolling twenty-four or so mile course, I managed to average a bit over 17mph. I have not yet gotten around to attaching the cadence sensor on this bike, so I couldn't monitor that, but I could still feel it pretty well.

On the way home--on the Vanguard--I had another ugly-attitude motorist encounter. It would be pretty funny except that such twits (or their female counterparts) are herding large, dangerous hunks of metal in such close proximity to me as I travel from place to place. I also wonder whether such people recognize the example they are setting for their children who happen to be in the car with them when they act such jerks, or whether they see any sense of irony in their being such jerks when they accuse me of being selfish by cycling instead of driving.

In any case, I was feeling pretty good as I rode home. I was pedaling well, feeling reasonably strong if not fast. In one somewhat odd moment, a motorist pulled up beside me a bit west of Westport Middle School and opened his passenger-side power window to ask if he could take a picture with his cell phone. Aghast at the attempt to multi-task in traffic, and not interested in having my picture taken, AND conscious (far more conscious than the driver, apparently) that there was other traffic wanting to pass me, I waved him off. Thankfully, he took the hint and drove off. I don't know whether he realized the danger in which he could have been putting all of us, and doubt that he did.

A bit later in my ride, as I was nearing the construction (constriction?) zone on Westport Road, my legs started telling me that they could cramp if they wanted. I kept the cramps at bay until I was well off Westport Road and into the neighborhood I often use to get out of the constriction zone--indeed, I was in the parking lot behind the Hubbards Lane Kroger store and the attached shopping center before having to stop and shake out my leg muscles a bit. I didn't have the severe cramps I've had on other rides, but it was worth stopping for a moment and letting the muscles settle a bit before riding the last mile or so to get home.

Saturday thoughts

I started this blog in part to keep myself accountable for riding to work instead of driving most of the time. At some level, I feel I have to justify driving, simply because I prefer riding and like being able to look back on all the days I left the car at home.

A month or two ago, a friend sent out a link to mycyclinglog.com, with a request that folks creating profiles there join his Louisville commuter group. After tinkering with it on a day off work, I figured I'd continue playing along. It gives me a better record of what cycling I'm doing than this blog does.

I can (and have done so) look back on my entries here and get a pretty good idea of where I rode and how far. However, if I lack time to post each day, I have to think about it enough to give myself clues and so on. MyCyclingLog works a bit better for me in this way.

Being part of the group also gives me a gauge against which I can compare my riding to that of others in the group. I must admit that it's fun being in the top five members...

I also find that MyCyclingLog has some easy-to-use reports so I can compare my riding this month to prior months. For example, by the time I log my round trip to work and home today, I will have logged more miles for April than the entire month of February, and that even if I re-route my trip home to meet Jenn during our house-hunting. Looking at my March report, I doubt I'll exceed those commuting miles in April, although I will likely find more opportunities for club miles that will add to my April total faster than commuting does.

Of course all this commuting comes with its downside. Twice in the last two days, my trips to work have been punctuated with "ugly motorist" encounters. Friday morning, a guy in a pickup truck going the other way blew his horn a long time upon seeing me, and flipped me off as he went by. I don't know why--I certainly was not a factor in his drive at that point. I can only figure he likes being a jerk.

This morning, as I crept up the rise on Houston Lane approaching Mt Mercy Drive in Pewee Valley, a different pickup truck came up behind me. That section of Houston Lane is very narrow--probably less than twelve feet wide. There is no way in the world I am going to let a motorist try to pass me there. Of course, the guy had to run his window down and cuss at me for blocking his way, complaining that he couldn't get around me.

I didn't take the time to remind him that there is exactly no legal support for his sense that slower traffic must yield to him simply because he can climb that hill faster. Or simply because he wants to be jerk. I largely ignored him, or appeared to from his perspective. If his threats had escalated, I would have reported him for terroristic threatening at some point, but at this point it's not worth the trouble--it's enough to think in terms of "he likes being a jerk," and go on enjoying the rest of my ride.

The fantasy of having a sympathetic police officer who would be a hard-nose with such twits witness such events is still fun, though.


On the house hunt: There was a house in Middletown that we liked, but there was a house of Westport Road that appealed more for a variety of reasons. Sadly, we got beat to that house, and there was enough other interest in the house that a bidding war could have begun. While still thinking about the house in Middletown, we've opened the search a bit more.

I was reluctant to consider houses off Murphy Lane, for example, as I do NOT like Murphy Lane as a bike route. I looked at a map of the area, though, and have found some work-arounds which open that area a bit. Sadly, many of the houses in that area are reminiscent of "Vinyl View Vista Village" stuff, and I really dislike vinyl siding for a variety of reasons (some of which are even logically supportable). I'm having to resign myself to the idea that unless I can come up with an extra hundred thousand bucks for a down payment, I'll have to deal with at least some measure of vinyl exterior cladding or siding. I'm not terribly happy about it, but there it is.

On a windy day...

...you either feel REALLY slow, or that you are exceptionally fast.

I kept thinking of this adage as I rode to work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. I felt stronger than usual, and noted that I was using higher gears than I usually do when riding to work.

On the way home, I felt like I was riding into more wind than usual--I was--but I still did well on my speeds and times.

On Tuesday, Jenn showed up at the store a bit before closing time, so that we could do some drive-by house inspections. She's pushing to buy a house while we can get the big tax credit, and I have agreed with the prospect--as long as we can get a house we can afford to buy AND maintain.

In my work with New Directions, I saw a lot of folks who bought houses based on their ability to get credit, but who didn't think in terms of having enough room in their credit rating or budgets to allow for repairs and maintenance of those houses. Decades later, the houses are in disrepair and they don't have the money to get things done. I don't want to put myself in that position.

On the other hand, houses that I think are in a reasonable price range tend to be well outside my commute range from work. The effective cost of living in such a house would be unreasonable in terms of additional commute time/costs or other values. It's tough to find a house that meets both sets of needs, especially since we didn't get started on this process until late in the tax credit timeline.

Sunday afternoon club ride

My bike ride for the day wasn't my usual commute, but the Sunday afternoon LBC ride out of the Heine Brothers' on Chenoweth Lane (actually the office building across the street). Jenn wasn't going to ride today, so I took the Bacchetta, figuring on pushing myself harder than I do in my commuting.

I rode out with some fast guys, and was able to stay with them through Cherokee Park--probably because they didn't drop the hammer until they got well down Lexington Road. The stretch between Grinstead Drive and Baxter Avenue usually is the site of a fast pace line. I was feeling pretty good until the first curve, when the front guys wound up the pace a few notches more than I had on tap.

I managed to catch them, mostly a function of a traffic light that caught them just before they hit Jefferson Street. I rode hard for a bit, but was dropped by the time we got to downtown.

As a result, I wound up riding River Road largely by myself. That's okay--I needed to focus on a workout, and did. I kept my cadence up around 95 RPM for the most part, and my speed above 20 MPH for the most part, until turning onto Glenview Avenue for the ascent part of the ride.

My climb up Glenview was slower than I like, and a little more painful than I like, but I soldiered up the hill anyway. I was able to stay in the middle ring, though, which hasn't always been the case on that climb. Once on Lime Kiln, I usually accelerate through a couple more gears than I was able this time, but I still was able to crest over the I-71 bridge at eighteen or nineteen miles an hour.

I finished the ride with an average speed of 18.2 miles an hour, which is a bit off my peak-condition pace. I attribute the shortcoming to the fact that I haven't been doing hill workouts in some years, and my resulting sluggardly climbing. It really is my biggest weakness on the bike. My second largest weakness is a lack of courage on the descents that I blame on a fall I had several years ago. I am not sure how to work on fixing that one, but figure that doing a series of hill repeats on familiar roads would probably help.

BIG durned birds!

In a recent post, I yammered on a bit about seeing Cooper's Hawks. I enjoy seeing the larger raptors--they have an important role in our ecosystem, and they are simply gorgeous birds in most cases (allowing that at least other Turkey Vultures think a Turkey Vulture is attractive in some way...).

Imagine my delight, then, that there is a nesting pair of Bald Eagles in Jefferson County, Kentucky! I have no idea how long the link will work, as the Courier doesn't seem to do permanent archives online (at least without some fee involved), but the bit in the paper shows how excited many are at this news.

Things that make one think, "hmmm..."

In the course of my errand-running today I saw something that was a bit of a head-scratcher. Florescent-colored shirts are gaining in popularity, it seems, as many folks who work on or near roadways wear them, including the recycling workers, pavement crews, delivery drivers (I'm surprised that UPS hasn't figured out a way to incorporate more reflective piping in their uniforms), and so on.

Apparently, the guy I saw riding a scooter on Taylorsville Road today was such a worker on his way to his job. The usual sense of such wear is that it also increases safety awareness in one wearing it, but this guy wasn't too worried about safety--he was not wearing a helmet, or even sunglasses, as he rode his scooter down the road.

unposted comments from the last week

I may have mentioned that we have hawks living in our neighborhood. I am not sure whether they are Cooper's Hawks or Sharp-shinned hawks, but I think they are Cooper's Hawks. I hear them calling regularly. Friday morning, while toying around in the garage with a new-to-us toy (more on that in a moment), I heard one very close by. I backed out of the garage and looked up, and there were two in the tree at the other end of the garage. Sadly, I didn't have a camera in hand--one had some freshly-caught food in its talon, and flew off to savor it after watching me for a moment to see whether I was a threat.

Saturday morning, on the way to work, Jenn spotted one on a fence right by our intended route in time for me to stop the bike and enjoy watching it for a moment before it flew away. Again, sadly, no camera in hand--these are pretty raptors.

The new-to-us toy is a Burley Lite trailer that Jenn found during one of her thrift-store jaunts. She called me on Thursday to verify whether I'd want her to buy it. The price was excellent, so I agreed. Digging around on the Burley site, I found the owner's manual for the thing, suggesting that it is at latest a 1998 model. The copyright date on the manual is 1992, suggesting the model was built for at least a few years in the 1990s.

It differs from my existing trailer in several ways: the frame is similar in construction, as it's aluminum tubing. This one has hoops that guard the wheels, though. The wheels are larger (406 ETRTO), and built more like regular bicycle wheels (steel spokes, alloy rims), with quick-release hubs, compared to the 16" plastic wheels on my Safety-1st brand trailer. The hitch attaches to the chain stay and seat stay, unlike the existing trailer that only "grabs" the chain stay.

We've not decided how we are going to use the trailer. We are considering keeping it as a second cargo buggy, and have thought about adding a wood floor supported by the frame to protect the nylon pack-cloth floor already there. The wood floor would have the additional benefit of being able to support Cisco should we take him for a ride.



Jenn is certain that Cisco would enjoy going for a bike ride with us. I figure he'd enjoy it more if he got to sit/lay down on a more solid floor than the existing one, and if I make a plywood floor for the trailer, I'll add a layer of closed-cell foam so that his claws don't slide around so much.

Of course, another option is to sell one or the other trailer, and keep the one we like best. Both trailers are rated at a hundred pounds carrying capacity, but the larger wheels on the Burley should make that one easier to pull. I can pull the Safety 1st one with my Vanguard, as it only connects to the chain stay--the Burley attaches to both the chain stay and the seat stay, and the Vanguard already has its kickstand mounted there. I know I can pull the Burley with my Raleigh, and that Jenn can pull the Safety 1st with her Peugeot. We haven't tried the Burley hitch on her bike yet--I'm sure that "connectivity" will be a factor in our decision.

I'll have to get some pictures of this thing and post them soon.

dam(p) Sun(less)day

Blah. It's been raining off and on much of the day, and I am known for my dislike of riding in the rain. The title is a bit misleading, as there were moments of sunshine during the day, but still...

I did go out earlier on a two-mile grocery run round trip.

My older stepdaughter's birthday is coming up in a couple days, and she came over to celebrate with Jenn a while ago. She's looking for digs closer to work and school, and has mentioned to me that she wants to ride her bike more for transportation. I've offered her help in the past with bike-related stuff, and she's ready to start taking me up on my offer.

Jenn and I put in some time on the tandem yesterday. We rode to the bike shop, where she worked on the web site a bit (she does some of the web site maintenance for us). We did the LBC ride out of there in the afternoon before riding home. Total mileage for the day was a bit over fifty, and it felt good to get out like that. We wound up driving to a friend's house for dinner instead of riding, as Jenn's legs were tired.

Cars take up a LOT of space!

I have sometimes observed that "population density is not always measured in terms of people per square mile."

While some of you find and enjoy the double meanings, I will share another bit of population density information--this from the How We Drive blog of Tom Vanderbilt. If the roughly three hundred thousand US citizens lived in a concentrated area, at the population density, of, say, Brooklyn, which US state has enough area for us to live within its hypothetical borders? Have a look at this chart as you ponder this--the answer may surprise you.





Quoting from Vanderbilt:

An interesting point of departure from this graph that’s been making the rounds of the U.S. packed into one Brooklyn-style New Hampshire is one I’ve mentioned before, via the work of Brian Pijanowski:

If the percentage of parking lot area in the county (0.44%) is scaled to the area occupied by the conterminous United States, the entire states of Connecticut, and Massachusetts (12,550 + 20,305 = 32,855 km2 ) would be paved over with parking lots.

To put this another way: The American parking lot currently consumes much more space than the entire country’s population would if it were scaled to Brooklyn-style density.

I saw a comparison recently discussion cost-per-mile of roadway construction vs. vehicle-specific taxes paid on one automobile (can't remember where...). The summation was that the average motorist pays enough taxes on his or her car (license, fuel taxes, insurance taxes excise taxes on other car-related purchases) to pay for about two feet of roadway. Given that most cars are at least fifteen feet long, and given that there is no way anyone could drive anywhere if the roads were fully covered in cars, there is a LOT of space paved for car traffic that the car-specific taxes are not paying for.

I'd be interested in seeing some hard data on this, and will have to dig around a bit. Even if the numbers are off by a factor of two, it takes lots of wind out of the sails of the argument that "bicyclists don't pay for their use of the roadway!"

Seasonal milestones

I enjoy thinking about seasonal milestones. A few weeks ago, I realized that I had walked the dog every morning for several days without wearing gloves. On my rides to and from work, I've gone from a long-sleeve base layer under the reflective jacket to a short-sleeve jersey under the jacket, with perhaps a sleeveless runner's top under the jersey. I rarely wear my silk balaclava now.

I even did a couple of club rides over the weekend, wearing (gasp!) shorts instead of long tights!

Since we are on Daylight Time now (for about two weeks as I type this), I've been expecting to ride home from work without having to turn on the headlights. Today was my first time for that this season--and my first ride home from work wearing--you guessed it--shorts instead of tights for the season. I wasn't even wearing socks with my sandals--another seasonal first for the ride home.

How did that silly rhyme go? Oh, yeah, I think this is it:

Spring is sprung
The grass is riz.
I wonder where
the bikers is?

As nice as the weather is and has been lately, I'm disappointed to not see more folks riding instead of driving. Even riding instead of driving to the corner tavern, for crying out loud!

Oh, well. I got to ride today, so life was better than it might have been!

Sunday wrapup

Interesting thought of my day, prompted by the folks at the Freedom From Religion Foundation:

“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.”

— Blaise Pascal, French philosopher, Pensees (1623-1662)

This is the same Pascal who is so often quoted by those who would impose a theocracy upon us, in the form of what is often called "Pascal's Wager." The Wager is often simply stated as, "would you rather worship a god and find there is none or ignore said god to find that he will damn you to hell for not being worshipful?"

Of course, Pascal's wager ignores that there may be hundreds of other equally-likely options rather than merely two choices as presented, among several other logical failures.

In other news, Jenn and I rode two club rides this weekend, for a total of fifty-five club miles or so. The Saturday ride was, as mentioned in the previous post, a scenic one from Westport.

The Sunday ride was a typical 2:00 PM ride out of Baptist East/Milestone Fitness Center (once a month location), with the threat of rain. We had a few drops of rain close to downtown, a few more as we rode along River Road, and a few more later in the ride, but rode the longer route anyway. It was fun to ask Jenn to reduce power by ten percent a couple times so that I could modulate our speed more easily when riding in a pace line at close to twenty miles an hour!

There was a club meeting afterward, and an executive committee meeting after that. By the time we got to leave Milestone, we were facing a ride home in a rain shower. Aside from getting wetter, riding in the rain isn't so bad--unless the temperature is low enough to risk hypothermia. A ten-minute ride home is not likely to create such a problem, and ours certainly did not.

I think I've logged all (or at least most of) my miles from February and January on the MyCyclingLog.com site. I'm still behind David Crowell for our group's miles, but he has a longer commute than I do. He also did a better job of riding to work in cold weather.