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.

Occupying and other blog reading

After the annual weekend of gluttony (I managed to not be terribly gluttonous), it's back to the real world. The news still has images and stories of the Occupy movement, and how other movements are identifying with OWS by simply saying, "Occupy this," or "Occupy that."

Small wonder that a blog I watch, by Mighk Wilson, has a post titled, "Occupy the Lane." Blog readers and cycling education folks know Mighk's name as part of Commute Orlando, part of Cycling Savvy, and general pro-cycling good guy. I encourage you to have a read--Mighk is more eloquent than I on this topic.

I'm also a fan of Copenhagenize, as both of my long-time readers are aware. One recent post there quotes a brief essay discussing the amount of exercise we get and really should get. I'll have to send my mom a link to this next time she challenges my choice to bike to work "when I could get there in much less time by driving."

Even when it rains, as it is doing today (and probably tomorrow), I do better for myself by riding than by driving. Even if I ignore the financial benefits of riding instead of buying gas, I am doing better for myself. Selfish? Maybe. Enjoying life is part of the "American Dream," though, right?

'Tis customary to discuss things for which one is thankful today. Rather than bore you with all the usual stuff about friends and family, I'll be a bit more light-hearted.

One of the many things: Because I travel by bicycle more than by car, I am able to find cool stuff beside the roadway. I now have a pair of gently-used Channel Lock pliers to supplement my tool collection (and add to the two pair already in my possession), found beside Westport Road Thursday afternoon as I was heading to the dentist's office.

I've lost count of the tools, cash, and other stuff I've found beside the road (including a four-D-cell Maglite that needed nothing more than a bulb and fresh batteries to be in perfect working order!). How people lose this sort of thing is something of a mystery to me, but I don't mind having the extra five or six Vice-Grip pliers, the aforementioned flashlight, the assorted wrenches, the bungee cord, the, well, you get the picture.

I would not have found this stuff had I not been riding instead of driving. I suppose I could rue that the prior owners DON'T have it, but I figure if they are careless enough to leave their tools where they will fall out of their cars, they don't mind buying replacements.

What about you? What have YOU collected during your travels (by bike or otherwise)?

Dentist revisited.

The crown is finally in, and it feels great. Thanks to Doctor Hakim!!

Yesterday was a good day on the bike, too, despite a soggy ride to work. I got to Saint Matthews with a bit of time to spare, despite the headwind, had the crown installed, and rode to my next errand.

Jenn got sold on the idea of a wireless hot spot for our home computer system instead of a DSL connection about the time we moved to the house last year. The thing has worked well some of the time, not so well at other times. A bit over a week ago, it went to giving me upload speeds approximating those I had when on a 26k dial-up connection in 1997. Want to watch a video? Forget it. It wouldn't even try to download if I paused the video while waiting for the thing to load. Getting to watch a half-second or six of a vid, then waiting a minute for the next few half-seconds to load really stunk. I took the thing to Sprint over the weekend, and they determined that they couldn't measure its speed (ya think their meter wasn't calibrated in bytes per hour instead of megabytes per second?). They ordered a replacement, and I was able to fetch it yesterday.

From the Sprint store on Hurstbourne, I rode farther east (away from home) to get some supplies with which to continue the war against the fleas. We are gaining on them--fewer are showing their nasty little selves every week--but we aren't done eradicating them as a species from our house. Fresh round of Advantage (instead of Frontline, which doesn't work as well as it once did), a round of Capstar (pill which complements Advantage) and a round of de-worming stuff (at least one cat has worms--no telling how he got them--so EVERY cat and the dog get treated), and on my way to my next stop.

I hadn't eaten at Mark's Feed Store in a while, so took advantage of the proximity to enjoy some ribs before pedaling home. Forty-three miles for the day.

When I started writing, er, typing this blog, I used it in part to keep myself accountable in my efforts to ride to work more instead of driving. This year, I've been doing that quite well, but the accountability has been shifted to my log on mycyclinglog.com. I've crowed about the numbers here quite often, as it's been something of a surprise to me how the miles have accumulated. It's past the point where every ride sets a new personal best for cycling-instead-of-driving miles (and overall miles, for that matter). I'm not so sure I'll break the current goal of eight thousand miles for 2011, and my commuting for next year will be reduced with my stepping down from the LBC Education programs, so it may be a while before I get close to that number again. We'll see.

Dentistry

After a decade or more of horrible experiences with dentists and their staffs, I quit going. I just hated being in the chair. I live with constant sinus congestion of varying degree, and some dentists just didn't "get" that, nor have sensible and realistic ideas for dealing with it. Some dentists had hygienists that were, to be polite, indiscreet about discussing patient particulars with other patients. Some fell to the stereotype presented by the character in "Little Shop of Horrors."

After a decade or more of avoiding dentists like the proverbial plague they seemed to be for me, I found myself with a couple of teeth in bad shape. My wife insisted that I see her dentist for help, and in desperation, I went.

Long story short, Doctor Hakim is a wonderful person and a great dentist. I won't say that my experiences in her chair have been great fun, but they have been far less horrible than most I've had with other dentists before, and I wasn't going expecting to being entertained, after all. If you have need of a dentist referral, please drop me a line.

It hasn't been without the challenge or two, however. I had a root canal ten or twelve (or more--don't remember) years ago, and never got that tooth crowned. Doctor Hakim made the requisite molds a month or so ago, and contracted with a local company for the crown. When the crown was delivered two weeks ago.

That visit was probably the most miserable I have had with her. I had a head cold going in, and should have delayed things on that basis alone. Being unable to breathe through my nose at all gets a bit stressful when someone is working in my mouth. It didn't get any better when the crown was discovered to be sub-standard, and a new mold had to be made--this involves closing my jaws for four minutes or so while the mold material sets. It doesn't help any that to do this work, the Lidocaine has to be injected in the very hinge of my jaw--a hard place to reach and a very sensitive area. That needle feels like a three-inch water pipe in there!!

When I'm fairly relaxed, I can hold my breath for well over half a minute at almost any point in my breathing cycle (I got proof of this when I did a sleep study five years ago to screen for sleep apnea, and have been using a CPAP machine ever since). With a little preparation, I can hold my breath for a minute without a lot of anxiety. Of course, when I'm anxious from not being able to breathe well, these times shorten dramatically. In any case, four minutes of having to keep my teeth together while not being able to breathe through my nose at all meant I was getting air because the doctor or her assistant were holding my lips away from my teeth on the side away from where the work was being done, and it wasn't flowing as many cubic feet per second as I really wanted, but I was able to manage.

At any rate, the errant crown was returned to the provider with the new mold and instructions to not foul up a second time. I sat for the replacement crown yesterday afternoon. As you, the reader, have probably figured out by now, it wasn't right. I now have my third temporary crown on that tooth, with the "permanent" one to be installed Tuesday (we hope).

To be fair to Doctor Hakim, I must mention at this point that the crown was checked against the mold they sent, and found to not be within spec. The lab fouled up--again.

While Doctor Hakim's assistant was on the phone with the lab, she reported that their driver had already gone home. She told the lab folks that "our patient is standing here, telling me that he can get to your office within forty-five minutes--by bicycle. Yes, he rides bicycles instead of driving most of the time, and if he says he can get there in that time, I'm inclined to believe him. If you can't get a driver here within the half hour, we have this option." That apparently shamed the lab folks enough that they reported they had a driver in the Middletown area that could collect the mold and the failed crown en route to their office.

I appreciate that Doctor Hakim has professional standards she is not willing to abandon. I'm pretty disgusted with this lab, though, as I have had to sit through two aborted deliveries of my crown before getting the "permanent" one installed, and am less-than-confident in the upcoming appointment (and get to "enjoy" knowing that until that day...).

Windy

I didn't even get on a bike yesterday. The first of the errands we needed to run involved getting the dog to Feeder's Supply for a bath (it's much easier to do this in their tubs that are set up for the purpose than it is kneeling at home). After getting that done, we stopped by ValuMarket for some food to get us by for a few days. Driving there seemed easier since we were already out, and we wouldn't have to fight the wind to get there and back as we would have by bicycle. The dog didn't mind taking a nap in the back of the cab.

My ride to work this morning was punctuated by frequent thoughts of how the wind is going to affect my ride home. The forecast includes some rain and possible thunderstorms, so I rode the Globe as it was bought to be my bad-weather bike. My rain coat is more comfortable on this bike (it's an Endura Luminite and has the little sewn-in flashing light near the base of my spine that bugs me when I'm on the Vanguard). My route home has several "rabbit holes" I can use if the weather is nasty enough that I need to take a break.

It was odd to ride to work today wearing short sleeves and short pants, after a week or more of typically wearing long pants and more often than not a wind shell. I'm reminded of the November weekend when I brought out my Bacchetta Strada, when temperatures were in the 80s (although the wind wasn't as challenging).

I keep reading posts from friends about populaires and other group riding. Maybe I'll get to do some of that next year, once I get further along in my efforts to feel as if I've really moved in to the house.

back on the bike

I mentioned my head cold of last week. I drove to work--two days in a row. Even worse, the head cold sucked.

I went to a "doc in a box" yesterday to get some relief from the clogged sinuses and very sore throat. I came out with prescriptions for some cough syrup and some antibiotics--the latter seemed a bit weird to me since I really felt the head cold was more viral- than microbe-based. I guess the swab the doctor did (gag!) told him that I needed to fight germs, too.

I knew I'd feel better today, even though I almost felt worse last night. The cough syrup has some Codeine in it, so it made me a bit drowsy until I adjusted to its presence in my system. Between that and the antihistamine I took before going to bed last night, I slept like a proverbial rock (well, at least much like my normal patterns instead of the fitful mess I'd been the last couple of nights).

I have a few friends who have done the cross-country bike trip. They tell me that it's common to schedule rest days so as not to make the mental trip a battle. I had been thinking about whether I needed a break from riding to work all the time several days ago, only to find myself forced to take such a break.

Of course, that made this morning's ride to work all the better. I had a couple of brief coughing fits that brought up some interesting gunk from my lungs and bronchial passages, but each time I found that I was breathing just a bit easier after getting the gunk out. My chest has loosened a bit as the day has progressed. My throat still hurts a bit, but it's much better than it was.

I mentioned in a prior post that the City of Lyndon is going to be taking leaves away this week. Jenn and I raked most of the leaves into piles that we hauled by tarp to the front swale. Since I've been fighting the head cold, Jenn insisted on doing a lot more of the heavy lifting than usual. We used a smaller tarp than we did last year, which made the loads more manageable. We still have at least one good leaf-dump to go, and I'm sure it won't happen until after collection day, but at that point I can probably just run over them with the reel mower and leave the remains in the yard.

Ugh. Head cold. Yuck.

This feels really weird. I've driven to work two days in a row--not to haul stuff other than myself, but because I have a head cold that I don't want to worsen by riding for an hour each way. Yuck.

I don't even feel like the drive is making me any healthier--quite the contrary, to be honest. However, it seems at the moment to be the lesser hazard for my sinuses and lungs.

The City of Lyndon collects leaves at streetside once a year, and takes them to a mulching/composting operation. We got a letter a week or two ago telling us that our collection day is Wednesday or Thursday of this coming week. Work schedules being what they are, Jenn and I will get what we can raked and out to the street this weekend. Last year's leaf pile was four or five feet tall and ten feet long, filling the swale beside the driveway. We haven't had the complete "leaf dump" yet this year, and I figure that we'll have a fair quantity of leaves fall AFTER pickup day.

I don't like being sick. I get really crabby, like a lot of folks. I don't like who I become--sort of like not liking who I become when at the wheel of a car...

The velomobile fascination continues--and worsens

Yeah, it's getting worse, this desire for a velomobile. I spent some time digging around online, and found this page within this site, which includes this image of the cockpit of a Flevobike Alleweder of some generation or other:

I found it an illuminating image, as it answered some of my questions about cockpit layout. I've read that this model can be a bit snug between the wheel wells, especially for folks with heavy legs. I've been concerned about shoulder and arm room as well. The FAW+ that comes from Texas is based on this model, so the image has even more meaning for me.

Some months ago, I learned that there was a kit of the FAW+ being built in Louisville. I tried contacting the owner, but without success. A few weeks ago, I saw a post from him on Facebook, and made contact. We've had some correspondence, and I hope to try out his machine when it's road-worthy.

The current hurdle he's trying to overcome is that the tie rods for his steering system are too short. The trike is in a local bicycle shop awaiting the parts and final drivetrain and steering adjustments. When I heard through the grapevine that it was still there, I decided to stop by and see if another set of eyes could find something that would help. Since I was there, I took the liberty of gently getting into the thing to see how I fit.

The owner's legs are a bit shorter than mine, surprisingly enough, so my knees would strike the underside of the double bump in the picture. I don't think that's going to be a problem, though, as my own seat would be back a bit.

I find that with my arms within the body, I might feel a bit cramped. I might not, though, if my legs are good. I wouldn't need the fabric canopy all the time, anyway.

Oh, by the way: As I rode home from work Tuesday evening, I took a slight detour so that I could stop at ValuMarket on Whittington Parkway. As I left that store and headed home, I broke the seven thousand mile mark for 2011.

Velomobile bug has bitten

I keep getting more and more enthused about velomobiles. I think they are really slick machines. I want one (or three).

Of course, we'll have to do some stuff around the house first, like build bookshelves in the office so I can get the three dozen boxes of books out of the garage, find a way to store the table and chairs that are in the garage (make use of space over the door), and find something to do with some of the other stuff that's been there since we moved out of the house on Kennison Avenue over a year ago. At some point, I am thinking that if we haven't used it in over a year, it may find its way to Goodwill or something.

I'll also have to save up some money, as the FAW+ that makes the most sense for me to buy as a first VM will cost me somewhere in the $4500-5000 range to get and build to my liking.

Still, I keep looking at sites like alleweder.jp-web/de with all the pictures and descriptions of how things work for these guys who have ridden them for years. alleweder.net is also a treasure trove of images. I don't read German or Dutch, so I have to do the google translate thing to see what's happening in the text, but I am enjoying thinking about what I want to do with my own when I can get one.

I'm thinking in terms of WWII-bomber-style nose art. Or maybe some Jackie Stewart-inspired band of Armstrong tartan. Or a bunch of rivet-sized dots of reflective vinyl all over the place. Or who knows what? My artistic imagination is not as good as what some other folks I know possess, and I don't even have the thing yet. I've got time to figure that out later.

Gripping tale

I finally got around to installing the GP-1 BioKork grips on Jenn's Globe yesterday. Her report?
Well, to paraphrase, she now has more power on her bike--she is going faster because her cockpit feel is more stable. Her wrists aren't "collapsing," so to speak, and her control of the bike is better.

Who'd a thunk a better set of grips would make her faster?

I must have been invisible.

I must have forgotten to turn off the cloaking device this morning.

There is a guy who passes me most mornings as I ride to work along Westport Road. This morning, though, I saw him before I got to Westport Road--I was on Lyndon Lane, alongside Westport Village. There is an access road that parallels Westport Road running between Lyndon Lane and Herr Lane, and he was on it heading for Lyndon Lane when I recognized his car. As he approached his stop sign, I started looking for bailout options, because it was becoming clear he was not going to stop for his sign.

Sure enough, he came out onto Lyndon Lane as I passed in front of him. I yelled several times in effort to get his attention before he saw me. I rode a few yards farther, then stopped to give him my opinion of his "stop" at the stop sign.

He eventually admitted that he didn't see me before he pulled out from the stop sign. He did say he saw the car coming the direction opposite me, leading me to think he gave no more than a cursory glance in my direction. I asked him why he didn't see me before he blew his stop sign, and he had no answer (keep in mind that, given the temperature was about 40F, I was wearing my Illuminite jacket, which is pretty bright yellow despite its many years of use). After asking that he look BEFORE he pulls away from stop signs, I went on my way.

As I rode to work, I started to wonder whether the guy realizes that, if I'm in the lane, the lane is mine, and that he is not to enter my lane from a stop sign until AFTER I pass by the intersection. Some folks seem to think they can just drive on in the lane when I'm there--in clear violation of Kentucky Revised Statutes.

I also think that there are many motorists who fail to see really obvious things like school buses. Like the woman who was arrested for hitting a school bus yesterday, insisting that the bus move, then driving away. She wasn't arrested for hitting the school bus. She was arrested for driving on a suspended license (DUI charges), failure to maintain insurance (hard to maintain insurance when one is not licensed to drive, even temporarily), and leaving the scene (never a good idea regardless of any other circumstances). In a bit of poetic justice, two law enforcement officers (in this case, U.S. Marshals) witnessed the event and stopped her.

Why do people like that still get to drive cars at all? Why are we as a society not better about keeping such folks out of the driver's seat? Your thoughts?

6000 miles of riding instead of driving!

I broke the 6700-mile mark on my way home from work tonight. I broke the 6000-miles of riding-instead-of-driving mark some fifteen or twenty minutes earlier.

I'm not done riding for the year, of course. I have no real intention of driving any more than is necessary. My threshold for "necessary" is higher than most folks' norms, to be sure.

I like the dyno headlight, but don't think it puts out quite enough light for rainy streets. I'll probably use one of the CygoLite sets as a helmet light much of the time, as they are much brighter than the dyno system.

Several friends have far more miles on bicycles this year, but their miles are typically club miles or training miles instead of utility miles. Mine aren't any better, they are simply different, but I'm still happy to have the ability to ride a bike instead of driving.

a slightly different set of numbers

A facebook friend posted a link to Mr. Money Mustache's blog post on "The True Cost of Commuting." The post opens with a vignette about a couple who decide they want to move into the author's neighborhood, based on its charm. They decide that they can justify the forty-minute commutes both will have to make getting to work and getting home--nineteen miles or so of mixed-highway and -surface street travel.

The couple thought it wasn't so bad. The numbers tell a different story.

If I use my car for work, the IRS allows me to consider $.51 per mile as the vehicle use cost as a work expense. Since my 1994 Ranger was paid off within a year of my purchasing it at the end of 1999, my cost per mile is probably a bit lower. Offset that benefit with the fact that my fuel economy is not very good, though, and I could pick a random number of about $.45 per mile.

I have almost six thousand miles of "riding instead of driving" this year--I expect to reach that number early next week, and keep riding the rest of the year when I can. Six thousand miles at forty-five cents per mile is $2700 I haven't spent on keeping a car on the road.

Sure, I've used much of that elsewhere. I've eaten more, since I burn a few more calories riding than I would driving. I've bought a new bike this year, and outfitted it to be a pretty nice commuter rig. There are costs associated with biking to work--wear and tear on clothing I might not otherwise buy, the occasional replacement inner tube, and so on--but nothing that totally offsets that $2700.

Just think: For two or three years' worth of riding instead of driving, I can finance a velomobile like the FAW+!

Put that road on a DIET!

The concept of a road diet is pretty cool. It recognizes that improving congestion isn't always about adding more lanes (I'm fond of an old bumper sticker I've not been able to find in a while that read: "Adding lanes to deal with traffic congestion is like getting a longer belt to deal with obesity."). In short, the idea is to take a four-lane road and rearrange things so that there is one lane going each direction with a dedicated left turn lane between them. The extra width of pavement can then be used for on-street parking, or a couple of bike lanes, or add sidewalks, or be removed to add green space, depending on the location.

There are a couple of road diet ideas being tossed around in the area. One is the US42 corridor between Mellwood Avenue and Hillcrest Avenue. In this case, I expect road safety to improve quite a bit, since motorists who are not turning off Brownsboro Road (as it is called in that stretch--Brownsboro Road as a name is on KY22 in places, on KY1694{I think} in some spot...) are kept to one lane, and those turning left have a dedicated lane for doing so (having less chance for head-on collisions). The remaining width is going to be used for much-needed pedestrian facilities (sidewalks) and beautification.

Just coming onto the local radar is the idea of putting Grinstead Road on a road diet between Cherokee Road and Cherokee Parkway. I've had a chance to look at the Public Notice, and have a few thoughts. I'll be arranging my thoughts a bit here, planning to send them during the public comment phase which ends later this month.

Not being a computer guru, I'm not able to get the images from the .pdf of the Public Notice to show on here (any help with that? Give me some clues in the comment section). Having the .pdf as another tab in my browser, though, I can switch back and forth to refer to it as I make my notes. There is also an article in the Courier-Journal about this, but it may go away (or require passwords) soon.

In short, I love the idea. I don't know that it will slow traffic in the area enough, but it will change things a bit. There is talk of resurfacing the lanes with non-skid asphalt, which on the surface (pardon the pun) sounds like an extra-abrasive treatment to enhance lateral traction, especially when wet (the area sees inordinate numbers of crashes per year, partly due to rain water mismanagement, partly because people try to race through the turns as if they are in a timed slalom event). Highly abrasive asphalt sounds like a recipe for worse road rash for a cyclist, so I want to see a sample of such pavement and ride on it a bit before I make judgements. It may be safer for cyclists, if only because the car is less likely to slide into us, or it may be like grooved cement roads that disrupt a cyclist's directional control just a bit.

Part of the discussion at the moment is that there is no plan for bicycle-specific lane markings. Since it's a state route, one envisions the state ignoring the Louisville Metro Government "Complete Streets" policy somehow. Still, it would be good to recognize that cyclists make use of that road fairly often. Giving cyclists climbing lanes on the two uphill grades in that stretch of Grinstead would allow motorists to move at speed closer to the legal speed limit, and reduce temper flares. Of course, there will be those who begrudge every nickel spent on bicycle-specific infrastructure, but they need to get a life.

David Morse mentions that in the ten years he's lived in the area, he has never noted a car parked along Grinstead Drive east of Willow Avenue. I have seen mommywagons along the eastbound curb as the Collegiate Academy school day ends, of course, and there is the "kiss and zoom" alongside Collegiate every morning as parents drop off Child, Esquire before their morning tennis match or whatever it is that the idle rich parents do. I'm not sure what to do with that sort of traffic problem, aside from suggest that the parents teach their spawn to use public transit (gasp!) or ride bicycles (groan!) or carpool and park somewhere other than Grinstead Drive (oh, the inconvenience!).

I rarely travel that section of Grinstead in that direction--if I'm going to, say, Iroquois Park, I use Lexington Road, go through Cherokee Park, and use Eastern Parkway, and if I'm going to the Smoketown area I tend to use Frankfort Avenue to Payne Street (using whatever connector I find best at the moment), then south from Breckinridge Street. I have been known to go home from points west/southwest via Mid City Mall (the ValuMarket there has a better beer selection than some liquor stores), and I'll use Glenmary instead of Grinstead until I get to the eastern end of Glenmary where I rejoin Grinstead. Going westbound, the climb on Glenmary is a bit steeper, and turning left to get onto Glenmary is often problematic, so the ability to use Grinstead through there would help lots of folks.

Still, anyone who is at all connected to the various cycling list servers in town knows of this road diet discussion, and has opportunity to comment. It would really be cool to have a bajillion comments feed through Bicycling for Louisville so they can walk into any discussions with "we have so-and-so-many riders who think this, this many who think this other," and influence further planning.

We'll see.

Soccer (or futbol, if you prefer), and music

As astute readers (both of you) know, I have two stepdaughters, the younger of whom is on a soccer scholarship to Georgetown College. This is her senior year there.

Jenn told me Friday morning that Saturday was "Seniors Day" on the soccer field. Jenn and Brad (the father) were to be on the field for the celebration after the game.

I have long said that I cannot and will not take credit for what Rachel has accomplished. Her accomplishments are her own, and stem from who she was well before I met her in 2007. I can be proud that she is doing well in school, and of who she is, but I cannot take credit for creating her. I was not upset that I wasn't part of the on-field celebration (although I was there to take pictures). It was good to see her. Her team won the game, which is always a plus. They looked much better as a team than when I last watched them--their efforts in practice and in the games since are starting to pay off.

Bracketing our trip to Georgetown were our two trips to the Garvin Gate Blues Festival. I've been a fan of this festival since I first learned of it in 1989. Indeed, it was that festival that got me started doing a lot of photography, focusing, if you will pardon the pun, on blues musicians as they played. I spent a lot of time and more money shooting pictures of guys playing in night clubs around town from fall of 1989 until some time in 1991 or '92 before realizing that I was not going to be able to spend the time and money to make a great photographer of myself. I got some images published, and am proud of some of those images.

I've missed a couple of the Garvin Gate festivals over the years, but not many of them.

Anyway, after work on Friday, I pedaled furiously to get home so that we could go, and we got there in time to see the Walnut Street Rhythm and Blues Band play their set. This band, largely made up of sons and a nephew of the late Foree Wells, has been playing together since they were kids, and it shows. They are TIGHT on stage. Their singer is very good, too.

After they left the stage, we were treated to a set from Karen Lovely. Wow. Her song, "Still the Rain," is nominated for a song of the year-type award, and if it doesn't win, it's up against some amazing competition. The woman has some pipes! Her voice has some hints of Grace Slick from the 'plane days, but with more dynamic range. Her album, "Still the Rain," is worth getting if you like blues, or rock, or haunting pop, or...

Saturday night's headliner was Grady Champion. After hearing Karen Lovely the night before, I was disappointed. His show was mostly a string of his interpretations of blues standards the crowd had already heard four or five times in the weekend, and while his band has talent, their show was not as moving as a show of more original music like the one I had seen the night before.

In other good news I learned at the Festival, Cee Cee James is coming to town! I learned of her music through XM radio a bit more than a year ago, and became a fan instantly. Her voice is often compared to that of Janis Joplin, and while I hear the resemblance, it seems to be more coincidental than intentional. Either way, I consider it a compliment to her. She's worth a listen or twenty. I'm looking forward to meeting her next month when she is in town.