Dave’s Good Stuff

I admit it, I fall more into the Road Weanie categorie of cyclists than anything. I like my bikes light and fast, sharp and quick to respond.

But even so, even were I NOT just this side of obsessing about weight, this would *still* seem ridiculous to me.

I imagine “terrorists” the world over to be sitting back in their easy chairs, laughing their asses off as they feast on news like this:

An ambulance carrying a heart attack victim, twice defibrillated was stopped by overzealous customs agents, going so far as to open the ambulance and asking him to identify himself. “Sure, let me take this oxygen mask off, and thank God you’re here! Could you tell these pesky paramedics to quit poking me with those paddles? They hurt!”

Said the man’s girlfriend “”I’m irate. I can’t figure it out. He could have died, and I would have blamed that person for murder.”

There is a well-established protocol allowing emergency vehicles to cross the border with a police escort. This was completely ignored by the agents, risking a man’s life in the process.

The terrorists don’t have to do a damn thing anymore! They’ve got us so terrified that we’re killing ourselves to protect ourselves.

Still cold, but not nearly as bad as this morning.

• Average HR: 183
• Average RPM: 81
• Average Speed: 13.1
• Max HR: 202
• Max Speed: 27.7
• Mileage: 7.82
• Reported Calories: 537
• Temperature: 56
• Total Time: 35:45
• Wind: 2mph Southerly
• Yearly Total Mileage: 1117

Last night as I pondered the cold ride into work, I had to admit, to myself then as to you now, that part of me dreaded it. It was going to be cold. It was going to be bitter. Looking back on it (all of 10 hours ago), it was that dread that kept me up. I didn’t focus on it, but it was the anticipation of the ride that kept me just a touch too excited to sleep. That was before I realized that I didn’t have my winter gloves, and had only a pair of thin BG Gel Glove Long Finger between my fingers and sub freezing air.

The kicker is, having made it safely to work, all I can do is think about getting back out there in the cold and riding. ~8 miles just isn’t enough… I want more! I’m sure my employer wouldn’t appreciate the fact that I’m obsessing about cycling and weather and winter gear while I’m supposed to be running data retention reports, and setting up foundations for a switch to role based vs. individual access rights, but whuddareyagonnado? The reports run in the background and the foundation is pretty much laid.

I’m not going to pretend that riding in sub freezing weather is *fun*. It’s not. Getting out there is hard. Being out there is hard. But looking back on it is fantastic. Knowing that in spite of adverse, even dangerous weather, I stuck to my guns and ignored the temptation to drive just makes me feel better about everything. But in order to feel better after the ride is over, there is plenty of preparation to be done beforehand.

My weak areas are definitely my hands and feet. As I said, this morning I had thin long fingered BG Gel Gloves. Fine for 50°F and higher, but not for sub freezing temperatures or hands that historically get cold easily. Running my hands under cold water this morning after I got in was painful. Cold water felt hot. On my feet I wear Shimano M225s over athletic tube socks. I need to get some shoe coverings to keep my toes from going numb. This morning wasn’t too bad on my toes, if for no other reason than my fingers took all my attention.

On my legs I wore a pair of Pearl Izumi tight long leggings, and a simple pair of $10 athletic wicking sweats over them. They got chilly a couple of times, but nothing that consistent pedaling didn’t take care of.

Around my core I had on a tight $15 wicking shirt from Target, a loose $15 wicking over shirt (also from Target) and a Pearl Izumi high visibility wind breaker. Again, there were a couple times when the wind got high enough that I felt it, but again… the fingers.

On my head I wore a thin headband over my ears, a $15 ski cap (again with the Target) and my Giro Atmos. My head was totally fine the whole time. No issues there at all.

I’m thinking I need to get some clear goggles to help with the eyeballs though. I noticed about two miles into it that I had tears flowing freely down my cheeks. I wasn’t sad or anything, but my eyes were… they were loudly protesting the sub freezing wind.

I think this setup will work for me down to about 15°F. Below that I’ll need more… pretty much everywhere. Thicker tights, another layer up top, and *definitely* better gloves and shoe coverings.

Properly prepared, even cold winter riding can be quite enjoyable! Improperly prepared… well… it’s just best to be prepared.

Cold. 32 degrees without the wind. Thin gloves because I left my winter gloves in Amanda’s car and no shoe protectors make for chilly fingers and toes. Did I say chilly? I meant freakishly and painfully cold.

On another note, I continue to be impressed by the drivers I share the road with. Thus far, the worse interaction I’ve had is someone honking their horn at me while going the other way on Lamar. Lamar is a wide road between College and 75th, so I’m sure they were just honking to honk and be honkish, but honestly, that’s not so bad. I expected worse. I prepared for worse. I prejudiced myself for worse. I’m happily being proven wrong.

• Average HR: 171
• Average RPM: 77
• Average Speed: 11.8
• Max HR: 194
• Max Speed: 25.9
• Mileage: 7.81
• Reported Calories: 482
• Temperature: 32
• Total Time: 39:44
• Wind: 5 Southerly
• Yearly Total Mileage: 1109.37

I didn’t ride in today. It’s not b/c it was misting heavily, or that it was cold, it’s that I was tired after two days. How sad is that? Pushing 40lbs of bike on knobbies is a lot harder than pushing 17lbs of bike on road slicks, but still, two days? I am so not hardcore.

I’ve read that now, as the weather turns cold, and the rain turns to snow and the roads turn to ice, that the vast majority of bike commuters drop out of the game, opting for their cars or public transportation. I won’t make any bold boasts of riding to work every day. Some days it’s just not feasible b/c I have to be in various places around the city during the day, but most days, I will still ride.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone, even those of you who don’t call the third Thursday of November “Thanksgiving”, have a great day all the same!

… went completely, and absolutely without incident, which is to say, fantastic. Every car gave me a wide berth, with only one exception at 95th and Lamar, where the driver didn’t seem to think I needed any room aside from the four inches next to the curb. I credit my traffic yellow-green windbreaker, four blinking red LEDs and 1 hella-bright headlight.

The biggest problem is the hills. They make it damn near impossible to keep my HR down to 145-150 the whole time.

• Average HR: 166
• Average RPM: 75
• Average Speed: 12
• Max HR: 193
• Max Speed: 24.6
• Mileage: 7.86
• Reported Calories: 580
• Temperature: 60
• Total Time: 37:52
• Wind: 5mph Southerly
• Yearly Total Mileage: 1101.05

The birthday celebrations continue, so let’s just say I was in no shape this morning to ride. I didn’t have time to get the final touches on the bike last night anyway, so I couldn’t have ridden this morning, right?

I’ll have pictures soon, but for now, you’ll just have to take my word for it that the commuter is almost ready for the road. Built around a 1993 Kona Fire Mountain frame, technically it’s road ready now, but I just didn’t feel safe without proper lighting. Furthermore, I didn’t feel like riding “blind” w/o my Edge. Finally, without something to hold the bag that holds my work clothes, I thought I should hold off before riding into work.

For the lighting, I’ve equipped the Kona with four (count ‘em *four*) Cateye TL-LD600 tail lights and a Cateye EL-700RC Triple Shot Rechargeable LED head light. There are two tail lights pointing towards the rear, and one pointing toward either side mounted on the front fork. The headlight, mounted on the handlebar will serve both for visibility and lighting. Some might say I’ve gone overboard with the lighting, but if it makes for a more visible me to the inattentive drivers out there during rush hour, then I’m all for it.

For the toting, I’ve picked up a standard bike rack and went with the Nashbar Commuter Garment pannier to help keep the clothes wrinkle-free. We’ll see how it really works.

I’m still waiting on the headlight and the pannier bag, but both should be here this week. Everything else has been mounted. Getting the rack and tail lights mounted was interesting. Amanda’s older brother was in town this weekend with his wife, and so her twin brother was visiting as well on Saturday. The drop bars on the rack wouldn’t fit in the drops due to the quick-release mechanism. It was in the way. However, I recently came into a grinder. Put the two together, and enough of the rack drop metal was removed to make for a snug and perfect fit. The next piece was the rear facing lights. I was originally going to craft a tube to attach to the rack, but the elder brother looked at it for a while and figured out how to easily affix them to the rear fender. It was genius in its simplicity.

So, with the help of Amanda’s brothers (on my birthday, coincidentally enough), the hard part is done. All that’s left now is mounting the headlight and the computer and I’m good to go!

An Independence teen was killed last night (2007.11.08) around 10:30 in a hit-and-run by two men fleeing from the police. Near 39th and Lee’s Summit Road, the men struck him and fled the scene, to be apprehended later having abandoned their car in a wooded field.

All my talk of driver and cyclist responsibility lately amounts to nothing in the face of something like this.

My heart goes out to his family, and the family of the two brothers that killed him. All are in dreadful pain right now.