Dave's Good Stuff

Wherein those posts having to do with Cycling are grouped.

I went to bed a few nights ago, as is my habit so that I might wake up the next morning, having slept the night before. This night, last night, was different…

You might recall that all of last year, or most of it, I rode my bike whenever possible to and from work, and many other miles besides. Logistically, this hasn’t worked out since about mid October. Furthermore, I’ve avoided pretty much any riding outdoors on account of the cold. I proved I could do it last year, and I realized I didn’t enjoy doing it (having forgotten that I already realized it back in my college years when I didn’t own a car). So this year, I’ve spent nearly all of my riding on the rollers. While they do make for a fantastic work out (once you start pedaling, you don’t stop until you’re done – there is no coasting downhill, there are no stops at intersections… it’s all on or all off), they’re also fairly boring when compared to the glorious outdoors.

So, my bikes have been been rather neglected, rejected, and ignored. They made this known to me on this night. I don’t know if it was a dream or not. I don’t typically remember dreams with this (or any) level of clarity. This felt real.

I awoke from a deep sleep, and was immediately startled into complete wakefulness by the horrific sight of two angry bikes, leaning threateningly over my bed. Their frames contorted in barely contained outrage, their cables seething with frustration, their chains grinding with resentment, and their brake levers pulsing with indignation, they lorded over me like cobras. My heart racing, I tried to scramble to the opposite side of the bed, but was caught in the sheets unable to move. Their cables, once smooth and lubricated nicely within supple housings, flayed about like the many heads of a hydra, and with evil and deadly purpose wrapped themselves around me, cutting into my flesh, and pulling me towards them. I was helpless against their will.

“WE HAVE WATCHED AS YOU CLIMB INTO THAT MONSTROSITY IN THE GARAGE, IGNORING US, WE WHO HAVE BROUGHT YOU TO NEW HEIGHTS OF GLORY AND FITNESS! WE SAY UNTO YOU NO MORE!!! WE WILL NOT REST UNTIL YOU HONOR US WITH THE MILES WE DESERVE!!!”

With a final tightening of the cables around my arms and legs, they let me go, and walked… yay walked out of the room. All was silent.

I lay there, bathed in the cold sweat of terror for what seemed like hours, but was likely only a few minutes. You know how time stretches in the quiet of night. Anyway, I eventually fell back asleep (or dreamed I was falling back asleep – whatever), and awoke to the normal alarm. The sheets were rather ruffled about, and the area rug near my bed in complete disarray. The bikes, however, were as I’d left them the night before, or should I say, weeks ago…

Let it not be said that I heed not the warnings presented to me so clear! Saturday morning I took the Dew Drop out for nearly 30 miles over some of the better hills northwest Johnson County has to offer. The Drop was happy. I was happy. I expect to sleep well and undisturbed tonight.

Tomorrow morning, if the weather forecast proves true, I’m going to take the Dew Drop out for a spin. Probably only 30-40 miles or so. 2-3 hours, tops. It’s a heavier bike, and so will go slower, but that’s not a bad thing as it builds endurance and strength that much more quickly. I’ll be leaving from my house at around 9:30 or so, and probably running the standard Shawnee to Lenexa to Johnson Drive and back route as seen here. Or something very similar to it.

I’ve thought about taking her out on the trails, but I’m still a little leary of those for some reason…

I’d take advantage of the best weather of the day for a ride, but that’s reserved for walking the Plaza with a Very Special Person (henceforth to be known as VSP). I’ll brave the cooler morning temperatures to make room for that.

I’ve gotten pretty good at the rollers^*. Every day I ride a little longer and a little harder. There’s no doubt that it’s good preparation, even if it’s neither ideal, nor as enjoyable as actual outdoor riding.

Still, I miss my new bike. It’s hanging on the wall in the little bike alcove I made last year, and hasn’t seen any action in weeks. I console it every day as I pass by, knowing that at my approach, it’s gears start to vibrate and it’s chain starts to glisten, but I continue on my way, and it’s left hanging. Poor thing. I’m a bad bikefriend.

But it’s just too cold out for me. I proved I could do it last year, and realized that it just wasn’t any fun at all. Furthermore, I don’t have any way to have a car both at work and at home when I commute by bike these days. I could feasibly stop with the wussing, and deal with the cold, but the logistics of needing a car here and there, and only having the one for both places are, at least for the moment, prohibitively difficult to overcome.

When it warms up, I may find a way to commute a couple two or three times a week into work, but I think, at least until I find myself with either two cars, or a roommate with a car I have evening access to, cycling to work full time is so very 2008. The latter may happen this summer. That would be cool.

At least, when it warms up, I’ll be able to take her out for evening and weekend spins. I know she’d enjoy it, and I know I would too. She really is quite pretty, and deserves the attention. She may not be able to see it now, but she’ll get it. Of that I have no doubt whatsoever.

^* Some notes on the roller activities on motionbased.com… The mileage, while accurate in terms of GPS data, doesn’t reflect the equivalent miles, given the amount of time, and speed while on the saddle. The moving time, similarly, doesn’t appear to be accurate at all, leaving the total time as a better guage of actual saddle time. Elevation schmelevation. The Edge 705 is fantastic for outdoor riding statistics… not so hot for indoor stats.

WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa – A man faces up to [a mere] 60 days in jail in connection with a November 2007 accident that killed a West Burlington man who was riding a bicycle.

A judge found Marvin Oberly guilty last week of driving on the wrong side of a two-way highway and passing a vehicle on the wrong side. Douglas Kenney died of [the tragic and needless] injuries he suffered in the accident on Nov. 9, 2007 [due to Oberly’s utterly irresponsible and reckless actions].

Oberly is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 30. He faces [a paltry] 30 days in jail for each of the counts and up to a year suspension [rather than the far more just complete and permanent revocation] of his drivers license. [It is left as an exercise for the reader to rationalize how 60 days in jail and a year's suspension balances out the irresponsibility and recklessness that resulted in Kenney's death.]

Prosecutors argued that Oberly drove up behind Kenney in his pickup and collided with the bicycle Kenney, who was riding his bicycle in a manner consistent with safety and law.

Oberly testified provided the lame and weak excuse during his trial that glare from the sun prevented him from seeing Kenney[, which would have been inconsequential had be been driving on the correct side of the road and not passed another vehicle on the shoulder].

Original here.

I rode for a little over an hour this afternoon, with a single break around the 34 minute mark. That’s my best so far in terms of roller endurance. I’ve not been able to go over 30 minutes before, and that only once. Prior to that, I had to break after 20 minutes on a good day, or 10 to 15 minutes on an average day.

The secret? Motivation.

For me, I use two primary forms of motivation, also known as "distractions."

The first is television. Like The Fat Cyclist, I will typically throw in a couple episodes of my favorite-show-of-the-month and ride while the plot thickens and the bike goes nowhere.

The second is music. Today, this is the motivation/distraction method I used, and at least today, it worked better for me. First, I chose exciting tunes out of my music library with tempos between 85 and 105bpm (determined using MixMeister BPM Analyzer), and set them up on a Nano playlist so that they started off slowish at 85bpm, slowly sped up to 105bpm, and then relaxed back down to an easy 85bpm. Setting them up this way allowed me to easily maintain my own rpm, as it is my natural tendency to spin at a tempo that matches whatever song I’m listening to.

One might use headphones in order to transfer the music from the mp3 player to the ears if one wishes. I prefer portable iPod compatible speakers, myself.

Regardless, being able to just zone off to good music and let my mind wander back on a fantastic weekend was just what the doctor ordered today.