rode to work

current temps: 13 feels like 3

getup:
rapha winter cap
sunglasses
rapha base
rapha winter jersey
showers pass elite jacket
rapha bib knickers
brand p winter bib tights
specialized radiant gloves
defeet wooleator socks
specialized road shoes
endura overshoe

toes got a little cold towards the end of the ride, and face was cold as usual, but i kept decently warm. legs were pretty damn red when i got undressed. that's why i keep long underwear at work.

worth noting that this was probably my first time on the bike in more than a couple months, and it's not like i got many miles in in the time before that, either.

probably weight 205ish right now, that's not a good place for me to be (as my clothes are starting to not fit).

pretty rough riding in, rode off the shoulder in the fog of early morning tiredness/low light/overweight and outta shape.

it only gets better...

boring.

this morning: 28 feels like 23, winds w/sw 10ish. a little foggy/wet.

getup: toe covers, oversocks, wool socks
leg warmers, rapha knickers, baselayer, rapha winter jersey, rapha winter cap, performance gloves, pi overgloves.

perfecto.

for the month, mileage (guessing):

02 jan 23
05 jan 23
06 jan 23
13 jan 23
16 jan 30
18 jan 23

145 miles so far. not too shabby..

weighed 196 this morning. perhaps i should stop eating crap.

bike notes / WEEKEND

this weekend we saw zombieland and it was good, but not as good as shaun of the dead.

friday night i joined hbg jason and wife dani at an octoberfest celebration at one of those german/american clubs (klubs) that are stocked with old people. we were the youngest people there by 30 years, except for a few folks there with their grandparents or something.

regardless, we had a good time. at least the beer was authentic. and the band is going to be the new hbg house band.

BIKE!

bare with me - since this thing serves as my memory it's nice to have these notes for next time it's this cold

it's 49 degrees right now at 9:47 am, so it's safe to say that at 6 this morning i was dealing with 35-42

t6 cap
rapha winter
under armor
full finger undergloves (found them!)
bike gloves
pi knickers
wool socks
shoes

should have gone with toe covers, maybe...

i got to work and was a bit sweaty but i'm still cold 3 hours later. for same temps tomorrow i'll probably go with my castelli coat over rapha short sleeve and maybe even the full length tights.

and toe covers.

RIDING home from work yesterday, I am approaching this intersection:



I am rolling up to that stop sign, with a van behind me. As I approach the stop sign, the van guns it, hoping to beat me to the sign. He does not even get close.

But then while I'm slowing my roll up to the sign, with him in the same lane as me and on my left, he starts to make a right turn. Into me.

I pull past him anyway, then turn around and shake my head.

He responds to this by yelling "You're the asshole who..."

I didn't hear the rest as I continued on my way. My thoughts were "there's a reason your driving around a painter's van and wearing a pair of painter's overalls, and that's because you're a fucking idiot."

And it's no wonder he can't drive worth a shit. When you're that dumb, you're dumb at everything.

* *

About a month back I was riding home from work, and I rolled right through that stop sign. I roll through that sign a lot, actually, because it's a rural stop sign and I'm clipped in and who cares. I do slow down, so it's not like I'm flying through the intersection.

Anyway, I rolled through, and about twenty seconds later a guy in a convertible pulls up beside me on the road, slows down, and says "Don't think I didn't see you run that stop sign.." to which I responded. With a shrug.

Maybe it's that intersection.

30 degrees feels like 25 degrees

specialized vented road shoes, pearl izumi toe covers, defeet wool socks, performance windfront tights, nike climacool longsleeve turtleneck, pearl izumi quest longsleeve jersey, castelli freddo jacket, performance undergloves, pearl izumi zephrr overgloves, performance helmet liner, SUNGLASSES with orange lenses (because somehow I lost the clears)

everything seemed to work pretty well. annoying shrinkage issues once i got to work and started to warm back up, but not unbearable.

wind should be interesting going back home.

bike notes

temp this morning was supposed to be that 35-45 range, so i wore the full finger gloves, and a baselayer as well just in case, and i was still way cold. maybe a hat would be a good idea. and toe covers. for future reference.

this weekend we didn't do much. friday night we went to siam in fountain square (whatever) and then deano's and were good and and worn out by 9:30, at which point we went home and went to bed. asleep by 10, i'd guess. we are old.

work up saturday at like 11:30 or so, had some folks over to drink some of the beer from colorado, finished up that by 7, got a hamburger from steak n shake, caught up on the tivo'd stuff, bed at 2 am.

sunday up at 10, bike by 11:30, set up an account on daily plate to track my intake, went and bought up groceries for the $50/week men's health plan (good food), spent $100 instead of $50 somehow. went home, made the food for monday, played some fifa, continued reading the rider (awesome fucking book), asleep, up at 5:30 am (or so) to bike in to work again...

rinse and repeat.

bike notes

riding to work again. just bought a pearl izumi getup - long sleeve jersey, bib knicker tights, new shoes (though i haven't worn those yet). today's ride to work temperature: 48 feels like 45. but that's at 10AM, with the sun up, so I'd guess it was 40ish. my hands got cold but not unbearably so, maybe the full finger gloves would be a good idea. arrived at work barely sweaty, didn't have to towel off long at all, and hair was pretty much dry.

so my advice to myself for 35-45 degree temperatures: long sleeve jersey, bib knicker or full bib tights, regular socks and shoes, full finger gloves, no helmet liner.

Back on the Wagon

After taking a good month or two off from all forms of exercise, I've started everything up again. Monday I took a wet ride to and from work on my underused bicycle - I'm at 107 rides for 2,747.05 miles at an average of 17.29 mph for the year. I'd like to get to at least 3000 miles on the year, under the logic that the amount you spend on your bicycle should equal roughly the amount of miles you ride it - 3000 miles justifies a $3000 bicycle.

I'm not buying a $3000 bicycle, of course, but I am looking at the 2008 Kona Sutra ($1199), the Trek 520 ($1239), and the Surly Long Haul Trucker ($?) as possible bikes for commuting and the bike ride across America that I've been kicking around in my head forever - but that'll require a 3 month work hiatus to do right.

I also ran a couple miles last night - I was on a plan to work my way to regular 5k running (3+ miles) before I starting making excuses not to exercise. Luckily I was able to push through and complete the two mile run without any walking, which puts me right back where I left off. That was quite a surprise.

So hopefully I'll continue with this plan, alternating running and bike commuting days, and I'll fight off the extra 10 I've gained, plus some. I've found that attempting to consistently eat well just doesn't hold up for me - I don't have the willpower lately - so exercise is the answer. Exercise is always the answer though.

Yeah...

David Beckham will not be appearing tonight

This is how I've spent the last half hour.

I tried to bike to work this morning. I got up at like 5 am, showered, dressed, ate, went out to the garage, moved the lights from my fixiebike, started to air up tires and.. I had a rear flat. Odd. I just refilled the tire, thinking maybe I had left the valve open. Got on the bike, went 100 yards... lightning. Whatever. A quarter mile later the tire was flat again, I started to turn the bike around and about lost it, clipped into pedals with the rear tire sliding sideways.

Back to the garage to changed the tube. Got the wheel off, more lightning, now thunder, more lightning... I guess I'm not riding to work.

Luckily I had gotten up so early that I could just go take another shower and redress and go to work. Which I did.

And then I started doing that.