This past Friday called for freezing rain turning to rain. I hadn't tried out my new tires that have some tread but aren't the annoyingly knobby mtn bike tires. I figured, what better test than a day with frozen roads? It was about 32 F when I set out, but what I hadn't figured on was the volume of rain nor the brutal headwinds. Normally I don't worry about it in the morning since it's rare to have a wind out of the east, but on Friday, there was some strong east winds, it was raining pretty hard, and it was cold.
Well, once I get past a certain point, work is closer than turning around, besides, turning around is sort of an admission of failure. I got about 1/3 of the way to work and realized I was really in trouble, well, not really in trouble (like I was going to die or something), but that I was going to be feeling some bad hand pain due to the cold. Normally I can ride a little with no hands to warm up my hands behind my back, but the wind prevented that. Also, the gloves I used are not waterproof, so they got soaked. So, with my hands stuck on the handlebar, wet, windblown and freezing, I was swearing. I was miserable, even though the rest of me was mostly comfortable.
I had to go slow, doing some one-handed recirculation attempts, it probably looked rather humorous. When I finally got to work, my bicycle was covered in ice, shimmering like it had a new wax job, icicles dripped from my helmet, my jacket was soaked (also not terribly waterproof) and my hands were like frozen sausages, just defrosting. As they did warm up the pain stopped me in my tracks. Finally, I got their use back and went about my day.
I had some trouble getting my clothes dry at work ... but they were dry enough for the ride home that started out quite nice with tail winds and no rain. But, the second half of my ride got a little rainy and windy (the winds had shifted from the morning ride, insidiously enough). Though it's still early February, I hope I can learn to better equip my hands and that such nasty weather won't grace us too much more this season.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Still Going
Despite the fact that I've not posted any updates in more than a year now, I have been doing quite a bit of biking since then. For the year of 2007 I bicycled 95 times to work, a roundtrip distance of about 24 miles (total distance of almost 2300 miles). I've modified my basic mountain bike a few times over the past 15 months and have become adept at keeping enough food and clothing here at work so I'm well fed and not looking too frumpy - though I must admit I'm frumpier than I used to be.
My colleagues at work no longer think I'm crazy, or at least keep those thoughts to themselves now. Occasionally on a bitter cold, snowy or rainy day on which I've biked to work, they will remark upon that, but for them I guess I'm just odd. And if they don't wonder why I do it, I certainly do sometimes. I have at least two good reasons: 1.- That I enjoy it, and 2.- I think it's the right thing to do.
Reason 1 is pretty easy to explain, for most people, even those who might not ride a bike. It's great to be outdoors, feel the wind in your hair, zip along under your own power, see your neighbors, your neighborhood, wildlife, beautiful sunrises, sunsets, and scenery, and to experience all the personal health benefits cycling affords. Sometimes it's tough when the weather is really cold or wet or snowy ... or when you experience inconsiderate or dangerous drivers, but normally it's great.
The second reason is more complex. I think cycling anywhere to reduce our need for automobiles is a step toward a better society. We consume far too much in our society and the personal automobile is not only one part of the consuming, contributing to our foreign dependence on oil, but also encourages other problems in our community such as isolation from/in our communities, sedentary lifestyles, suburban sprawl and the destruction of natural environments due to highways and parking lots used by automobiles. Automobiles make it easy for us to travel independently and easily, but this is not always a good thing. We are too often swayed to shop more, for things we don't need, and do things that don't really fulfil us. Historically, automobiles have also replaced other public transportation that is more efficient per rider, encourages community and mild exercise, and less environmentally destructive. I could go on, but that's for another blog.
For now I will keep on biking (I'm 14/21 now in January) and hope for warmer weather.
My colleagues at work no longer think I'm crazy, or at least keep those thoughts to themselves now. Occasionally on a bitter cold, snowy or rainy day on which I've biked to work, they will remark upon that, but for them I guess I'm just odd. And if they don't wonder why I do it, I certainly do sometimes. I have at least two good reasons: 1.- That I enjoy it, and 2.- I think it's the right thing to do.
Reason 1 is pretty easy to explain, for most people, even those who might not ride a bike. It's great to be outdoors, feel the wind in your hair, zip along under your own power, see your neighbors, your neighborhood, wildlife, beautiful sunrises, sunsets, and scenery, and to experience all the personal health benefits cycling affords. Sometimes it's tough when the weather is really cold or wet or snowy ... or when you experience inconsiderate or dangerous drivers, but normally it's great.
The second reason is more complex. I think cycling anywhere to reduce our need for automobiles is a step toward a better society. We consume far too much in our society and the personal automobile is not only one part of the consuming, contributing to our foreign dependence on oil, but also encourages other problems in our community such as isolation from/in our communities, sedentary lifestyles, suburban sprawl and the destruction of natural environments due to highways and parking lots used by automobiles. Automobiles make it easy for us to travel independently and easily, but this is not always a good thing. We are too often swayed to shop more, for things we don't need, and do things that don't really fulfil us. Historically, automobiles have also replaced other public transportation that is more efficient per rider, encourages community and mild exercise, and less environmentally destructive. I could go on, but that's for another blog.
For now I will keep on biking (I'm 14/21 now in January) and hope for warmer weather.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Biking in Pennsylvania
I'm embarking upon an experiment to use my bicycle for commuting to work. I'm into my third week of riding 23 miles/day (11.5 each way) and it's going pretty well. I've been able to ride mostly on back farm roads and although at this time of year it's dark on my ride home, I've not felt unsafe during the rides (I do have two rear LED lights, a front LED light, and a rechargeable light for the front - plus high visibility clothing). Ideally I'd like not to have a car for myself (and have just my wife and I share (we have two kids)), but not sure I'm getting enough buy-in from her and/or from the realities of living in a place served by sporadic/non-existent public transit, long distances, and potentially poor weather conditions for riding. Anyway, I'd like to see how many days I can go, or what % of days, I can ride. For the past three weeks I'm 12/14 biking, but the weather has been unusally warm for us.
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