Cold, wet, and… days are getting longer.

It’s cold and wet and dark when I go to work (by car), but the days are getting longer and I’m getting excited about biking again. I have managed to lose 55 pounds since the end of the summer. Crazy. I have 25 or so to hit my target, at which point I might not qualify as “clydesdale” class anymore. Hmmmm…

Although I haven’t been biking, i have been “fantasy-shopping” on ebay and elsewhere for internally geared hubs… and wheels… and other component parts to turn my bike into a 3-speed. I am favoring the idea of old-school Sturmey-Archer hubs. Starting to explore Shimano… and should look at them all….

I *did* buy some bike shoes and pedals on clearance sale a month ago. So far only using the shoes for an occasional spinning class and once-every-other-week solo workout on the spinning-style bike in the corner of the workout room at the gym. So far, I like ’em.

February is the teaser month with hints of spring coming… Daffodils starting to peek… Days getting longer. This is when I start to get excited for summer. WAY too early, of course, which may help explain why I tend to be all grumpy and edgy when mid-April comes around…

dusting off the cobwebs

FINALLY pulled my ‘cross bike off the hooks on the garage wall yesterday morning to go for an hour long (cold!) bike ride yesterday morning.  I noticed cobwebs on the spokes when I was pumping up the tires.  Realized my bike isn’t so new anymore, and my big plans to spend lots of time on it this past summer… didn’t really pan out.

That said, it was great to be in the saddle again, especially since I’ve lost close to 30 (!) pounds since I bought the bike — thanks in large part to the LoseIt! iPhone app and a heavy almost-daily regimen of cario exercise at the gym.  I found the daunting hill-climb part of my favorite ride wasn’t as bad as I’d remembered it to be, and continued the hill-climb further on a new route that I’ve avoided due to the hills… so, it was quite fun.  Sad in hindsight that I didn’t also take advantage of Saturday’s nice weather, as I find myself jonesin’ for another bike ride.  Perhaps this weekend?

Sad that my weekend was too busy to make it to the annual Oregon Manifest hand-crafted bike show over the weekend — made it a couple of years ago, which helped stimulate my renewed interest in bikes and biking.  Now the big question: Am I ready to give the bike-to-work idea another shot… now that the days are short and the weather cold-and-crappy?  Hmmm… getting there.  I’ll have to keep an eye on the forecast and my schedule (work and family) and see if I can squeeze in one day this week or next.

After taking in the first Cross Crusade race of the season a few weeks ago, I was pretty sure I WOULDN’T be attempting my first cross race this year.  Now that I’ve been out on my bike… I might have to rally to see if I can do the beginner class out at Portland Int’l Raceway this Sunday. That sounds a little aggressive… but might have to give it a try.  More on that later.

Back in the saddle… almost.

I’m nearly fully recovered from my crash, and gearing up (mentally) to start the commute again.  I *could* have started weeks ago, but vacation… heatwave… laziness… late nights and early mornings… no really good excuse, but I like to use excuses.

I’ve been slightly regretting buying a one-speed bike for my commute, which involves considerable hill-climbing both to-and-from work.  I’ve been telling myself that the bike is great, but both ways face a long uphill grind (the commute home is longer & grindier) during which I usually long for an easier gear ratio.  And I occassionally (less often) long for a gear ratio that allows me to pedal faster on a the flat or downhills… usually happens when I *think* I’m tooling along pretty quickly, but then someone raced-dressed, light and zippy passes me about 2x the speed I’m going.

Semi-tangent:  I picked up a newish kid-sized 5-speed Electra cruiser at a garage sale for free — the garage sale-er felt guilty charging for it, because it had some derailer issues. It’s very very similar to this $350 model at REI, except it’s a several-year-older model that has a full-length chain-guard instead of the BMX-style crankset/chainring.  I took it to the shop, and spent about $90.00 on the repair — still a great deal for a great little bike, just right for one of our sons who was in need of something a bit bigger than the once-upon-a-time training wheel bike he was using.  Unfortunately, I’ve come to discover that the chain falls off easily will the light abuse any aggressive young boy might put on a bike.  He can’t re-chain it, so nearly every day I have to do the job when I get home from work.  I took it to the shop.  They gave it a once-over and suggested that there’s nothing they can do about it.  I’ve been thinking about two fixes: (1) get a new front crankset/chainring that has built-in guides on the sides to keep the chain on it — BMX style thing, or (2) buy a new hub/wheelset with integral 3-speed or 5-speed hub… shorten the chain and remove the tensioner/derailer, which would allow for a chain that’s tight and wouldn’t come off.

Searching for a solution for the kids bike, I’ve realized that an integrated 3-speed (or 8 speed?) hub/wheel for my commuter bike might be just the thing I need.  I can’t really justify spending more money on this bike right now… but seems like such a smart thing to do.  If it’s integrated, then I could easily swap it out with my single-speed hub if/when the whim strikes me.  I’m really starting to like this idea.  I really like the old-school Sturmey Archer hubs… but wonder if Shimano might be better for Portland’s wet gritty roads?  I’ll be looking at reviews.

In the meantime, I hope to be back on the commute-by-bike agenda this week or next.  The weather is outstanding… the thumb is ready… I could use the exercise and discipline.

More to come.

Crash!

Tuesday morning – a beautiful morning – was my third attempt at commuting to work.  The night before, I was thinking that I would like the morning leg of my commute to take LONGER, so I looked at a map to figure out – in theory – a “long cut” off my usual path that would drop me down to a great riverside no-cars paved bike trail.

I got a bit of a late start.  I found the turn-off and headed down a block or two, but realized that if I was wrong — that the street I was on wasn’t going to connect to where I wanted to go — that I would have a helluva climb backtracking.  So (late start)+(unknown) made me double-back.  I cut through a parking lot, saw a nice mini hard-pack trail that went up and around a retaining wall… didn’t have quite enough speed to make it to the top.  The extra weight of my bike messenger bag had me off balance (the wrong way).  The toe clips kept me from putting my foot down.  So, I rolled back down to the top of the one foot high retaining wall, then went over the handlebars onto the parking lot below.

Dislocated thumb.  Big laceration – 6 stitches. Road rash.  I swore I broke several ribs… but turned out to be just bruised.  Bruised ego. I locked up my bike, called a cab, and went to the ER.

So much for the “long way” to work.

A buddy of mine brought me home from the hospital – we stopped to get my bike, and I had him drive me down the street that I was going to scout in the morning… turns out it goes to where I thought it would… shouldn’t have turned back in the first place.

So – I’m out of commission for a few days at least… until the wounds heal up a bit.

Twice

Yesterday I did the commute-by-bike again.  Enjoyed it.  Tweaked my knee during the day and was concerned that the uphill ride home would make it worse, but it turned out to be just fine, if not better than had I not biked home.

I drove to work today.  So, week one of the commute-by-bike:  3x by car (M/W/F); 2x by bike (T/Th).

Next week I’ll do M/W/F by bike.  Swear.

(yesterday) morning weigh-in: 289 (WTF?!?)

…and made it back home.

The return trip after work was good.  Slow steady mostly uphill for about five miles followed by two fast downhill, and the final flat.  Really pretty nice, and I didn’t long for a multi-gear bike except for on one long downhill where I could have been going a wee bit faster with the right gear.

I am getting tired of the toe-straps.  I like what they do.  Maybe time to buy my first ever bike shoes.  Hmmmm…

Driving to work today.  I’m going to ease into this… will be back on the bike again tomorrow.

I made it.

Maiden commute-to-work has happened.  Notes in random order:

• The Patagonia bike messenger bag worked pretty well.  It could use a few more small internal pockets to organize junk, but it did the job.  I really like incase’s skate messenger bag — really well designed as the ideal commuting pack.  But at half the price, the Patagonia does quite well.  It seemed quite heavy when I had it all loaded up, but tried the waist strap on a whim just before getting on my bike, and found it took a considerable load off of my shoulders, and the squeeze and load around the waist wasn’t uncomfortable anytime along the ride.  I lost a hint of “freedom of movement” with the waist belt on, but that was far outweighed by the un-weighting of the pack on my shoulders.
• The commuting route I took adds a un-needed hill climb and more distance, but put me on a nice quiet tree-lined boulevard instead of the three-lane lots-of-cars artery I *could* take.  I’ll stick to the current plan for the short run.
• I was passed by a bike commuter almost instantly – on the first turn a block from my house while I was trying to get my big feeting into the toe clips.  I followed him about 100 yards back… surprised to stay with him without trying, at least until we hit the hardest of the hill-climb… didn’t see him again.
• Passed again on a long winding downhill.  I couldn’t pedal fast enough on my singlespeed bike to go any faster — so I was just freewheeling — and a guy all tricked-out in cycle wear on a swanky road bike passed me pedaling hard.
• Singlespeed bike for hilly commuting?  I made it to work – there were a few times when I wished I had a lower not-quite-granny gear, and a few times that I could have gone a little faster if I had a bigger gear to push.  Overall – the singlespeed bike works pretty well.  Simple.
• Have I mentioned this:  I’m very fortunate to belong to a nice health club about 10 blocks from work.  It took me about 40 minutes to get there this morning – showered and dressed in my “office casual” attire, left the messenger bag and cycling wear in the locker and continued to work.  When I get the routine down, I’m thinking it’ll be about an hour + 15 minutes door-to-desk, which will include a reasonable morning workout.
• The commute home:  I may hold off on it until 6:00 PM or so to let the 5:00 rush cool down.  Still, I’m thinking it’s going to be a bit tiresome — very long gentle uphill climb on a very busy artery… it’ll be 75 degrees and lots of cars and trucks… exhaust… heat…
• Knees feel good.  Elbow is a little sore.

Morning weigh-in:  287

Heading to work… by bike… right now.

The day has come.   I’m off to work.  Bicycle.  Me.  Bag full of crap.  8.5 miles including a 200 + foot climb and a 400 + foot descent.  Reverse that for the end-of-day leg back home.  Hopefully my legs will have legs.

Wish me luck.

Tomorrow… Tomorrow… Tomorrow…

I started this damned blog to track my commute-by-bike chronicles… that the day had come… no more off-putting. Well, goddamnit, the day HAS come. Tomorrow. REALLY. Tomorrow — Tuesday the 16th of June — I will ride my bike to work, and home.

I bought a new bike messenger bag today. I went for another good long (relatively long) ride over the weekend. I’m ready. Let’s do this.

Goal is that this is the last time you’ll hear me wax about what I’m GOING to start doing, and will be an account of what I have completed.

Building up

30 minute ride around the ‘hood this morning… mostly to get my stiff legs loosened up.  I think I’m ready for the commute this week.  I’m thinking about cheating – bringing change of clothes to the health club the night before, so I don’t have to carry a load the first day.  We’ll see.  The general plan is to carry the change of clothes, bike to the health club (a few blocks from work), change and head to work in my work attire, then back to the health club at the end of the day to change back into biking gear and head home…. 8 miles up hill.  Ha.