51 miles for the first week of January

It's January in Nebraska and it's been unseasonably warm.

Up until today the average high temps have been above freezing and I figure that's as good a time as any to keep riding. I put in 20 miles on Sunday and commuted to/from work and to/from the gym a couple of times.

The freeze/thaw cycles melting the little bit of snow we've received make me thankful for my studded Nokian tires. There's a good 1/4 mile section of Lincoln's Rock Island trail that managed to stay icy despite highs in the mid-40s the past couple of days. Today's ride home on this section was a bit dicey with the westerly cross-wind blowing me off balance. Despite the studs on the tires, the need to steer into the wind had my bike moving all over the trail trying to find a place to grab a hold.

The temperatures are finally dipping into "Nebraska Winter" territory with single digit projected highs for the coming week. But before it gets seasonably cold, we're finally getting our seasonable precipitation. The low prediction says 3 inches, some say as much as 8 inches before it's all said and done Monday night.

The last piece of my ice biking ensemble came in the mail today. I now have a set of Smith Cascade ski goggles. No more ice on my eyelashes or frozen tears running out of my eye sockets.

I'll be out on the bike on Sunday. How about you?

I once vowed never to join a Gym.

About this time last year I vowed not to join a gym. Bill Nye said it best when he said "The bicycle is a big part of our future. It has to be: there's something wrong with a society that drives a car to a gym for exercise."

I've decided I won't go faster on my bike without putting more force through the pedals. My local Gold's Gym is ten bucks a month. The fine print says I pay $30 a year in October. Whoopty freaking doo. Gym membership is $150 a year. A bargain compared to the cost of weights needed to achieve suggested "load goals" for specific exercises as spelled out in The Cyclist's Training Bible.

I have been doing some body weight exercises to facilitate my desire to get stronger, but I found those got real easy within 3 weeks. Add more resistance in the form of 20lb dumbbells? Easy again within a week. A $10/mo gym membership is the most economical answer to the question of "How do I make my bicycle's rear tire smoke like those connected to a 1,000hp twin turbo V8 nestled between the fenders of a 1987 Buick?"

My power goals look something like this, only noisier

I haven't set foot in a gym in well over a dozen years. Sure, the cardio machines have televisions and the snack bar offers more than just fruit juices with protein powder, but one thing has not changed: the people.

There's a group who go to the gym with no real plan. They sit at one machine, do 5 or so reps with way too much resistance, huff, puff and sweat all over said machine for 2-3 minutes, do three more reps, huff, puff and sweat some more, and then leave the machine drenched in sweat for the next user. They'll cruise the floor for an hour visiting random machines repeating this behavior. These people are often "in the/my/your way". I call them "randomizers".

There's also a group of "dude-bros", the folks who practically live at the gym with the sole goal of becoming "fit". Not that there's anything wrong with spending all of your spare time exercising with like-minded folks....

I don't understand the cardio-crazed, the people who can't get enough of the treadmill. I don't get how anyone can run in place for an hour or more while staring at a tv screen. I know what you're thinking, and yes, my road bike is currently clamped into my indoor trainer. I use it for spin-up drills and isolated leg work. I wouldn't consider cruising with a steady 135bpm heart rate for two hours while watching TV. That would absolutely kill the joy of cycling for me.

Then there's the geeks. They have a very clear goal in mind when they set foot in the gym. Exercise A leads to result B, which leads to Goal C. They are probably using the gym to supplement progress in another activity like basket weaving or chess. Maybe a sport like cycling. Some might even carry around a pencil and paper to track progress.

While I still consider working out in a gym to be a form of madness, I have a method to it.

I used to feel like this every day.

So I've had a cold for a while now. Chest cold. I planned to commute Wednesday, but the cold/cough said "hell no", and I drove. I felt miserable all day long at work.

You'd think 8 hours of sleep would be enough, but no. I slept 10 hours a night for the last three nights and managed to sneak some power naps in here and there.

A cocktail of medication makes me feel normal long enough to interact with others. One sudafed, some expectorant cough syrup, ibuprofen, a halls drop or five and a good hot shower makes me feel like a human again for a couple hours, and then it's all back to the cough and misery.

I probably just did myself a dis-service just now by lifting weights.

There was a time when I felt like this every day. back in those days I consumed a steady diet of cigarettes, mt. dew, and fast food. Exercise included picking up a play station controller. I would turn off my bedroom light, but not before looking at my old Cannondale road bike leaning on the wall opposite my bed and think "maybe tomorrow?" as my head hit the pillow.

Maybe.

I'm not training for an Ironman.

My cousin shared this on her facebook wall a few days back. I just got done lifting weights and laughed at myself in a monotone computer voice.



While I'm not training for an Ironman, I am training towards a cat5 time trial in MiddleOfNowhere, Nebraska this summer. At least with the Ironman, there is a TV crew on site to survey the damage the athletes do to themselves and maybe catch the athletes puking on camera.



(Yes, that's just a marathon, but you get the idea.)

I did a 1h25m ride across Lincoln's north side on Sunday, took the Superior Street trail from Havelock to Belmont, then rode down 11th street through Belmont across Cornhusker Highway.

I saw something beautiful between riding on Grandview Boulevard and North 11th street: there's only two stop signs between Superior and Adams street when heading south, and they're at the tops of hills.

Compare and contrast with S. 44th street, where stop signs impede forward progress at J and D streets, at the bottoms of hills. One has to stop at the bottom of a short and steep hill, put a foot down, look both ways for cars, then pick a foot back up and mash the pedals to climb a short and steep hill.

I would much prefer cycling on S. 44th street if I had to stop at the top of a hill (I'm going slow anyways), put a foot down, look both ways for cars, pick my foot back up, and then coast effortlessly down the hill.

I would be far less likely to puke on S. 44th if the street were just a little more bicycle friendly.

At 1:15 in this video, Portlanders explain that they changed the orientation of 19 stop signs to make it easier to cycle on the "Going Greenway":

Portland's Bike Boulevards Become Neighborhood Greenways from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

We could do that here.

No matter what, you're always learning.

This has been a good week for me, cycling wise. I've learned a great deal about the world around me, how the bike handles with spiked tires and that some of my equipment does not play nice with other equipment.

It was pointed out to me Tuesday night/Wednesday Morning that Copenhagen is in Denmark and that they are referred to as the Danes, it is not in the Netherlands nor are its inhabitants called "Dutch". It's been 20 years since high school geography, and I'm pretty sure my old teacher would not be surprised at this catastrophic knowledge failure.

I assumed those folks were using studded tires to stay upright, but Chris H pointed out on my facebook wall:

I don't think any of those guys are running studs. There's a great video on youtube somewhere of a corner on a really slippery day. Almost everyone goes down on it.

And here's the video:



I could look down my nose at them and say "well maybe you should get some Nokians and that wouldn't happen", except I found out that even with metal studs in my tread that I will, in fact, fall on my ass.

We got some ice Wednesday night.

Yesterday morning I climbed out of the tunnel under 27th and Capitol Parkway and attempted to make the right turn before the building formerly known as the picnic shelter. The climb didn't involve any slippage of the rear wheel, I stopped thinking about the ice, and I leaned into the turn like I always did. Ouch.

I'm just glad nobody was there to see my fall.

I learned that pedaling on ice is one way to smooth your pedal stroke. If you tend to "mash" the pedals, the rear wheel slips a bit back and forth, even with my 106 stud Nokians. Take the pressure off the downstroke while concentrating on scraping the mud off the bottom and kicking your leg over the top of the pedal stroke, and the bike tracks true. I would imagine it's because of the more constant power delivery to the rear wheels.

I learned something about department store bike acessories: don't. Back in March I was in Target buying an inner tube for one of the kids bikes. They're 16" bikes and they're not interested in performance. I saw it sitting there, a Bell Free Fit 15 wireless computer for about nineteen bucks.

Wireless, does everything I need, and inexpensive. I bought it. It took all of 5 minutes to install and configure. It was a good deal at the time and served me well.

And then Daylight Savings Time happened. While I don't react well to the time change, I don't expect the computer to care one way or another. It was as if the computer went nuts. I was always going 33-34mph, even when stopped, on ice, into the wind, with the wind, etc. I changed the batteries and it still misbehaved. 

What changed? My headlight is on!

Turns out that being an analog electronic device, the cheapie computer is susceptible to interference from other analog electronic devices, including my Planet Bike Beamer 5 LED Headlight set to "blink mode". I put the computer in, turned the light to blink mode and it registered 33mph. Click the light to steady and it's zero.

I moved the headlight as far to the right as possible and ran it on constant mode for my ride home today. That seems to have fixed it. That simply means I'll probably need to recharge the headlight batteries more often.

So the cheap computer isn't a total loss, unlike my high school geography class.

The Danes, alright? I learned it by watching the Danes!

It's snowing outside as I type this. I am riding my bike to work tomorrow. Am I crazy?

Half a million Copenhagenites couldn't be wrong:



No doubt a number of these Danes are riding on Nokian tires to keep the bike from slipping out from underneath their bodies.

I figure I could do the same:

I put 14 miles on them today. I have to say they aren't great at cruising along at 17mph on dry pavement. The bike doesn't feel as stable as I am accustomed to with [insert dry pavement-specific tire here]. The bike's responsiveness becomes sluggish. They don't like it when I lean the bike on dry pavement. They make a ridiculous noise not unlike a rusty chain on dry pavement.

I'm pretty sure the combination of carbide steel and bare concrete produces a number of high pitched whines, as I managed to scare dogs while riding with them on dry pavement.

If you ride studded Nokain tires on dry pavement, prepare to be disappointed.

However, a section of Lincoln's MoPac trail between 33rd and 35th streets was a 30 foot long skating rink on an incline. On any of the other tires I have at my disposal I'd probably be whacked out on [insert painkiller med here] and drooling on whatever dressing holds a collarbone in place.

When I get more confidence in my ability to ride on ice, I hope to resemble this Camaro, except with two wheels and a much quieter exhaust note:

Two blocks on the Nokians

I installed the Nokians tonight. I also took the bike up and down my block just because.

The snow and gravel machine came with Specialized Borough XC 700x45 tires, designed to go everywhere with a flat center section and knobbed shoulders. I had them pumped to 85psi. The bike rode very smooth and relatively fast for a bike that heavy with those tires. I enjoy riding those tires on bike paths and gravel roads.

I have also installed some 700x28 Specialized All Condition tires on the bike. The light high-pressure tires made the heavy hybrid ride smooth as glass on bike trails.

The new 700x35 Nokians have 4mm knobs with carbide tipped studs across the center of the tire. I have them pumped to 65psi. The bike feels a little squishy and the studs make a lot of noise compared to the Boroughs. Cutting a u-turn in the street didn't feel right.

There's some snow on my street and I couldn't help but give them a little test. They bite down into the snow quite a bit more than the Boroughs.

I look forward to conquering the snow this winter.