Just the commute in, being drizzly and with lots on the agenda today.  I also checked my stats and I’m a full 100 miles ahead of 2007, which I didn’t realize had started that slowly, with soemthing like 236 miles in February.  Of course, I had 1100 and 1200 mile months later, and 930 miles in December, which may be hard to replicate, but hey, if I graduate to a 300K and the training to get there (Dairyland Dare is a tad unlikely … but who knows?)

urban middle school moment

Headed out the 18 mile route with barely enough time and then went ’round the block to avoid trash trucks, and then got an appreciative wave from the school bus driver goin’ out to Yankee Ridge ’cause instead of pulling him that half mile I pulled over (last week he “drafted” behind me nicely, but that’s ’cause he came up on me past the driveway that let me pull off safely). 

Note to self:  that “sustainable” effort is just as sweaty as intervals, especially if you tossed the extra jacket on just in case the rain comes early.  I arrived with no time to spare… I prob’ly smell as bad but it does *feel* better than when I really sprinted and then had to sit in the class and pretty much froze and stiffened, tho’ maybe i’ts just ’cause it’s freezing outside so the heat is running inside. (Happily I did get the ‘pute rshut down right so it’s got juice left, unlike last week.) 

Almost no wind so it didn’t help or hurt.  (I work harder with a little wind. When it’s agin me I want to fight it; when it’s with me I can push the numbers up.   I prob’ly should have worked harder, and thus had more time and could have changed. 

Also just had to stop just before going left on Duncan for a multi-tool in the road.  Even without dropping it into my pocket – I put it in the bags – I was saggin’. The elastic on those sweats is not doin’ so well, what with being put on over 75 layers all winter.   Prob’ly a good thing I didn’t pocket the multitool; some accidents are harder explain than others.

GOod to ride a little long after the weekend shortness.

on-street parking (Baltimore)

(Okay, I”m procrastinating)

Found this article about a little grocery store on St. Paul Street in Baltimore that put a bike rack in a parking space.  I *think* it’s a store I went to when I lived nearby back in ‘84 and ‘85.  I’ll never forget getting my CHristmas Cookie Supplies – lots of sugar and flour – and being asked “is it far to your car?”  and when I assured the man “no,” he then proceeded to *take* the stuff to my car. (I think the weather was weird or something, too.)  It was the first store in my experience to have figured out that its patrons tended to be single or couples, so you could get things in small quantities.  That was 25 years ago – same owner, maybe?  I’m impressed

Not much riding today, though I could have done more at the tail end.  Put the wheel on the Racer and took it down to the bike coop for a little oil and the meeting.  Good bike stuff is happening!

Now to Get Things Done…

Cruising the stats

…. and just like my educational site, there’s a dip on the weekends.

Time to be more productive than that   It’s snowing and 34 degrees… very good weather for Gore-Tex.  (Very glad I didn’t have to pay for mine )

Yesterday Mike found nuts that fit on the Schwinn Racer axle.  Happy, happy (I would have had to bring down the really rusty wheel in the garage to get those nuts off and hope they fit. I *think* the Schwinn’s basically ready to roll and that I just had to fix a flat. I was also happy that the tire held air, so obviously I *did* fix the flat before losing the nuts. Yes, I’ve gotten a little more regular about putting the nuts back on their little places to rest even if the thing is not attached where it goes.

irony and anarchy

My dashboard indicated that somebody had clicked through to my blog searching for anarchy cycling team.

I searched for anarchist cycling team myself, just to see what they were probably *really* looking for.  It was possibly the Bike Snob, who reminds me too much of This American LIfe to even click through to read, but another early hit had “bicycle anarchists” as a subtitle to the http://www.mooseknuckleralliance.org/ … and the most recent post was  telling us who the enforcement officer was for “damage, dumping problems, or whatever” on the trails.

High school teachers:  assign an essay about the pros and cons of anarchy based on that… oops, this is *this* decade.  That would be graduate school…

Metric (and Miller Lite Faery)

Yes, two for two days now – this time almost out to Thomasboro, there’s a full Miller Light in a bevy of cans.  Actually a good thing, ’cause I’d gotten some tea at Casey’s in St. Joseph, but then decided, after all, just to see if I could do 6 miles in a half an hour into the wind towards Rantoul, which I did and then did a few miles more, so I was thirsty and yes, the stuff is an awful lot like water but tasted quite good (tho’ I gave half of it back to the planet).  Riding buddy Cliff says he sees full ones all the time  (and he’s the one who told me about the 12-pack of Bud LIght I retrieved a summer or so ago… don’t think it was a case but it’s not worth searching the blog to see ) and I s’pose I have to consider that less hyperbolic than I thought..

Got a fair number of pictures of the first part so I can do an annotated route description, tomorrow when it’s crappy.  The ride to St. Joe really is rather nice – horses and donkeys and Llamas… I could have even gotten that fungus-filled tree but I was tired of stopping at that point.

Meandered back (I got in some wind sprints) and then went out to CHampaign CYcle to pick up a nifty bag for the Dahon that’s really for Treks which they don’t make any more which is why it was very cheap. Came back and did long way around errands so that I had a metric before going out to eat, my first of the year; my weekly mileages this month have climbed steadily and this week’s past 200. A 10,000 mile year is a pretty long shot, though, with this slow start. On the third hand, toss in the odd 200K and it makes a quick dent… but today reminded me that, um, duh, long rides take all day

I seriously considered doing 30 miles or so today so I could tackle some serious STuff To DO… but rationalized that tomorrow will be totally, totally CRAPPY so I shall stay home and Do That STuff then.  I really wanted to get past Pansy and I am right this second (and I moved up a page in the ranks… that’s two in two weeks!)

Barry at the coop mentioned how nice the horns are for replying to cars, and within the hour I did so as a truck with a special loud horn whonked at me… mine was no real comparison but I bet he was surprised.  Then I honked at the bus that had I sped up as I was going to so it wouldn’t have to slow down so much before going right on First STreet from Logan, since I was going straight, would have right hooked me proper – but I realized the joker was going to go around me, so maybe it was going straight, but at any rate I slowed down instead and that was A Good Thing.  I had my big fat amber blinky going in back… but ya know, I realized when i was almost home that that stuff has simply *never* happened with the spokelit on, and maybe it wouldn’t if I’d turned on the candy-cane lights that outline the snapdeck and give that extra side/outline view.

anyway, I’m tired now – and it’s time for bed. Days off are good!

dump factor :)

http://mcmanusweb.com/?p=237

Somebody else who loves that you can treat Xtracycle bags like the back seat of your car… just dump it in, thank you.

Wonder if she occasionally here’s the honk of someone telling her “Um, you’re losing your load!”

that which is measured…

I’ve put in 152 miles in the past 4 days… is it having a computer?  Or having read about the Dairyland Dare and seeing that not one single woman has done the 300K there.  Not that I’ve ever done a 300K, much less a hilly one.  On the other hand, the 25+ mph winds the past two days let me work out pretty hard… though it just doesn’t have that special feel of having to exert X+20 force units on the pedals… even when it is windy, you can just slow down and the heart rate just doesn’t climb up there the same way.  On the third hand, exactly how steep are the hills? TOMRV is my favorite kind of terrain (tho’ I prefer 15% up than down, thank you).

SHopping for a new seat.  THe cheap gel one I got… is cheap.  Felt fine but it’s worn out, ‘way to fast.  Unfortunately, regular seats are lots more ’spensive. Maybe I’ll just develop calluses on the red bike… I really don’t want to pay for the Brooks or Selle Anatomica lables or even the $70 bucks for the Bontraer one that looks most like what I have… it’s just not where I like my money going.  That would buy a lot of Food Coop foodstuffs… (note to self:  when you make your scrumptious tomato stuff, put it in smaller containers.  You don’t eat it fast enough and once the sides are bulging… probably a good thing there was visible growth ’cause I”m easily tempted to “improve my immune system through exposure…”)

’tis raining.  Of course it didn’t rain on me

First Official Non-Saunter 2009 ride

Went out for a Tolono Loop and 25 miles or so (38 counting the ride out there) and sustained a nice 14-15 mph, which was of course lots more work than you’d think, but it’s been a long winter.

Saw a clickable ad on Facebook – the “dairyland dare.”  100, 200, or 300 K.  Then I looked at the “results” and saw that up ’til now, not a female has participated in the 300K.

I inquired and it would seem that there are HILLS… no, not “there are hills” but “it is hilly.”  As in, after a while you can’t get up them.

Still, let’s just see… it sort of inspired me not to short cut on home.  I shall probably read that it will cost a lot of money and also require joining something. There is only so much stuff I will put up with… but we’ll see.

Can’t plow a forecast…

…  but excuse me, the forecast is for sunny and there’s a whole bloomin’ FRONT on the radar.  I’ll ahve to tell it to kindly stave off ’til we’re done.