Saturday, September 23, 2006

It's raining, it's pouring

Apparently yesterday was World Car Free Day. Good thing I rode my bike to work. It was actually a nice day to ride. It was misting/sprinkling in the morning so I wasn't drenched. And on the way home it rained pretty hard but I was plenty warm. I don't mind riding in the rain unless it's a really cold rain. It's tough to get that chill out of your bones sometimes after a ride in cold rain.

I was riding the Schwinn with the new Panaracer tires I got at the bike swap this spring. I realized how dry a summer this has been when I was cornering on the wet roads. I still don't fully trust these tires in wet conditions. Not that they've done anything to make me mistrust them, but I just haven't ridden them in the wet enough to inspire confidence. I thought about it as I was on the greenway sprinting across Hiawatha trying to beat the walk signal countdown (I did). As I was halfway across I had a vision of my tires slipping on the crosswalk markings. Probably just paranoia.

It does pose an issue though. When I got the Jamis my initial thought was that I could start riding the Schwinn in the winter when the paths were clear. If I go through with that, I'm going to need some different tires. Probably cross tires with a slight knob on the sides for grip in the corners. Clearance could be an issue. And I'd probably need to figure out some fenders. Otherwise, it's the Raleigh again. Which needs some work. Decisions, decisions.

Date: September 20
Mileage: 20
Ride type/bike: Commute/Jamis
September mileage: 118
Year to date mileage: 2546

Date: September 22
Mileage: 18
Ride type/bike: Commute/Schwinn
September mileage: 136
Year to date mileage: 2564

2 comments:

The Old Bag said...

I weenied-out when I saw it was wet out, but on the way home realized I'd have been just fine in a bit-o rain. The freeways were nuts (what is it about water??).

And...you're starting to make winter commuting plans. Heavy sigh. We all know it's coming.

Sparky said...

Maybe you can just buy another winter commuting bike with the right tires.

Snerk.