My only friend, the end

Ever since I was a kid, the one thing I truly had a talent for has been sleeping. I've read that an increase in sleeping is a sign of depression. If that's true, I'll probably sleep about 20 hours a day if I get truly depressed. My personal best is 17 hours straight, back in high school. I don't even remember why I would have been tired. But the family was out of the house for the day and I didn't wake up until 6:30 in the evening. And the only reason I got up is because my friends were downstairs knocking on the door. You see, we were supposed to see a play that evening at 7. It was that late spring-early summer time of year when 6pm looks a whole lot like 6am. I was so disoriented that I staggered downstairs, answered the door and said "What the hell are you guys doing here at 6 in the morning?!"

The fact that I voluntarily set my alarm for 6:30 on a Saturday morning would shock most people I know. But I did it on this last Saturday of 2006 to get another Hiawatha ride in. I can't think of a better way to end the year. We headed North on the parkway and made our way to Birchwood because I'd never been there before. If nothing else, the Saturday ride is a good way to learn about the Minneapolis coffee houses within a 10 mile radius of the Shop. After coffee and various goodies we headed West on the Greenway, then cut South on Bryant. Emboldened by the experimental bikeway markings we took up as much of the road as 5 riders could. Ray brought the Clown Bike and honked at anybody who got in our way. It made me feel safe, anyhow.

After a quick detour to CRC we zipped back to the shop. Jim forgot to leave the secret security code, so no sales could take place. So much for his plan to take over the world "tens of dollars at a time." I was hankering for one of those snazzy Planet Bike taillights. Next time.

I'd like to thank everybody who stops by and reads this blog, both on a regular and irregular basis. It's been a lot of fun in 2006 and I'm looking forward to 2007. My resolutions are to eat more, work out less and sleep later (Saturday mornings excepted). When you set the bar low, you'll make your goals. Have a safe New Year all y'all.

Date: December 30
Mileage: 28
Ride type/Bike: Hiawatha Ride/Schwinn
December mileage: 183
Year to date mileage: 3174

Just under the wire, snow

Minneapolis/St Paul finally got some snow that has a chance of staying through Christmas. If we're lucky. I can still see patchy grass in the backyard as I sit here in the living room and type. A good sunny afternoon could wipe away this slightly-white with no effort at all. It's one where I'm not even sure it's worth putting shovel to pavement. Of course, my sloth could also backfire if temps drop. I'd be stuck with a driveway full of ice until March. Still, at this point I'm willing to take my chances. Maybe the afternoon will see me in a different mindset.

The photo above was taken on the new section of the Minneapolis Greenway on last night's commute home. There was maybe an inch of snow, and that's being generous. The bike lanes were in horrendous shape, at least for someone who hasn't ridden in snow in 9 months. But the bike lane on 10th St had those irregular patches of slippery hardpack, and Portland was a slushy mess. After only a couple blocks I opted to leave Portland and side-street it over to Franklin. Franklin doesn't have a bike lane, but traffic was moving so slowly that I felt infinitely safer. Even on the good days Portland puts a little fear into me. That's the street where people are trying to go as fast as vehicularly possible to get to the next red light. Franklin, at least between 11th and Minnehaha Ave always has more of a laid back vibe, which I appreciated.

Once I made it to the Greenway it was smooth, if slow, sailing. This is the first time I've had the Raleigh out this year with the studded tires. I was amazed in the morning how much slower they feel than the 100psi cross tires that I've moved from the Raleigh to the Schwinn. And on the way home that feeling of slowness was compounded into downright sluggishness going through the snow. But I was glad to have the surefootedness. I only had one potential crappie flop, going down the hill on West River Road near Lake Street. I'm not sure what happened, but I nearly biffed it. But I recovered nicely and rode the rest of the way home without incident.

The commute felt good, but it left me overtired and cranky for the rest of the evening. The stinky Vikings didn't help matters any. But, I'm off work until January 3 so a lazy day is in order. Woo.

Date: December 21
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Raleigh
December mileage: 155
Year to date mileage: 3146

What did I do?

OK, let's recap. Yesterday I forgot the battery for my light and was looking at a 14 mile commute in the dark, with traffic and no front lighting of any sort. I did have a tailight, but that's not really even half the battle. I received many helpful, and some not so helpful, suggestions. Let's start with the not so helpful.

I think option F - stay overnight at work.

Staying overnight at work is just wrong. I do everything I can to ensure I only work somewhere between 35-40 hours per week on a regular basis, and I certainly don't want to change that. Thanks Snake, but I'm sending you to the remedial class.

Dude - you forget option G: buy another battery!

I'm currently rockin' the Planet Bike Alias light for my commute. It looks a little something like this:


I can't imagine anywhere downtown that would have one. Plus, I don't really want to shell out in the neighborhood of $70 for another battery. Nice idea, but loses something in the execution.

Doug wins the prize for what I should have done. He's absolutely right, I can always use another light. All my bikes should have blinkies front and rear, permanently mounted instead of shuttled back and forth. This scenario is the perfect proof as to why. But, since either of the bike shops I wanted to go to required miles of riding in traffic, I decided not to go with this one.

Oddly enough, the first comment hit the nail on the head. Minus Car (aka mytzpyk) guessed choice b right away. And that's what I went with. I took the train from downtown to Fort Snelling and rode the remaining 4 miles home. From Fort Snelling, it's pretty light traffic and nice wide shoulders. No worries.

Thanks for playing!

Date: December 20
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Schwinn
December mileage: 135
Year to date mileage: 3126

Tagged!

Crap. Not only have I been tagged, but double tagged. I guess that means I gotta do it. So, five things that readers would not know about me. I'll leave it to the readers to decide if they are interesting things or not.

1. I've had more jobs than pretty much anyone I know. Going from memory in chronological order: Busboy at Perkins, working on a pick your own strawberry farm, Busboy at Esteban's, perfume salesman, grocery store stocker, Blue Bell ice cream man (I drove the truck and everything), various light industrial temping one summer (mostly warehouse work), recycling truck driver, car wash 'dude who wipes your car down after it's been washed' (I had that job twice), pizza delivery guy, pizza cook (after I lost my drivers' license), stereo/appliance salesman, telephone transaction agent, Service Recovery agent, Process Consultant, Service Manager, Project Manager and Senior Business Analyst. And I know I'm missing one or two in there somewhere.

2. I still have scars on my hands from stair sledding. Way before youtube was even invented.

3. I lived in Huron, South Dakota, for nearly three years. I'm still not sure why.

4. I played the Alto Saxaphone in high school band. Yes, that's right, I was a band geek. I also played the triangle on our band trip to Florida, because we were short a percussionist and the piece we were playing needed a triangle.

5. Once we found one of those old vibrating belt exercise machines. The kind from the 50s where you wrap the belt around your waist and it jiggled you to weight loss. It still worked so we would have contests to see who could stay in it the longest. I still hold the record, because the next person who tried it totally broke the belt.

And for the hell of it, I'll tag some folks. I tag Karl and Baggie. I think everybody else has been gotten.

Date: December 19
Mileage: 10
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Schwinn
December mileage: 115
Year to date mileage: 3106

Decisions, decisions

It's now quittin' time and I've realized that I forgot the battery to my 10w headlight at home. And the bike I rode in doesn't even have a blinkie on the front. So, do I:

a) Ride home with no light?
b) Take the train most of the way and ride the remaining portion with no light?
c) Ride to The Hub and buy a light?
d) Ride to Hiawatha and buy a light?
e) Call the wife for a ride home?

Tune in to see what I decide!

Why shouldn't mythological creatures love one another?

The reports of people falling down this morning make me glad that I drove today. I've been doing that a lot lately. Pretty much ever since somebody decided that a presentation was called for, with only a week to prepare. Then said somebody delegated the creation of the presentation to some low level lackey (i.e. me). And it's been hell on wheels ever since.

In most cases biking to work is a stress reliver. It's nice to deal with various things all day and then be able to pound out any frustrations on the 14 mile ride home. But when stress hits a certain level for me then bike commuting becomes and added stressor. The stuff I take for granted, like having warm clothes packed and getting all my gear lined up on a day in/day out basis starts adding to the problem instead of taking away from it. I've learned to just go with it and drive when things get to that point. I've already reached my mileage goal of 3,000 for the year so it's not a huge loss. Next year I think I'm going to try Kevin's "ride 100 miles for every year of your age" goal. So that means my goal would be 3,800. That's only 316.66666 miles per month. In theory, very possible.

This has absolutely nothing to do with biking, but it made me laugh out loud for the first time in days. Make sure you have the volume on. Enjoy.


Date: December 7
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Schwinn
December mileage: 85
Year to date mileage: 3076


Date: December 8
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Schwinn
December mileage: 105
Year to date mileage: 3096

Dang!

Check out this video, it's only a minute and a half long. You've got time before your next meeting. This guy has some mad bike skilz!


Here's the youtube link in case the embed doesn't work in your browser. Found via goclipless.com

Date: December 5
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Schwinn
December mileage: 65
Year to date mileage: 3056

Fenders

We had a dusting of snow this morning when I woke up. When I was riding through Ft. Snelling one of the groundskeepers was using a leaf blower to clear off the sidewalk. And yet it was enough to stick to my tires and make a mini-snowdrift from the brakes. I really need to figure out my fender options if I'm going to keep riding the Schwinn any longer this year.

Date: December 4
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Schwinn
December mileage: 45
Year to date mileage: 3036

Mmmm, forbidden doughnut

Another fun ride with the boys from Hiawatha. It was a balmy 16 degrees when I headed out from the house at 7:15am, and it didn't get much warmer. We managed to accidentally ride through the Lifetime Reindeer Run at Lake Harriet this morning. People say I'm nuts for riding my bike in the winter, yet nobody seems to have any issues with these idiot joggers running through 3 feet of snow. What gives?

I don't have any clear idea of where we were most of the morning, so I guesstimated a route that's probably more conservative than what we took, what with the indecision at the beginning of the ride. We ended up at Melo-Glaze bakery which doesn't seem to have a web presence, hence they get no linky goodness from me. When we walked in, the only people in the place was another group of cyclists. Who would have thought that on a 16 degree December morning two different groups of cyclists would have a random meeting at a doughnut shop? That's Minneapolis for you. Melo-Glaze's coffee was less than stellar, but the glazed doughnuts were good. I can still feel them sitting in my gut at quarter to five, and that's the sign of a good doughnut.

Date: December 2
Mileage: 25
Ride type/Bike: Hiawatha Ride/Schwinn
December mileage: 25
Year to date mileage: 3016

Vision Correction to Vision Protection

Karl asked a good question the other day in the comments. He said, "So now will you be riding with some kind of non-corrective eyewear to keep the bugs, dust, and beer cans away from your new investments?" Now, I know Karl and know that he rides here in Minneapolis. I'm not sure what part of Minneapolis, but obviously a different part than me. Getting a flying beer can in the eye has never been high on my list of things to worry about.

I have, however, been thinking about what to wear on the old eyeballs. Both in the first month following the surgery where the mere act of turning my head fast causes my eyes to get dry and me to run for some eye drops. But also for the long term. I've never ridden any distance without the specs on, at least since I was a kid. They were no safety glasses, but they did offer a modicum of protection from the wind and elements. And flying beer cans.

Today was my first day back on the bike after the surgery. I decided to give the old ski goggles a try. I have a pair of ski goggles that I picked up at a thrift store last year and have never worn. After one day, I'm hooked. The goggles were great. My eyes weren't tearing up like they have in previous cold weather riding. And the top half of my face, previously my Achillies heel in winter armor, was snug and comfortable. I did have issues seeing clearly on the way home in the dark, however. I hadn't cleaned the lenses very well after buying them, and there was residue from the thrift store price tag in front of one eye and residue from something I'm sure I'm glad I don't know what it is in front of the other eye. But a few minutes with a rag and some windex tonight and things are all "cleared" up. That's a joke, son.

The goggles did have one drawback. They seem to ride low on my nose. Or perhaps it's because my nose is larger than average. But either way it felt as though I was wearing the opposite of a Breathe-Right strip. Call it a Breathe-Wrong strip. The goggles pushed down and instead of magically opening my nasal passages they made it harder to breathe through my nose. I'm hoping that some adjustments to the elastic strap will help with these issues. Either that, or perhaps a pair of goggles that costs me more than $8.

Date: November 29
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Schwinn
November mileage: 80
Year to date mileage: 2991

I know you've been worried

It was a busy holiday weekend for me and mine. I had the Lasik procedure on Tuesday, which shot that day to hell. By Wednesday morning I could see really well. It's like a high-tech miracle. I spent Wednesday with my kids, getting used to not wearing glasses and getting used to the eye drop ritual. Wednesday afternoon we went to my one day eye follow-up appointment. The hottie doc told me I was already seeing 20/20 and sent me home.

Thursday we had the traditional Thanksgiving with my family, and I ate until I was sure I'd gain a few pounds. To make sure I'd keep those pounds on, Friday we hopped in the car and headed to Bemidji to see family, a parade, and fireworks. The kids swam in the hotel pool Friday night and Saturday morning. I hot tubbed, but no swimming (gotta keep the eyes dry for 7 days). Then Saturday afternoon we drove back home.

Sunday I did manage to burn some calories, but not on a bike. After a morning spent drinking coffee and cleaning the house I made waffles for the girls. Then I changed the oil in our van and watched a bit of the Vikings. The Vikes didn't really hold my attention so I put up the outside Christmas lights and cleaned the gutters since all the leaves are down from the trees.

The way things are going, it's going to be Christmas before I can even turn around.

Low miles and eyes

I'm going to be lucky to break 100 miles this month. I'm currently sitting at 60, and looking ahead I don't see a ton of miles in my future. I worked from home yesterday and today and I'm scheduled for Lasik this afternoon. After that, I'm off work the rest of the week. This may be my lowest mileage month in over a year. Which is a bummer, because it's been an awesome November for bike riding. No snow and decent temps. The few days I have been out have been wonderful.

Speaking of Lasik, I can't believe how nervous I am about the procedure. Stuff like this usually doesn't bother me, but I've been finding myself obsessing over it for the last few days. And I'm not normally the obsessing type. I'm sure it will all go according to plan, but I wish they would have given me a couple day supply of tranquilizers. Just a little something to take the edge off. Ah well, nothing ventured nothing gained.

Sweet ride

Now this is a sweet bike. Quick, take up a collection for the "buy Pete a cool old bike" fund. Found via craigslist

Scratch scratch

From the stall where I change into and out of my biking clothes:

I hope this guy had better luck with his other business than he did with the scratch-off he brought into the stall.


Date: November 15
Mileage: 20
Ride type/bike: Commute/Schwinn
November mileage: 60
Year to date mileage: 2971

Cue the crickets

I haven't been riding for over a week. I had a big training class last week that made commuting difficult, and Friday I worked from home. So to blow the dust off of the blog, here's a 4 page article about bike relations in New York, from The New Yorker appropriately enough. That should keep you busy for a bit. It's Sunday morning, pull up a couch and some coffee. And read nuggets like this:

Of course, some people’s fun is another person’s nightmare. The completion of the thirteen-mile greenway along the Hudson has inspired a great many people—five thousand, on a good day—to ride their bikes. According to Michael Smith, a veteran city cyclist, the new riders tend to wear spandex and helmets and go very fast, with a great sense of purpose, on expensive machines. Smith is a member of Right of Way, an organization “dedicated to the overthrow of car tyranny.” On its Web site, he wrote, “Back when we were all fighting the cars on the street, I felt a certain sense of solidarity. But now that we’ve got this dedicated—or sorta dedicated—space, I’m finding out that a lot of us are, well, assholes . . . just like that Guido in the S.U.V. who nearly killed you on Sixth Avenue last week.” Smith longed for a return of that “good, mutinous urban attitude” about cycling, where “we’d just laugh at the stoplights, and give the finger to the indignant, honking drivers. And we’d all feel like comrades or co-conspirators or something.” The “drivers on bikes,” as he called them, are really suburbanites in disguise. “Will they—please God!—move to fucking Scarsdale as soon as their kids are born?”

Discuss.

Vehicle Update

It's been an unproductive week here at the Velocipete HQ. The kids picked up some kind of plague and now it's been transferred to Mrs. Velocipete. I've either already had an extremely mild version or I'm coming down with it, and I can't for the life of me figure out which. This is causing not much to get done. Yesterday I was on a quest to get my blinkers to blink on my 1990 Montero. I've been driving around for at least a month manually moving the blinker wand up and down to get an artifical "blink" from the turn signals. I know that the left rear signal is completely non-functional, and it's bothering me a bit. So Saturday I did some interweb digging and found a salvage yard in Rosemount that was supposed to have a Montero. I drove out there with one daughter only to find they didn't. We stopped at Checker on the way home and bought a new flasher. But the one they sold me had three prongs and I couldn't find anything under the dash that remotely resembled it. I spent probably an hour taking apart the dash with no luck. So I did some testing and found that the true flasher only has two prongs. I removed it and took the part back to Checker. They don't carry one that will work. So I either need to find a vehicle at salvage with the flasher and rear taillight assembly or go the dealer. This is a whole lot more work than I'm interesting in doing for a vehicle I'm probably going to unload soon.

I spent some time in the garage this afternoon cleaning a whole lotta stuff that has been piling up. The garage is now in a state where, once my current basement shelving project is done, I'll actually be able to park both cars in there again! And more importantly, I've got space to do bike repairs. So I took advantage of that and replaced the brakes on the Raleigh during the Vikings game. I got a pair of NOS Coda cantilever brakes from eBay for about $20, so I won't be too heartbroken if they're trashed come spring. Now I can confidently brake with both front and rear brakes. What a concept! Now I just need to do something about the drivetrain. Work, work, work.

Date: November 2
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Schwinn
November mileage: 20
Year to date mileage: 2931

Date: November 3
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Schwinn
November mileage: 20
Year to date mileage: 2951

Trek or Treat

It looks like Ms. Witchy traded in her broomstick for something a little more exciting. Possibly with carbon fiber. Happy halloween from all of us here at Velocipete!

Date: October 25
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Schwinn
October mileage: 291
Year to date mileage: 2891

Date: October 30
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Schwinn
October mileage: 311
Year to date mileage: 2911

D'oh, a deer!

I had a bit of excitement last night on the way home. As I was riding down Highway 13 a car passed me. So far, nothing out of the ordinary. Cars pass me on Highway 13 all the time. It's after it passed me where things got interesting. The car was about 100 feet in front of me when suddenly the driver hit the brakes, hard. The car skidded and left long black skid marks on the pavement and created a huge cloud of blue smoke. As my brain registered this it also figured out what was going on. A deer had run out of the ditch in front of the car.

I saw two things happen almost simultaneously. First, the car hit the deerand the deer flipped over onto it's side. At the same time, I saw a second deer in the ditch that had been getting ready to follow the first onto the highway. As soon as the first deer was hit, the second reversed course and headed for the hills.

The car pulled off to the side and the passenger got out and walked back to the deer, where I had stopped my bike. The deer was alive, but it didn't look good. She looked sort of shocked by the whole incident. Her husband was looking at the car, which appeared to be undamaged. Because I was less than a mile from home, I offered to call the Highway Patrol for them. They were dressed up and looked like they had someplace to be. They accepted and I went on my way.

I got home and called the Highway Patrol and told them what happened. They said they would send someone out to "dispatch" the deer. This morning on my way in it was still lying on the shoulder. I wasn't looking forward to riding past that corpse every day, but by the time I came home tonight it was gone.

Date: October 23
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Schwinn
October mileage: 251
Year to date mileage: 2851

Date: October 24
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Schwinn
October mileage: 271
Year to date mileage: 2871

Note to Self: Don't Bike to the Airport

I saw this story in today's Star Trib about a man who parked his bike at the airport, only to return and find it destroyed. I won't post the entire article here, but please read it here:

Leave your bike at the airport? Not a good idea, rider says

I am first going to start out with the unpopular position that the cyclist had a small part of the blame here. I say this because he locked his bike up inside the terminal. Not including the underground parking garage at my work and Jim's shop, I can't think of a single place where I can lock my bike up indoors. Locking your bike inside of a building is asking for trouble. But, this is a very small part of the story. If I had done this, I wouldn't be entirely surprised to come back after four days and find my bike had been removed. I would be incredibly surprised to find that my bike had been cut in half. It's a bit like parking in the handicap spot, only to find that instead of being impounded your car has been sent to the crusher.

The saddest part is that no matter the outcome, this man has lost a bicycle he's owned since 1957. Nearly 50 years. Each scratch on the frame had a story that is now gone. Every small modification made by the owner to increase his satisfaction cannot be duplicated. Another Raleigh 3-speed, while the same bike in theory, can't come close to replacing what has been lost. Every time Paul rode this bike, he was likely reminded of a lifetime of biking and adventure. He will never build this type of connection again, and that is the true crime here.



Date: October 10
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Schwinn
October mileage: 130
Year to date mileage: 2730

Date: October 12
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Schwinn
October mileage: 150
Year to date mileage: 2750

Date: October 16
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Schwinn
October mileage: 170
Year to date mileage: 2770

Date: October 17
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Schwinn
October mileage: 190
Year to date mileage: 2790

Date: October 20
Mileage: 10
Ride type/Bike: Fun Ride/Jamis
October mileage: 200
Year to date mileage: 2800

Date: October 21
Mileage: 31
Ride type/Bike: Hiawatha Ride/Raleigh
October mileage: 231
Year to date mileage: 2831

Oh Merry Men!

First of all, let me say that this post is long overdue. The the most overdue part is a big thank you to Michael from andsoforth.com. For it was Michael's generousity that makes this post even possible.

Way back in May, Michael posted that he had an old Raleigh Robin Hood that he wanted to give to someone who would appreciate it. At the time, I felt I was that someone. Michael drove out to my place one morning and dropped of this beauty, my first foray into the world of English Three Speeds.




When I got it it had two brand new tires on it, but the front was flat. I didn't want to take pictures of the bike with a bum shoe so I waited. I finally got a couple of 26" tubes since the front was completely blown and went about replacing the tube. I pumped it up and all was well.




We went for a spin around the block and I noticed the seat was really loose. So I decided to tighten up the bolt that holds it together. Apparently I don't know my own strength, as I snapped the bolt in two. So the bike was hung in the garage again. And at some point while it was hanging, it blew the front tube again.



Fast forward to October. It's been a busy summer for me, and I'm behind on the scheduled maintenence on the bikes I ride regularly, let alone keeping up with the Hood. But after a cold snap that brought some light mid-October snow we had a gorgeous 60 degree Sunday afternoon. So I pulled the bike down again and replaced the front tube again. This time I sanded down a couple of burrs inside the front rim. I also found a bolt that fits the seat, pulled out the dremel and spent some time re-grooving the seat supports that were worn down and causing the seat to slip.




I took it out for a short ride yesterday, and I can see the allure of the bike and why people enjoy riding them. I think the seat needs a little more love, but I could possibly be ready for Lake Pepin next spring.