It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

What a lovely time of year. The evening ride home is delightful with all the holiday lights decorating the houses. What better way to enjoy them than riding a bike. It is a much better experience than seeing the lights wiz by from a car. Plus, you get the brisk air in your face! It makes arriving at home and warming up inside all the more rewarding.

Who is NOT riding today?

Who in SoCal is NOT riding today? Or, who are the brave souls that ARE?! It's pouring rain and gusty winds around here. I am today enjoying being stuck inside the office. :-)

Cold as Ice

It was a bit chilly this morning in SD. Guessing somewhere in the 40's. I know other parts of the country think we are wimps to even talk about the weather unless it is something like 10 below, but nonetheless, it was chilly. I broke out the knee warmers and jacket this morning. Probably could have used to full-finger gloves too. I'm not a big fan of getting decked out in cycling gear, but those knee warmers are so nice! Those plus a cycling vest are probably the 2 best pieces of cycling clothing to have around here. Even in the 40's and 50's, the knees can get damaged from the cool air if you are working them hard without any protection. The vest is great to keep the wind off your chest while the back can still breathe. I wore the jacket this morning since I had on a short sleeve shirt. With a long sleeve jersey or arm warmers, the vest would have done the trick.
The cooler times of year are my favorite for riding for some strange reason. Maybe it is knowing that you are one of the few "real" cyclists when you are out there when others are taking the bus or driving. You know what they say, "the weather is never too bad, you're just not dressed appropriately."

Slow Ride, Take It Easy

It's been one of those months, or two, where normal bike commuting has been interrupted with various obligations that made driving the car more common that I wished. As soon as I get in a good groove of biking to work, I am off the bike for several days of driving. The rhythm of the commute is so different between the two. While biking, I feel more free, able to get a better grasp on the thoughts for the day. While driving, it is all about watching the road, the other drivers, lights, and more lights. Seems like it is all stop, go, stop, go. I have to admit, though, that driving is actually faster for me (at least in the actual time from home to work and back home. I know there are arguments that overall, biking is faster. At least once you factor in the time for earning the money to pay for the car, maintenance, etc.) When driving, it is easy to get into a "hurry-up" mentality. Late? Just drive faster! Late, and riding a bike? Well, too bad...you can only pedal so fast. That's one big thing I have learned about cycling. You are forced to slow down and pace yourself. You have no choice but to "take it easy" sometimes. If you're running late, well, you're gonna be late. You have to physically and mentally adjust to cycling for transportation. In an auto-centric society such as ours, it can be difficult to explain to others (boss, spouse, etc) why you need to leave or arrive several minutes early or late because you are cycling. "Why don't you just drive?" That's the expectation. If only we were all in the slow down frame of mind...

Draggin'

The mighty dragon raised his head, ready to unleash a fiery death upon the town dwellers below. But wait; what's this? A lovely young maiden stepped from the crowd. She offered herself to the dragon, pleading that he spare the others and take her instead. The dragon was so taken by her beauty, that he began shedding tears of joy. Unfortunately, his tears were so massive that they flooded the town and all perished...
Oh, wait...you mean "dragging", not "dragon", huh? What I meant to say is that I have been dragging the last few days. I was feeling so rundown yesterday that I could not pull together the strength to ride in to work. Had to admit defeat and take the car. I know I should not complain, but the heat in San Diego has been unforgiving. After days of it, I am completely drained. It just has been too hot to get a good, restful sleep. Sometimes, as much as I hate to admit it, I need a break from the normal bike commute.
So, what do you do when you're just too tired to ride? Commuters can be notorious for riding in "no man's land". We are riding in a constant physical effort zone that does not offer much physical improvement, but is a hard enough effort to wear us down over time. Alternating easy and hard effort days can help. On the easy days, ride at a pace that feels too easy, maybe even guilty. Use lower gears and spin easy. On the hard effort days, push it a bit and throw in a few really hard effort bursts. This can help to "wake up" your muscles. I'll admit that I am a victim of "no man's land". I find it difficult to ride easy when I have to get to work, plus I have hills to climb, no matter what. But, I am trying to be aware of it and force myself to ride easy on the easy days. Altering your route, even by just taking a different side street for a block or two, can provide the visual variety you need. Bike commuters will often seek out different routes to work or home. Sometimes even a longer route can be just the change to revive the soul.
If you are already worn or burnt out, go ahead and skip a day or two. Take public transit if available, bum a ride with someone, take the car if you have to. You body needs to recover or it will only get worse.
You know it's true - eat right and get plenty of rest. Riding takes a lot of energy. Make sure you are replenishing you body of the water and nutrients it needs. Riders just starting out may not realize how much more food they need to eat. Just make sure it is healthy food. You'll need carbohydrates and protein. Eat sensibly and you should be fine. Commuting by bike does not give you the excuse to eat an extra doughnut or cookie at work, although I have been guilty of it once or twice.
If you are more mentally than physically tired, a non-commuting type ride may be in store. After work or on the off day, plan a leisurely ride with no real time commitment. It can be a planned destination ride or just a wondering ride with no set route. Either way, this is a ride to break away from the daily got-to-get-to-work-right-now routine. Let you body and soul rediscover the pure simple joy of riding a bike.

Ride to OB

My DD and I recently took a bike ride on the OB bike path. It now starts on the east side at Hotel Circle. The path is a nice, flat ride right into Ocean Beach.

Are Bike Commuters Happier Than Others?

Article here from Planet Green. For the most part, I would say we are. There are the physical benefits that translate psychologically. It also depends on if you are commuting by bike because you choose to, or if you have to. Individuals getting around on bike because they cannot afford any other method may not be happier because of. For them, it is just a hard fact. But, in general, for those choosing to bike rather than driving or public transit, odds are they are happier for it. :-)

Quiet Streets

The ride in today was nice...quiet streets for most of the commute. Why? The K-12 public schools finished up the school year yesterday! My ride in to work takes me near the elementary and high schools. What a difference in the amount of traffic with no school. Hard to imagine how may parents there were driving their kids to school! Oh well, I will enjoy the summer commuting while I can.

Financial Woes Trump the Cycling Whimsy

Financial woes have forced corporate to pool all money together, so the cycling whimsies will be put on hold. It is time to go extreme ghetto. Instead of an Xtracycle, we're now going to have a go at bucket panniers. It's a far cry from the load carrying capacity of the Xtracycle, plus you cannot give other people a ride on buckets, but at least it should allow for trips to the grocery store. There are plenty of ideas and designs on the internet about converting buckets into panniers. Here are a few...
IBIKETO - http://www.ibiketo.ca/guide/how-tos/how-make-panniers-out-buckets
Crazy Guy on a Bike - http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/Buckets
Instructables - http://www.instructables.com/id/Best_Cat_Litter_Bike_Buckets/
Wheel Revolution - http://wheelrevolution.blogspot.com/2007/05/bike-bucket-diy.html

Carrying the Load - The Answer

Just checking on the Xtracycle site, and I believe this confirms the answer - the Xtracycle is the way to go to haul musical equipment.
Ben Sollee is on a 330 mile tour through Kentucky and Tennessee to raise awareness for poverty, carrying his cello on an Xtracycle. The tour is documented with some great video, complete with some of his performance at each stop. If he can carry that huge cello for 330 miles, I think one can carry just about anything on an Xtracycle. Way to go Ben! Best of luck to you.

Carrying the Load

Musicians, how do you carry your instruments if you cycle? Do you strap it onto your back? Strap it to your bike? Use a trailer? Use an Xtracycle? I am looking into carrying an electric guitar (in its hard shell case) and a practice amp (weighs about 30 pounds). I'm thinking this would be a good reason to get the Xtracycle (one of these days...), or rig up a trailer. Any musicians got a cool solution?

Shoes That Are Sweet for Hot Feet

We all know that for practical bike riding, normal shoes are the rule, not the exception. No need to change into special cycling shoes for a short trip or commute. Until today I had not tried a very normal shoe for hot weather, the sandal. I have read about them for a while from cyclists who love them. Some ride them in hot and cold weather. It has been plenty hot the last few days here in SoCal, so this morning I put on some plain old sandals and rode in to work. They did great, and the feet stayed cool. Not sure how they would do on a long ride, but for the commute they were fine. After riding for a few years in clipless pedals with special shoes, I am finding that riding with regular pedals and regular shoes to be quite refreshing. I must admit that I got passed up by a racer type biker, but I think that was more to do with me riding an old Trek mountain bike-turned-commuter setup with a trunk rack and back pack. Anyways, speed ain't the concern when riding in to work!

An Almost Perfect Commute

The ride in to work this morning was nearly perfect. I had a slight tailwind with cloudy skies and cool temperature. It was just cool enough to be comfortable riding, but not sweating too much by the time I arrived at work. I guess the only thing that would have made it better was if I could have kept on riding, instead of having to end the ride at the office.

We Have It Good Here

If you live in a city like San Diego, consider yourself lucky in respects to bicycle riding. I just returned from a trip to a city near the east coast, a small city, and it really made me appreciate what we have here. I saw absolutely no bike lanes, none. The roads have NO shoulder whatsoever. One simply cannot ride safely on the roads. These are roads where people regularly drive 45 to 60 MPH, and no one is looking out for cyclists. They are just not expected around the area. There was one really nice bike path running along a river, which would be great for leisurely recreation cycling. It is of no use for practical transportation. So, with our many, many miles of bike lanes and roads with nice, wide shoulders, be thankful.

Really, really Cheap Panniers

Need some waterproof, carry-a-lot, really cheap panniers? Check out this how-to article on the Crazy Guy On A Bike web site. If you are into low-budget function over fashion, these may be for you. All you need to acquire is a couple of used kitty litter buckets, and a few pieces of hardware. I haven't tried them yet, but they are tempting. I can see them being rather useful for grocery runs. The author's perspective is using them for touring/camping. I would be curious to see how they hold up after several hundreds of miles and weeks of touring. A nice advantage is that if they happen to break, a replacement can easily be found. And, a bucket is a very useful item. It can be used as a stool at the campsite, used to carry water for washing, etc. Practical and cheap, hard to beat!

The Power to Pedal

Cyclists can spend a lot of money and time talking about pedals. Do you go with clips, clip less, or just plain pedals? This particular rider started out like most, using the plain old pedals that came with the bike. Then, as I rode with some friends and read cycling articles, I realized that I "needed" some clip less pedals and cycling specific shoes with cleats. I got some for mountain biking, the SPD style. After a few falls, I finally got the hang of "clicking" in and out. After riding some more with groups and reading more articles, I realized that I needed road style pedals and cleats on my "road" bike. So, I bought some Look style pedals, cleats, and new shoes. These took a little more getting use to, making sure the cleat didn't miss the pedal while clicking in and have the foot slip completely off the pedal. I rode with these for a few years. They are OK on long rides on the road bike. But, I was finding it a bit cumbersome for commuting. It felt a bit overkill for a 6 mile ride. Plus, I was always wearing the road cycling shoes and needing to make sure I had regular work shoes at work. It also made it more difficult to make stops on the way home.
So, one day as I was servicing my regular commuter bike (the one with fenders and all the lights), I thought, why not just put the original old pedals back on this thing and try riding in sneakers or lightweight hiking shoes? The ride to work was great, could hardly tell any difference performance-wise. It was nice not needing to plan for extra shoes at work. Whatever I wore from home was fine. And that's the way the next 1600 miles have been pedaled since.
If you want another's perspective on plain old pedals vs. clip less pedals, check out this article on Rivendell Bicycle Works site: The Shoes Ruse

It Never Rains in SoCal

Except when it does...Monday brought us some cold, hard rain. The ride in was OK, and I found out that what is waterproof works well, what wasn't, didn't.
Here's what worked: Chrome messenger bag - waterproof inner liner. All my work clothes arrived nice and dry! Cheap rain jacket from Performance. It doesn't breathe, but the ride in was not long enough to overheat. My upper body stayed dry. Knee warmers - even though they got a little wet, still kept the knees warm.
What didn't work so well: Plain ol' cotton shorts. Should have worn cycling shorts this time, or water proof pants. Plain ol' shoes and socks. I underestimated how wet the shoes would get since I have fenders. The rain was just too much. Should wear baggies over the socks inside the shoes, or maybe even get some cheap galoshes for the short commute. Regular cycling gloves. The gloves were soaked by the time I got to work. Rear trunk. I had some spare gloves in the top compartment of my rear trunk. The rain soaked through and got those wet.
Luckily, I have an office where I can let stuff dry out. I used a small desk-top type fan to dry out the shoes. By the end of the day they were pretty much dry. I also used the fan to dry out the socks and gloves. A small fan or even a small heater with a fan set on low heat does a great job of drying out stuff.
The ride home was dry, but very gusty winds. For a moment I thought I was going to be blown off the road.
I would not want to ride in that type of weather every day, but once in a while it is fun, especially to see the looks on people's faces when they see that you rode to work in the torrential SoCal rains!

Rain, Wind, and Smiles

Yesterday's ride home was in the rain, with a very nice tailwind most of the way, and it was great! I was smiling the whole way home. Most people avoid the rain at all costs. Cycling in the rain can be an almost meditative experience. Having fenders and a jacket did help from getting soaked, but it really didn't matter. It was just so cool to be out experiencing nature.
If you've never ridden in the rain, give it a try. Ride on less-traveled roads and ride slow. Watch out for things that get really slippery when wet, like leaves, manhole covers, and paint on the street. You'll probably feel like a kid again. :-)

The Grocery Getting Challenge

Using your bike to get groceries can be a great way to reduce your car usage. If your grocery store is close by, the bike can save your car the wear and tear that comes from those short trips. There are many ways to haul stuff on a bike. I am in search of the best way to use my bike for this purpose. I have a rear rack with a rear trunk, which of course does not carry much. I just tried one of the grocery pannier that is designed to allow you to place a loaded paper or reusable bag in it. Unfortunately with my setup, the heel of my foot wsa hitting the pannier. There are rear racks made to set the pannier further back than normal to help with this. They are a bit pricey, however. So, I start adding up the cost of the new rear rack, a couple of grocery panniers, and I got to thinking that I am not too far from justifying the money for an Xtracycle. Well, at least the bare bones frame. Custom V racks and freeloader bags could be made at home, at least until some extra cash becomes available to purchase the complete freeloader package.
With the Xtracycle setup, I should easily be able to carry 4 fully loaded paper or reusable grocery bags, maybe more. Not to mention the ability to strap larger goods to the top (with my custom made snapdeck).
This is a fairly expensive solution, at least for me. But, the Xtracycle seems like it would offer so many possibilities on ways to carry stuff. If it can reduce the reliability on a car, it is certainly worth it. And yep, I did return the grocery pannier. Time to start saving the pennies.

Nutcase

Just discovered these guys who make some ultra cool looking helmets in Portland, OR.
http://www.nutcasehelmets.com
These helmets are more hip, incorporating cool graphics, for the casual and commuter/utilitarian cyclist. They don't have the "wanna-be-racer" look to them. Check 'em out!