I’d been checking the weather reports all week, looking for the one day when it won’t be “as cold” or “snowy” or “dense foggy” to get out and ride my bike again. When today came up as a high of 50*F, I knew I would regret it if I didn’t ride.
Quick text to my commuter friend, who has still been commuting in all kinds of cold and crappy weather, who is all kinds of surprised.
Weather looks great tomorrow so I’ll see you at 6:32am.
The actual commute this morning was cold. I always forget that 34* and dark is not the same as 34* and sunny. And I’m still working through my footwear situation. This morning’s poor selection was my Converse One Star sneakers. They fit into my toe clips much easier than my trail shoes this past weekend, but my toes also took a huge beating in the cold department. Like Lukewarm Shower To Slowly Warm My Toes So They Don’t Burn and Itch and Make Me Cry cold.
But as usual, the conversation was good. We talked about a lot of things, at one point discussing how my mind can’t wrap itself around the concept of a bike ride without a million layers and spinning a really high cadence to keep warm. We met up with another woman about half-way in and the three of us had a great time chatting and zipping by all the runners on the trail.
I also was able to get my left shifter to go from the little ring to the big ring and back several times without dropping. Finesse. Patience. Being in tune with your bike. All good things.
But the real joy happened this afternoon. Temps not only got to 50, but they got to 59*F.
I can’t even describe to you, dear reader, how absolutely delicious tonight’s commute was. It was a small slice of what’s to come in a few weeks time, a drop of last spring’s sweet nectar to rekindle the fire after the fuel is mostly spent. Truly it satisfied my soul and hit all the right dopamine points in my brain.
Oh hey. It’s been a while hasn’t it. Gosh. Sorry about that. Been busy with life and such, being elected to the board for Philly Bike Club. I’m really thrilled to be able to give back to the club that has been so instrumental in keeping me on the road, making new friends, and learning as much as I can about cycling.
sometimes I let my bikes stay inside
The bikes are back home. This makes me incredibly happy.
The weather has been difficult to say the least. We didn’t get much snow since the Nor’easter pretty much stayed to the Nor’east. But it’s been colder than I care to venture lately (sub-32*F).
But venture I did this past weekend – I wanted to ride my new bike (Lady Rainicorn – you may recall her as the sexy ’88 Peugeot you see in the image above) and the weather outlets were predicting upper-thirties/low-forties and sun. My Always Up For A Bike Ride commuter buddy agreed to join me on an inaugural ride to meet up with some friends for brunch downtown. I warned him we were not going to be breaking any speed records.
Every ride is a learning opportunity:
1. Toe clips SUCK. There is a reason we attach our feet to pedals on the soles of our feet instead of shoving our shoes into a tiny metal cage that mocks you as you attempt to pedal from a stand-still.
there is no love in my heart for these pedals
2. Toe covers do not cut it below 40*F. Not even with sock liners and my thickest, warmest wool socks. Riding with fish sticks for toes is also the worst.
not good for spinning efficiency
3. I needed one more layer in the morning, one fewer in the afternoon. It was 23*F when we left; 39*F when I got home.
it felt something like this
4. Winter cycling gloves are BOMB DIGGITY.
something like that, yeah
5. The new bike will be excellent for the commute. I will get stronger because she’s not a compact – just a double – but she’s stable and nimble. Zippy. My lowest gear is nowhere close to my lowest gear on my Felt. But the hills mostly flew under me – only the steep(-er/-est) of hills got painful.
So of course my Wish List of cycling crap got longer: insulated cycling jacket, winter cycling shoes, getting a second pair of thermal tights. And new pedals. Even if I just get some platforms for the time being – anything is better than the current weighted toe-clip pedals I have now.
When I picked up my bikes I also bought a new seat – a Specialized Ruby Expert. The local shop has a 90 day return-for-store-credit policy so I need to get out on my Felt a few times to give it a go. Hopefully the weather will co-operate – currently this weekend looks terrible for outdoor cycling (snow and sub-freezing temperatures).
So more to come, dear reader. Looking forward to warmer weather, longer sunshine, and commuting by bike again in the near future.
Like many in this country, we’ve been dealing with a vicious Arctic cold this past week. Sunday seems so far away – a “balmy” 30 degrees when I set out with my daughter in search of a parking lot we could ride around in while she gets comfortable with her bike. We bought it for her last year as a birthday gift, just a touch on the large side so she wouldn’t outgrow it too quickly. She’s now able to get the hand brakes easily and use her twist-shifters more effectively. I grabbed Lady Rainicorn and gave her a test spin, trying to figure out how to both turn and shift my downtube shifters and not fall over.
It’s not as easy when the only road bike you’ve ever had utilizes what is unimaginatively called “brifters” – brake shifters. My instinct is to just click the small levers with my middle finger. Downtube shifters are bringing me more in tune with my bike.
As I’m walking home from the train station tonight, it occurs to me that being a cyclist or pedestrian really puts you in tune with your world. You feel the subtle and not-so-subtle swells and depressions. Flats that are really slow and steady inclines or declines. You need to know the weather to prepare your attire accordingly. You can pause to truly enjoy a beautiful sunrise, sunset, or the way the light sparkles like glitter on the new-fallen snow.
snapshot from on my way to work
You can always tell the folks who will hurry out of the train and into their parked car because they aren’t dressed to spend a length of time in the weather.
Back to the “new” bike. I’m realizing I need to be OK with a variety of things I haven’t had to worry about up til this point. Things like when to shift up or down, easing up on the pedals to get the front derailleur to guide the chain to the big ring … and back without dropping. Calculating when I need to shift on a hill or descent. Having HALF as many gears to work with in general.
The bikes are in the shop but once they are done, I’ll see you on the road!
March 14, 2012 – I finally had enough money to go buy my first road bike. And of course, I skipped over the usual “entry-level” ride and purchased my cycling pride and joy, a Felt ZW5. A carbon and jade-colored dream, I dubbed her Electric Dream Machine (or EDM for short). I was at the shop for something like an hour with a completely ridiculous smile on my face. I went the whole nine yards and got cycling shoes and pedals too (SPDs).
I took her out for a 50 mile ride within a week or so of taking delivery and was still relatively new to clipless pedals. I managed to fall. You can read about it in my archives. But I also remember mentioning to my fellow Sturdy Girls that my seat was starting to hurt my sit-bones. After a short round of Q&A, we determined I probably just needed to break in my seat. If it still hurt after a few months, I should think about a new saddle.
Well, we’re almost a year later and I think I’ve put in enough suffering to decide I need a new saddle. Once I get beyond about 30 or 40 miles (sometimes as little as 25) I can tell that my sit bones are on the outside edge of the seat. On my first century last fall, the last 7 miles or so were agony as soft-tissue swelling started to make itself apparent. Not as bad as the time I rode 53 miles on a men’s race saddle (that was four days of swelling and pain), but really there’s no reason for this kind of pain on a bike.
As a cyclist who has managed to keep my base miles around 40-50 this winter, that’s a lot of sore butt.
Stay tuned for more on this riveting topic – keeping your butt happy on the road. And please – if you have a suggestion or wisdom to impart, please comment below!
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In other news, I am pleased to announce the newest addition to my bicycle family! She’s a 1988 Peugeot Versailles 12-speed I have dubbed Lady Rainicorn. She’s going in for an overhaul, chrome fenders, a rack and lights next week.
(I’m really sorry to everyone who follows me on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter … recycling this news for the masses. )
It never fails. The calendar rolls over to January and suddenly it’s a bit easier to say “no thank you” to seconds, desserts and unhealthy foods. Gyms are bustling with aspirations that This Year Will Be Different and the perspiration penance of a thousand sins. Personally I stepped on the scale for the first real time since October and while I understand I am not a number, the digital read-out blinking back at me was not a number I am particularly fond of. In fact, I haven’t seen that number since October of 2010. Huh.
Once January hits, it’s time to get back into shape.
We’ve also passed the winter solstice, which means minute by minute the days are getting longer. Soon it won’t be so dark when I walk home from the train. It won’t be quite so cold. The trees will start to bud and blossom and riding without winter layers isn’t too far behind.
Before I get too far ahead of myself, I am reminded that the worst part of winter is still to come for my area – January through March is supposedly the coldest and snowiest. Last year was just a lot rain and temps in the forties … April is where my riding really picked up.
I’m actually very happy that I have been able to ride fairly consistently (weekly) through the month of December. I’ve learned much in the art of layering and cold-weather riding. I am learning my limits and finding ways to exploit the time I have for what I want to do. Although yes, sometimes I have to be a responsible adult and do things that just need to get done.
So I’ve joined a couple of online challenges to help keep the motivation going – like most base miles and logging at least 10 workouts a month. I have friends who love to ride in the cold (ok, maybe love is a strong word – they don’t see it as an excuse) which keeps me motivated. And I have my feeling about how fit I feel.
My head cold has finally cleared so I’m looking forward to riding soon … See you on the road!
2012 was the year of getting out and being active. My metabolism started junking out on me when I turned 30 a few (five) years ago and staying healthy is high on my priority list. Here’s a look back at What I Did this year:
i bike philly!
Outside cycling miles: 1908
Trainer miles: 74
Total cycling miles: 1982
(so close to my goal BUT two hundred miles longer than the distance from my old house in Colorado to my new house in Pennsylvania. Chew on that symbolism!)
Total running miles: 7.5
Total walking miles: 269
Dancing: over 15 hours
my LEGO avatar
None of these are overly impressive – I ride with folks who put up big numbers like 4,500/8,000/Turn It Up To 11,000 miles in a year. I run with people who eat marathons for breakfast. I talk a fine game – but in the end, these folks motivate me to higher achievement. They are the ones pulling me up the hill or racing me down the street or gleefully shouting “MILES FOR BREAKFAST” as we zip through town.
This is only Year One of actually being active on purpose since my teens and early twenties. I hope to continue to be active and healthy for as long as possible! More riding, more running, more yoga – balanced with staying involved in family and community life. No regrets.
(Actually, I am impressed with my walking miles. I walk to the train station when I commute by train and occasionally take a lunch break walk. Little things add up! )
log overs anyone?
Whatever your goals for 2013, whatever your stats for 2012 – wishing you and yours the very best!
I’ve managed to come down with a monster head cold – the kind that has a fever and aches and a head full of snot – so my new year’s eve will be low-key and probably end well before midnight. But before the festivities begin, enjoy this story about my first time spinning and riding in the snow:
I’ve ear-marked Saturdays in December for bike rides to get to 2,000 miles for the year. The reality is I sadly did not get out as much as I planned. Nonetheless, my intrepid commuter friend sent out an email Friday asking if anyone wanted to ride Saturday morning. A quick look at the weather report indicated a 90% chance of snow on Saturday – meaning all club rides would probably get cancelled. So I texted him about the weather. He countered with “come to spinning with me!”
I’d never been to a spinning class before and had all kinds of dumb questions. I previously avoided them because my primary focus is always Bike For Fun. Which is really a guise for I Don’t Want To Do Intervals. So of course I said “OK!”
The gym where we were taking the class is only a little over a mile from my house – so of course I just rode my Beast of Burden commuter bike over. The snow had just started to fall and it was lovely to glide down the street with snowflakes on my helmet. (It would be more ethereal to say in my hair but I had a barrier cap under my helmet and Cat Ears on my straps – decidedly un-ethereal and a little more Elvis)
she’s smiling because class hasn’t started yet.
The class itself was quite a workout – very different from going out and riding your bike or even watching a movie while spinning away on the trainer. Within ten minutes I was sweating like a pig – and the sweat just kept pouring. I had a headache and felt like I didn’t need to prove anything to myself so I took it easy on some of the “jumps” – going from a sitting to standing position rapidly – by staying seated and spinning as high a cadence as I could.
Couple things I learned:
1. You can’t coast. If you try, your bike will lurch and make a horrible clunking noise and the instructor will ask you if you are OK.
2. Spinning bikes have incredible momentum. According to the cyclometer, I went 26.9 miles in 68 minutes. I find that very hard to believe – although I suspect it’s similar to running on a treadmill. The machine keeps you moving at a steady pace.
3. I spin at a high cadence naturally. When the instructor wanted us at 90-100, I was at 110. When she wanted us at 115, I was at 123. Even when we were “climbing” she would ask us to be at 50-60 and I would end up somewhere in the 70s. If I were to do this again, I would finesse the gearing more and not listen to the gear she wants us to be in – because it was clearly too low. But as a newbie, it made sense to try to follow her direction.
4. Spinning is done in a small dark room (or at least this one was) and NO FANS. It would have been a world of difference to have a fan blowing on your occasionally to help relieve the heat of the room. I have one pointed at me at home when I am on the trainer – and it helps tremendously.
5. I would try this again. I suspect the class would have been significantly better if the instructor matched her cadence to multiples of the beat and better communicated what exactly we were supposed to do.
Post-class, we cleaned up and unlocked our bikes and rode over to the diner up the street for a bite. The snow was coming down harder now and in the mile it took to get to the diner our jackets and jeans were soaked. Commuter friend’s wife had already gotten us a table so coffee and assorted yummies were on their way. Wonderful breakfast with wonderful people!
As you may have guessed, the snow was coming down even harder now and an inch of snow had accumulated on our rides. We brushed them off and Commuter friend rode with me most of the way back to my house.
I’m a fairly independent girl but I was glad for the company for no other reason than it was probably not the smartest idea to be out on a bike on the roads. We were on our hybrids with wider tires but the roads were slick and cars were sliding all over the place around us. One guy sped up to turn in front of us and skidding through the whole turn. We managed to pedal up one of the three hills to my house, turned the corner and there was a line of cars stopped for other cars that had slid all over the road. I only lost traction a couple of times but didn’t crash or fall.
We went our separate ways – he back to his house and me dismounting and walking the last two hills (and one downhill which would have been a suicide mission to attempt on my bike) home.
I can’t dismiss that it felt very awesome to be out riding in the snow. It wasn’t terribly brilliant nor would I recommend it as a routine thing to do without proper gear (i.e., fat fat fat tires with excellent traction) … but it was very very very fun.
Walkscore, the company that measures the walkability and bikeability of neighborhoods nationwide has just released a list of the Most Bikeable Cities in the country. Philadelphia is the #1 Large City for biking in the United States.
The Bike Score methodology examines the number and length of bike lanes, the amount of hills, the level of bicycle and road network connectivity, the number of destinations that can be reached by bicycle, and the mode share of bike commuters in each city.
The city has worked hard to make bicycling in Philadelphia a safe and convenient mode of transportation. Recently, the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities and the Streets Department have installed eight new bike corrals and over 500 new bike parking spaces across the city. Additionally, there are over 200 miles of bikes lanes in Philadelphia.
Even though Philadelphia is ranked first for large cities, there is still room…
I am not a fan of the 24-hour news machine. The endless loop of Not A Lot Of Information is constantly replayed, creating an environment of chaos, fear, instability and uncertainty.
One afternoon in February 2010, I received a text from my elementary-aged children saying they got home safe. It’s unusual for them to text me that they got home, much less got home safe. So I texted back “Ok ….??” … to which my son texted me “turn on the news.”
What greeted me on the screen was the local affiliate station covering the shooting at Deer Creek Middle School. The school was about three or four blocks from our house; the kids’ elementary school was across the street. My kids are walkers. I called the house to make sure the kids were really OK – they were – and to keep the house locked until I could get home. My heart began racing and I excused myself from work to be home with my children and help them process the day’s events. Fortunately none of them had been outside or near the exact location of the shooting and law enforcement swiftly apprehended the perpetrator.
Roughly a year later, my children’s elementary school was evacuated due to a suspicious person. This time I was notified by the school district’s text messaging/phone call service and had to provide positive ID to pick up my younger two children (the older one now being a student at Deer Creek Middle School). Fortunately no one was hurt and nothing was amiss – but the simple message that there might be an issue can cause your heart to skip a beat.
Our story is thankfully one with a soothing resolution – my children are safe. This is the world in which we live in. Our community was small and in many ways, a place where Things Like This Don’t Happen Here. Except they can happen anywhere – we lived a couple of miles from Columbine High School and rode our bikes to Clement Park regularly. I remind myself frequently that these types of events are not common and we can’t let our lives be ruled by fear of things going horribly awry.
In light of recent events, it doesn’t escape my consciousness that THIS SHOULD NOT BE PART OF OUR CHILDREN’S LIVES.
In Connecticut, there are families who were notified of a horrific event – parents raced to the school, praying their child would be there safe – and there was no comfort to be found. There are families who have lost their mothers and sisters and brothers and cousins and best friends. December will never again be the same. My heart is broken for these families – twenty-six lives extinguished.
I spent three years studying Kabbalah under Dr. David Sanders at Kabbalah Experience and one of the concepts that we meditated upon frequently is There Is No Place Without You. That even in the most horrific things there is a shard of the Divine. Another thought: we all think we are the star of our own life’s movie – but we may really be up for Best Supporting Role in someone else’s life movie. This is of very little comfort when one is dealing with a soul-crushing loss.
I choose to reflect on the twenty-six beautiful lives lost and find a way to honor them that is meaningful. How can we take this devastation and create a positive change?
Friends, the time is NOW to have a thoughtful, sensible discussion about how we as a country handle guns. Specifically guns designed to kill as many as possible in a short amount of time. We need to talk about what purpose they serve the greater community and how heavily they should be restricted – up to being illegal. We have a window of opportunity to make a difference in the kind of world our children live in. We need to take the momentum and craft appropriate legislation to reduce the number of assault weapons in the hands of citizenry. We should NOT give in to rash and extremist views. Banning all guns will not solve the problem.
We also need to have a serious discussion about how we handle mental health issues in this country. There are millions of people who suffer from a myriad of issues that need assistance – with the most serious of illnesses needing the most care. We need to stop thinking of mental illness as something that should be hidden. We need to stop being embarrassed of needing help sorting through the mental static. We need to support families that are strained under the weight of mental illness. We need to take action to ensure everyone has access to quality health care, including mental health, to ensure our community’s best possible future.
Friends, I urge you to write to your government officials – senators, representatives, governors – and express your views. While all this may not stop all bad things from happening, it is a step in the right direction to ensuring our future is the best it can be.
May the Source of peace send peace to all who mourn and comfort to all who are bereaved.
Friends, as we start to wind down the year I am increasingly more aware that I want to set some goals for next year. I am currently about 175 miles short of 2000 miles this year, which is over triple my total mileage last year. Today’s brunch ride was cancelled due to rain, wet roads and patchy fog … so now I have to find new and innovative ways to complete my goal!
I’ve also started looking at events for next year. Here’s my preliminary goals for 2013, in no particular order:
3,000 miles total distance
regular bike commuting (at least 2-3 times per week, early spring through late fall)
Still looking for an event/ride in August. This is all in addition to of the BCP club rides and weekend brunch rides that I’m hoping to work in as well.
wife. mother. awesome girl. 