Camraderie!

Now that it's starting to get colder, the wheat is really getting separated from the chafe in terms of biking culture. Everyone is now so friendly! I suppose that challenging events bring people together and when your ride is a challenge, people with similar experiences band together.

In the past month I've met several friendly bikers:

1. While biking into 30 mph headwind another woman and i shared conversation and sweat while we struggled to get home. It was good times, we're planning on riding together some other time.

2. Several instances of gear talk: where did you get those shoes? Earmuffs? Gloves?

3. I finally met one of the other people who uses the bikeroom in my building. He also showed me a secret trail that is going to come in very handy.

4. This morning I met some folks who live 2 blocks away from me and who do the same commute. It was very nice. I'll have to look for them again.

I suppose that when you're biking and you see someone else biking you know that you have something in common and it's easier to start conversations.

Yay again for biking!

The things she carried.

After having several flat tires last week (darn you invisible piece of glass!) I was grateful for my over-prepared streak. When I bike I usually always bring at least one pannier with me. In that one pannier I have several handy gadgets.

First off, I always carry equipment to fix a flat:
tire levers
mini pump
spare tube
patch kit
tire pressure gauge

Then I also have a little bike multi-tool:
several hex keys
a chain tool
3 sizes of spoke keys
Screw drivers
other stuff that I don't know how to use yet.

I also have a regular handy tool:
pliers
knife
fish scaler????
Other handy stuff that I'm sure will come in handy

And the following general stuff:
hand sanitizer
Mini-first aid kit
map
ID
Bus pass
credit card
a little bit of cash
cell phone

Most of the following goes into a separate zippered pocket of my pannier.

Ain't nothing going to faze me!

Apology to the Bicycling gods

Okay...okay, okay, I'm sorry! Please be kind to me now. I know that I shouldn't do the cheating 5 -point cross at 6 way intersections. I KNOW that you hate that....I know it's illegal, but I was in a hurry. I just did it once!

Did you really need to banish my pedal cover from my pedal? Did you really need to lose the screw from my other pedal? Did you really, really, NEED to give me a flat tire?

I'm sorry bicycling Gods...I'll try not to offend again.

(at least you gave me an excuse for being late too work...at least you're not all bad.)

Load up!!

I was recently talking to a friend about how to carry stuff on a bike. My favorite way is definitely with my panniers...though panniers may not be for everyone.

These are my panniers:


They really aren't very fancy and they cost more than I would have liked, but they really are an investment.

I usually take one pannier with me to work...in there i can fit a change of clothes, lunch, random stuff and various tools in case I have to make a repair.

If I want to go shopping by bike, with two panniers I really don't have to worry about how I'm going to transport it. If I pack smart I can fit lots and lots and lots of stuff in in two bags and then for bulky items, I still have the top of my rack. I just remember to always have my bungie cords with me wherever I go.

If you're just getting using your bike for errands or commuting, the classic milk crate works, though it can get in the way of pedaling. Back when I was using the crate I kind of trimmed it a bit so that my legs wouldn't hit it. Mike crates are ugly but they definitely do the job.

Fall Weather

I'm so happy that fall is here. It truly is my favorite time of the year and it makes biking so much more enjoyable.

Summer is nice and all that but the Chicago humidity really takes a number on cyclists. Fall...now that's a great season. The air is crisp, the trees are changing colors and road construction starts to wind down.

Biking in cool weather really is a treat. I find that my body produces so much heat when cycling that a long sleeve shirt is more than enough until it reaches 45 degrees.

I recently purchased this jacket from REI:

It's been pretty effective in the few times that I've used it. Now I just need the weather to cool down so that I can wear it a little more.

Do you hear that fall? Cool down already!!

Progress

A couple of months ago I discovered that the building that I work in has a bike room. I've pretty much stopped using my bike station membership and am now just biking straight to work and getting changed.

Lets look at the different ways of looking presentable once you get to work after a nice bike ride:

1. Ride in your work clothes and try to prevent working up a sweat. This would work well if you have a short commute, a comfy bike, good weather and enough time. If you can avoid breaking a sweat this would probably work pretty well. It would certainly be faster than most cab rides.

2. Ride in other clothes and get changed at the office. You'd also have the option of maybe drying off once you get to work. This is what I do now. I wear regular gym clothes and carry my clothes in my panniers. I haven't had too many issues with wrinkly clothes and when I start out riding clean find that I usually arrive clean too. I'm finding this to be very efficient.

3. Ride in other clothes, shower at destination and put on work clothes. I did this for my first 3 months of commuting. If you have showers at your work, or at a nearby gym or at a dedicated facility this is certainly nice. When I did it, I just counted on not being clean when I got on the bike in the morning. The negatives for me were that I had to lug more stuff with me and it was a bit of a walk from my office building to the bike station I used. It's a nice option to have, I just wish it had been a bit more convenient for me.

Of course, if you work somewhere that doesn't require office clothes it's even easier and you can work up a nice sweat and not worry about anything.

I've taken a couple days off of blogging, but I've still been biking. I commuted by bike two days last week, ran some errands another day and took a fun bike ride on a fourth.

While others bike everyday I'm feeling comfortable with what I've been able to do. I can tell that I'm getting stronger and faster and my endurance is certainly increasing. However, I'm not ready to bike 5 days a week. That's okay, I'll get to that point soon enough.

I had a busy, exhausting weekend (critical mass, rock climbing, hiking, pulling 80 pounds of kid) so I didn't bike today. Wednesday and Friday are going to be this week's commuting days and the weather is looking good.

As for milage, I did about 50 miles of commuting and running errands, so I guess that brings me up to 175.

Errands

On Wednesday it was so windy I knew that I'd have a hard time going straight home on the Lakefront trail so I decided to run some errands and make some purchases.

I went inland and found that it was much less windy. First stop was Chicago Popcorn Works. I got a couple of bags of popcorn and they fit pretty nicely in my pannier. Then I biked over to Target to get some laundry detergent and pick up my prescriptions. I took my panniers in the store. They fit pretty well in a grocery cart. I also got a new bungee cord. This one is pretty cool. It's flat so it doesn't get in the way of my panniers and it keeps things on a little better. I'm a big fan of it. Anyway, I put my purchases in the panniers and bungeed the detergent down, turned on my lights and I was ready to go.

I almost bought some of those Firefly lights that you put on your tire valve, but the ones they had seemed be be kind of crappy. I'll wait untill I can get a better set.

Today, I wimped out on riding. I know, I'm ashamed to admit it. I was out late last night and just needed to sleep in. I know, I'm a bad example. However, the weather is supposed to be nice this weekend, so I'm hoping to take a nice long ride tomorrow to make up for it.

Okay, maybe I'm not as much as a badass as I'd like to be. I wimped out last week and didn't ride at all, except for one Sunday, which really don't even count.

Well, I'll count it anyway cause I had fun doing it. I have a second job as a mentor to kids with special needs. Most of the kids I've worked with have mental health issues, so it makes me a little nervous taking them out on a bike. However, I recently acquired a used trailercycle and I enjoy it a great deal. I love that I can go a lot faster and have all the control when it comes to taking inexperienced kids biking. Also, it's much easier and lighter than a trailer. Yay for trailercycles!

As for my ride today, it was gorgeous!!! I'm certainly getting faster. I made it to the bike station in 50 minutes. And on my way home I was having such a good time that I was wanting to go for a longer ride, but then I changed my mind since I need to do laundry (which I'm not doing...silly me).

I'm also really pleased about the fact that I'm getting stronger. I'm using a higher gear with ease and now that I'm home I'm not even tired. Maybe I am a badass...or at least I'm pre-badass.

Mileage: um...I'm not really sure. I'm doing to say 126...and i'm going to stick with it!

I am officially a BADASS! It's below freezing, windy and there's even a little bit of snow. However, I bundled up, put on my balaclava, my gloves and biked to work anyway. Booya! However, halfway to work I took off my ear warmer and my coat cause i was sweating buckets. I guess I'll save the real warm clothes for when it's closer to zero.

Oh yeah, and I'm getting faster, though that may be because I had a little wind assistance. I left way later than normal because I didn't put together my pannier the night before, so I didn't have my bike out and ready to go until after 7:30. Oh yeah! I made it to the bike station by 7:25. I'm cool.

Of course, it was nice having the wind at my bike and that might have contributed a little to my faster time. I'm not really sure how I'm going to get home this evening. It's really, really windy. I may take the bus when I'm heading west. Naturally, it will be after the cycling workshop that I'm going to tonight.

In addition, I need to profess my undying love for cycling at night. I love being out in the city when its quiet and mellow. Oh, it is my favorite. When I drive at night I just feel lonely, but biking I feel so peaceful and alive. What a wonderful feeling!

My Favorite Weather

I don't know if there's anything that can make cycling more enjoyable than having perfect weather. This morning was a great case in point. The temperature was in the 50s, cool enough that I was able to feel comfortable in my light windbreaker and gloves and headband, and not so cold that I felt like I needed to be wearing more. The sun was shining and glittering off of the lake. So beautiful that it makes me just feel soooo alive.

Some day when I'm faster I'm going to have to take my camera with me and take pictures of my commute. Once I get to the lake, it really is beautiful. Mornings are definitely better than the evenings when the trail is so congested. When the weather is nice I may start taking the streets home instead of the path just to avoid all of the people, but the mornings remain very clear, which I love.

Tonight, I'm going to a Seder, so I'll be taking the streets home. Hopefully my lights will work adaquately, I haven't really had to use them yet.

I also realized that I was a little off in my mileage count, so I'm actually at about 90 miles. Yay!

I'm taking a bit of a rest today. Last night I was biking home and just go so utterly tired. I don't know if it was the wind or if I was just pushing myself too much, but I felt like there was no way I'd be able to bike both ways today. So...I'm going to be missing out on Critical Mass, which is unfortunate.

I'm thinking that I'm going to really need to pace myself to work up to five days a week. I did 2 and a half days this week for a total of about 50 miles. I just don't think that i would have been able to do it today. So, next week I think that I'll bike Monday, Wednesday and Friday and then take the train Tuesday and Thursday.

As always, the scale is discouraging. I stepped on it today and it didn't show any reduction. I don't know if that's because I'm gaining some muscle or what. I track all of my calories and exercise at fitday.com and I've been running a 500-1000 calorie deficit for every day this week and yet I haven't seen any weightloss this week. Grr...I'm not going to be concerned until I've been doing this whole biking thing regularly for a month, but if there's still no difference after all that time then I'll go over it with a doctor.

Okay, mileage: about 70 total commuting miles

Spring is coming! Today I saw little leaf buds coming out. I also saw some crocuses coming up. Yay for greenery!

The weather was gorgeous again today. However, it's supposed to get kind of nasty tomorrow and last for the rest of the week. I must admit that doesn't bother me that much. I'm a Seattle native and I've always wondered why people here in Chicago seem to get so upset when they get splashed with a little rain. It's just water after all.

Anyway, the ensuing rain will hopefully clear out the Lakefront path. Last night it was like a madhouse. Everyone and their dog and their mother was outside. I've discovered why other people so dislike rollerbladers. They are usually wearing headphones in both ears, they take up a lot of room and they don't go all that fast and they aren't predictable. Grrr rollerbladers! I can't really blame everyone et al for wanting to be outside yesterday, it was beautiful...ah well, I'll have to learn to live with them.

Mileage: approximately 50 commuting miles

Into the wind

Biking into the wind is tough. Today was my first day having to ride against the wind. It certainly is harder and requires more effort. However, the breeze was nice once I got off the bike.

I find that being on the bike really lets me enjoy the weather so much more. If I had taken the train today, I would have just had my outdoor time from my apartment to the station. Riding along the Lakefront trail is a great way to start my morning. Today, the sun was shining, the water was glistening and if it weren't for the headwind it would have been a perfect morning. Now I'm just going to hope that the wind doesn't shift before my ride home. It will be super easy then.

Oh! And today I didn't get lost! Yay! That was nice. I'm also going to start logging my miles. Last week I biked about 30 miles. As of this morning, I'm up to 40. It still takes me an hour to bike the 10 miles. Hopefully I'll get that time to go down soon.

The Lakefront trail seemed pretty empty this morning. It was kind of a dreary AM, but since I'm from Washington a little bit of precipitation doesn't bother me.

I'm still pretty slow and I was definitely very tired halfway through the ride downtown today. It's about a 10 mile ride, and since I'm here in the Midwest it's flat.

However, I got lost today! Somewhere around Navy Pier there were two trails and I took the wrong one and found myself underground! So, I figured that I could find my way out and let me tell you! That is certainly easier said then done. So, after wandering around all of these freight loading docks and delivery entrances and going down a couple of dead ends I finally found the entrance to the Millennium Park Garage. So, I went around the gates, walked to the elevator and went back topside.

I did get a map at the bike station so hopefully I can figure out how to not repeat this adventure.

Well, this blog has been on a bit of a hiatus, but I am going to resurrect it now. Spring is here, that time of renewel and new beginnings. I just started a job working downtown so that means I don't need to drive 300 miles a week for work. I am extremely pleased about this, especially because I am going to being biking to work on a regular basis.

On Tuesday I signed up for a membership at the McDonald's Bike Station in Millennium Park and biked to work for the first time. It was great. I was able to get downtown in the same amount of time as it takes to ride the train, plus I could enjoy the weather and get exercise at the same time. The Bike Station was quite nice too. They have indoor bike parking, changing facilities, showers and lockers, all for affordable daily, monthly or yearly fees. To be honest, it was actually nicer to shower there because my shower at home goes cold after 2 minutes before going scalding hot.

Since I hadn't biked in a few months I'm a little out of shape and just biked the one-way on Tuesday. I hung out with some friends after work and took the bike on the train for the way home. Damn! It's nice that the Chicago Transit Authority allows that during non-peak times for no additional fee. I'm going to bike to work again on Friday and will try to do both ways. Lets hope that I can do both ways!