A little extra speed this morning

I was a little bit faster this morning, despite still not getting a whole lot of sleep and being under-fueled for the ride in to work. I started getting pretty hungry about 10 miles in. I have a water bottle full of Hydr8 with me that I intended to use for the ride home, so I took a couple swigs of it instead of my usual water to try to delay the Bonk Of Doom. It helped a little but the death slog up Baltimore was slower than usual. I'm still staying out of the granny ring. I don't even know if my bike will shift to it anymore, I haven't tried lately. My usual morning mocha took the edge off my hunger once I got downtown.

Since I was a little quicker, Lorin wasn't around. By the time I got my drink, he was strolling in, though. I was in line behind no-helmet headphone-wearing city-worker bike girl this morning. Usually, I see her ride by; I've never seen her stop for coffee before. I had to bite my tongue, as "what the hell are you thinking out there!?" almost escaped from my mouth. Oh well. It won't be my problem when she cracks the ol' noggin open and can only speak in vowels. Shortly after she left, I saw a construction worker pull up on an old beat-up cruiser singlespeed with its handlebars mounted upside down. Like bullhorns but different. I see the bike on occasion but don't think I've ever gotten pictures of it. The rider was using his hard hat as a bike helmet. While I don't think it would stay on his head in all crash circumstances, at least he gets some props for a unique way of carrying his work gear on his bike, and he KIND of has head protection.

Yep. The bike commuters are out in droves today!

Random Tunage:
Pole Folder - Waxxx
Lisa Loeb - Stay (unplugged)

The week's almost over!

I have my monthly meeting at the Maul tomorrow, and I'm having a hard time determining how I'm going to get there. I have ridden my bike there before. I've even posted about it. TWICE!
I'm not sure if that's in the cards for tomorrow, though. I may just do the bike commute and then drive to the Maul after I get home. We usually do quite a bit of running around after the meeting.

Tonight's ride back home was humid. It started off bright but quickly turned overcast. It wasn't much relief, though, as it didn't keep me from sweating. Today was another Ozone Alert day. I guess I was supposed to sit inside while riding my bike and playing in the park. Well, I didn't sit inside. I really don't notice lung irritation any worse than normal on ozone alert days. Then again, I'm not young nor elderly, nor do I have asthma or severe allergies.

Random Tunage:
Erasure - Always
Peaches - AA XXX (Double-A, Triple-X)

Tricks of the trade: Be an ambassador

After bike commuting for a while, you're bound to see some of the same people regularly. The chances are slim that you'll ever know them by name, but you'll recognize them and they'll recognize you. Don't make your first impression a bad one.

What do I mean "be an ambassador?" That's crazy talk. Simply put, an ambassador is one who represents their kind to others. With a little courtesy and a lot of respect, you just might change the way people look at bicyclists, or at least bike commuters.

Be an ambassador to automobile drivers.
Cyclists stick out like a sore thumb on public roadways. I don't mean that all cyclists are visible, but they're memorable. Most automobile operators look unfavorably on sharing the road with such a quaint contraption as a bicycle. Unless you live in a place where bicycling has become immensely popular, the average driver probably sees just as many classic hot rods as cyclists on the road. When you're seen, you're noticed. When you're noticed, you're remembered the next time you're seen. It's in your best interest to leave them with a favorable impression of bicyclists.

How do you become an ambassador to automotive traffic? It's quite easy. First, obey most of the traffic laws that apply to you. If you're used to treating red lights as stop signs and stop signs as yield signs, that's fine, but make sure you're giving law-abiding motorists the right-of-way that you'd give them if you were in a car. When someone gives you the right-of-way that's legally yours (for instance, not running a stop sign to get out right in front of you, or actually stopping at an MUP crossing to let you cross), wave and let them know that their effort is appreciated. Make eye contact. Smile. Don't yell "****ING CAGER!!!" when someone gets a little too close. It's not difficult to do.

Motorcycle riders are your friends!
It may sound counter-intuitive, but motorcycle riders are the most likely motor vehicle operators to sympathize with our plight. Bikers are often just as afraid of getting a door prize, right-hooked, or run over from behind as we are. There are also a lot more motorcycles on the road than bicycles. In addition to all of the above advice, you can build a little bit of camaraderie with them by performing the "biker wave" when approaching a biker going the other direction. Point to the center line of the road with your index and middle finger together and hold it for a while. Many bikers will reciprocate the gesture to a cyclist. Don't be afraid to talk to them at stop lights. We aren't that different from them. Talking to the bikers at work -- half of whom ride high-revving, medium-displacement crotch rockets -- they can appreciate what a cyclist goes through on the road. It never hurts to be on friendly terms with motorcycle riders.


Be an ambassador to pedestrians
No, I'm not kidding. Perhaps part of your commute, or maybe all of it, takes place on a multi-use path of some sort. I don't know if you've noticed, but the people on foot don't exactly look forward to seeing a cyclist on "their" turf. Likewise, we, as cyclists don't like to be slowed down by someone who is taking up the entire path with their 50-foot-long dog leash or their 3-baby stroller. This is the same mentality we're trying to get the car drivers to abandon, nimrod! Screaming at people, excessive use of the bike horn or bell, or just plain zipping around pedestrians is no less valiant than drivers that yell at us, honk at us, or pass too closely.

Via Bike Commuters, I saw a piece in the blogosphere by a journalist who was hating on bicyclists and specifically commuters from the sounds of it. The journalist obviously hasn't been passed by ME on a multi-use path. I usually approach at a leisurely pace, say 10-11 miles per hour, and in a clear voice, proclaim "on your left" from far enough behind to give them at least 5-10 seconds to react. I don't yell it as I zip by them like some people do. As I pass, I greet them with "good evening!" or any other ice breaker. This is a sign to pedestrians that you, like them, are enjoying the trail. You're not trying to be a racer. You're not trying to set a new land speed record for human-powered vehicles. You're just like them, but on wheels.

Most of us, at some point in our lives, remember when you could just ride around the block and find someone to be friends with. People used to talk to each other, wave at each other, and not be such a-holes about life. Some experts imply that bicycles are a litmus test of a friendly community. That might be true, but it's easier to believe when cyclists act more like people instead of stoic bad-asses on their way to the finish line (or the office)

Showing some respect and kindness to others who use the same corridors that you do is a great way to earn a little street cred for not only yourself, but other cyclists as well.

Trek has been discharged from the sick bay

I went and got my Trek's wheel last night. Since I made supper for the wife and I (we eat late), I had completely forgotten to put my road bike back together. I didn't get around to re-assembling it until well after 11:00, and didn't finish until close to midnight. Not only did I need to put the wheel back on my Trek, but I also stole the headlight, blinkie, and panniers off of it. It took about 10 minutes to get all that stuff switched over, but that was added to my already obsessive-compulsive half-hour nightly routine. I'll outline that in another post sometime soon along with my weekend preventative maintenance ritual. To top it off, I still hadn't taken my shower yet.

Anyhow, I got to bed later than I wanted to, and got less sleep than I wish I'd have gotten. All of this stuff combined means I didn't really recover as well as I should have. My legs weren't hurting, but my RHR was up a tiny bit again today. Since this is my first week measuring my heart rate in the morning, I am not terribly concerned with making adjustments just yet. I need to see what a "normal" week looks like. I didn't take a recovery day, but I did take it easy.

I got out the door about 5 minutes later than usual, and I didn't push it. It was another pleasant and smooth ride in, and I'm really thankful to have my road bike back.

Random Tunage:
Madonna - Frozen
Underworld - Cowgirl

Won't do it again unless I need to

Well, it was interesting having hybrid-zilla out today, but it's just not the purpose-built commuter I need right now. It makes a good backup bike and I wouldn't hesitate to use it as a commuter if I get backed into a corner like this again. You won't see me commuting on it "just because", though.

It needs a bottom bracket, first off. It also needs a real rack. It has braze-ons for a rack, but I don't have a real one to go on it. Honestly, I really think this bike would be perfect for an Xtracycle FreeRadical conversion. With some minor fixes and an Xtracycle kit, this would be a SWEET commuter and grocery getter bike. It's not a bad bike, it's just not the best one in my stable for commuting.

Random Tunage:
Masters & Nickson Ft. Justine Suissa - Out There (Chillout mix)
Aria - One

Well, the Outlook made it!

Photo: 1998 Diamondback Outlook.

The seatpost rack barely suspends the panniers out of my spokes. It's got awesome street tires, upgraded brakes and a spin-happy mountain bike cassette that's only usable on the hammer ring. It's got SRAM twist-grip shifters, no-name components, it doesn't mind being cross-chained and it's got a ticking bottom bracket, too! Oh my GOSH! Run! Run for your lives! Nothing can prepare you for...

HYBRID-ZILLA!

And it got me to work just as fast as my road bike, with a little more effort.

My Banjo Bros. panniers came with these two little hook things that you can put through the braze-on bolts that hold your cargo rack on, in case your rack is mysteriously missing the rounded hook things towards the drop-outs. I had no need for these hooks on my road bike because my rack has the integrated hooks. What did I do with these spare parts? I bolted them to the dropouts on my Outlook! Who needs a real cargo rack with a frame? Well, I probably should ghetto-rig something, because it took a lot to keep my panniers from leaning against the seatstay and into my spokes. Just what I need, more broken spokes, right?

Everything went pretty well. The trip wasn't noticably slower than on my road bike, either. Lorin caught up with me as I came to a stop at the coffee shop again. I got cooled down and made the final approach to work. Hybrid-zilla hasn't seen this parking garage in some months. She's never carried panniers before last night's test run, and combined with all the stuff I had loaded up, it was probably just like old times when I was tipping the scale towards 230 B.N.A.U.


RHR was 51 this morning. That's after letting my heart slow a few minutes after my alarm went off. Sheesh.

Random Tunage:
Reloop - F***ing Society (Chromedioxid II Remix)
Bloc Party - I still remember

... or not

So, I got the Diamondback Outlook all geared up.

Lights: check.
Hooks for hanging the panniers over the seat-post rack: check.
Heels don't hit panniers: FAIL!

Okay, re-adjust panniers.

Heels don't hit panniers: check.
Shifts fine: check.

Let's roll!

I took it for a 5-mile run to a grocery store and back. On my way home: Ping-ping-ping-ping-ping!

What the!? No freaking way!

Yep, another broken spoke.

Now, call me over-prepared, but I actually carry a spare spoke on my hybrid bike. I limp it home and check it out. Since I have a spare spoke, it has to have TWO broken spokes just to be a pain in my butt.

So yeah. I guess it's another MTB-to-bus day tomorrow.

* UPDATE *

Change of plans - I swapped my hybrid's rear tire onto my mountain bike's rear wheel. I'm going to lose some of the better gearing I have with the cassette on the hybrid's wheel, but I don't have the tools to swap cassettes.

Anyone know any good wheel builders in Kansas City?

Random Tunage:
Orbital - Lush 3-3 (Underworld Mix)
Eminem - Without Me

July Recap!

July was an awesome month, in part for the following reasons:

• My wife got a bike and started riding with me
• I really put myself to the test on bike commuting
• I met three local bike bloggers (Warren, kG a.k.a. c'Dude and Jason) in person, all of which are cool people who I hope to meet again
• I went on two really awesome and fun night-time rides
• Phil got me a little bit of press in the Star.
  
• I know I'm forgetting at least one other cool thing :)

How I did this month:
I did great, compared to my goals and expectations. The data speaks for itself. Here's a refresher of my goals for July and how I stacked up against them:




Some Stats:






Goals for August:
I want to make sure I'm not over-training. Remember, I'm doing this for fun, not to hurt myself.

In order to achieve this goal, I'm going to start trying to remember to take my resting heart rate in the morning. This morning, it was 46 bpm. I'll start logging (and perhaps charting) it in my spreadsheets.

I already analyze my leg stiffness/soreness before riding and my fatigue after riding. A morning RHR baseline should help. Then, I need to act on the feedback I'm getting. If I start to notice a trend between mileage or exertion and my heart rate, stiffness and fatigue, I'll dial it back a notch, or maybe take a recovery day by using the bus for part or all of my commute. Likewise, if I see a plateau, maybe I'll crank up my routine a bit.

My goals for August need to be something I can actually measure and be held accountable for, so here they are:

1. Take my RHR at least 3 mornings per week
2. Recover if I notice an upward trend in my RHR or other over-training signs
3. Carefully push harder if I feel like I'm at a training plateau.
   

That's it. This has been a fun month. I don't need goals to keep me on my bike and keep me commuting to work. I don't expect I'll catch up with this month's miles any time soon, either, so I don't plan on pushing myself on miles this month. I'll keep pedaling, and I'll start keeping an eye on my body's signs of training fitness. Also, I'm not "training" for anything at all, nor am I "working out." I'm not looking to improve my speed or my strength. I'm not going to judge myself on how much weight I gain or lose.

I simply say training in the sense of my body's ability to keep up with the level of work I make it do. Over-trained is a condition that you can get yourself into without trying to "train". This is the first month I've had to really worry about overdoing it, and as Jon pointed out in my comments a week or so ago, there may be times where the best thing for me is to take it easy, even if it means ditching the bike for a day.

Random Tunage:
Photek - Mine to give
Madonna - The power of goodbye

The ride... OF DOOM!

For the past few days, I've been noticing a little noise from my rear wheel. It's kind of a squeaking noise. I tried lubing the axle this morning to no avail whatsoever.

Over lunch, I had to pick up my bus pass, go to the bank, and get some food. The noise persisted, and occasionally I heard a faint tick noise. I figured that I'd take the bike apart when I got home and start chasing it down.

On my way home, the tick turned into a Clink per wheel rotation and I knew exactly what was happening. I broke a spoke. In the name of not tearing the crap out of my panniers or drivetrain, I stopped to tie the broken spoke off and ghetto-true my wheel to keep it from rubbing on the brake. As I was doing this, Karen pulled up and offered help. I ended up just unscrewing the spoke and leaving the spoke nipple in the rim.

That was about the only thing worth mentioning from my ride home. I took the wheel to my LBS and I'm prepping the Outlook for commuter duty tomorrow. Backup bikes are freaking awesome.

Random Tunage:
Blank & Jones - Desire (Accuface Remix)
Butthole Surfers - Pepper

Interesting things

Last night, I added a little tiny bit of flair to my helmet-mounted mirror. The idea was shamelessly borrowed from the KC Bike Commuters mailing list/group, who in turn may have borrowed it from elsewhere. I was tired of presenting the world with a little gray rectangle in front of my face whenever I wear my helmet. I figured I needed to put something clever on there in a hurry.

The ride in was solo this morning. Supposedly Karen was riding. Chris is feeling crappy this week and is doing the wise thing: not making it worse by riding the bike.

This was my first commute on the road bike since last Thursday and I'm really thankful to be back on it. It's so much smoother and efficient than my mountain bike.

I saw some interesting things on the way in:

• A southbound bike commuter I haven't seen before, near 18th street expressway at SW Blvd.
• A cyclist about a mile ahead of me. I noticed him/her after I went under I-35 and never caught up nor lost ground. I don't think it's anyone I know.
• A car passed me with a MO license plate that ended in "LOL"
  
• A pair of Huskies peeking their heads out under a barely-open garage door near Mildred's Coffeehouse at 18th and Wyandotte or so. One was laying on its side and yawned at me as I rode by while the other one just looked at me like it wanted me to stop and play.
  

I saw Lorin again as I approached 13th and Baltimore. We grabbed some coffee and talked about the TdF (ugh) and my goals for August. I'm still working on those.

Random Tunage:
Bakke & Ljungqvist - Fanatic
Crash Test Dummies - Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm

I made up my miles

I did the Bus-to-Trail thing again today racking up about 6 miles on the way home, and about a mile on the bike for lunch. Then, I rode to the Monday night trek store ride and back and of course participated in the ride, netting me about 31 miles for the day. About the same distance I'd get on a normal full-commute day.

Nothing really eventful to mention today, surprisingly enough. No crazy stories. No bums stealing stuff off my bike or anything like that. I'll save my breath for tomorrow evening's July recap.

Random Tunage:
Mike Foyle - Shipwrecked
Erlend Oye - The black keys work

"You'd never expect to see a laptop in there..."

The above is the quote I got as the bus was on final approach. The 50-year-old (I'm guessing) lady next to me thought it odd that someone would ride a bicycle to the bus but still have the means for what appeared to be a brand new laptop.

I explained to her that I ride downtown all the way most days, which I guess she interpreted to mean "I don't have a driver's license" because she started talking about some guy she heard on the radio that got a DUI and has been riding everywhere for a year and a half and has been losing the pounds like they're going out of style.

Then I had to explain to her that I have a car that I love, and that my license is intact, but I can't justify $10 per day in fuel and parking expenses, and that riding my bike is plain and simple a fun and healthy way to travel.

I guess it's this secret, un-written rule: In order to have a MacBook on the bus, you must drive the 2 miles to the bus stop in your Lexus RX450 or Ferrari 360 Modena. I know, who would have guessed? Oh wait, CBB nailed it last week.

It was quite funny, however, to have this lady next to me, full of pity for my horrible situation. Forced to ride a bicycle to the bus just to make a living downtown. Probably as a grease jockey for one of those fast food joints. Poor, poor kid can't catch a break.

All the while, I'm full of pity for her horrible situation. Brainwashed by society -- worsened by living in the most affluent part of our region, Johnson County. Poor, poor lady may never understand the joys of bicycling for transportation.

Random Tunage:
Inkfish - Eye Am
Nine Inch Nails - Head Like A Hole

More evil rain

Once again, I broke out my MTB to get to the express bus (2 miles). It's been raining on and off since yesterday evening, and I couldn't tell by the radar whether or not I'd be able to beat the storms downtown. Of course, now it looks like I could have, as I'm on the express bus about 10 minutes away from downtown, and I'd also be about 10 minutes from downtown on my bike had I left at my usual time. Still no rain.

It's a comin' to get us, though.

On wonderful spider news, our youngest cat found yet another brown recluse in our apartment. This one makes four so far. What's scary is the fact that it was a very, very young one. Not a baby, but definitely not mature. That probably means we're dealing with a full-on infestation of poisonous spiders. I really should have brought that wolf spider home with me Saturday night.

As usual, especially on Mondays that I don't get a full round-trip in, I am going to try to make it to the Monday night ride at the Trek Store. I've already exceeded all my cycling expectations this month, but the Monday night ride is one of the few times I can go out and get any actual recreational riding time and distance in one solid block.

Random Tunage:
Sarah Brightman - Snow on the Sahara (Cover of the same song by Anggun)
D:Fuse & Hiratzka - In Suspense

The weekend wrap-up

Friday night I surpassed 600 miles by making a little grocery store run on my MTB in the rain.

Yesterday, my sister in law and niece came over to spend the night. My niece brought her tricycle and I got the Sorrento adjusted for my sister in law. Since the rack on the Explorer can only carry two bikes, I put my wife's Townie and the Sorrento on it, then hit the road on my Outlook to meet them at the trailhead about 3 miles away.

I haven't ridden the Outlook since May. The tires were still holding air and everything seemed to be in good adjustment except for some slight ticking from the bottom bracket. The cones on the rear hub could stand a tiny bit of tightening, too.

It was fun riding the Outlook again. It's definitely got a completely different feel than any other bike I've got. As a bonus, I got to play with a wolf spider that my niece almost stepped on. He was quite a big fella.

My niece is a real trooper. She hung with us riding her fixed-gear trike (hah) for almost 2 miles on the trail. You can see the rest of the photos here.

Random Tunage:

Sixpence None The Richer - Breathe
Michelle Tumes - For the glory of Your name

Commuting and goofing off on the mountain bike

So, I took a different bus than usual just to get out of town. I'm still really tired from all the riding yesterday, but figured that a little jaunt up Antioch to Johnson Drive and to Turkey Creek Trail would be a nice ride home. About 6 miles worth.

I got some in-motion pictures of the MTB, and then decided to ride on some old abandoned train tracks (a siding track for an abandoned warehouse) because I thought it might be a shortcut between two parking lots I'd otherwise need to ride around. It was a blighted double dead-end track that took me out into a big ravine near two main RR tracks, and I had to walk through a bit of viny thick stuff to get out again. Goofing off on this stretch of old track was kind of fun, but not worth the hassle. I won't do it again, and it didn't lead to where I thought it would.

It was kind of fun doing a little distance on the MTB today, but wearing the sweaty backpack made it less enjoyable.

Click here to see the rest of the photos.

Random Tunage:
DJ Eyal - Dreamcatcher (Tea Freaks Milk & Two Sugars Mix)
INXS - Need you tonight

Me = Zombie

Wow. The C'Dude FMF Ride was flipping AWESOME but I am totally wiped out this morning. I showed up to the secret meeting place around 8:40 or so, and started unpacking my bike from the back of my car, and re-assembling it. A few other people were doing the same. After I had things put together, I introduced myself and we hung out, waiting for others to arrive. All in all, there were six crazy cyclists ready for a ride through the humid air of a summer night.

As we rolled off, one cyclist encountered a flat tire right away, before we could even leave the parking lot. It was caused by an old slice in his tire. About 10 minutes later, the tire had been booted and the hole had been patched. Fortunately, after this, there were no other malfunctions.

In order to get through the whole ride while still having a headlight left by the time I got done, I used the trusty Blackburn Quadrant LED light when we were in well-lit areas, conserving the 2.5 hours of run-time that my NiteRider has for use out in the boonies, and we were out in the boonies for quite a while. Never too far from civilization, but we spent a lot of time on roads that are sparsely populated and rarely traveled at night.

We only stopped for refreshments one time, at Shell in Stilwell, KS. I was munching away on a Butterfinger bar when all of a sudden, something didn't feel quite right. One of the two caps for my front teeth had popped off! The Butterfinger just finished it off -- I'd noticed it felt kind of odd after eating corn on the cob a few days ago. That's probably what weakened it. So, I have a fang again. I'm going to look into my options for getting the tooth fixed.

We strolled back up Metcalf into Overland Park and wrapped up the ride a little after midnight. The total was about 37 miles. As expected, I got dropped on some of the bigger hills, but I was never too far behind and I was able to catch back up.

After grabbing some real food and taking some to my wife at work, then getting home and taking a shower, it was about 1:30 AM. I passed out. My wife woke me up at about 4:50 when she got home and I had a serious case of sleep inertia. I just couldn't get moving. My legs feel fine, but I spent too much energy yesterday and didn't get nearly enough recovery. I rode my mountain bike to a bus stop this morning. Here I am.

As if it wasn't cool enough to meet Warren and C'Dude this month, it sounds like I might grab some lunch with Jason today as well, since he works just around the corner from my office... but not for long.

Ugh. Where's my coffee?! This is going to be a very long day.

Random Tumage:
DeNuit - All That Mattered (Cover of "Love You Down")
Bruce Hornsby - The way it is

Well, here I go!

I'm about to head out to the Full Moon ride in a bit. I've had a few hours to recover from my ride home. Tires are aired up, panniers are appropriately packed.

The ride home was nice and uneventful, but I got home a little later than I wanted to. I'm starting to feel the miles of the week, but that doesn't mean I'm ready to throw in the towel for tomorrow's bike commute yet.

Wish me luck. Hey, I'll get to meet two of my favorite local bloggers in July. w00t!

Random Tunage:
Orbital - Lush 3-2
Kimberley Locke - 8th World Wonder (HiBias Remix)

The smells of the commute

You know, riding along on a bike is a great way to entice almost all of your senses. Since I am riding into the heart of downtown from suburbia, I get to experience a broad selection of sights, sounds and smells. This morning, I'll focus on smells.

Sure, there's the faint smell of fuel and exhaust from the nearby highway and gas stations when I leave from home in the morning. That quickly fades, though. As I ride past the nursery, I smell flowery and fresh smells. As I pedal alongside the small streams and waterways, I may smell moss, or I may smell something putrid. Today was obviously trash day in Kansas City, Kansas and I smelled decaying refuse and 3-day-old pizza along the roadside. Coming into downtown, I pass a chemical supply place that always smells like burnt popcorn. Next to it, a Mexican food manufacturer that reeks of stagnating tortilla corn pulp. Not much further, I can smell delicious Mexican food being prepared. Right before I pull into the parking garage at work, I can actually smell the Folger's coffee being roasted and packaged. Yep, right here in Kansas City.

Anyhow, some smells are great, others are unwelcome. All of it is part of the commuting experience. While others are stuck breathing stale, exhaust-rich air in their cushy motorized contraptions, I get to soak up (and savor, when I wish) the many different sensory experiences of the place I call home.

The ride today was a little fast-paced with a train setting Chris and I back a few minutes. I got clearance to hit the Full Moon ride tonight, so I plan on going out there. I may not be in the mood to ride to work tomorrow, but I'll have to see what I feel like in the morning. There's always the bus.

As for my strength, I think it's sticking around. It's Thursday now, and I'm not nearly as wiped out as I have been in weeks prior to this. This isn't an amazing thing, and it's not something for me to be proud of. It's just something that comes with riding more. Looking back at how my bicycling has evolved over the past 10 months or so, my progress has been relatively slow, but it's proof that you don't have to be a jock or even in good shape to just pick up riding and be satisfied with the results you're getting while enjoying an effective way to get around.

Random Tunage:
Information Society - What's on your mind
White Zombie - More human than human

July Goals, joke of the year

What was I thinking? 2 Round trips per week without a car (8 RT's total)? 400 Miles? Bike:Drive ratio up over 4.0:1? What the heck?!

Try 13 round trips by bike so far (3 round trips with some kind of vehicle assist) and 521 miles for July.. and a 2007 cumulative ratio of 4.54:1!

I could stop riding for the rest of the month and be okay on my goals. BUT... I have 4 more work days this month, which is at least 110 miles worth of riding if the weather is good. Awww yeah!

Then, and here's the fun part... I'm thinking of hitting the c'Dude Full Moon Feeeeevuh ride. That's right. 35+ miles of darkness, or will it be dorkness with my reflective vest? We'll have to see if I can make it to the ride. I want to. That could put me up over 650 miles for the month. And there's still a Monday Trek Store ride with my name on it... Hmm...

Stay tuned. When I started riding in September, I never thought I'd be one of those crazy guys that rides 200 miles in a month. No sir!

The ride home was fun. Lorin followed me in, and I showed him the ropes on how to get around on Southwest Boulevard and Turkey Creek trail. He hadn't ridden all the way home from work before. I hope he had a blast and wants to keep doing it! It was a nice, slowish pace which is just what I needed after the hammerfest this morning.

Random Tunage:
Armin Van Buuren Ft. Racoon - Love You More
Bryan Adams - Heaven

Random Tunage and lunch

Some of you may have noticed my recent posts have "Random Tunage" at the end. Music is a huge part of my day. I love music, and my tastes are somewhat eclectic but lean towards electronic-sounding stuff. This encompasses 80's "New Wave", 90's dance music, Industrial rock, and what most would call "techno" but is technically a variety of Trance.

Random Tunage is whatever happens to play from my massive collection of (you guessed it) random tunage while I'm posting. I limit it to two tracks that play, as sometimes my posts take me a while and I could hear 3 or 4 songs.

Anyhow, I'm on lunch. I took the bike on a short trip around the corner for some carry-out chinese. I didn't feel like gearing up, so I just hopped on and rode. Helmetless, dress clothes, and dress shoes on bare clipless pedals. It was nice. The roads I was riding on are all little back alleys and whatnot anyways. I always say it's stupid to ride without a helmet, and I'd say I was being an idiot, but hey. I was halfway down the stairs when I thought I'd ride instead of walking. And what a nice, short ride it was. The bike feels totally different without panniers and riding in office attire. What a blast!

Random Tunage:
Regina Spektor - Fidelity
Peter Cetera - You're the Inspiration (new version)