January Recap and miscellaneous stuff

Well, my "Do Not Lick Bicycle" sticker project isn't working too well. I'm currently laminating inkjet transparency film to traditional reflective tape. This is too thick to be flexible. I may need to find some company to directly print these on reflective vinyl for this to work. Oh well. To the left is a cheesy picture of my prototype. It was the 4th and best, but still wants to peel off because of the added thickness and layers.

January '08 stats ('07 in parentheses)
Work Days: 21 (21)
Bike Commutes: 21 (14)
Bus-Assisted Days: 19.5 (14)
Driving Days: 0 (7)
Commute Miles: 151.1 (124.1)
Errand Miles: 46.0 (10)
Rec. Miles: 35.1 (7.1)
Total Miles: 232.2 (141.2)

So there you have it. I almost doubled my miles for January but I have my work cut out for me. I must say that this month wasn't nearly as challenging for me as last January was, but I'm still thankful January's gone. I wouldn't mind some more light powder episodes to play in, but the novelty of snow is starting to wear off, and the really cold weather, while tolerable, is something that I merely put up with because the fun and exercise (okay, and shocking my cow-orkers) is worth it.

Random Tunage:
Nine Inch Nails - Wish
Bloc Party - I still Remember

Plans for '08

You may have noticed (but probably didn't) that I never bothered to talk about my expectations for 2008. Part of this is because my only new year resolutions were to take life as it comes and try to enjoy as much of it as I can. I didn't want to come off like I had some cycling-specific resolutions. These are simply goals and expectations from myself.

Goal #1:
Pack on at least 5,000 miles total for 2008. That's about 420 miles per month or about 100 miles per week. I won't make 420 for January, but given my riding pattern over last summer, I can pretty much guarantee I'll have several months with 500-700 miles. It won't be easy, but it's less than 800 miles more than I rode in 2007. I'm already ahead of where I was by this time last year, but not by enough of a margin to catch 5,000. I'll definitely need to work hard to meet this goal.

Goal #2:
I will ride a genuine century ride. Last year, I did a metric century in one run of things during the last official C'Dude full moon ride. The ride itself was less than 40 miles, but I rode to and from the start point to put me at 70ish miles in one sitting. Combined with my 30-mile round trip commute, I did ride 101 miles in one day, but I still consider that day as just a metric. I want to ride a real century in '08. Maybe two. I don't care if it's a massive event like the Lone Star Century, just cruising the countryside with Chris, 'Dude, Badger or Dave, or even on my own.

Goal #3: 2007 brought with it 25 car commutes. I want it to be 0 this year, but I'll settle for anything under 10.

Expectations:
I expect that my lungs and heart will continue to get more efficient and that I'll end up more endurance because of this.

I expect to finally start losing weight again. I lost about 50 pounds from when I started riding, but gained 15 of those back this winter. I never, ever dropped below 190, but I bounced against 190.0 several times. Once I clear 190, I expect to never see 200 pounds again. Period. We'll see how that works out. I feel better now at 205 than I felt at 180 when I was bulking up on my lethargy phase, so I'd rather not worry about weight and worry more about how I feel. Weight loss is not a goal, so I'm not tracking it too much. I weigh myself once, maybe twice monthly.

Clean bikey!

Not much to say about last night's commute. This morning, I was extra hungry and there wasn't anything tasty at home, so I stopped by Burger King for some breakfast to eat at the bus stop. Once downtown, I saw the remnants of a pretty serious car crash. Lorin swung by to have coffee with me. It's been a few weeks, so that was cool. We bewailed the current state of the presidential race, bickered about music, and discussed the upcoming Bike To Work Week plans.

I swear, this time of year I spend almost as much time cleaning or fixing my bike as I do riding it. Okay, not quite, but I do spend more than a mere morsel of my week doing preventive maintenance, adjustments or repairs. If my bike is in any kind of disrepair, I pretty much have to figure out what's going on. Noisy chains, noisy brakes, and crufty shifting are not an option. Last night's clean and tune took a few hours but it was worth it.

I can tell you that I found the most awesomest degreasing agent ever made. Brakleen. Holy moly! Not only did it shine my rear gear cluster and chainrings up, but it evaporated in about a minute even outdoors in sub-freezing temperatures!

Anyways, here are some obligatory photos. Bath time for bikey!

My whole bike was covered in this grimy film:


I took the wheels off and scrubbed them down first, then threw the rest of the bike in the tub. First upside-down, then right-side up like this, but leaning over so it wasn't resting on the rear derailleur:


The rear cluster. I cleaned it with Brakleen and ran a rag between sprockets while it was still off the bike. This photo was after I re-lubed the drivetrain and all that good stuff.


The Goat is clean! Sorry for the over-exposure. The reflector tape throws it off and I mis-calculated the exposure time.



Random Tunage:
Des'ree - Dreams can come true
Sixpence None The Richer - Breathe

Might need to tone it down a bit...

My clothing, that is.

It was 9 degrees when I left home this morning. I opted for my thermal base layer, top and bottom. Bluejeans, two pairs of socks in roomy shoes, and the inner layer of my winter ski coat up top. On my head, I wore two balaclavas, the second to keep my chin and ears warm.

I had a somewhat brisk pace on the way to the bus, but I wasn't hammering it. By the time I hit the viaduct apex, my torso was burning up. This is the same upper-body combo that was fine -- no, great at 19 degrees without the increased effort.

If this continues, I may try layering thinner layers. Perhaps my thermal base layer, a hooded sweatshirt and a windbreaker or my ski jacket's outer shell. This should, in theory, be about as warm as my ski coat/base layer combo, but with the ability to vent the outer layer while still having something warmer than just my base layer exposed to the breeze.

As it sits, I rode the last half mile or so of my journey with only my thermal base layer on. I took my coat off on the bus and packed it away, so I was already dry. That configuration is certainly too cold to ride any distance in, but it was better than sweating my arse off.

It's somewhat frustrating to have a setup that you know works really well, and when one variable is out of place the equilibrium is thrown all out of whack. I may have to reserve my ski coat.

The Goat is back in its singletrack form again. The cargo rack is off, the rear fender is back on, and it's looking really, really grimy from the last two days. Some of this is slop from riding it, and some of it is the crusted-on remnants of the briny spray it gets while strapped to the front of the bus on the highway. It'll need a good, thorough cleaning sooner rather than later. I can only hope that we see temperatures above freezing for a bit this afternoon, as I don't really have a good place to clean it off indoors.

Random Tunage:
Dynamix II - Machine Language
New Order - Confusion (Pump Panel Remix) [Blade Soundtrack]

The Day After Tomorrow

You know that scene in The Day After Tomorrow? Forget the flooding and all of that. Just the part with the massive cooling effect. Remember that?

Well today was kind of like that. It was 54 degrees when I left my apartment. It was 52 degrees when I got downtown. But somehow, in mere minutes, it was suddenly in the mid-40s before I could actually get to work. This cool-off had to have occurred in as few as 15-20 minutes. By lunch-time, we were down to 17 degrees with strong winds and horizontal snow. Only a few hundred miles to our east, Saint Louis was enjoying temperatures approaching 70 degrees.

The ride to the bus this morning was a little sloppy. The road was sweating with condensation. The air was just right -- again, about 54 degrees. Short-sleeve weather, for sure. Not willing to let it fool me, I had my winter coat packed for my return trip.

The return trip was bitter cold. 17 degrees, very windy, and with slushy roadways and impatient motorists trying their damnedest to make my life hell. The pedestrian bridge was dicey with strong winds and nothing but a chain-link fence to baffle it. Being held 40 feet above the ground and all of the wind-calming protrusions therefrom, I was literally hanging in the breeze and not having much of a good time, either.

At least the rest of the week looks predictably cold. No more of this bait-and-switch weather.

Random Tunage:
Sarah Brightman - Snow on the Sahara (how fitting!)
Reflekt Ft. Delline Bass - I need to feel loved (12" Club Mix)

Poll: Car-Free Household?

The question is simple.

I'm giving 3 options here:

Yes: No one in your household owns a car. To make this clearer, "car" means any motor vehicle that you would have to own a license to use on the roadway. Motorcycles, too.

Share one car: In a household of multiple people of driving age, one car is shared between you. This can be a married couple, room-mates, life partners, whatever. If there is only one car and multiple adults in your domicile, click this option.

No: Either you're single with at least one motor vehicle, or there are multiple automobiles owned by people of-age in your dwelling.

In order to see this poll, you must visit KC Bike Commuting. It will be in the upper-right corner, as usual.

What a night!

Dave asked if I was going out to the Bike To Work Week planning committee kick-off meeting earlier today. It was scheduled to be in Westport. No, thanks. Upon further inspection, however, I noticed that they moved it to Waldo, an area I'm pretty familiar with, and not too far for a bike ride. So, I decided to skip my usual mile-pile group ride in exchange for something with a bit more purpose (okay, and more miles, too).

Against all better judgment, I couldn't resist riding home this evening. 60 degrees, and what I'd find out later was SW (straight-on headwind for the most part) wind at 23 MPH gusting 39 MPH. I am a man of many obscure words, but "grueling" is the only one that I can think of right now, and that's a gross understatement.

Finally arrived home at something like a 12 MPH pace average. Just ridiculous. I quickly Grab some grub. I didn't eat much. Mistake.

I Drove my bike (on the Explorer) a few miles to meet up with Dave. I got out too late to ride to the place I was going to meet him, so I drove part way there to make up the time.

We roughly took this route to get out there, but got turned around a few times and then couldn't find the library. The wind never let up at all. What a genuine pain. But, it was a fun ride, and good meeting the people interested in how they can help make Bike Week 2008 a huge success. 2008's incarnation of Bike Week WILL happen on the LAB recommended schedule. If even part of the brainstorming we did this evening comes to fruition, this should be the biggest, best turn-out to date. I won't make any promises or reveal anything yet, but it's obvious that there's a serious force behind this program in Kansas City.

The trip back was slow going. The wind had taken its toll on me all afternoon, and I didn't eat nearly enough for supper. I floated on the brink of Bonk for quite a while, but in the end, I made it back okay.

It was cool to meet Dave in person. We both bike commute, some of our motives behind commuting are the same. We both work information security in the financial industry. And that's just to name a few things. On the flip side, he's been riding all his life but is a relative newcomer to bike commuting in its current incarnation, whereas I'm a relatively new cyclist with more bike commuting experience -- mostly because that's more than 80% of my riding, though.

I am going to sleep really, really well tonight. I am torn the hell up.

Random Tunage:
ORM - Millenium [sic]
Crystal Method - Vapor Trail

How much longer will it last?

A few mornings ago, it was 1°F, the second coldest temperature I've ridden in. This morning, it was 49°F, a little warmer than last night's errand run. By the time I got downtown, it was 52. Since I already had the road bike and panniers out, I rode the whole trip at an average speed of 18.2 MPH. Not bad for being out of shape like I am, until you realize that at any given time I had 10-20 MPH winds on my hind quarter. It was almost a crosswind, but with enough angle to give me a bump. It felt like a pretty quick ride for the amount of effort I put into it.

It felt damn good to ride the whole way in again. I'm not sure if I'll ride all the way home though -- especially if the wind keeps up the way it's been. Regardless, I'll probably go hit the Monday night ride this evening as long as it doesn't start raining. I need to get crack-a-lackin' on these miles sooner rather than later.

I skipped my usual coffee stop this morning. I brewed up the last of my Nitro last night for my wife and stashed the rest of it away in my vacuum flask, which keeps coffee fresh and undrinkable-hot for a good 24 hours. It's not as bold or full-bodied as my usual French Pressed coffee, but it's still good. I think I have some Mountain Dew laying around here somewhere, that is if the night cleaning crew didn't steal it. Stupid office theft crap cheeses me off.

Oh, and to answer the question of how much longer will this nice weather last... It looks like we're back to flurries tomorrow. Epic Fail. I was just starting to like this stuff.

Random Tunage:
Kimberly Locke - 8th World Wonder
Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes

Not-so-late-night errands

Photo: No rollerblades, skateboard or bicycles allowed.

Some of you might be in the swing of things, riding to work when it's nice out, maybe a few days per week. Maybe every day. Maybe even when the weather just plain sucks. A while back ago, Warren posted about Clif Bar's 2 Mile Challenge on CBB. It's a challenge to use your bike or feet for short trips that don't require a car. I started out just riding to the bus 2-3 days per week. It took me a while for it to even cross my mind to try going to the pharmacy or post office on my bike. Now, I live right at the intersection of two very popular suburban arterial roadways. Within two miles, there are 5 grocery stores, a post office, several banks, scads of restaurants, a bike shop, and almost anything else you could really want. Best Buy, Sam's Club, Petco, Toys R Us, you name it.

So back to tonight's adventure. I'm making taco salad tonight, and we also needed more breakfast stuff. With that, I decided to take The Twelve on a shakedown run and get some more groceries. I haven't ridden it since Bike America tuned it up. Now seems like a good time. 48 degrees outside. Just beautiful!

In the duffel:

• Eggs
• None of your business :P

In the panniers and/or bungeed atop the rack/panniers:

• Sunday paper
• Black olives
• Family size bag of Tostitos
• Hamburger meat
• Bagels
• Cream Cheese
• Bacon
• Sour cream
• Taco Seasoning
• Brownies
  
• Deodorant
• Food for our pet rodents
• Limeade
• Cheddar cheese
• Microwave popcorn

And probably some other things.

I could have easily loaded another 15 pounds of stuff into the duffel.
This is the kind of stuff I love about living about a mile away from a grocery store. I can make surprisingly hefty grocery trips with relative ease. Even if there's a lot of shopping to do, it's close enough that I could make 2 or 3 quick jaunts.

Total miles today: a mere 2.3. :(

Random Tunage:
Agnelli + Nelson - El Nino
Nine Inch Nails - A Warm Place :(

Late night errands

The sleep schedule (or lack thereof) been hecktic this week. I didn't get out Saturday like I'd wanted to. I was indoors most of the time, and sleeping a good part of the day as well.

I did have to make a quick midnight grocery run, though. For this, I rode The Goat. At 36 degrees, it felt good to get out. I didn't even bother with socks. Just threw on my ratty Sketchers and an ankle-strap to keep my jeans out of the chain, a windbreaker over my t-shirt, a headband and my Specialized Deflect gloves. It was a great ride, albeit short.

Maybe I'll get out tomorrow. It's hard telling the way things have been going on the weekends.

Random Tunage:
INXS - Need You Tonight
Ben Folds Five - Brick

WARNING!

Do not lick bicycle when cold!



This all started when Apertome started talking about how when it's REALLY, REALLY cold, his bike actually freezes the condensation out of the air when he brings it indoors. I made some comment, and I actually had "WARNING: Do not lick bicycle!" as my IM status message for a while. It seems to elicit chuckles.

Also, yesterday at one degree, my hand actually stuck to my bike when I went to lock it up at work. Indeed, it was very, very cold outside. To that, I took Apertome's suggestion to specify "when cold" as well. It looks cheesy but it's kind of funny. I like it.

Just too tired this morning

But I rode anyways.

Seriously, this was the kind of morning that would have forced me into a car last year. I was honestly considering catching the Dreaded Bus to get to work. It practically offers me Door-To-Door service. This, however, would be cheating, or I'd feel like it is. It really is great to be able to have the absolute worst case scenario available and still have a car-free way to get to work. I really want to make it through the winter without missing a SINGLE bike commute day, though. Taking the Dreaded bus wouldn't ding me as a car commute day (thank goodness), but it wouldn't count as a bike commute day, either.

No. Bullheaded as I am, I rode to my usual brumal bus stop at an average clip of about 8 miles per hour. This is about 50% slower than my usual pace on my mountain bike, about half the usual pace on my road bike (which is the same as hammerfest pace on my MTB), and about 1/4 my hammerfest pace on the road bike -- Just to put things into perspective. I. Was. S. L. O. W. this morning.

Once downtown, I hung out with JR over a warm cup o' joe for a while before heading to work. His birthday was this week, but for some reason he insisted on buying me coffee. Odd, but appreciated.

As far as the tired goes... I'm not sure what the deal is. I get the same amount of sleep every night for the most part, but I think it might not be enough. As the week wears onward, I always seem to feel a little more fatigued. Couple that with the fact that I'm still expected to put out about the same amount of productivity this week as any other week despite having a holiday on Monday, and you've got a recipe for some serious crash-n-burn syndrome. My eyes are burning. My head hurts. My legs are sore, and it's certainly not from all the miles I've been (not) packing on. I'm thinking I should schedule an hour-long meeting over my lunch break in one of the small, windowless conference rooms on the other side of our building...

Random Tunage from my PsyTrance playlist:
Infected Mushroom - None of this is real
Growling Mad Scientists - Shrek

You can count the degree...

... on one finger!

This is officially the second coldest day I've ever ridden my bike. The coldest was a commute to the bus in 2007 at -3°F. Today it's 1°F. I actually wore the same gear I had on for yesterday's 12 degree morning, just cranked up the effort a bit. With the exception of my big, fluffy ski gloves starting to fail my two outer fingers on both hands, I was doing just fine. Keep in mind that this is only a bit more than 2 miles to the bus stop. I would have needed something extra on my hands if I were to ride much more than 4 miles in this. Glove liners inside or plastic bags outside the glove to block the wind, maybe.

Bike America is officially bad-ass. I took The Goat out there last night to get the wheel trued up and the wrench on duty went bananas on my bike. I guess my rear cone bearings and my headset were a bit out of adjustment. The chain was shot (no surprise there) and a bunch of other little details got fixed up. As usual, they rock. Occasionally it takes them a while to get a part in, so there are always some locals bewailing their service. They get swamped in the summer time, too, but they do their best.

After all that, The Goat is running smooth and quick. Less of a mountain goat and more of a mountain lion, perhaps. I stiffened the tires up to 65 PSI (max recommended) last night which also helped a bit this morning, I'm sure. At this point, the ice on the ground is in little patches and it's mostly dry pavement covered in sand, salt and frozen grime. Nothing my road bike couldn't handle but I like to be prepared for the freak blizzards that KC seems to be famous for these days.

Part of me is seriously ready for spring. Another part of me wants to see a few more really cold mornings in hopes that I can best my previous cold weather record. Let the acrid missives from my fellow KC denizens ensue!

Random Tunage:
Gin Blossoms - Hey Jealousy
Green Day - When I Come Around

One last post this morning. A funny story.

After discovering that I was going to need new brake pads, I had to justify the expenditure to my wife. The conversation went something like this:

"Honey? I need to spend some money on bike parts."

"What? Why? Can it wait until pay day?"

"I need to fix my brakes. I can't ride my bike the way it is. I can't stop. It's dangerous."

"How Much?"

"Cheaper than a tank of gas in the Focus and it should last me at least a year."

"Oh, okay."

In all this, though, is the lesson that you do need to set aside $50 or so on occasion for bike repairs. It sure the hell beats setting aside $600 for the random car repair. It always seems random bike failures usually result in a $40-60 expenditure, whereas random car problems end up setting people back more than $500 at a shop.

The brake-n-shakedown

The brakes worked really well this morning, aside from a bit of rubbing slowing me down. That will go away with a wheel tune-up this evening, I'm sure.

Another brisk morning at 11 degrees, and the additional brake drag was not welcome. It didn't set me back too much but I could tell I was hitting the rim in a little spot every rotation. It was either hit the rim a little bit, or not have adequate braking power for the rear. I chose the slower, safer option.

I had Coffee with Lorin this morning, probably for the last time in a while. He's trying to save some cash and part of that means giving up a few luxuries. I'll still see him on the bus as long as I keep riding it though. I'm going to try to see if I can rope him in for a weekly full-ride downtown once it warms up, too.

Anyhow, aside from that, my morning was business as usual. Ultra-caffeinated with some pressed coffee and a mocha, and all the good stuff that goes with it.

Random Tunage:
Orbital - Desert Storm
Steve Winwood - The Finer Things

Bike Repair Twosday

The Goat's rear brakes were grinding yesterday morning, and were worse last night, starting to chew up my rim. Upon inspection, I found that one of my rear pads had some aluminum built up in it. This isn't uncommon, and I've had the same problem with the OEM brakes on my road bike before I switched to the Swissstops. Furthermore, though, the pads were pretty much hosed anyways, so I set out to get some new ones.

My road bike has some issues as well, so I took it to Bike America while brake pad shopping. They offer free lifetime tune-ups on all new bikes purchased there, which is really a hell of a deal when you consider how much labor could potentially cost for tune-ups alone. If you need a wheel trued up, a new chain, or a complete overhaul, all you pay for is parts. I figured I'd let them work on my 1200 now when business is slow. While I found my brake pads, Tyler went to work.

The main thing that I noticed with my 1200 is that the spokes on my new Shimano R500 rear wheel were hitting the derailleur in its lowest gear. I rarely go down that low, but on the occasions that I did, I was greeted with "ping ping ping" and quickly shifted up again. My hanger was slightly bent. Tyler re-set it for me. My rear wheel was a bit out of true as well. He straightened it up. He also did a quick lube and overhaul of my front brake, which I didn't know was in dire need of attention.

With as bad as my brake cables were last time I checked them, I went ahead and picked up a good length of brake housing, two new brake cables, and the various ferrules and ends for them.

The brake pads I picked up for The Goat (shown above) are Gigapower brand replaceable pads and holders resold under the Bontrager label. I opted for replaceable brakes this time around. The Bontrager and Kool-Stop Linear-pull ATB brake pads will fit these holders, so finding replacements will not be an issue.

The Goat needed a lot more help than I'd initially thought. I ended up completely refurbishing all of the brake pivots. I mean I completely tore both cantilevers completely apart, cleaned them all up and re-lubed them before re-assembly. I gave the frame a good, thorough wipe-down as well, and half-ass cleaned the drivetrain. I started around 8pm and I didn't get finished until close to midnight. Granted, I took a break for supper in there somewhere, but still...

I need to take The Goat in to get the rear wheel tweaked. All the rest of the stuff I was going to have the bike shop do after winter's left us, I did on my own last night. I can true wheels, but I don't have a truing stand so I can't guarantee I'll get the rim centered properly and the rear wheel's out of true in several places making it hard for me to judge what part of the wheel is where it should be and what part is out of whack. I'd rather leave that to a pro.

I didn't have time for a shakedown, but at least I knew my 1200 would be in great shape.

Tricks of the trade: Caffeine On The Go

I know a lot of cyclists will berate me for this one, but every time I mention my portable French Press that fits in a bottle cage, it seems to drum up a bit of attention. Caffeine is hands-down the most popular drug in America.

It's been said that caffeine is a way to steal time from your older self. Caffeine users surpass smokers and alcoholics by a significant margin. Some people think Caffeine is evil. Others love it. I don't care where you stand on this argument, but I'll just tell you I'm on the "love it" side of the fence.

With that, my favorite way to enjoy coffee is via French Press. For the un-initiated, there are several ways to enjoy coffee. I'll outline 4 of the most popular ways:

• Drip Brew. A filter full of coffee grounds sits in a basket. Water is heated from a resevoir and as it boils, it is forced up a tube and drips through the grounds. The filter keeps the coffee grounds from getting mixed in with the coffee you drink. The decanter below catches the coffee and is usually heated from below to keep it hot. This is probably how you get your coffee.
• Percolator. Coffee grounds are located above a vat of heated water. The heater is located below a tube, forcing water up and onto the coffee grounds. The liquid works its way through the coffee grounds. This coffee-water gets recycled and run through the coffee over and over again until it is sufficiently strong. This is how small stove-top coffee kettles and large coffee urns work.
• Espresso. Very fine coffee grounds have high-pressure steam forced through them, quickly extracting the flavor and caffeine from the coffee grounds. This is very strong and can be drank as-is, but is most often put in popular espresso-based drinks such as Mocha, Latte and Cappuccino.
• French Press. Near-boiling water and coffee grounds are stirred together in a container and allowed to steep for a period of time (usually 3-5 minutes depending on desired taste, type of coffee bean, and coarseness of the grounds). After that time has elapsed, a plunger is pressed down, which forces a screen filter through the coffee. This pushes the coffee grounds to the bottom and separates them from the coffee beverage. At this point, you may drink the coffee. In a large French Press, it's often poured into a suitable drinking mug. On a small travel press, you can drink straight from the container if you wish. The coffee grounds will not brew any further once pressed to the bottom.
  

French Presses come in many different styles, but my favorite one for use on the bike is the Bodum Travel Press. It's made in stainless steel as well as insulated plastic. I opt for the Stainless since it should be more durable. It's also vacuum insulated and keeps coffee warm for a long time even in the single digit temperatures I have to endure on occasion.

I bought mine on eKitchenGadgets, which was iKitchen.com once upon a time. Here's a direct link:

http://www.ekitchengadgets.com/boststtrmug1.html

Also, Steven M. Scharf's Bicycle Coffee Systems website has a bunch of coffee/bicycle related information, including a bunch of links to special bottle cages and bicycle cup-holders for odd-sized travel mugs and regular travel mugs that happen to fit nicely in standard bottle cages. It's certainly worth a look.

10 degrees, and a great morning

First and foremost, I simply nailed my clothing choices this morning. I took my advice from the 8 degree morning earlier this month:

"Maybe add a light layer to legs, go lighter on the upper body"

The end result:

• A pair of balaclavas (one showing only the eyes, one to add a layer to the ears and neck, stretched to go around my face) and ski goggles for my head. I don't have a scarf or a neck gaiter but this would have been better than a second balaclava.
  
• A wicking thermal base layer shirt under a ski coat for my torso
• Thick snow ski gloves for my hands
• Wicking thermal base layer, thin flannel pants and cargo pants for my legs
• Doubled-up socks inside loose, loose tennis shoes for my feet

I can genuinely say I was really comfortable this morning. No sweating except for the top of my head, and I was pedalling along nicely at a reasonable pace. This would have been way too much clothing for a hammerfest, but as far as my usual commuting pace goes in the morning, it was perfect.

I threw some coffee grounds and almost-boiling water in my bike-bottle French Press a bit before taking off, as well. It was nice to be able to warm my soul while waiting for the bus. No matter how cold it is outside, it seems that my arrival is the cue for all the motorists to evacuate the confines of their steel cages and stand "in line" for the bus. I could show up 20 minutes before the bus and they'd probably get out and stand around. I don't know if it's because they have some kind of sympathy on me, or if they just figure the bus must be close if I'm there waiting for it. Regardless, most of them are shivering while I'm enjoying life inside my warm clothes, sipping on warm, dark coffee.

So begins a short work week. It looks like we stand a good chance of staying below freezing until the weekend approaches. Personally, I think this is a Good Thing(tm).

Random Tunage:
D:Fuse & Hiratzka - In Suspense
Fatboy Slim - Praise You

New Poll: How many bikes?

How many bikes in your household? Maybe there are 6 people and only 2 bikes. Maybe you're single and have 6 bikes. Heck, JR has more than 20 all by himself! Whatever the case, I want to see how many you've got.

Have an interesting story behind some of your bikes? Tell us about them in the comments.

If you don't see the poll in this post, you need to go to KC Bike Commuting to see the poll. It's in the upper right hand corner.

The Monday night (no) group ride.

As usual, I like to show up to a bike ride on a bike, not with a bike strapped to an SUV. This is mostly a matter of practicality, not environmentalism. I would similarly rather drive my Focus to an Autocross than have it towed to and forth on a trailer. This set me back a bit, as traffic signals had thwarted my efforts to get there on time. I was about a minute late. That said, we haven't started on time in almost a month. I think I was the only one who showed up. I'd find it hard to believe people actually left on time this week, but no one was around.

36 degrees this time of year is too nice an evening to waste, so I departed on the first leg of our usual Monday night ride. Mark Thomas usually runs something different every week when he's leading. He's out Cross racing in Europe this week, but Russel would have likely lead today anyways. I generally have a good idea where they're going, so I set out to catch up just in case I'd missed the peloton by a minute or two. It was clear that either I was on the wrong path or I was the only one on the ride within 5 minutes or so.

I decided to putz around some side streets. Up Colonial to Lamar, back onto Colonial, got lost and ran into a few dead ends. No biggie. I was just having a good time at this point. I decided that Lamar was nice enough to ride on, so took it all the way up to Mart-Way. This intersection is the main bus transfer depot for our local bus system, and one of my favorite Thai Restaurants is across the street as well. I resisted the urge to pick up a dish from Thai Orchid to eat later. It sounded very tempting and I'm sure the bungees could have held it safely all the way home. Alas, I kept riding.

Up to this point, the majority of my riding had been north and east. With the wind. This whole time, it was a stable 36 degrees as well. My return was a grueling one that started off with a death slog uphill and into the wind on Mart-Way. I found Metcalf, shimmied along it for a while, cut through some lawns and found 61st. Then it was a ride into the stiff wind. I watched as temps literally plummeted. We lost almost 10 degrees in just a matter of minutes.

A glutton for punishment without a good alternative route, I chose to slog Antioch (again, into the wind) to 67th street. The result of that was 300 feet of climbing rolling hills into the wind in just about 2 miles. Wind and hills. Two foes I know well but still haven't adjusted to.

I took a few "detours" along the way. Hopped a few curbs, rode through some grass. Good stuff. The rough outline of my ride is here. There were a few "oopsies" as well, which I didn't mark. Some dead ends and what-not. All in all, though, it was a fun ride. I should be ready to rock and roll for the morning commute now. Looks like I stand a chance of riding in or near single digit temps again.

Random Tunage:
Nine Inch Nails - A Warm Place
Nine Inch Nails - Closer