Still here, still riding!

Lots to talk about, but not much time to talk about it!

Some quick bullets now, details and photos later:

• Broke some spokes.
• Got some lights!
• Finally stopped by BBW for spoke replacement and had a good experience. The BBW tech was excellent compared to REI tech.
• Quit my job, no more 20-mile commutes every weekday.
• Checked out drivetrain replacements: Shimano 105 group is $650! Tiagra is about $400. Craigslist to the rescue?
• Managed 60 miles riding, last week. Only 30 miles to go! I have an interview tomorrow, then it’s back on the road.
• While riding home from Fed Hill, I ran (rode?) across the Hopkins Cycling blogger, turns out he’s this guy!

Good talk, people. Gotta go!

Image cred: SlipperyBrick

Very Bad News Dept.: Another cyclist felled by hit-and-run

From the article:

“A 47-year-old Glen Burnie man was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after he was struck by a car while bicycling Sunday night on Crain Highway, an Anne Arundel County police spokesman said.”

Naturally, the article insinuates that the cyclist may have been at fault for the collision. Of course, we cannot surmise anything about the culpability of the driver, since he illegally left the scene of the accident.

Week Fourteen: Cheapskating (840 miles)

Great week of biking (60 miles in 3 days) until I was “shut down” the by rain on Thursday and Friday. Frustrated by another short week, and nervous about reaching my 1000-mile goal before the weather really gets bad, I took another hard look at converting my 2001 Gary Fisher Wahoo (I have the gunmetal-and-blue color scheme) into a rainbike, so I can ride during the rainy days. I found several problems with doing this:

1) I would need to buy fenders and tires. Knobby mountain tires won’t do on wet roads, because there is less tire meeting the pavement.

2) Installing road tires on my mountain bike means re-installing the knobbies, every time I want to hit a trail on the weekends. No thanks! So, to avoid that inconvenience, I would want to buy a separate set of rims for the road tires, and just switch between wheelsets for trailriding and commuting. Of course, this would be a pretty significant (and unplanned) cash outlay. I was determined to avoid breaking the bank for this 1000-mile journey. In fact, I am still grinding away on my Bridgestone’s 20-year-old Shimano Biopace/Sport LX drivetrain, because I don’t see the point in replacing major components right before stowing the bike away for winter.

3) Even if I did blow the cash on a separate road wheelset  for the Fisher, the chainrings aren’t big enough for road riding. I’d have to coast down every hill (and halfway up the next) in the highest gear to avoid spastically spinning during most of the commute.

There’s no way I am buying fenders, wheels, tires, and a new chainring, just to be able to commute every day for the next several weeks. So, the Wahoo remains in trail configuration. What about my regular commuter, the Bridgestone RB-2 racer? It doesn’t have eyelets for fenders (or a rack, for that matter), and I don’t want to damage my headset and bottom bracket by regularly rainbiking it without a front fender. No rain duty for the road bike.

So, what’s the solution? Well, I have 160 miles to go, which is only eight days of round-trip bike commuting. I’m going to pick my spots and commute on the (mostly) dry days that come our way. If I’m still short of the goal in November, then I’ll just have to bust out the windbreaker and keep riding.

Image cred: Commute By Bike.

Week Thirteen: All about the Benjamins (780 miles)

Yep, last week was caaaaaash money. After several weeks of disappointing effort, I got after it and cranked out a hundred miles. The weather was great (just had to battle a bit of wind), my bike held together (except for one broken spoke), and I was able to ride my full 20-mile daily commute for five days straight, which is a personal best. I felt a little more tired than usual on Friday night, but it was worth it.

I really love riding in fall, but I have had to switch up my schedule due to seasonal changes in daylight hours and the schools starting back up. I quickly learned that I need to be on the road by 7AM to avoid the parents dropping off their kids at the schools on Roland Avenue in the city, and on Dumbarton Road in the county. (Believe me, people, it’s no fun competing for bike lane space with freaked-out Corporate Dad who is tardy in delivering his little Buffy to Roland Park Country School, and he wants to pull that BMW over RIGHT NOW.) Then there’s the Towson University traffic on Osler Drive, where you’re just hoping the kids are awake while driving. My previous start time of 730AM just wasn’t working, I was hitting major traffic volume in all three places. Now, if I know I can’t make it out by 7AM, I just wait until 8AM, and it’s all good.

I am shooting for another 100 miles, this week, which would get me to just under 900 total miles. Hopefully, the rain will stay away, and I can finish up the whole thing, this month.