what a day

I believe that I am getting stronger, or the ride is just not as tough as it use to be. But on either one I made it from my house to the bus stop this morning in about 22 minutes. Not to bad. I do wish that there were more riders out in the morning. It has become very common to see these two older ladies out walking every morning. We say good morning and pass each other. I guess the only reason that I would like to have someone to ride with is that when two riders start riding, one will push the other. Right now all I have is the clock. It is good, but I could do better if I had someone pushing me harder. I know when I was doing more downhill and free ridin, it was the group of us that pushed each other to ride harder and try more stunts. Sometimes a bad thing, but never that bad.

So for now I ride alone, hoping that more people will see me and wonder if they to can ride to work. I think the biggest problem that I am going to face on this side of the mountain is the weather, and to many people have become dependent on their cars. The common feeling is that it is to hard or they don't have the time, or any other reason they can come up with. At first I started doing this more out to prove that it could be done, now I have been doing this ride for almost two weeks and everyday it gets better. I feel better through the day and I feel better at night. So I guess I am hooked on the ride.

And I am back

This morning I made a choice to go a different route. Good and bad it was nice to see something different. I left the house and went out towards my kid's preschool and then looped over to hwy 9. You know how they say to ride against traffic. I am going to tell you other wise. It is nice to see the traffic. However, every big rig that drives by you will push you backwards. Plus there is this to consider. If I am traveling at 12mph and the car coming at me is doing 55, if something ever happened and we hit, our combined force would be 67mph head on. Not so cool. Yes I wear a brain bucket, but I don't think that they were biult for that kind of impact. Now take that same car and have him hit you from behind. That means that combined force would be 43mph, and you would get thrown away from the car not into the the car. So if your route puts you out on roads that have heavy traffic and they like to go faster then the posted speed limit, go with traffic. If you do need to see what is coming, get a mirror.

Last sat I had my bike over at Tim's bike shop and had Jay do a full tune up on my bike. It make a big difference to have everything working right. Something you should keep in mind is that when you send your bike in be sure to have them check the chain strech. My chain is very close and will need to be replaced before long. The reason to check the chain is so that you know how your chain rings and rear gears are doing. If you let the chain strech out to much when you do go to have it changed, or change it your self, the gears may be worn down to far and you will have to replace everything. I am hoping that in july I will be able to replace my chain and get a third chain ring. Right now I only have two and that 44T will be nice.

I also have to say that I have been using the bus more often. I like this because I don't have to fight the cars on a narrow two way blacktop and I get work faster. So it is working for me. Plus I don't have to go to the pump and feel that pain with two cars any more, that is way cool.

On a side note, It has been so nice up here the last couple of days, I am not sure what I am going to think when the weather goes back to normal. And I would liek to tell my little brother congrats on the new bike. Lets go for a ride when you come up next month.

Had to drive today

With the best laid plans, you still have to fall back on others to help out. I got really sick on tuesday and did not ride or go to work. It was pretty bad. I don't like to call in sick, and I hate being sick even more. But there is nothing that I can do about it now. So my girlfriend made me drive to work today. I understand why she did it. I was sick all day with little to no food that would stay down. So my body was very week, and then fighting a ride into and back home would have just about wiped me out. So I drove. It kinda wierd going from riding to work to driving. Yes it was faster, but not as much fun. So this week my milage will be down really bad. I will have to cut at most 60 miles from my ride.

The other thing that I am going to start doing is taking the bus home after work. I was able to get home faster and still get some miles in. It was easy enough to get to the stop and load my bike. If you have bus that have these bike racks, I would start your two part trip now. What an easy way to save money and get healthy. Till the next day.

First day of a new week

Here we are in a new week and I got so lucky, it was sunny and cold. The wind has kicked up and it will make the ride home so fun. I am also going to try something new today. But first, I got my new seat and it feels a lot better then the old one. The new one is an Avatar BG (body geomerty) 143. So now on to the fun part of finding that perfect spot so I don't feel like I am falling off, or I am pointed to the sky. I also uped the tire presure. I am thinking that I still might need a little more in the back. The tires that I am using are a Kenda semi slick. They say that I can go to 65 psi, but I don't think that I need it that high. I am thinking I will go from 40 to 45 psi.

So the new thing that I am going to try. I am going to use the bus when I go home tonight. I am hoping by cutting a few miles off my trip I will have a little more energy when I get home and I will be able to help out more.

Last day of the first week

Last night it was sunny and warm for this location. Lovin it. It was nice to see other people out on the trail. Some waved and others did not. I guess it you are a die hard roadie, you are to good to wave at anybody. It was also fun tring not to get hit by my first car. This dude goes flying around, and then slams on his breaks and smiles at me. The road that he is coming off of is only 40 and he is turning onto a road that is 25. So I am not sure why he was flying around. Had it not been for the fact that I used to play around and do stopies and shit I would have hit the front fender of his car and gone flying myself. I wanted nothing more then to smash my fist down on his windshield, and cruse him out, however I had a nice big family at that same time less then 25ft from me. So I just smiled back and waited for him to push on. Fuckin asshole.

Then this morning some asshole in his/her SUV came flying past me fast and close enough that I was pushed off the road and into the ditch. I am not sure why these drivers have to be such assholes. I am thinking about asking the local sheriff to drive that road a little more often. Most of the drivers that I have seen everyday are pretty cool and slow and move out away from me. Thank you very much.

I am looking forward to getting my new seat in this next week. I think that it will help me not be so sore when I get done with my ride. If you have not gone and had your sit bones measured you should. I am hoping soon, I will be able to get some new pedals and shoes. Also on a quick note, I will have riden my bike 118.5 miles this week. Very cool.

Day off to pedaling again.

Well I did get to go to bicycle centers and ask some questions, and get some good answers. I also got my sit bones measured. This is so the next seat that I get will fit me better and I won't have such a sore ass. It was good for me to take a break and let my legs kinda take a break. I pushed 11 to 11.5 mph coming to work, 15 miles 1 hour 20 min. It was pretty cool. Now can I push it out again on the way home.

Also looking at the over all picture, I am going to need to take my bike in for a pro tune up. I am good at maintaining it over time. But when it needs to have the wheels trued and I start jumping teeth, I know that I need to get it in for service. Down side, being that this is my only transportation, it can only go in on a sat and I have to pic it up on sat or sun if they are open. Knowing this, I have two shops that I will use. All service work will be done over at Tim's bike shop in Everett, and road gear will be taken care of by Bicycle center.

On another note. If you are thinking about commuting by cycle, great. But you should look at getting a couple of things to make you life better. A good work stand, mine is Wrench Force, and has work for years. Basic tools to pull cables when they start to strech, a couple of small screw drivers so you can adjust derailers when they need it. Learn how your bike works, don't depend on the shop to fix it everytime it needs something done.

Day of Rest

So I took this day off to go on a field trip and that did not happen. But I still did not go to work. Bad me. I don't care. This would have been my thrid day of riding to work and I hurt so bad, I needed this day to let my body rest.

I got to ride home in the dry yesterday after work. Nice change. However it took me a long time to get home. I left work at 16:30 and did not make it home till 18:11. That is a very slow pace. Not to make excuces but my clothes were still wet from that mornings ride and well a wet ass is not a happy ass.

Knowing that I need to get some gear that will hold up in the rain, we (my girlfriend and I) will run around town and take care of a couple of things and stop by a couple local shops that might be able to help me. I know that I would like a pair of pants and a jacket, and a pair of shoes that will keep my feet dry and also not weight a ton.

Day Two

Well I left work at 17:10 and made it home by 18:32. I was pretty sore and tired by the time getting home was on my mind. But I averaged 10mph. I got rained on and got some sun. I thought that I was pretty strong until I had to pull the last mile and most of that was up hill. In one and one I pulled half the hill. I had to walk the rest. I was sad that I could not finish it on my own, but it was the first time that I have ever ridden 30 miles in a day.

So this morning I tried a different route and found myself soaked to the bone. It was faster, I left home about 6:40 and got to work at 7:50. Now what is weird is that the new route only saved me a mile and a half of pedaling. So I don't know why I was able to save 20 min. So when one chooses to ride down the highway, make sure that you are well prepaired for the amount of water that comes off all of the cars and trucks going by. You would think that I would know this from driving around up here, that there is a lot of water. But nothing compares to how wet I was this morning by the time that I got to work.

So a thought on gear. I have a 2007 hardrock. Not really built for long hauls but it is all i got. Knowing that I do really enjoy riding to work, I am going to need to get better gear. I am not the kinda of guy who will run out and buy the name brand shit because some guy on a tour somewhere had it. I think that any gear that you buy should work and work for a long damn time. Example, the sunglasses that i wear I got about 7 or 8 years ago. They still work and are still cool looking. These glasses had different lens that I can put in them depending on what is going on. They were made by Smith Optics. I know that after today I am really wanting some waterproof pants and jacket. As well as I would like some kind of a shoe that will keep my feet warm and dry. A better bag to carry my shit in would be nice but the one that I got know is working. I got it while I was over in the middle east. So for now this is all I got.

A quick look at how far I have traved so far: 30 miles yesterday and 13.5 miles so far today. I know that after this morning I will not be useing the highway unless it is bright and sunny and has been so for at least half a day and will be sunny all week. So knowing what I know now. I will go the back way which is 15 miles, So by the time that I get home I will have biked 58.5 miles. I think it is pretty cool.

First Day

So this morning I cycled into work. 15 miles. I am starting to bike to work because of the cost of owning my truck. The costs of owning my truck this year alone would cost me 15,000. So I thought I would give biking a chance again. I left my house at 6:45 and got to work at 8:05. If my math is right, I traveled 15 miles in 80 min that means that I am traveling about 11mph.

It is wierd to think about cycling to work and having to pack all your stuff in your back pack. I took with me two spare tubes, patch kits, pump, multi-tool. Plus I needed to pack a lunch and extra clothing. Because I live in western washington and it rains alot up here, You have to be ready for the rain, and maybe the sun. By the time that I got to work I felt really good and was not a sore as I thought. I do know that if I don't start moving around soon I will stiffen up. I will type up some more later