Oh, yeah, I have a blog

Almost forgot again that I have a blog. I had drafted a post back in May, but I never finished it, so it won't see the light of day. Basically it was a reminder that May was National Bike Month, including Bike to Work Day. I hope you celebrated appropriately.

I bike commuted on Bike to Work Day. There were more people out on their bikes that morning, which is always a treat. I followed this guy for awhile and then we traded the lead a couple times before I turned off at my office.

It was my first commute on new Schwalbe (rhymes with Alba) Marathon tires I got for the San Diego Century ride, which was the very next day. It turned out to be my fastest commute to work, but I'm not sure it was the superior rolling resistance of the tires or the adrenalin of playing "I'm not really trying to race you, but I sorta am" with the fellow pictured above. I didn't even stop at any of the sponsored pit stops this year. I was running a few minutes behind and I just wanted to get to work.

In a wise decision not to tire myself out for the 66 mile ride the next day, I arranged to get a ride home with my in-laws. I want to devote an entire post to the San Diego Century ride, so I'll save that for another day (hopefully soon).

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I don't want to quit just yet, though...

I do want to mention that I took a test ride of a Globe Live 2. Globe, for those unaware, is a spinoff brand of Specialized that "specializes" (see what I did there?) in urban bikes. It's like the Scion to Toyota except Specialized bikes are not as boring as Toyota cars are and the Globe bikes did not originate as funky cars sold in the Japanese market. Anyway, you get my drift.

photo credit: Globe Bikes

The Live (I think it's pronounced like "give" - short i, not "hive" - long i) is a nice town bike with a sturdy integrated front cargo basket/rack.

The "2" is the mid-level trim and comes equipped with a Shimano Nexus 8-speed internal gear hub instead of a traditional derailleur gear mechanism. Shifting is provided by a twist-grip shifter. This is a nice drivetrain, especially for new cyclists. Simple, wide gear range, and you can even shift at a stop. It was with this ease-of-use in mind that I was looking at this bike. It has a nice upright position and cool extras, too, like color-matched fenders, a bell and a double-leg kickstand. I thought it would make a nice bike for my wife. So far, she's not really interested, but that has nothing to do with this specific bike.

The mixte frame is sweet looking, too. That's the one I wanted. For her.

photo credit: Flickr/shebicycles

San Diego Sixty-six-tury

I have signed up for my first organized long distance bike ride, the San Diego Century, on May 21. I would like to complete an actual century this year, but this event is not going to be the time. I will be riding the 66-mile route. The full 103-mile route has got some climbing that I doubt that I can prepare for in a little over a month.

Other than my sporadic 30 mile round trip bike commutes, I've thus far managed two training rides. The first was to be about 34 miles in it's entirety, but between a hot day, a late start, and a general lack of fitness, I had to call in the broom wagon after only 23 miles completed. That was a little disheartening (especially since the ride was on part of the course route) but a successful 28 mile ride this past weekend has restored a modicum of confidence.

My ass will thank me later

I decided to join the ranks of Brooks England aficionados and recently purchased a B-17 leather saddle for my bike. The stock saddle on my bike is fairly narrow, about 145 mm, and more suited to sportier riding. The Brooks is 175 mm wide and is considered by many de rigueur for commuting, touring, and other such riding. I'm hoping the change will be of long term benefit. I also like the classic look of the leather saddle - it easily works with my bike - and I'd be remiss if I didn't admit there is some cachet to the Brooks nameplate on the back, too.



By chance I came across a bargain basement find of a pair of Crank Brothers Candy pedals for $6. They were inside a box of some generic platform pedals and I was pleasantly surprised when I took a peek inside! I've already installed them in place of my Crank Brothers Mallet pedals. The platform on these is much smaller, so not as good for normal street shoe riding, but it turns out they are much easier to engage with my cleated shoes. There is still enough platform there that I can just jump on from a dead stop and pedal away. The Mallets will go back on my mountain bike and I can always switch back later on if needed.



My bike has seen a nice transformation this week. I'm quite pleased.

Back in the Saddle

It’s been awhile since my last post (whoa, first since October and first of 2011!). Much of that has to do with me not making my bike commute on a regular basis pretty much since September. I definitely had no rides after the fall time change. I have a few bike commutes under my belt in 2011, but it's been a slow start.

As I think I have mentioned before, I haven’t been keen on riding home in the pitch dark on the parts of my commute with high-speed car traffic (basically the start of my ride home from work). I have lights but they’re more of the be-seen-in-the-dark variety than the see-in-the-dark variety. The days have been getting longer again, though, and already the spring time change is upon us. Hmmm...This makes it darker in the evening again for a little while, right??  

I don’t remember having many issues with available light last year at this time. Though last year at this time I was doing the partial bike commute to the park & ride 6 miles from work. These days I’m only doing the 15 mile door-to-door commute, so obviously I’m out on the road longer. It is dark by the time I reach home.

In addition to the darkness issue, I have also just been having a hard time again getting ready to leave early enough to ride in. I did get into a pretty good routine for most of 2010, so I’m looking forward to getting back into those good habits again for 2011.