Nobody said that life was fair. This week certianly hasn't been.
Monday I rode to work for the first time. I knew that I couldn't ride again on Tuesday. I had to have a rest day. (Yes I am in that bad of shape...) Wednesday Old Man Winter came back for a reprise appearance. When I went to work Wednesday morning it was about 60 degrees. That was the high for the day. By 10 am it was snowing, hard. Luckily it didn't stick too much. I thought, Thursday I'll ride.
When I got up at 2:30 Thursday morning to answer the call of nature there was snow on the ground and the streets were wet. The weather report listed a low of about 30 degrees so I expected ice on the streets. So I canceled the ride. I was so sorry. When I went out with my boys to start the day it wasn't very cold and the roads were dry. But by then it was too late to ride. Boy was I disappointed!! I'll ride Friday!!
Thursday evening I was at a PTA meeting and singing program with my 8 year old son. Part was through the program he started to cry. After he was done, he came down and cried in my arms for a while. It quickly became apparent that he'd had a major bodily function accident. We went right home. Friday morning he wasn't feeling well enough to go to school. That blew that ride opportunity. Such is the pain of being a single parent with small children at home.
Unfortunately that wasn't the only problem this week. Monday, after I'd survived the ride to work, I walked around the corner of my cubical. I was greeted with the "blue screen of death." Seeing as it's a government computer, I called the LAN folks. They came and looked at the error and we rebooted my computer things appeared to be normal. Late in the afternoon Outlook notified me that it needed to restart, and restart again, and again, and again. And then the "blue screen of death" returned. When I attempted to reboot, Windows refused! Oh the pain of loosing data!!!
By the end of my very short work day on Friday I had my computer back, missing large amounts of data. So now I rebuild. In the mean time, twice to work next week, at least!!!
Keep those pedal turning!
Friday, April 20, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
My First Commute
As I said last night, if the matress monster didn't get me I was going to ride to work today. Well, I guess the matress monster was taking the day off, or perhaps he slept in, because he didn't get me!
I got up about 5:15 and started my normal morning ritual. I removed the daily filth and scraped the fur off of my neck and got dressed. Then I had a banana and packed my panniers for work.
I got out of the house about 6:25. After collecting my security badges I started pedaling. Out of the parking lot and up the first hill. There was no traffic so I rolled through the stop sign and on to 1900 West (the main north/south road hereabouts) and started south. Going south on 1900 is mostly uphill. The hill is gradual, but never-the-less real. Particularly to someone in as bad a shape as I am.
I arrived at 5600 south, about 9 blocks south, blowing pretty hard. Because I need to turn left here I rode through the intersection and stopped on the opposite corner. I turned the bike to the left and backed it up onto the side walk. I just sat there for 3 or 4 light cycles and blew.
After my breathing and heart rate were somewhat back to normal I started out again. At this point, 5600 south goes under I-15. Due to some crazy design decisions, both the north and south bound entrances to I-15 are right turns off of 5600 south. I got part way across and freaked out. The traffic was heavy and close and not considerate at all. So I got off the bike and walked. Under the freeway and for a while afterwards there is a side walk. There are pedestrian signals for crossing the freeway entrances and exits. Walking was much less stressful.
After going under the freeway 5600 south turns right and heads towards the Roy gate onto Hill AFB. It's uphill for the next 3/4 mile. Since I'm not really very comfortable starting on an uphill slope, and because the traffic into the gate was amazing, I decided to walk to the gate and then a little further. After checking in with the security guard I walked another 150 yards to a point where I thought getting started again wouldn't be too difficult. I clipped in my right foot, looked for traffic, and pushed off. I fought to get my left foot on the pedal, I struggled to keep the bike straight, I failed at both! The next thing I knew I was on my side in the river rocks decorating the side of the road. The bike was on top of me. I was clipped into the pedals and stuck! I layed there for a minute or two and collected myself. About the time I was ready to try to figure out how to extridite myself from this predicament my first rode angel appeared. He asked me if I needed help and then helped me get myself out from under my bike and back on my feet. He even helped me set up my paniers, which had fallen off in the fall. We looked over me and my bike and decided that all was well. He went on to work. THANK YOU!!!
As I finished collecting myself, one of the security guards from the gate walked up and asked if I was alright. He asked if I'd been hit by a car. I told him, "No, I just fell over." His radio didn't work, but he started back towards the gate. So I pushed my bike a little further and mounted up. Just as I was about to start again, I saw flashing light bars and heard sirens. Security police and the base paramedics were coming down the street. So I sat and waited for them. When they arrived they, again, asked if I'd been hit by a car and if I needed medical attention. By then my ego was well and truely trampled, but medical attention wouldn't help that. So I told them that I was fine and had just fallen over while starting out. They laughed with me about it, shook my hand and went back to what ever firemen do while they wait for the next call.
{NOTE: I discoverd later in the morning that I had jammed my left ring finger during the fall. So far, just a little swelling and a very small amount of pain. Not to bad for trashing my ego in front of hundreds of people.}
I sat on my bike and waited for about 5 minutes while the traffic jam created by the police and paramedics abated. Then I started again. Or rather I tried. I quickly realized why I'd fallen. I'd gotten off the bike in a VERY low gear. So when I pushed on the first pedal there wasn't enough speed to keep me going straight whilst I brought up the other foot. So I caught myself, shifted to a higher gear and started out again. The rest of the trip to work was uneventful. The high point was coasting down the hill by the firestation at 21 miles per hour.
Trip stats: 4.74 miles in 52:30. Max speed 21.1, average speed 5.4, total trip time 1:10:00.
The trip home was much less eventful. As I talked with people about my ride to work a suggestion for a route modification was made. So when I left the office I took a slightly different route back to the Roy gate. This saved time and distance. I rode the whole way only stopping for two traffic lights.
Trip stats: 4.36 miles in 35:40. Max speed 23.7, average speed 7.7, total trip time 0:40:00.
All in all, not too bad for a first commute. Tomorrow I'll take a rest day to recover. I plan to ride again on Wednesday. Right now the weather guessers are predicting a short reprise on winter. So I'll look at the weather Tuesday evening to decide about Wednesday for sure. I want to ride at least one more day this week. Perhaps, but probably not, a third day. That's a significant milage increase, so I probably won't ride that third day. We'll see.
In the mean time, be safe out there and remember, the wheels go DOWN!
I got up about 5:15 and started my normal morning ritual. I removed the daily filth and scraped the fur off of my neck and got dressed. Then I had a banana and packed my panniers for work.
I got out of the house about 6:25. After collecting my security badges I started pedaling. Out of the parking lot and up the first hill. There was no traffic so I rolled through the stop sign and on to 1900 West (the main north/south road hereabouts) and started south. Going south on 1900 is mostly uphill. The hill is gradual, but never-the-less real. Particularly to someone in as bad a shape as I am.
I arrived at 5600 south, about 9 blocks south, blowing pretty hard. Because I need to turn left here I rode through the intersection and stopped on the opposite corner. I turned the bike to the left and backed it up onto the side walk. I just sat there for 3 or 4 light cycles and blew.
After my breathing and heart rate were somewhat back to normal I started out again. At this point, 5600 south goes under I-15. Due to some crazy design decisions, both the north and south bound entrances to I-15 are right turns off of 5600 south. I got part way across and freaked out. The traffic was heavy and close and not considerate at all. So I got off the bike and walked. Under the freeway and for a while afterwards there is a side walk. There are pedestrian signals for crossing the freeway entrances and exits. Walking was much less stressful.
After going under the freeway 5600 south turns right and heads towards the Roy gate onto Hill AFB. It's uphill for the next 3/4 mile. Since I'm not really very comfortable starting on an uphill slope, and because the traffic into the gate was amazing, I decided to walk to the gate and then a little further. After checking in with the security guard I walked another 150 yards to a point where I thought getting started again wouldn't be too difficult. I clipped in my right foot, looked for traffic, and pushed off. I fought to get my left foot on the pedal, I struggled to keep the bike straight, I failed at both! The next thing I knew I was on my side in the river rocks decorating the side of the road. The bike was on top of me. I was clipped into the pedals and stuck! I layed there for a minute or two and collected myself. About the time I was ready to try to figure out how to extridite myself from this predicament my first rode angel appeared. He asked me if I needed help and then helped me get myself out from under my bike and back on my feet. He even helped me set up my paniers, which had fallen off in the fall. We looked over me and my bike and decided that all was well. He went on to work. THANK YOU!!!
As I finished collecting myself, one of the security guards from the gate walked up and asked if I was alright. He asked if I'd been hit by a car. I told him, "No, I just fell over." His radio didn't work, but he started back towards the gate. So I pushed my bike a little further and mounted up. Just as I was about to start again, I saw flashing light bars and heard sirens. Security police and the base paramedics were coming down the street. So I sat and waited for them. When they arrived they, again, asked if I'd been hit by a car and if I needed medical attention. By then my ego was well and truely trampled, but medical attention wouldn't help that. So I told them that I was fine and had just fallen over while starting out. They laughed with me about it, shook my hand and went back to what ever firemen do while they wait for the next call.
{NOTE: I discoverd later in the morning that I had jammed my left ring finger during the fall. So far, just a little swelling and a very small amount of pain. Not to bad for trashing my ego in front of hundreds of people.}
I sat on my bike and waited for about 5 minutes while the traffic jam created by the police and paramedics abated. Then I started again. Or rather I tried. I quickly realized why I'd fallen. I'd gotten off the bike in a VERY low gear. So when I pushed on the first pedal there wasn't enough speed to keep me going straight whilst I brought up the other foot. So I caught myself, shifted to a higher gear and started out again. The rest of the trip to work was uneventful. The high point was coasting down the hill by the firestation at 21 miles per hour.
Trip stats: 4.74 miles in 52:30. Max speed 21.1, average speed 5.4, total trip time 1:10:00.
The trip home was much less eventful. As I talked with people about my ride to work a suggestion for a route modification was made. So when I left the office I took a slightly different route back to the Roy gate. This saved time and distance. I rode the whole way only stopping for two traffic lights.
Trip stats: 4.36 miles in 35:40. Max speed 23.7, average speed 7.7, total trip time 0:40:00.
All in all, not too bad for a first commute. Tomorrow I'll take a rest day to recover. I plan to ride again on Wednesday. Right now the weather guessers are predicting a short reprise on winter. So I'll look at the weather Tuesday evening to decide about Wednesday for sure. I want to ride at least one more day this week. Perhaps, but probably not, a third day. That's a significant milage increase, so I probably won't ride that third day. We'll see.
In the mean time, be safe out there and remember, the wheels go DOWN!
Sunday, April 15, 2007
My steed!!
Tuesday evening I got my Rocket back! She sure is purdy... The crankset has been changed to a 52/42/30 which gives me lower gearing. A set of Crank Brothers Candy C pedals has been installed. Very nice!
Friday I got out for a short ride, about 1.3 miles is all. I rode on down the road towards the airport which is my usual haunt for a 4 - 5 mile training ride. When I got to 4400 south I sat at the stop sign for about 4 minutes. There wasn't a break in the traffic, not one. The cars beside me and across from me were sitting too. Seeing as I need a much bigger hole to get across the street I decided to give up and just rode home. It was my first time with clipless pedals. I'm still having some trouble getting clicked in, but I can see the light at the end of that tunnel. After getting into the pedals, what a difference. It is a GOOD thing to be attached to the bike.
Finally, it occurs to me that if I wait until I'm strong enough to ride to work I'll probably never, ever ride to work. With that thought in mind I'm going to set the alarm for early tomorrow and try to ride to work. I'll let you know how it works out.
Be safe and keep spinning!!
Friday I got out for a short ride, about 1.3 miles is all. I rode on down the road towards the airport which is my usual haunt for a 4 - 5 mile training ride. When I got to 4400 south I sat at the stop sign for about 4 minutes. There wasn't a break in the traffic, not one. The cars beside me and across from me were sitting too. Seeing as I need a much bigger hole to get across the street I decided to give up and just rode home. It was my first time with clipless pedals. I'm still having some trouble getting clicked in, but I can see the light at the end of that tunnel. After getting into the pedals, what a difference. It is a GOOD thing to be attached to the bike.
Finally, it occurs to me that if I wait until I'm strong enough to ride to work I'll probably never, ever ride to work. With that thought in mind I'm going to set the alarm for early tomorrow and try to ride to work. I'll let you know how it works out.
Be safe and keep spinning!!
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Maintenance Woe
As mentioned in my last post, the Rocket is in the shop. This is taking longer than I originally thought.
Saturday afternoon I took my bike to Skyline Cycle in Ogden (really great people there). I took some time to discuss my desire for lower gearing with the owner. After some discussion he talked me into changing the rear casette from an 8 speed, 11-28, to an 8 speed, 11-34. He said he could get it done by Tuesday, as well as look over the bike and make sure everything was adjusted just right. So I left the Rocket.
When I got home I started working out the numbers. I currently have a range of 113 to 28 gear inches. The new cassette would give me a range of 113 to 23 gear inches. While all the gears would be ever so slightly lower, I would only really have one lower gear. So I called the shop and told Charlie that I had some concerns and asked her to have Matt call me.
Matt was just too crazy busy to call me so the boys and I went out there yesterday evening. Skyline was still busy, but not nearly as crazy as Saturday afternoon. Matt and I had a chance to talk extensively about what I wanted. He found a crank set that I could afford. The Rocket comes standard with a 62-52-39 crank set. The standard road set is a 52-42-30. Changing the crank set gives me 95 t0 21 gear inch range. This is quite a bit lower. So Matt ordered the crank set. It is supposed to be here Friday, or perhaps Monday. So the Rocket is still in the shop.
I also looked at adding the cassette to the mix. That would give me a 95 to 18 gear inch range. That is just about as low as most people can go and still keep up enough speed to stay upright. If the crank set isn't enough I look into changing the cassette as well.
So now I wait and try not to be a pest. In the mean time, keep the wheels down and be safe out there!!
Saturday afternoon I took my bike to Skyline Cycle in Ogden (really great people there). I took some time to discuss my desire for lower gearing with the owner. After some discussion he talked me into changing the rear casette from an 8 speed, 11-28, to an 8 speed, 11-34. He said he could get it done by Tuesday, as well as look over the bike and make sure everything was adjusted just right. So I left the Rocket.
When I got home I started working out the numbers. I currently have a range of 113 to 28 gear inches. The new cassette would give me a range of 113 to 23 gear inches. While all the gears would be ever so slightly lower, I would only really have one lower gear. So I called the shop and told Charlie that I had some concerns and asked her to have Matt call me.
Matt was just too crazy busy to call me so the boys and I went out there yesterday evening. Skyline was still busy, but not nearly as crazy as Saturday afternoon. Matt and I had a chance to talk extensively about what I wanted. He found a crank set that I could afford. The Rocket comes standard with a 62-52-39 crank set. The standard road set is a 52-42-30. Changing the crank set gives me 95 t0 21 gear inch range. This is quite a bit lower. So Matt ordered the crank set. It is supposed to be here Friday, or perhaps Monday. So the Rocket is still in the shop.
I also looked at adding the cassette to the mix. That would give me a 95 to 18 gear inch range. That is just about as low as most people can go and still keep up enough speed to stay upright. If the crank set isn't enough I look into changing the cassette as well.
So now I wait and try not to be a pest. In the mean time, keep the wheels down and be safe out there!!
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