Community is where you make it

Tag: bicycling

  • Welcome to my Locker Cube

    Welcome to my Locker Cube

    I have a pole in my cube. Only recently have I learned how incredibly useful this pole is. Large binder clips become hooks for hanging my rain gear and pannier cover. Magnetic clamps hold my drying socks.1Okay. I admit it. I hung the wet socks there only for the photo. Now the socks are back in my pannier. I’d hang my gloves there, but I have them on the back shelf, drying in the draft of the nearby ceiling vent. I lean my pannier against the pole and place my drying shoes near its base.

    Now I just need to figure out how to put shelves between the I-beam’s flanges.

    I feel sorry for those who don’t have such a useful pole in their cube.

    • 1
      Okay. I admit it. I hung the wet socks there only for the photo. Now the socks are back in my pannier. I’d hang my gloves there, but I have them on the back shelf, drying in the draft of the nearby ceiling vent. ↩︎

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    Brent Logan

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  • Budnitz No. 1

    Budnitz No. 1

    I’m forever looking for a new commuting bike to fall in love with. Today I found one. The Budnitz No. 1 bicycle is beautiful. Not $7,000 beautiful, mind you, but beautiful.

    Guess I’ll keep looking. :-)

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    Brent Logan

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  • Biking in the Rain

    I’ve biked home in the rain before but it’s been more of an accident than intentional. I’d ride and then it would start raining.

    Not today. I checked the weather forecast in the morning; it would rain all day. According to our trusty weather rock, rain was falling right now.

    Suzi told me last night she needed the car today. And though she was willing to drive me to work, drop me off, and then come get me after work, that just didn’t make sense. After all, I had asked for bike rain gear for Christmas — and got it.1Thanks, “Santa” Suzi! Today was the perfect opportunity to use it.

    I put on my new rain suit, my gloves, my clear safety glasses, and my helmet. I put the rain cover on my pannier. I turned on my blinky lights.

    Then I pushed out into the falling rain.

    The cool raindrops splashed my face. They patted my rain suit. My tires fizzed on the wet pavement.

    Ha! This is fun. I wonder if it can rain tomorrow, too. :-)

    • 1
      Thanks, “Santa” Suzi! ↩︎

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    Brent Logan

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  • Honking Huge Bike

    Honking Huge Bike. I would *love* a bike this large. It would feel just like when I learned to ride a bike.

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  • Calculating my Bicycle Commute Time

    Calculating my Bicycle Commute Time

    This morning, as I was “enjoying” the moderating effects of a chilly headwind, I amused myself by trying to calculate how much longer my commute was taking.

    My typical cycling speed is around 15-18 miles per hour, but because of the wind, I was going around 12 mph. My commute is about 3.5 miles. Dividing 15 by 3.5, multiplying by 60 to get minutes … argh! I can’t do that in my head.

    So, I inverted my calculations and calculated how many minutes it takes to travel a mile at some common bicycling speeds.

    Miles Per HourMinutes Per Mile
    106
    125
    154
    203
    302

    I noticed a couple of things as I pedaled along:

    1. Calculating my normal commute time got a lot easier: for example, 3.5 miles divided by 4 minutes per mile is 14 minutes.
    2. The headwind, although it slowed me down a few miles an hour, wasn’t going to make a big difference in my commute time: just 3.5 minutes.

    Woo hoo!

    So slow it down a little, take some pictures, and enjoy the ride. :-)

    I wondered why these results are so counter-intuitive. Take a look at the vast differences in time depending on speed.

    But look again. Most of the difference in time is for speeds less than 10 mph. For my short commute, there isn’t a huge difference in total time whether I go 10 mph or 60 mph. Better yet, there’s even less difference in time per mile for my typical biking speeds of 10 to 20 mph.

    By the way, this is directly applicable to commuting by car, too.

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  • Santa Claus and Bigfoot

    Santa is Just as Real as Bigfoot. In a delightful story, a bike mechanic turned bike salesman talks about Santa Claus — and Bigfoot — with a skeptical young girl.

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  • Bleakness

    Bleakness

    This morning’s picture from my favorite commute photo spot1Of course, I’ve mapped it. is a little bleak.2Click on the picture to wallow in its gray bleakness. If it’s a little too bleak for you, I also snapped a shot of my ride, patiently waiting for me to hop on and complete my commute.

    • 1
      Of course, I’ve mapped it. ↩︎
    • 2
      Click on the picture to wallow in its gray bleakness. If it’s a little too bleak for you, I also snapped a shot of my ride, patiently waiting for me to hop on and complete my commute. ↩︎

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  • Chilly Commute

    Chilly Commute

    This morning’s commute was chilly but beautiful.

    Update: I had an errand to run during lunch today — Google maps says it was 20 miles. Turns out the hardest part of the ride was maintaining my cool. First, the full gloves went in the pannier, then the coat. Finally, I untucked my shirt and unbuttoned it. I think shorts would have been nice if I wanted to push just a little bit harder.

    It’s amazing how warm 50° really is.

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  • Flat Tired

    Flat Tired

    On my ride1You drive a car and a journey by car is a drive. You ride a bike and a journey by bike is a ride. You fly a plane, yet a journey by plane is a flight, not a fly. Why? home today, my tire got screwed.2I’m not suspicious it was malicious or vicious. It was likely merely pernicious.

    With less than a mile to go, I decided to walk3See footnote 1, above. ;-) instead of patching the tube. I should be carrying a spare tube in my pannier and a “boot” in my wallet.

    Once I unscrew my tire, I can decide whether I need a new tire. The tires are old and I removed a nail from the rear tire not that long ago. It’s probably time to replace both and not worry about it.

    Just what I need: another excuse to visit my local bike shop. :-)

    Sometimes, I think a blog post is only an excuse to write footnotes.

    • 1
      You drive a car and a journey by car is a drive. You ride a bike and a journey by bike is a ride. You fly a plane, yet a journey by plane is a flight, not a fly. Why? ↩︎
    • 2
      I’m not suspicious it was malicious or vicious. It was likely merely pernicious. ↩︎
    • 3
      See footnote 1, above. ;-) ↩︎

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    Brent Logan

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  • Pictures From my Morning Commute

    Pictures From my Morning Commute

    • Sunrise in Hillsboro
    • Fog on the field

    On my morning commute, I stopped at my photo spot, leaned my bike against a backhoe’s rear wheel, and pulled my point and shoot from the pannier. This is what I saw.

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