Community is where you make it

Tag: bicycling

  • Bicycling Sans Helmet

    Riding my bike to work this morning, I thought I noticed something different. I touched my head to be sure. That is, I actually touched the top of my head. Oops!

    Somehow, I forgot to put on my bicycle helmet. I don’t know how. I had my bicycling gloves on, which I store in my helmet so I know I saw my helmet this morning. Huh.

    Riding to work sans helmet taught me a few things:

    • I wasn’t noticeably more comfortable not wearing a helmet. My head wasn’t much cooler or lighter. In fact, the white color of my helmet might make my header cooler in direct sunlight.
    • I felt more vulnerable without the helmet — and I was. That’s no fun on Cornell Avenue.
    • Checking the mirror upon arrival proved that windy hair is no better than helmet hair.

    For me, cycling to work without a helmet is going to be a one-time event.

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    Brent Logan

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  • More Observations Made While Bicycling

    More Observations Made While Bicycling

    It’s weekend, so time for another, longer ride and more observations.

    • What feels like a strong headwind might just be a cross breeze (as verified by a plastic flag on a survey stake). It’s going to feel just as stiff going the other direction.
    • Bicycling downwind doesn’t feel any better if you’re putting the same effort in; you’re just going faster. I was just glad I wasn’t running downwind–you don’t go faster; you just lose any windchill.
    • Being hit by a Super Soaker while riding my bike incites a juvenile response from me, even though the water felt good. How embarrassing.
    • My odometer thinks I’ve gone 71,198 miles, total. I’m pretty sure I haven’t ridden my bike that far.

    Ride summary:

    Actual Time Moving1:41:02
    Distance24.86
    Average Speed14.7
    Maximum Speed29.7
    Liquid ConsumedVenti ice water
    Venti iced passion tea, including all the ice
    Large water bottle

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  • Bicycling Observations

    Bicycling Observations

    A few observations made while riding my bike today:

    • The morning’s weather is not a reliable predictor of the afternoon’s weather.1See picture above. This is the sky that greeted me as I left work.
    • Cars with pizza advertising signs on top are unlikely to see you.2Fortunately, I saw the delivery car long before it ignored me.
    • Odometer milestones are fun even when they have no significance.3I rolled past 100 miles today, since when, I’m not sure. I know I zeroed it after my tune-up ride on June 26. Did I zero it again later?
    • A fan at the destination is a perfect way to end the ride.4Now all I need is some way to get a fan at work. It doesn’t fit in my computer bag.
    • 1
      See picture above. This is the sky that greeted me as I left work. ↩︎
    • 2
      Fortunately, I saw the delivery car long before it ignored me. ↩︎
    • 3
      I rolled past 100 miles today, since when, I’m not sure. I know I zeroed it after my tune-up ride on June 26. Did I zero it again later? ↩︎
    • 4
      Now all I need is some way to get a fan at work. It doesn’t fit in my computer bag. ↩︎

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  • Rain Tomorrow?

    Rain Tomorrow?

    After a very light week,1I took four days off, working only Wednesday. I’m back in the saddle again.

    We’ll get rain tomorrow. I might need to get bike fenders sooner rather than later.

    I lost track of how many days on the bike. Oops! And, oh well.

    • 1
      I took four days off, working only Wednesday. ↩︎

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  • Keeping Honest People Honest

    Keeping Honest People Honest

    I have a couple of bike locks. One barely qualifies for the label. It can survive gentle attacks by scissors and not much more.

    Regardless, I carry it in my small seat pack, with my wallet, cell phone, keys, tire levers, and patch kit.

    I figure it will keep honest people honest,1I believe this is a noble civic goal, in addition to the direct benefit it provides to me. slow down the stupid,2Maybe my use of stupid is ill-advised. Unresourceful might be better. After all, who carries around cable (wire?) cutters? Yeah, I really don’t want to know how common that is. and be barely noticeable to the criminally devious.3To stop the criminally devious is impossible. They will steal water bottles, pumps, and cycle computers. They will steal anything attached with only quick-release levers. They will saw through a bike rack in broad daylight to steal a bike.

    To be “safe,” I use it only around honest and stupid people,4
    I expect there is some overlap in these first two groups.      and even then, not for long.

    Last time I used it, I had stopped briefly at Starbucks for a mid-ride refreshment.5I’ll let you judge for yourself whether I was surrounded by honest and stupid people. ;-)

    Day 11 on the bike.

    • 1
      I believe this is a noble civic goal, in addition to the direct benefit it provides to me. ↩︎
    • 2
      Maybe my use of stupid is ill-advised. Unresourceful might be better. After all, who carries around cable (wire?) cutters? Yeah, I really don’t want to know how common that is. ↩︎
    • 3
      To stop the criminally devious is impossible. They will steal water bottles, pumps, and cycle computers. They will steal anything attached with only quick-release levers. They will saw through a bike rack in broad daylight to steal a bike. ↩︎
    • 4

      I expect there is some overlap in these first two groups.  ↩︎
    • 5
      I’ll let you judge for yourself whether I was surrounded by honest and stupid people. ;-) ↩︎

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  • A Little Recognition

    A Little Recognition

    I went for a bike ride to tune up my engine. A little recognition is in order:

    • To those in the cars that saw me and gave me room: Thank you! Some of you gave me so much room that I couldn’t have hit you if I tried. I’m not complaining. :-)
    • To the inventor of bike lanes: Thank you! If everyone saw bikes, I would continue to ride country roads like I used to. Nowadays, I don’t like to gamble my life that way.
    • To the inventor of cycling shorts: Thank you!1When I put them on this morning, they were so cool, I had to check to make sure they had no holes. Black riding shorts — genius!
    • To the sadistic inventor of the average speed mode on my cycle computer: “Thank you!” You’ve turned every bike ride into a race against myself. Specifically, the uphill climbs become races against the average speed. Ouch!

    Ride summary:

    MeasuresData
    Actual Time Moving2The user guide calls this the “automatic timer mode,” but I prefer “actual time moving.”1:08:34
    Distance16.94
    Average Speed3This was 15.0 when I stopped at Starbucks. I have no idea why it was 14.8 when I started again. Hmph!14.8
    Maximum Speed4“What goes up, must come down. Spinning wheel, got to go round.” Those “hills” on the other sides of creeks are preceded by wonderful downhills. ‘Course, I tend to spend more time going up the hill than down, but that’s another story…28.0
    Liquid ConsumedVenti ice water, Grande iced white mocha, Large water bottle

    Update. Jamison and I rode to the cousins’ twice today. I got another 14.66 miles, for a daily total of 31.6 miles. :-)

    Day 10 on the bike. :-)

    • 1
      When I put them on this morning, they were so cool, I had to check to make sure they had no holes. ↩︎
    • 2
      The user guide calls this the “automatic timer mode,” but I prefer “actual time moving.” ↩︎
    • 3
      This was 15.0 when I stopped at Starbucks. I have no idea why it was 14.8 when I started again. Hmph! ↩︎
    • 4
      “What goes up, must come down. Spinning wheel, got to go round.” Those “hills” on the other sides of creeks are preceded by wonderful downhills. ‘Course, I tend to spend more time going up the hill than down, but that’s another story… ↩︎

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  • Cirrus-ly Beautiful

    Cirrus-ly Beautiful

    Today, Jamison and I rode our bikes to the cousins’. The weather was cirrus-ly1Groan all you want. Puns are fun. :-) beautiful.

    At Suzi’s prompting, I looked for a route through neighborhood streets. Google Maps made it real easy: ask it for directions and tell it you’re riding a bike. The directions it gave were nice, direct, and on quiet roads.

    We rode by garage sales, neighbors working in their yards, and saw many others riding their bikes.

    We discovered more of Hillsboro. What did you discover today?

    Day 9 on the bike (though I didn’t ride to church; cargo short pants at the piano might have been “frowned upon”).

    • 1
      Groan all you want. Puns are fun. :-) ↩︎

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  • Another Good Friday

    Another Good Friday

    • Griffin Oaks
    • Wire spacers
    • Morning Ritual
    • Hillsboro Sky
    • Hillsboro Field
    • Welcome!

    It’s Friday! The weather is gorgeous. Here are a few of the shots I took on the ride to work.1Yes, taking pictures slows down the commute. For that matter, so does stopping at Starbucks. At least taking pictures keeps me from showing up to work all sweaty.

    I hope you have a wonderful day.

    This is day 8 on the bike this year.

    • 1
      Yes, taking pictures slows down the commute. For that matter, so does stopping at Starbucks. At least taking pictures keeps me from showing up to work all sweaty. ↩︎

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    Brent Logan

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  • Another Beautiful Morning

    Another Beautiful Morning

    Another day, another chance to ride my bike to work. The professional weather predictors said rain, but my trusty weather rock said, “Not yet.”

    I stopped at Starbucks along the way and cooled in a chair outside, watching the people go by. It was great to start with no: no book, no magazine, no music, no computer, and no talk show host. Just me and my white mocha, planning the day.

    My plans completed, I freed my bike and pedaled the rest of the way to work. Opposite the Hillsboro airport, I had to stop and take a couple of pictures of the sky.

    Will it rain? Maybe, maybe not. ? :-)

    This is day seven on the bike this year.

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    Brent Logan

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  • Nice Rack

    Nice Rack

    I posted a couple of pictures of a bike rack yesterday, but here’s one1Actually, I think it’s the same rack. I really like. A nice rack is one supporting2I’d say “securing,” but I hadn’t yet locked my bike when I took this picture. my bike while I work.

    Because I rode my bike to work today, I wore some nice cargo shorts. Hello! I’m up here. ;-)

    • 1
      Actually, I think it’s the same rack. ↩︎
    • 2
      I’d say “securing,” but I hadn’t yet locked my bike when I took this picture. ↩︎

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