First Commute in over Three Weeks

Not that I haven't been riding.  But somehow, riding to work was just not very appealing.  There was more than enough apprehension about the whole thing to want to do it again.



First, I needed a bike.  Husband suggested I repurpose Sweetpea.  Daughter and I both gave him the Glare of Disbelief.  Bad enough my Rivendell got whacked on a commute.  Not to mention that bike parking at work is outside, and I don't get there early enough to score one of the few covered spaces.

I had retrieved the Gitane from Daughter, and thought I had it ready to go.  Mike R. loaned me a 700c SON generator wheel; I swapped over lighting, pedals and adjusted my panniers to fit on the Gitane's venerable Blackburn rear rack.  Rode it around the block for a quick test.

Six days later, I hopped on, ready to ride into work.  Except I was pedaling, and nothing was happening.  The vintage Maillard Helicomatic freewheel was not engaging.  After a bit of searching around the Usual Suspects, looking for a replacement freewheel that did not cost a small fortune, I decided that I wasn't as invested in the vintage-ness of the Maillard Helicomatic components as I had been when I originally restored the bike. Velo Orange offered a nice 126mm freewheel-compatible hub rear wheel, and a 14-28 Shimano Hyperglide 6 speed freewheel, the same range as the Helicomatic, was found somewhere else.  I couldn't get any fancier, because then I'd need a new derailleur and so on and so on.

It all arrived, did the installation... and the temperature plummeted.  Freezing fog.  Especially where I work.  Waited that out.  Finally, this past Tuesday night, got everything ready.  Up at 6, on the road by 7:30.

And it was a completely uneventful commute, which was good, because Gitane and I had to get used to each other!  Kept reaching for the bar end shifters.  Not.  The bike doesn't have the gravitas of the Riv (translate - weighs somewhat less :-) ).  It can feel downright zippy.

Commute home had a few apprehensive moments in the dark along NW Evergreen before the shopping center.  High speed limit, and the bike was twitchy.  But I survived it.

Fast forward two days (today).  Convinced Fitz to commute also (he turns off about 1.5 miles before I do).  The bike felt much better.  Rode over to Hawthorn Farms for an after lunch meeting (just under 2 miles) with a lunch date with the son, who works there.  Discovered on the ride over (cutting through Orenco Station), that I can ride no-hands.  I can shift with impunity.  Today was a 24+ mile day.

Well THIS Year Started Off With A Bang

Not the good kind.

There I was, at about 8:45am on Thursday Jan 3, commuting in to work.  I had just come up the rise on NW  Evergreen from NW Cornell, heading west.  Three more miles to work.  I was in the bike lane.

Then I heard the screeching of brakes, and saw a red car turn left DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF ME!  My immediate thought was "this is not going to turn out well"... BANG!

I whacked the pavement hard on my left side, two lanes over.  Fortunately there wasn't any westbound traffic, or I'd have been squashed.

The driver did stop and came over.  After expressing relief that I was not dead, the next words: "I didn't see you.  The sun was in my eyes."  I couldn't get up because my left foot was still clipped in, and my left knee was really hurting.  He picked up the bike, I got up, and hobbled over to the side and sat on a stone wall.

He went to put his car in a parking space and came back.  I had called Fitz, hoping he'd be at work, which was only a couple minutes away.  He came back and we exchanged phone numbers and insurance info, and Fitz showed up.

It is possible to put a bike in the back of a Mini.  I thought I'd go into work, which I did, and even caught the last half of my morning meeting.  As everyone was wondering why I was not at the doctor (hey, it was just a hard hit.  I was pretty sure nothing was broken), I finally called Fitz, and off we went.

My doctor was out, so I went to our practice's Urgent Care.  Many x-rays and an EKG later...  Nothing broken.  But the doctor didn't like the EKG.  Off to the ER for further tests.

At which point I entered the Seventh Circle of Hell.  Suffice to say that I arrived about 2pm, and didn't leave until 7:30pm.  I sent Fitz off.  My parents showed up. We sent my dad away (he does not do hospitals well), and we knitted.  It is slightly more difficult to knit with a pulse oximeter on one's finger, but it is possible.

The upshot was that I was fine.  I had snapped a pic of my EKG and sent it off to my brother (cardio-thoracic anesthesiologist).  He emailed back that it was just fine - what he'd expect an athlete's EKG to look like.  If I had known he wasn't working that day, I'd have had him come by and spring me. :-)

So, chest wall contusions and a banged up knee.  But at least I'd get better.

Poor Bleriot - the front fork is done.  The top and down tubes are stressed/deformed near the head tube.  The front wheel rim is compromised.  Don't know if I should trust the handlebars.  LBS declared it totaled.





I've pulled all the parts off, but for the headset and bottom bracket.  I've priced out what needs replacing, and will ship that off to insurance.  Sigh.

New helmet will be here tomorrow.

In the meantime, once I feel like riding again (probably Wednesday), I have gotten the Gitane back from dear daughter, and converted it to a commute bike.  A rando friend loaned me a 700c generator wheel (there is no way ever I will go back to a battery headlight), and after a couple evenings tweaking it for lighting, a computer, proper pedals...  It is ready.

Year in Review - Cycling

I'll come right out and say it - this has been an amazing year. Whatever made it happen, I sure hope I don't lose it.

Total miles: 5805. Almost 1400 more than last year, and highest annual mileage ever. I rode my bike 213 days this year.

Commuted about 1500 of those miles. If I don't ride to work, I face a gauntlet starting with the receptionist, all the way to my desk..."where's your bike?". I love my current contract - lots of meetings on the main campus, our building is not on the main campus, and it is quicker to ride the bike than to drive. And I can park in the buildings and never have to worry about locking up. I had a 100% commute rate in the BTA Bike Commute Challenge.

17 rides of more than 100 miles.

2 centuries

12 200km

1 300km

1 400km

1 600km

I would have to say that Sweetpea got the bulk of the riding love this year - all but a couple of the Rando rides, plus trips to Ireland and California. Bleriot got all the commutes, and poor Lemond has probably less than 300 miles ridden on it in total.

Organized rides - only two, RSVP and RAPSody. I'll probably ride them again next year, lots of fun.

Randonneurs USA riding

4524 km. Most ever.

Completed my second R-12 in September.

Earned my first-ever Super Randonneur by completing a 200k, 300k, 400k, and 600k in a calendar year. I am still stupidly pleased and insufferably proud about this.

Rode a couple of sub-10 hour 200km rides. Whoever that Lynne was, I'd like her to show up more often :-)

The hardest rides I did were:

1. Bikenfest, the Oct 200k. 11522 vertical feet. I am not sure I ever wanted to just lay down and die on any other ride I have done.

2. The 400k. I couldn't stay awake, which made riding through the night somewhat of a challenge. Did get to see two sunrises!

3. The 600k, because, well, it was a 600. Way outside of my comfort zone. I was never worried about not finishing in time on the second day. Well, ok, there were a few bad hours in there on day 1.

Learnings: I CAN pull myself out of a massive bonk. Still to learn: don't bonk in the first place.

I CAN ride >10000 vertical feet in a day. RAMROD is definitely a possibility (I am shallow. I want the jersey.)

Goals. Hmm. More 300km rides. I need to get to where I can just go out and ride one, rather like I approach a 200km ride now. Quit being terrified of 400km rides. A 1000km would be very cool.

Acknowledgements:

Sweetpea, for being such a great bike (thank you Natalie)

Fitz, because I'm out riding a lot.

Cecil, Susan, Michal, and Lesli, for being such great riding buddies. Looking forward to more rides with you in the coming year!

Small World

So, I'm cycling over after work to get my hair cut this past Thursday.  At  the corner of Jenkins and Murray, there appears a cyclist from behind.

"Wow! That bike is really set up for touring!".  (Bleriot w/nifty new Ortlieb panniers)  "Is that a Rivendell?"  "Love the fenders!"  I never pass up compliments to my bike :-)

So, his name is Donald, and he's got front AND rear panniers, because he's a massage therapist and all his work stuff is in there.  As I was headed for a haircut, and not home, I was happy to chat routes with him.  I am evasive as to my route and where I'm headed when I'm riding home.

So we talked bikes, and rode together through Tektronix, south on Hocken, left on Farmington, right on whatever that street is west of Beaverton High School, left on 5th... and, as we approached Main, I told him I'd be leaving him here.

"Oh!  Are you going to Suyapa's?"  Well, yes, I was.  She's been cutting my hair for about 30 years now.  Very Small World!

Suyapa cracked up when I told her.

Bike Lemming: September is National Wave and/or Say Hi to Another Cyclist Month

Bike Lemming: September is National Wave and/or Say Hi to Another Cyclist Month

I wave.  And this morning while heading in, I was passed (the usual state of affairs, even if I'm going 17mph!) by no fewer than 4 cyclists heading west on Park Way.  But first, the five of us were stopped at the red, waiting to cross Cedar Hills.  Could be a fun month!

Commuting on the Other Side of the Road

Bleriot and I are here in Histon, just north of Cambridge UK. I successfully commuted today. Scary! The Other Side of the Road issues are going to take getting used to. Plus the buses do not give anywhere NEAR the amount of passing space that a TriMet bus would. Of course, the main street in Histon is 1.5 lanes wide, with on-street parking :-)

Nice scenery, though!


Thanks to Jason for the borrow of his Timbuk2 messenger bag, so I could haul laptop and stuff around - didn't want to pack the rack and briefcase pannier.

Travel notes: international travel still gets 2 bags free. So, still no charge, as Bleriot packed is within allowable weight and size limits (including the Brooks saddle and generator wheel!)

Gitane does Heavy Lifting

I'm off for a business trip, so Gitane had to haul a lot of stuff home today. Plus stopping at Best Buy (needed a new teeny laptop mouse), the bank, and Freddies en route. This meant riding on the gravel stretch home, with relatively fresh gravel. Slow and easy. But, dang, that pannier was heavy!

On the plus side, I'm shifting gears more often in the rear. I have yet to touch the front shifter. I'll remember how to use downtube shifters eventually.

I am apparently ready to ride my bike, do computer stuff, take a swim, and knit, but I have yet to pack any actual clothing...

Gitane Goes to Work Again

I'm off on a business trip next week, far away, and Bleriot is going with. It being Bike Commute Challenge month; I have to keep commuting. So I packed it up last night, and am commuting on Gitane this week.

Fellow cyclist co-worker wanted a complete run-down of the bike after work. He thought it looked pretty cool (I share this thought).

Of course, he was first distracted by my OyVelo jersey, which reaches new heights of...something.

Gitane goes to Work

Given that Bleriot is in a partially dissassembled state (if you thought that front rack was hard to INSTALL, try removing it...), Gitane was pressed into service as Commute Bike today.

Clearly I got there and back safely, including a stop by Favorite Bike Store to show it off ("look! it's finished!"). Favorite Bike Store was slammed. Many people digging old bikes out of their garage and using them.

Other than the slightly disturbing tendency to want to steer itself (no, I won't be riding this one no-hands), all was good. The gearing gets me home, so I think I've got a usable bike here.

This is an inviting bike, a co-worker took it for a spin around the parking lot ("I've never ridden a bike with drop bars before"), and Rebecca and Jessica give it a try every time they come by. No one but me has tried to shift the gears yet.

It was a bit weird riding unattached to the pedals; one attacked me and drew blood. I'm collecting an interesting bunch of cycling-related scars on the left leg. Installation of the Power Grips is indicated.

No Carbon Footprint Family For A Day

All three of us got to work via bicycle. One to Beaverton, one to Tualatin, and one to Hillsboro (MAX helped out on this one).

Yay us!

That said, we've hit the tipping point in bike parking in the garage. There are many bicycles in there.

Another Snow Day!

Even better snow this morning!





The roads were just wet.

Today's Commute

It was meant to be a spin class and weights morning, which means I drive to the gym, work out, change into commute cycling clothes, do the post-workout bagel and coffee meetup, then drive home, grab my lunch and work stuff, and ride into work.

Best-laid plans. We were up all evening before dismantling the computer center so daughter could continue painting the upstairs family room. (This is a story for another time.) 4:50am was too darn early.

Our tradition is that if spinning is skipped, we still do the Executive Workout - bagels and coffee. Rode over to the bagel place by the gym, leaned the bike up against Jason's, and had a great breakfast with John and Jason. Scott (bagel place owner) thinks he should be getting a bike rack. We agree.

John and Jason were doing their electronic tether activity (Treos), when Jason commented that Richard, a friend of ours who lives on Council Crest (highest point in Portland, I think), reported that it was snowing, and he bombed down Broadway in it. I looked out the window - "hey guys, it is snowing here, too!"

The subsequent commute into work had the bonus of snow! Not sticking, and it stopped partway through, but snow always makes me smile.