Well, I started commuting by bike regularly in late May of this year, been doing it fairly regularly except a couple days when I had any special errands or was travelling or whatever. In total about 4500 miles over 4 or 5 months, which is enough to have biked from Seattle to New York and then down to Miami (according to google maps it would be ( Read more... )

First we have the racing bike. This one is on long term loan from my brother. It was sitting there in my garage with flats, so when a sale came along I took the opportunity to replace the tubes and tires. Actually the bright yellow striped tires makes it look even faster somehow--purple and yellow go together for racing vehicles. And it really ( Read more... )

To prepare for the rainy season I installed some fenders (PlanetBike SpeedEZ ATB) and they really help. Before, I would be all wet and covered with road grit after riding on a wet path. Now, I can ride through at normal speed, like nothing at all.

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There was a sale at the department store, and I finally bought a "cycling computer" (i.e. speedometer) (and it seems that Google was correct, my daily ride is 22 miles) as well as a squeeky clown horn thingy with a bulb, to replace the overzealous bell I had that makes people jump and rings every time I go over a bump.

And I discovered something ( Read more... )

Today I completed the 22 mile ride in 1 hour 20 minutes, so averaging 16.6 MPH. On my mountain bike. If instead I had been on a racing bike, that level of effort might have yielded 20 MPH, but I'm not sure. I'm also not sure I feel a need to test that theory. It would be fun, but not without risk. It's safer on a mountain bike due to the tires ( Read more... )

Truth be told, there's another reason why I have been aiming for a slightly lower heart rate. I think my cardiovascular fitness has improved faster than the muscles in my legs can keep up with. Subjectively, it seems like I'm riding a given part of the trail in the same gear with similar cadence, and my muscles are not capable of supporting a ( Read more... )

Having found a comfortable bike a route that avoids cars most of the way ( Read more... )

Of course, this post will just add to the worrying done by people that worry about me. And that worrying is well founded, but at the same time if I then silence myself, then I have this awkward situation where my blog avoids some of the most interesting topics. I suppose there must always be some things that won't appear on my blog, such as if my ( Read more... )

I was thinking about what to carry on the morning commute, in order to minimize weight. If I'm bringing my padlock for the gym locker, I might as well bring a cable for the bike, right? I have that huge black cable from when I was in high school... But it's so heavy. What about a lesser cable just for short-term use? I started doing some ( Read more... )

23 miles, took me 2 hours, out of shape on an unfamiliar bike. Traffic is the thing that bothers me the most. Something about several tons of killing machine, waiting to squash me. I think I'll extend the ride even further to avoid traffic.