I Rode My Bike Today - #23

I rode my bike today...to work...you know I ain't living right when...I had gale force headwinds riding to work...and...I had gale force winds riding home...what the crap is that about???7 miles.

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I Rode My Bike Today - #22

I rode my bike to today...to work...7 miles.

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I Rode My Bike Today - #21

I rode my bike today...to work...shirt sleeve temps...nice break from the winter...12 hours later...I rode home...10 miles.

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I Rode My Bike Today - #20

I rode my bike today...to work...went to the tavern afterwards...didn't ride home...5 miles.

 

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I Rode My Bike Today - #19

I rode my bike today...to the coffee shop...spent the afternoon studying...rode home with the sunset...9 miles.

 

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I Rode My Bike Today - #18

I rode my bike today...to the store...battling with ice in a couple places...

Along with tangled shoe laces...

1 mile.

 

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I Rode My Bike Today - #17

I rode my bike today...to work...5 miles.

 

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I Rode My Bike Today - #16

I rode my bike today...to work...my wife thought I crazy for riding...18 degrees...possibly the coldest day of the season...how could I not ride...it's all about bragging rights...8 miles.

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I Rode My Bike Today - #15

I rode my bike today...to work...10 miles.

 

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Mystery Numbers

28 - 17- 21 - 20

The first is the temperature outside this morning as I ready for my commute and the remaining are the low temperatures forecasted for the remainder of the week. The winters in VA are relatively mild, normally I can count on one hand the number of days that the temperatures drop into the low 20's or teens. Well - this week alone is gonna practically fill up that one hand.

After the deluge of last week drove me to take my truck to work for 3 days, I am resolved to ride everyday this week! It's time to break out the cold weather gear...

Wool Underwear - Wool Socks - Mittens - Balaclava...Game on Mother Nature!

 

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I Rode My Bike Today - #14

I rode my bike today...to the store...to buy onions and rice...good bet a Cajun dish is on the way...

Jambalaya...now dats what I'm takin bout...2 miles.

 

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A Keen Eye for Innovation

Most folks would have never noticed, but being the avid cyclist that I am, nothing, when it comes to bikes, escapes my keen eye...

Being always on the lookout for the latest and greatest technology. I know a jewel when I see one. On this trusty steed we see the latest innovation in the water bottle...1 gallon capacity...who would have thunk it. Only someone who sports the ultimate in rider comfort and frugality...torn seat cover...don't despair...fold up a towel and grab a roll of black, electricians tape...ahhhhh...bring on the miles!

 

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I Rode My Bike Today - #13

I rode my bike today...to work...that afternoon it was raining...I didn't ride home...my wife picked me up...need to start packing rain gear...6 miles.

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I Rode My Bike Today - #12

I rode my bike today...to work...that afternoon it rained...I didn't ride home...went to Tavern instead...10 miles.

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I Rode My Bike Today - #11

I rode my bike today...to the library...casual ride home through historic Hilton Village...

5 miles.

 

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I Rode My Bike Today - #10

I rode my bikes today...my touring bike to the gym...

my cargo bike to the store...

My rode bike here, there and everywhere...

53 miles.

 

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I Rode My Bike Today - #9

I rode my bike today...to work...9 miles.

I Rode My Bike Today - #8

I rode my bike today...to work...2nd car this week didn't see me...wearing bright yellow...really...12 miles.

 

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I Rode My Bike Today - #7

I rode my bike today...to work...a crescent moon in the morning...a bright sunset in the afternoon...a good day to be on the bike...16 miles.

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I Rode My Bike Today - #6

I rode my bike today...to work...a car with a stop sign didn't see me...I saw them...all is good...12 miles.

 

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I Rode My Bike Today - #5

I rode my bike today...to the river...with beer in bag...

Watched the sunset...

3 miles

 

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A Bona Fide Mess

There's multiple things wrong in this picture. Some are obvious while others less so. The problems are centered around the location of my Planet Bike Blaze headlights.

The obvious - notice the location of the left most headlight and the fact that it renders my brass bell ringer less.

The less than obvious - notice the location of both headlights with respect to my Cateye Wireless Computer. The Planet Bike Blaze headlights are amazing pieces of technology. They put out a steady beam that more than adequately lights up the road ahead and they also are capable of a strobing light that makes me highly visible to others. Lighting up the road and making myself highly visible are two very important functions. However, they they seem to emit some kind of electrical interference that renders my cycle computer completely and totally ineffective. My computer can be happily displaying my blazing speed of 13 mph one second and then I turn on the Planet Bike Blazes and I go from 13 mph to 0 mph in a flash.

What I gots myself here is what dey call a Bona Fide mess!

So to rectify these problems I first remove all the hardware.

And rearrange them to give each the the necessary space to perform their intended function.

There's probably some kinda parallel to real life here, but I'm not feeling particularly philosophical this morning, so I'll let that go and let my readers draw their own parallels.

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I Rode My Bike Today - #4

I rode my bike today...all around...for a couple hours...beautiful day...pleasant ride...30 miles.

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I Rode My Bike Today - #3

I rode my bike today - to work - stopped at the tavern - took short route home - it was cold - I didn't care - 12 miles.

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I Rode My Bike Today - #2

I rode my bike today...to work...it's was cold...it was dark...it was raining...it was cold...17 miles.

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I Rode My Bike Today - #1

I rode my bike today...to the store...in the rain...2 miles.

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New Year Resolutions - 2013

Happy New Year Everyone. I trust that you've had a blessed Christmas with your family and loved ones. I was fortunate enough to be able to drive back to Louisiana and spend time with my parents and brothers. As an added bonus, I brought my gear and camped along the way. It was kinda like bike touring, but in my truck:-)

I'm back in Virginia now and looking forward to the New Year. So what are my bike related resolutions? Well here they are:

1. Ride my bike everyday - the last year and a half, the bike has kinda played second fiddle to other things in my life. This year I want to change that and make it a year when I get back to the bike. To aid in the reunion, I am going to attempt to ride my bike every day that I'm home. I do some amount of traveling during the year (thankfully not much) and it would be unrealistic to think that I could ride when I'm out of town. So to keep from beating myself up and making this difficult goal somewhat manageable, my resolution is to ride every day that I'm home. Now, it may be as short as a ride around the neighborhood, but I am going to attempt to put my butt in the saddle every day.

2. Increase my bicycle commuting distance - I will continue to commute by bike to work on a regular basis. However, in order to get in better shape and lose a little weight, I'm going to alter my route. My normal route is 5 miles each way. I want increase that to about 10 miles each way. Now I'll tell you upfront that things will come up that will make it necessary for me to take the more direct route and when that happens I will do so without remorse. However, I will work to make those instances an exception and not the rule.

3. Blog more - as I have admitted in a recent post and as you have undoubtedly observed, my blogging was sparse in 2012. I aim to change that this year. In fact I'll go out on a limb here and tell you that not only do I plan to ride each day as discussed in resolution #1, I'm gonna try to blog about it each day as well. I won't go so far as to make that a resolution, but I do hope that you will see a marked increase in my posts.

Well - there you have it - my Bike Related New Year Resolutions. Stay tuned to see how I do.

 

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