Sixty days with the bike
In the last month, I’ve ridden the bus three times: To the sleep center and back for an overnight while the bike was in the shop for its 30-days check-up, and that night with the flat tire.
The weather kept me from riding only one day: That Sunday when the wind was gusting over 40 mph and blowing down trees and power lines.
And I accepted a ride in a car only twice: From my sponsor because he wanted to talk before a meeting he chaired, and from my mother because she didn’t like the idea of me riding home from the ‘burbs after dark, even though I was cool with it.
In this month, I’ve never NOT gone anywhere due to transportation matters. In fact, I’ve gone more places and I’ve done more things because of it. My Sunday training rides are a good example, and grocery shopping again at Aldi’s is another.
Throughout, it’s been a joy every time I saddle up. I come and go as I please without having to wait for the next bus. It’s still amazing to me that I get where I need to be completely under my own power. And without fear of collapse.
As my confidence has grown, my riding has changed. The only times now that my bike is on a sidewalk are the couple of places where the trails briefly detour to them, and the 50 feet from the parking lot here to my fire escape. I’ve found, that even in the dangerous section of Winton Road that I’ve complained about for years and years, a strong and skilled rider is safer in the street moving within the traffic flow.
I almost, but not quite, look forward to that section now. Since it’s all downhill and there are five closely-spaced intersections, even an intermediate rider like me can stay right with traffic. (I’m frequently on the brakes so I don’t rear-end a car.) Since I’m part of traffic, people see me and don’t have to avoid me. It’s been the drivers who are turning that have caused me all the grief these years. We’re all going the same direction at the same speed, and that’s what they tell even car drivers, is the safest way to be in traffic.
I’ve gained weight. Muscle weighs more than fat. I don’t think I’ve lost any fat though. It has moved about. My formerly flabby thighs are firming up nicely and my body has shifted most the fat that used to live there to my belly. I’ve gained girth.
I don’t have a real problem with that. I’m firmly in middle age and the slightest bit of a paunch is to be expected.
I am eating better too. And a little more than I had been—even if you discount my two glasses of Ovaltine (in 1% milk) every night. It’s all bike fuel, so I don’t mind.
On Mother’s Day, when I last measured my resting heart rate, it was 46. This is down from 68 which was still pretty good. My blood pressure seems to have leveled-out at ten points below what it had been. And while I’m still frequently overcome by exhaustion, it’s from sleep difficulties or whatever mental gymnastics the squirrels in the attic have been performing.
My body no longer insists on a nap after even the shortest of rides. Even after yesterday’s new distance record, I kept humming right along after I got home. Although later I did take a nap, simply because I felt I ought to since it’s a holiday weekend and all.
I also credit the bike with getting me through this last bout of depression. The lack of sleep induced by the sleep study brought it on. Midway through the study is when I bought the bike. Although I continued to decline, the bike kept it from going as deep as it could have, and may have helped me recover more quickly after I could take the melatonin to sleep again.
At first it was the novelty—a new toy. Next it became a challenge and a set of goals to work towards. Then the joy took over. Where for years I considered the best of all possible days to be when I never had to leave home, or even step outside, now a day just doesn’t feel right without taking a ride—even if it’s only a couple of miles.
New challenges have revealed themselves. Last week I was excited to learn that every year there’s a Cycling the Erie Canal tour. Eight days and 400 miles from Buffalo to Albany. I was disappointed to learn that it’s coming in just six weeks. There’s no way I’d be ready for a 400 mile ride by then, I don’t own any camping equipment (bikeable or otherwise), and I already have plans for that week. Nor can I afford the $500 fees. But it’s something to work towards for next year.
Also for next year, I’m entertaining the thought of entering the Saturn Rochester Twilight Criterium. This year’s event is less than a month away. A criterium is a closed-course timed road race. Ours is a one-mile course and each race runs 30 minutes. Near as I can figure, whoever gets the most laps in during that time wins.
Yeah, silly old me is thinking of entering a bicycle race. It’s only $25 to enter, and it doesn’t say anything about requiring a racing license. And they even have a Category 5 race for ages 30 and up. I’d fit that. Even so, I know I wouldn’t win anything, (and there’s only a medal for that race) but it might be fun. I regularly ride several of the streets in the course so that knowledge might help.
But never having been to a bicycle race, I figured I’d better attend as a spectator first. I already have a couple of spots staked-out. And who knows? By next year I may actually be competitive. And I might even have a proper road bike to race on.
What? Another bike?
Well, I’ve been thinking of that too.
My Giant Cypress DX is the perfect bike for me right now, and will remain an excellent commuter for the forseeable future. I can’t see it not being my daily driver. I can see a nice, but low-end, road bike for recreational riding and the occassional race.
And of course, all the indoor bike racks for apartments hold two bikes. I couldn’t get a rack and have only one bike to put on it.
What? A bike rack for inside the apartment? What happened to locking it to the fire escape?
Nothing yet. But I’ve found I bring it inside when there’s a threat of rain. It saves on having to re-oil the chain and the cables and such. I’m parking it now on the other side of the room and it’s in the way every time I use the front door (like to get the mail or admit a guest) and whenever I need to get into the cabinet it leans against.
It may still be May, but I’m thinking ahead to winter. I don’t mind a bit of rainwater dripping off on to the hardwood floors, I’m not dragging slush-encrusted bike through the whole apartment, then mopping up after it. There’s no other floor space where it will fit (except maybe by the bedroom window) so that means a rack.
This wall where the desk is, is the only reasonable place to put a rack. It’s near the kitchen door and there’s enough room, once the desk and computers are relocated. If I put down a rug or mat or something, that will keep the dripping slush off the floor too. I’ll only have to mop the kitchen after a ride. Which is no big deal since it’s small enough and really ought to be mopped more often anyway.
So I’ve begun entertaining the notion of a bike rack and a second bike to hang in the empty space. But first, this bike needs some things.
A bell. It won’t help in traffic, but on the trails i will come in handy. Sometimes when I call out, “On your left”, people move to their left, right in front of me. And tehre are a coupole of narrow, blind corners around bridge abutments where it would be nice to let someone know you’re coming. Finally, it is an equipment violation if the police ever pull me over. The Incredibell is small so it will fit on my handlebar (it’s a “bullhorn” bar so there’s not a lot of straight mounting surface), it’s black so it matches my handlebar, and it’s only $8.50.
A different saddle. Looking back, I’ve complained about this one since the first week. I’t time to do something about it. I need something that fits my narrow, bony butt better. This saddle’s designed for broad flabby ones. So I don’t fit right on it. It becomes uncomfortable after a few miles and I’m forever sliding forward on it to sit on a narrower section. This throws off the fit and makes it harder to pedal.
Interstingly, I was unable to find any reviews of this bike before I bought it. Since then I’ve found several and they all say it’s an excellent bike, and a great value for the money. And they all have exactly the same complaint about the saddle that I do.
I’m looking at a coupld of saddles from Terry Precision Cycling. They’re very highly rated, comparatively inexpensive, and company is local. If I can’t buy direct from the Terry, several local dealers stock the line. Unfortunately, Towner’s doesn’t.
Next, I need a different pannier rack. This one’s okay. It gets the job done. But I didn’t know what to buy when I bought it and a single, beefy-looking vertical support seemed like a better idea than the traditional three skinny ones. And I think it looks better too.
But, I’ve found out why the traditional models have three vertical supports. It’s not for weight, but to keep the panniers out of the spokes. One support in the middle won’t keep the front and rear bottom corners of the my grocery panniers from swinging in towards the spokes when fully loaded.
It’s annoying, unsafe, and will eventually shred the panniers or damage the spokes. I figured this rack would be fine for learning. I’ve learned, and now it’s time to move on. It’s a fine rack for a trunk bag, so I’ll keep it in case I want to put a trunk bag on the new bike.
Finally, I’d like a new cassette. I need less space between the gears in the range where I typically ride. I’m forever wishing for gears halfway between 4 and 5, 5 and 6, and less frequently, between 6 and 7. That way I could maintain steady cadence in varying headwinds and up modest inclines. Many times right now, one is too fast and the other too slow.
A ten-speed cassette would be perfect. But that would also necessitate replacing the rear derailleur, rear shifter and the chain.
So what I’m thinking is this. I never use first. I use second only from a standing start in the big-chainring. I use eighth very rarely, and even then, only in the middle chainring. Dropping those three cogs would make room for 17, 15, and 13 tooth cogs between what are now 4th (18 teeth), 5th (16 teeth), 6th (14 teeth) and 7th (12 teeth). With any luck, I can have this cassette rebuilt with those gears. If not, I’ll have to have one custom-made.
If it turns out that I’ll actually ride with any frequency through the winter, everything I’ve read tells me upgrading from the rim brakes to disk brakes is a good idea. They stop better in the wet and apparently, the rim brake pads wear out super-fast in the wet—in as little as a month for some riders.
As you may recall, the next model up from this bike uses the same frame, but has disk brakes. So fitting them will be no problem. I’m not sure I fit both a disk brake and a traditional pannier rack on the back, so maybe I’ll end up with just a front disk brake.
All this should tell you something. I’m enjoying this as much as I’d hoped—probably more than I hoped. Certainly more tha I expected. I’m learning about my bike, my body and my style of riding, and learning what to change improve both performance and enjoyment. And it looks like I’m committing not only to riding straight through the winter, but to buying a second bike in the spring.
Oh! I almost forgot. Over on bikejournal.com, as of this morning before logging today’s ride, for overall distance in 2006 I was ranked 3,228 of over 14,400 riders, 805 among all men ages 40–49, 90 among all riders in New York State and 4 in the Rochester Bicycling Club.
This is after only three weeks of logging rides. Of course, not everyone logs rides as diligently as I have. Some not at all, as happens with everything. Still, it gives me some extra motivation.
