Sunday rider
Will someone please explain to me how energy is saved by moving the hands of a clock. And if moving a clock’s hour hand 30° saves X amount of energy, why don’t we move them 60° and save 2X of energy? Or would that collapse the oil economy?
The silliness of this whole idea of premature Daylight Savings Time would become evident if we’d just use the same term the British use, Summer Time. Knee deep in snow, changing to Summer Time seems silly.
Unless, if like those attribute control of energy consumption to clocks, you attribute control of the weather to them. Which begs the question, how did they manage energy consumption and weather manipulation prior to the invention of clocks?
I’ve found my body is much happier if I leave it set to solar time year-round. Fortunately, I’ve been able to adjust my lifestyle to accommodate it. All internal factors—sleep/wake, meals, etc.—stay at the same “time” all the time. It’s strictly my interaction with the outer world that shifts with “time changes”.
Not that there’s no impact from this. It’s just that for a while, I’ll have less daylight between the time I get up and the time I have to interact with the outer world.
Where I’m having time difficulties is on the larger scale—the calendar. Spring fever is knocking me right off kilter this year. Although there’s a thaw in progress, there’s snow on the ground, ice on the roads and my summer tires are back from the basement.
I’m a bit upset that the weather isn’t co-operating with its forecast. It was supposed to clear off and get into the mid-40s today. It’s overcast and there was a fresh dusting of snow this morning. This I found surprising since a short while before arising, I woke and the moon was shining in the window. Well, I thought it was the moon. Could’ve been a UFO for all I know without my glasses. Perhaps I should alert George Noory just in case.
Despite the snow, the thaw gained ground yesterday when it actually was in the mid-40s. Riding to the diner for breakfast, I could tell who owns dogs along the way, by the aroma of frozen dog poop thawing. You don’t notice these things speeding along in a car. And I’ve never noticed them on foot either. Cycling speed must be just right for the transitions to be brief enough to notice, but not so fast as to miss them.
Later…
After breakfast and a three-hour morning nap, my disposition had improved tremendously. And it was sunny. Still in the 30s and with west winds gusting over 25, but, I felt a lot better.
I changed Bike’s tires, (remembering to change the circumference measurement on the cyclometer and update the tire log on Bike Journal), filled my water bottle, threw a couple of bars in my pocket, put on my sunglasses and helmet, then hit the street.
Oh that first tenth of a mile felt so good! The smoothness and quiet of the summer tires, riding 100 PSI instead of 60, sneakers instead of hiking boots, made everything feel light and fast. It was amazing!
The rest of the ride was wonderful as well. The bike felt firm on the road, not mushy. Steering was light and agile, not slow and ponderous. Even pedaling felt fast since I didn’t have to move those heavy boots round and round. My ride average speed was 2 MPH higher than it’s been, and average cadence was a chart-topping 79 RPM. That’s a new personal best for a ride average. And that was with some serious coasting too.
I didn’t want to ride with a lot of traffic, and I knew the trails would all still be covered in snow, so digging into the TNUA bag of tricks, I headed over to Wilson Blvd through the U of R and then south through Genesee Valley Park, across the canal, and to our half-mile crit loop.
That section of the park was busy with guys cruising for sex. Fortunately, most of them stayed parked and those who were driving around were going slow and were very busy looking around, so they didn’t pose much of a danger.
I rode several laps of the loop doing them as intervals. One hard and fast, two at a recovery pace, another hard and fast, and so on. It was nice being able to lean right over into the turns again. I never quite felt comfortable doing that with the snow tires. Today, I rolled it right over, even cranking hard through the turns. I’m quite sure I won’t be able to crank through the corners like that with Yellow Bike, given its lower bottom bracket and longer cranks.
I’ve learned that the best rides are those where I quit with gas still in the tank, so to speak, and I still had to make a grocery run, so I headed home after 10 or 12 laps. I took advantage of the tailwind on the downhill north of the University and must have coasted for a good half mile down Wilson Blvd—which explains why I’m amazed at the average cadence figure.
The ice is going out on the river. The deeper stronger sections are ice-free right now. The rest was ice peppered with crows and seagulls, the latter apparently seeking respite from the waves on the lake. The bike path had been blown clear of snow in several places. Tempting as it was, I stuck with Wilson Blvd up to Ford St, where I crossed the river and rode Exchange St into the city.
Mine wasn’t the only strobe flashing as I came up on the the Blue Cross Arena. Cops everywhere, trying to keep things under control. Some serious brawls have broken out in the last week during the regional high school basketball championships. I took a right at Court St, crossed the river again and took my usual route out of downtown, as if I’d come from the trail. Two cars were surprised when I passed them before turning left on to Broadway. Slowpokes.
Back in my neighborhood, the victory lap was a disappointment. The lights weren’t synced quite right and right at peak speed I saw I wasn’t going to make the left at the Y in front of Starry Nites and the Forum. Drat! I left it in the big ring, using the opportunity to power away from the light, rather than spin.
I spent 20 minutes at home, hydrating, logging the ride, and preparing for the grocery run. And I changed from my sneakers to the boots because my toes were cold. Shopping list, ATM card and grocery panniers in hand, I mounted up and took a far more satisfying high-speed run past Starry Nites. Between the summer tires, the tailwind, and I’m sure some residual adrenaline from the earlier ride, I went cranking by in the big ring and small cog (top gear, 48-13) when the best I’ve been able to manage all winter was middle ring and seventh cog (37-14).
The two miles coming home from shopping was loaded with cyclists. Bikes everywhere. It was nice to have some company, and nice to know that they were only fair-weather cyclists.
I’m sure I didn’t cut quite as nice a line or get quite as fast on my run through the downhill under the railroad at Blossom, but on the way back, a roadie in full regalia looked just fantastic doing it. Made it look fast, smooth and easy. I gave a wave and called out “Lookin’ good!”, but of course, roadies never wave—especially not to old guys on hybrids, with a visor on their helmets, wearing not a stitch of Lycra and with a load of groceries in the panniers.
I satisfied myself with the knowledge that he’s missed months and months of riding while I’ve been out racking up the miles.
Later still…
As I was posting this entry, I heard a pop and a hiss behind me. Someone’s tube burst. Turns out it was the rear tire on Bike.
When I was changing the tires this afternoon, I tried out the Topeak Road Morph pump I bought for Yellow Bike. I wasn’t quite successful in converting it for use on the Schraeder valve on Bike’s tubes. Apparently, during all the fussing around, I damaged the valve stem where it comes through the hole in the rim.
Fortunately, it held all through today’s riding. I’m lucky that it let go in the living room. I have no spare tubes for Bike, relying on the Kevlar belts in the tire and the Mr. Tuffy tire liners for puncture protection. None of that helps when some idiot screws around with the valve stem.
I do have spare tubes for Yellow Bike, but its tires are narrower and it uses Presta valves, so those tubs won’t work on Bike. Nor is Yellow Bike in ridable condition, (something I was planning to address tomorrow.)
Okay, time to try out the “swap parts between bikes” strategy. As you may recall, rather than upgrade to nine or ten-speed when I determined I had to replace Yellow Bikes entire drivetrain, I replaced it with eight-speed, thinking I could swap parts from one bike to another in a pinch.
Yellow Bike’s whole rear wheel assembly is now installed on Bike. Seems to shift just fine. The brakes didn’t even need re-alignment. Cool. It sure looks funny though. Too skinny, blue anodized rim, bright polished hub, and mirror finish plated cassette. I’m sure it’ll work just fine for getting me to Towner’s and back in the morning.
