Church Commute

In my effort to ride my bike more, I decided today would be my first ride of the year to the meeting house. We have a few folks in the congregation who ride bikes on warm Sundays, but nobody has ridden in this winter.

It is interesting to note that one of the best riders in northeast Indiana showed up in service today. This was his first visit to our little congregation, so I was happy to give him a tour of our facility. I don't know if he'll come back, but he'll always be welcome.

On the way home, I passed by Indiana-Purdue University, Fort Wayne campus.


I couldn't help but ride onto the new pedestrian bridge over the St. Joe River to take a picture of my horse.

We've been in a snow drought for most of the winter, but looks like that may change this Tuesday, with "significant snow accumulation" forecast. We'll have to wait and see. The big snow that blanketed Washington DC two days ago passed well off to our south, so we only got a bit of snow and a bunch of wind.

Happy riding!

Lovely Sunset

Well, I was hoping to be able to post a photo of the setting sun, but my camera battery was dead. It was especially beautiful tonight because we could actually see it. And it was up until 6:00pm.

Although it was cold and windy again today, it is another day closer to spring. Lately I seem to be saying that to myself more and more. I like winter - I like the snow, the cold, and I like to ski and ice fish. But when the temperature last Sunday ventured into the low 50's, an obsession of looking at the 10 day forecast several times a day has gripped me.

We still have a long time before warm weather returns, and I have to keep telling myself that. I've been riding regularly all winter long so far, and plan to keep riding. But that one warm day was sweet!

Anyway, I just needed to acknowledge that I am looking forward to warm weather riding again. Look at Old Fool's post about fresh tomatoes. I'm looking forward to those again too. But we won't be picking any out of our garden until late June at the earliest. Anticipation makes them taste especially good.

Happy riding!

52F!

It was even warmer today than yesterday. All of our snow is now gone. But it was nice to ride in shirtsleeves again.



The legs felt surprisingly good after yesterday's hard ride. I guess the legs are strong, just need to push the heart and lungs now. Tomorrow (Monday), we go back into the freezer. Got to enjoy this warm weather while we have it.

Happy riding!

Club Ride 2010

I did my first club ride of 2010 today. I tried to ride with the club last Sunday, but no one showed up due to thick fog. Five of us rode 34 miles today at a brisk pace (for me anyway). Much thanks to Chuck and Steve who occasionally dropped back to bring me back up into the group. I got to meet K-Mart Dave, who is a local biking legend.

Since the vast majority of my riding is solo, it is fun to ride with others, especially experienced riders who are steady on the bike. Chuck and Steve tucked me into tight formation and kept me well protected from a fairly strong southeast wind. Since I am probably as big as both of them put together, I wished I could have spent more time at the front pulling for them. But I know as the year progresses and I get more quality (i.e. faster) miles under my belt, I'll gladly return the favor.

I want to ride the Ride Across INdiana (RAIN) this July, so I will try like heck to get faster and stronger on the bike. I've gotten a good riding base from the last 3 years, so now is a good time to start mashing the pedals a little more. It did feel really good to finish the ride with the group, although I slowed them down a fair bit. Next week I'll be a little stronger, and a little stronger the next week...

On a side note, the temp got up to 40 F today, the second day since November it has reached 40. My cold weather biking this winter has toughened me up - although the wind was blowing and a mist was falling, it still felt warm.

Happy Riding!

Looking Back...

Bought a mirror to put on my bike. Now I can see cars coming from behind.


Since the roads are clear and we don't have any significant snow in the forecast, I switched back to the Schwalbe Marathon tires. Oooh, they roll nice! Quite a bit less effort than the studded tires.

I also put new brake pads on all around. I noticed the old pads were severely worn when I went to adjust the brakes. The sand the highway dept puts on the road must be very abrasive to the pads (and probably the rims, too). I cleaned the wheels up nicely as well.

Happy riding!

Short Ride

I got back from a 3 day conference late this afternoon and went for a 10 mile ride on my Trek. I enjoy seeing people I haven't seen for a while, and I got to play Euchre till after midnight on Monday. After sitting in meetings all day everyday, though, and a 2 1/2 hour car ride home, I was ready to ride.

The sun was shining and warm southerly winds brought the temperature up to 32 degrees today. Great day for a short ride. This photo presented itself as I passed by the Cedarville Reservoir.



Happy riding!

Sweet Steel

Since the roads are clear and dry, I took another 20 mile ride today, this time on my 1985 Trek 500. I had an old Avocet saddle on this bike that was not comfortable anymore. So when I got my Brooks saddle for Christmas (it's on the Tricoss), I put the Specialized saddle from that bike on here. It's a good saddle, I had very little trouble with numbness last year, even with the longest single ride of 116 miles. I need to slide the saddle forward an inch or so.

Here's the steel-framed beauty on the Roth Road Bridge over the St. Joe River.

Even with a 15 mph wind, I was able to ride 9 minutes faster than the 20 miles I did yesterday. I attribute it to the tires. I have these tires pumped to 90 psi.

I bought this bike when I lived in Indianapolis in 1985.


They don't make lugs like this anymore.

Hope you are able to get out to ride wherever you are.

Happy riding!