Wind chill is a factor

We haven't had very much "ice biking" yet this winter, but there's been plenty of opportunity for really-freaking-cold biking. Fortunately today is a rest day for me, because the air temp right now is -1°. Assuming I could even get up to 20mph, like on a good downhill, that would have an wind chill factor of -23.3°! The coldest ride I've taken yet has been at 7°, which at 20mph has a wind chill factor of a mere -12.8°. My top half was fine on that ride, but from the waist down it got pretty cold. Time for some new gear!

Meanwhile, the City has opened a Community Center with an awesome gym right across from my work! I've been heading over there during lunch several times a week now. It's great to have a place so close.

These are my fitness goals/plans for the year:

1. Strength building: now thru March-ish.

2. Cycling base training: 6 weeks in hell. 25 mi / day, 6 days / week for six weeks.

3. Plyometrics training: never done this before. This sounds like new and wonderful forms of masochism. It develops quickness and power and will be good for hills. I will do upper and lower body. The ultimate goal will be to tackle another mountain. Any mountain will do but it has to be a "real" mountain, no fake Ozark mountains! Also, it will hopefully address shoulder issues that made swimming somewhat painful.

4. Endurance training: two to three months of stacking on high mileage rides with the ultimate goal of finishing a "century" ride- a 100 mile ride.

5. Compete in and beat my previous time for a sprint triathlon. All I need to do for this is learn how to swim for real!

Atticus Sux

Atticus Sux... from the Latin "attics suck". I spent a good 6 or 7 hours last weekend running wiring for our bathroom extreme makeover. The only thing that was truly extreme was the heat in the attick. Our power vent has gone kaputz so it was a stuffy 115^ or better. Dark, no airflow and filled with piles of dust and loose fiberglass. What a way to celebrate the labor movement! But in the end, everything went perfectly on the first flick of the breaker and we have a beautifully lit bathroom.

Palin is lie! The Republicans are just trying to appease angry and betrayed conservatives! Honestly, what good is a Vice President unless the President pops off?! Don't be fooled!

For the second time this year, while biking, I made contact with a moving vehicle. This time was my fault. I was ascending the bridge on Gregory, next to the frisbee golf field. Today I decided to take it easy on my way in, so I wasn't going too fast and was enjoying some nice tunes. Over the sound of the rythmic thumping and swooshing of cars, I could hear some distant barking. It turned out to not be distant at all but just seemed that way due to the headphones. Off to my starboard side was a pack of three medium sized dogs chasing me. I didn't know if they wanted to play or just see if I taste like chicken but in any event, I stood up quickly and pulled hard on the headset to take off, lurching to the left with a hop. This brought me into contact with the rear quarter of a white sedan. Yikes!

To add to the biker-obstacle-course for the day, heading up 63rd St, I heard sirens screaming behind me. Crap! I was getting busted for speeding and didn't have my insurance with me!!! This is the first time I've ever had to pull over to the side of the road to get passed by an emergency vehicle. Turns out the cops weren't after me at all, but it was still a weird experience.

Biker Self Defense

In light of several recent spats of violence and stupidity against bikers, I have begun researching some effective self defense measures that an urban cyclist can take. The following article leaves little doubt that mounting a pitchfork to the headset is probably not a good idea.

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9E0CE6D81F39E433A25751C2A96F9C94669ED7CF&oref=slogin

Bike upgrades for 2008

Finally, I got the last of my planned upgrades installed and am ready to begin the 2008 biking season!

This is my steel frame, urban commuter tank: a Dawes "Lightning". An ironic name for such a heavy bike! But it is a comfortable ride.

The first upgrade this year was to get shifters mounted on the headset instead of the body tube. I lack the coordination to reach down to the body for shifting whilst going 20+ mph in traffic, with no shoulder and dodging potholes. It's not a fun game! I got a good deal on some used Shimano shifter from the guys at the Bike Shack.

Next up, I read some articles on the dangers of doing a lot of biking, especially for men. So I got a "man seat" by Specialized which has an ergonomic feature called Body Geometry. The idea is to protect the pipelines that supply precious blood to the boys. This is the Avatar model- their entry level racing version. I might race... someday.

Lastly, the big upgrade- a new wheelset! A friend who rides a ton more than I recommended upgrading to Mavic Aksiums. They are light, rigid and the spokes are fewer and bladeed. These are the 2008 Aksiums which are also lighter than previous models. They should make a great entry level set. After much internet scouring, I found an awesome deal at GottaRideBikes. Unfortantely they didn't carry them in stock so I was stuck, impatiently waiting, for about two weeks. Oh well, they got here and in perfect condition. If you look closesly in the pic, you can see that the spoke flattens out into a blade just after passing the magnet. This is to reduce aerodynamic drag.

And since I'm going to zero-out my odometer, I thought I'd take a quick shot of my current read from last year. Not a bad year at all!