your daily bicycle log

Bike lane on the left is basically mandatory on bus routes, the bus spends whole time weaving back and forth across where lane would be if on the right.

Bugger me it is cold today. Biked from bushwick to willamsburg to get wifi and still felt the chill, especially beneath my all too summery shoes.

I'm out of work so here for another week.

Plus side of the cold - I can really justify this bourbon with my tea.

Minus side of things, wifi broken in this bar. Anyone know a good free wifi place near metropolitan av and roebling st?

Ed, I don't know how you're biking today. Fucking no way. Of course my lungs are fucked so the cold air makes me choke, so I'm biased.

Wrapping something in front of the face helps a lot. Extremeties were in pain though. Might not try it again though but I think the coldest passes today.

i just went running!

new night time safety setup practice run in 5 mins...will report back

i need headlamp that isnt 15yrx old

i've been off the bike all week sick.

hunter please assure me i didn't lose the entirety of my fitness from september :/

gnarly storm next few days
ain't no biking in my near future

Apparently -12C in NYC yesterday: http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2008/01/something-to-ponder-is-there-fixed-gear.html

nuh uh you dint lose it! see how easy that was?

one of my teammates was a phd exercise physiology guy and he said that it is rather bad to be totally sedentary (meaning actually like, IN BED). but being sick, off the bike, but semi functional wasnt so bad a setback.

always remember that training = work + rest. if you dont rest you wont get the compensatory overresponse that makes you stronger/fitter. you weren't sick, your were resting then. i sometimes felt like two weeks after illness i might even be ahead of my previous curve.

and i know you know you can't "make up" the lost time by training twice as much for this week. just resume the plan as yr coach advises. youll do great, and most of yr competition is probably just marking up their training calendar-its the first week of january.

Probably old hat to you guys but FUCK ME!!! going over the bridges in New York is Fun. I want to do them all has the George Washington got a Bike Deck?

Also, where to find good bike shop I feel the need for a pair of gloves.

Bridges are fun! I remember the first time I took the Bklyn Bridge, it was at night and it was LIKE WO. The bike entrances on the Bk side of the Manhat & Bk Bridges can be kind of hard to find, tho -- did you manage?

I biked to club on NYE but a) first time I FORGOT MY LOCK and had to go home, and b) on my trip back my blinker popped off and into the road and a police car ran over it GO SMASH. So I'm out a blinker.

How they didn't see a flashing red thing fall off and lie in the road in front of them and then me turn around with a big "OH NOOOES" face and wave my arms at them, I'LL NEVER KNOW, but I was half waiting for them to pull me over for safety violations and I was about mad enough to hope they did.

ed the george washington bridge is how you get to the 9W/nyack ride. do it!

9w/nyack?

Off to Brentford in a minute. I hope my lungs work.

Phew! That was fun. Just over 20 miles, not much in the way of hills, a bit blowy, good temperature for riding. Here's the route (starting out heading west):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v222/biondino/cycle050108.jpg

fuck it
riding to work in the rain is no big deal

makeshift rear fender out of jumbosize paper soda cup = DIY no more soggy butt

wearing a big jacket and 21oz jeans (<- this is the key)
found an old pair of goretex trail trainers
i am in business

i repeat,
NOBIGDEAL

WHAT ARE 21 OUNCE JEANS? FUTURE JEANS MEASURED IN LIQUID?

http://sewing.about.com/library/weekly/aa102505.htm

how do you bend your knees enough to ride in those!!

http://dontmix.blogspot.com/2007/11/self-edge-x-iron-heart-cycling-denim.html
oh whoa

Reinforced crotch rivet

I know all those dudes and they're all really short.

I have regular Iron Heart 21oz. though... much cheaper than those "cycling jeans" (1/2 the price) and they do the trick just fine:

http://www.ironheart.jp/products/634S.html

I hate riding in regular jeans because their lack of movement makes me feel like I'm fighting against my trousers as well as the road, wind etc. 21 oz jeans must be crazy!

Lastly, mine are 3 years old so they look identical to L3vi's (arcuate & red tab), they look much different than the current ones.

You guys ever heard of resistance training? Wet 21oz. jeans will make your hamstrings as big as Theo Bos'.

they had to take the red tab off my 19oz sammys as i bought them, boo

but yea they're pretty hard to ride in!

ps. my daily bike log is EMPTY and its bumming me out

La la I don't get in more than riding to the bar, lately. In the bad weather & holiday season I'm finding a new love for my old lady bike, though -- I have worn some ridiculous get-up on that bike with no problems and for short trips on wet roads it's like the perfect vehicle.

My women's L3vi's are already a lot higher in the back than the front, and they're the skinny leg ones so no chain probs. What I do need, though, is a reinforced crotch/thighs, because that is going to wear out pronto.

Other advantage of 21oz denim: no chance of road rash. Just put Kevlar in the hip pockets.

two weeks away from riding to let my shoulder rest and ice melt off roads. parking mgmt has removed bike rack--with my kryptonite on it. WAR, BITCHES.

fortunately i at least had a combi cable on me.

i had no idea denim was so...technical.

i have basically worn out the crotch on all my pants

youre a pro tho. i dont think ill ever ride enough to need concrete jeans.

i just moments ago signed up for this. such a fucking racket, but ive never done it befo why not. ive always said ill just ride it by myself one day for fun, but ive heard the cops have cracked down on riders on i70 between bakerville and the tunnel.

Wow, you got there just before they closed for entries. Man that is several magnitudes more hardcore than I can even fathom. Hope you have a blast!

ive actually ridden the course as far as copper mtn before, but then i turned off and went over fremont pass to turquoise lake. i'd argue that my route is tougher, but the rollout to avon on triple bypass sounds like a slog.

some friends have ridden triple bypass in pouring rain, and that sounds beyond miserable. im praying for sun.

been off the bike since tues, due to med school interviews. feeling FAT and OUT OF SHAPE.

today i fitted full fenders to my Other Bike and it was a total pain in the ass. i'm bringing it with me down to Iowa so i can cruise IA City and look disdainfully at all the biker kids not riding through the winter.

...apparently the singletrack is really good there???

anyone have any experience with studded tires? im bored and considering putting nokian a10s on my old commuter for icy days. i think only a10s would fit.

the frame should be junked, but its rideable (as long as you keep your hands on the bars).

13 miles today, 13 miles yesterday. Struggled a lot today - 25mph winds blowing in every direction. This may be a really dumb questioning but cycling after a really big meal with wine - bad idea right?

I went out yesterday in horrendous winds too, did about 40kms. also got horrendously sunburnt. MTB dude kept trying to keep up with(embarrass)me. But i didn't let him.

he kept trying to keep up with you? so he kept up with you, yuh?

; )

ha, traffic lights were the problem.

honest!

But I am incredibly unfit atm

i bailed

where is the "I BAILED" thread?

I'm missing NY already, cycling in London does quite have the same buzz. Can't wait to get back.

i bailed at the 25 minute mark, onto the bus. so so so f'ing cold (9 deg). i just didn't have warm enough gloves or socks, and my thin wool trousers weren't doing me any favors either.

my resolve to ride despite the cold is in conflict with my resolve not to have to change clothes.