Autofocus Doesn't Work at 15 Below!

This morning was my coldest ride ever. I carried a temperature datalogger with me, and it recorded a temperature of -14.8 degrees F (-26 degrees C) near the mid-way point of my commute. Traveling at a sluggish 10 miles per hour created a wind chill factor of -35 degrees F (-37 degrees C). I was as prepared as I could be for those conditions, and I arrived at work warm... but exhausted. A co-worker took this picture of me with my cell phone camera that I carried in my backpack, but the cold seemed to kill the autofocus! What I wanted to show was that NO skin was exposed - because it would have meant frostbite within minutes. I wore a full face mask with ski googles, with an insulated bike helmet on top. I wore a windproof jacket and pants over 3 layers of fleece/polypro on my body. I wore "Thinsulate" ski gloves on my hands, and Sorel boots with two pairs of heavy socks on my feet.

What I learned is that I can dress up for the extreme low temps... but I wasn't prepared for the impact on the performance of my bike. It seemed like the grease in the axles and my 8-speed internal hub turned to mollases and it made it significantly harder to pedal. On flat, straight sections where I would ordinarily be easily cruising in the 8th gear, I was instead alternating between the 5th and 6th gear. To add even more difficulty, my nice warm Sorel boots are HEAVY. Lifting them up with each pedal stroke seemed to get more and more difficult through the ride.

The only real concern I had during my ride was when my goggles started to fog up with about 2 miles to go. It happened quickly. For the first 3-4 miles of my ride, the goggles performed perfectly. Then, the fog started creeping in - from the top down. By the end of the ride, I could only see clearly through the bottom edge of the lens. At these temps, taking the goggles off really wasn't an option, so I had to continue on - even with limited visibility. I'm going to see if applying an anti-fog treatment makes a difference on the ride home.

Anyway, it was an interesting challenge - but I won't be sad if I don't have to ride in temps this cold again this winter!

Finally.

I finally accumulated the parts I needed to put together my perfect Vermont winter commuter bike. I picked up the two crucial pieces from the Denver craigslist. It seems that there is a lot of honesty in the biking world, and I was able to get exactly what the sellers promised. I ended up with a used Surly 1x1 frame (completely built up as a nice single-speed) and a used Shimano Nexus 8-speed hub, built into a 26-inch wheel. Combine this with the studded Nokians I already owned, and my new MiNewt Mini-USB headlight (and tail lights, of course)... and I now have a dependable, safe commuter bike that will take me through all but the worst of conditions. I've been riding it all this week and LOVE it. Bring on the snow and ice. I'm ready.

Swapped the bike for my skis.

I've wanted to try this for years - and finally pulled the trigger. We've had almost two feet of new snow in the past several days, so I thought it would be cool to ski in to work. The only problems: my skis are pretty crappy, I'm a pretty crappy skier, and my route is pretty crappy. It took my about an hour and a half to ski the 5 miles to work. I was either on plowed bike path/road (sometimes plowed down to asphalt... with some sand/gravel thrown in) or breaking trail through 2 feet of snow (exhausting). I didn't wear double socks, and I ended up getting really bad blisters on the backs of both feet. I also plunged knee-deep in an ice-cold stream near the end of my trip. At least that made my blisters feel better. Anyway, it was cool to try it once - but I think that a bike is the best vehicle for my commute!

First Tracks.

One of my favorite times to ride is right after (or during) a fresh snow. Everything is so quiet, and the ride is super-soft. It is kinda surreal. I'm really fortunate that I can stay off the road for most of my commute, because it was not a day to be sharing the road with cars. The roads were really slick, and the shoulder/bike lane was a mess. I took a route that kept me off the main road entirely (on bike path and condo roads) for the first 5 of my 6 miles, and I walked the last mile in the snow off the side of the road. It took me 50+ minutes to get to work (compared with 18 minutes on my old ten-speed in the summer), but I didn't risk my life or make life more difficult for motorized traffic.

Trip Pics.

These are pictures from today's commute. The top one is from my morning cruise to work, and the bottom one is from my ride home this evening. Most of my ride is paved bike path or bike lane on the side of the road. This is just a little "shortcut" that keeps me off the side of a pretty busy road for more than a mile. The city eventually plans to build a bike path near here, but until then, this path through a marshy field will work just fine.

Zero.

This morning was my first really cold winter ride of the year. Really cold. It was hovering around zero when I rode in - and windy. The wind chill factor was between -15° F and -20°F.

The road conditions were worse than the temperature. Just a few days ago, temps were around 50°, so the roads were pretty warm. Yesterday, it got cold quickly and snowed - and it turned to a layer of glaze ice on the roads. Lots of accidents last night, and it wasn't much better this morning.

I took a route that keeps me off the main roads for all but the last mile of my ride, so at least I didn't have to deal with a couple of tons of steel sliding at me. I just had to worry about keeping myself upright, because I still haven't put the studded snows on. Another evening project for this week...

First Snow.

I passed a neighbor walking his dog on my way in this morning, and he yelled after me, "Time for the studded snow tires!".

I'm not ready for this yet!

From shorts to hat & gloves in less than a month.

Man... it happens fast. All through September I was riding in shorts. Now, I'm wearing long underwear, windproof/waterproof pants and jacket, hat & gloves. It was about 30 degrees this morning, with a heavy frost covering the grass and fields. It is hard to make out in my crappy cell phone pic, but this field was full of Canadian geese on their way south.

This week was my first week using lights again in the evening. I have two LED headlights mounted on my handlebars (one flashing, one solid) and two flashing LED tail lights (one on my helmet, one on my seatpost). I feel pretty good about my visibility to cars. I'm scouting out a new winter bike, and my plan is to wrap the frame in reflective tape so I'm more visible to cars from the side (when I'm crossing roads).

I was bummed a couple of weeks ago about the approach of colder weather and darker rides... but now I'm excited to change it up a little and try new gear.

Rugged Cycles.

I just got back from a business trip to the ISA Expo in Houston. The ISA Expo is a trade show and conference for users/buyers/sellers of industrial instruments and automation products. It was pretty much the last place I would expect to find a company selling bicycles.

Rugged Cycles (http://www.ruggedcycles.com/) builds and sells bicycles for use around large industrial facilities, but also markets them for rental fleets or personal use. They have created a bike that is virtually maintenance-free in most applications. All of the parts of the bike are stainless, polycarbonate, or otherwise corrosion-resistant. Instead of exposed chain drive with deraileurs, it uses an enclosed shaft drive with internal hub shifting. The tires are made of solid polyurethane, so flats are thing of the past. This thing is bulletproof!

If I had a shorter, less hilly commute - I would definitely consider this as a commuter bike. They offer a single speed or 3-speed option, so it is ideal for level to slightly hilly conditions. They have a comfort bike configuration, so the rider sits up straight for excellent visibility. It is not the lightest thing on the road, but I didn't think it was excessively heavy considering the airless tires and heavy-duty shaft drive.

The list price for the single-speed model is $745... but they were offering a 10% discount during the Expo. I think it was less than $100 to upgrade to the 3-speed (internal hub) model.

Check them out. It's great to see expanding applications for bicycles... even if it is not the bike for me.

Fall is perfect for bike commuting.

I find it funny that I see so many bike commuters in the summer - and then they disappear as soon as a bit of chill hits the air. This is the best time of year to commute by bike! In the summer, it takes me an hour to cool down when I get to work. In the fall, I can sometimes wear my casual work clothes and barely break a sweat.

The tricky part is the increasingly early sunset. In the next week or so, I'll have to set up my headlights and tail lights so I'm as visible as possible on my ride home. In another month or so, it will be DARK on my ride home. I'm guessing that is one of the biggest fears of new bike commuters... riding in the dark. It definitely takes some getting used to - especially on busy roads - but I sometimes think that I am more visible to cars in the dark when I'm lit up like a Christmas tree!

My Mountain Bike... which happens to be my Commuter Bike this week.

I had an explosive flat on the rear tire of my old ten-speed, so I took my mountain bike off the rack for this week. It has been a reminder that even really nice mountain bikes are not very good commuter bikes. It is slow and loud on the road (even with the tires inflated to max), and there is no such thing as "coasting". I'm definitely getting a workout! This weekend, I'll fix the flat on my Panasonic Sport 500, and save this bike for the trails.

Today is the last day of Earl's (LBS) Bike Commuter Challenge. I finished with 616 miles this summer... on track for another 2000+ mile year. I'm at about 5000 miles so far in the past two and half years of commuting by bike to work.

Bike Commuter Racing

During the warmer months, my cycling co-workers and I see many other bike commuters during our morning and late afternoon rides. To keep things interesting, we have invented a simple game of "Bike Commuter Racing". A while ago, I read a great comment from another bike commuter - I wish I could find it so I could appropriately give credit. It went something like this...

"If two bike commuters are riding on the same piece of road, at the same time, and going in the same direction - they are racing".

This is strangely true. How many times have you seen someone riding ahead of you, then noticed that you were pedaling faster? How many times have you realized that someone was gaining on you from behind, and you instinctively turned it up a notch to stay ahead?

So, since we are all racing anyway, we decided to make it official by creating a point system. Here's how it works:

+1 point - You pass a cyclist going in the same direction.
+1 bonus point - If that cyclist "turns it up a notch" and makes you earn it!
+1 bonus point - If that cyclist is decked out in multi-colored spandex.
-1 point - A cyclist passes you.
-2 points - You pass a cyclist, and he/she passes you back!

This is all in good fun, and standard passing etiquette applies.

$100 for biking to work!

A quick thank-you to Earl's Cyclery (http://earlsbikes.com/) for hosting "Earl's Commuter Challenge". 50 of us are logging our commuting miles each week this summer, and Earl's is giving gift cards at various mileage levels. I just passed 500 commuting miles last week, which means I get a $100 gift card! Thanks Earl's!

Free Airport Parking

I finally had an opportunity to bike 'n fly the other day. Thursday afternoon, I flew out of Burlington (BTV) on a 2-day trip. My only luggage was my backpack, so it was the perfect opportunity to bike to and from the airport rather than drive, bum a ride, or take a cab. I biked from work to the airport (about 2 miles... an easy sub-10-minute ride) and locked up my bike and helmet at the bike rack in the airport's parking garage. Easy. When I returned Saturday around noon, I unlocked my bike and headed home. 4 miles and 15 minutes later, my trip was over.

For Burlington-area residents, this is such a great option. We are lucky to have an airport so close to downtown (about 3 miles from Church Street). The airport is within easy biking distance of Burlington, Winooski, South Burlington, Essex Junction and Williston... with a combined population of about 75,000 people. However, mine was the only bike on the rack when I left on Thursday and when I returned on Sunday - while the car parking lot was full to capacity.

I think it is just a lack of awareness of this option. I didn't think about biking to the airport until just recently, and my bike is my primary transportation. I hope that options like this will become more and more popular as access gets better (bike paths/lanes), and gas/parking/taxis become more expensive.

10-Speed Love.

My dad picked up this old 10-speed - a 1987 Panasonic Sport-500 - at a yard sale last fall... for FREE! The chain was busted and the chrome was rusty, but it was otherwise in good repair. After 6 hours of elbow grease and a new chain ($18 total investment) I had a shiny "new" retro ride. I've been riding it for about a month now and I love it! It is not the lightest bike on the road (all steel), but it is fast enough that I can keep up with (or pass) most of the commuters on road bikes now.

After being the sole bike commuter at my workplace for most of the past two years, I've been joined by several co-workers this summer. Two of them commute by bike almost full-time, and another three or four ride in occasionally. It is definitely more fun to be able to share stories of our rides. A recurring theme is our "races" with other commuters... folks who typically don't know they are racing!

I'm right around a pretty big milestone... TWO YEARS since I sold my commuter car and committed to biking to work each day. After about 4,500 miles of riding, I am healthier and wealthier. In fact, we saved enough by ditching the second car (imagine no registration, insurance, repairs, car payment, gas, etc.) to complete a pretty major kitchen renovation.

As painful as it is to fill up our remaining vehicle (gas-guzzling minivan) - I'm not complaining about the cost of gas. It is pushing people to make better decisions, and hopefully it will spur some new technologies so we will be off fossil fuels forever. Time will tell...

I survived winter.

Not by much either. This was my second winter of bike commuting, and it was a long one. We had full or partial snow cover for about 4 months... with scatterings of snow and ice for another month. Riding on snow or ice with the right gear is a fun game here and there, but it just makes you tired and angry when you are faced with it every day for months on end.

I got back on my bike today for the first time in nearly two weeks - the longest bike commuting break that I can remember. Before I left for vacation (followed by a conference), there was snow and ice on the path and I still had to wear my winter shell. Today, I wore a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a spring jacket - along with a hat and gloves. That seemingly insignificant difference made my ride so much more enjoyable.

So I think I am going to use part of George Bush's gift to buy a new commuter bike. I'm going to test drive two bikes in particular in the next few weeks - and I'll try to write a post about them. The one I'm really excited about is the Breezer Uptown 8 (Joe Breeze design). I also like the Bianchi Milano Cafe Racer. I hope to be riding one of them to work by the time summer rolls around.

Happy Spring!

4 Days as a New York City Commuter.

I love my little city of Burlington and all that Vermont has to offer, but for big cities - you just can't beat New York.

I traveled down to NYC last Monday (St. Patrick's Day) for a conference, and stayed through Thursday. While there, I decided that I would stick with mass transit (subway, bus, train) and avoid the less efficient and more expensive cabs.

An unexpected flight change almost ruined that plan from the start. My Continental flight from Burlington to Newark was delayed by 3 hours, and I was able to beg my way onto a US Airways flight to LaGuardia. The problem is that Newark is connected to Manhattan by rail - while LaGuardia is the only one of the three major NYC airports (JFK being the third) that is not connected to Manhattan by rail. For most LaGuardia travelers, this means taking a cab or shared shuttle bus to Manhattan. Since I arrived during late rush hour on Monday - a cab would have been 40 minutes or more - and $30-$40 including tolls and tip. A shuttle bus or van service would be cheaper ($10 + tip), but they only run every 30 minutes or so and can take up to an hour to get to midtown.

Since I was traveling light (just a backpack), I decided to do some "urban hiking" and I walked across northern Queens to the #7 train (subway) in Jackson Heights. It was an easy and enjoyable walk... about 2 miles, followed by an equally easy 20-minute ride to Grand Central Station. All for $2!!! The whole trip took me about an hour... comparable to a cab or shuttle on a Monday morning. Definitely a fun way to start my trip.

For the rest of the week, I hoofed it or took a subway wherever I went. I spent most of my non-conference time in mid-town, but I took a subway to the Greenwich Village area for dinner Tuesday night... and back to Jackson Heights (Queens) for dinner on Wednesday night. Thursday, I walked to Penn Station and took the train to Newark Airport station... and then the monorail to Newark Airport, thus completing my mass transit adventure.

I was back on my bike last Friday to wrap up my week back in Vermont. What a great week of commuting variety... Planes, Trains/Subways, Automobiles (I did take a cab from my house in South Burlington to the airport on Monday morning), Walking, and Biking!

ICE STORM.

It has been a long winter. We've had snow or ice on the ground (with a brief reprieve in January) since late November... over 3 months. I'm definitely weary of the extra effort to commute in winter conditions. All the layers, the slow studded tires, the slogging through snow, ice and slush. Enough already! This morning was beautiful, but felt like an early February day rather than mid-March. We had an ice storm this past weekend, which soaked the remaining snow before freezing it into a hard-as-rock biking surface. Parts of the path (like the one pictured above) were actually pretty fast. Other parts were frozen into random chunks of ice - very hard to ride. I am going to SO appreciate warm weather!

Winter, blah blah, snow, blah blah, ice, blah blah.

After three months of winter riding conditions, it feels like I'm repeating the same stuff - so I'm taking a little break from posting several times each week. I just had my bikes tuned up last Monday, which rejuvenated me a bit for my daily rides. I'm on my sixth work day in a row of riding, although I will probably have to catch a ride home tonight (big winter storm coming).

I'm going to try to post a quick note about some fun stuff... upcoming bike safety legislation and maybe a bike review.

BIKING THROUGH WET CONCRETE.

Brutal ride this morning. We got an inch or two of wet snow yesterday, which was plowed into the bike path and froze into chunks the size of billiard balls. I left home fifteen minutes early this morning... only to arrive right on time. I'm wiped.

It was, however, a beautiful morning. Bright sun, no wind, and about 15-20 degrees F. Perfect winter riding weather if the road/path conditions weren't so tough.