Bike Noob

Because I'm Always Learning Something New

Blah Time

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As noted in the last post, I’ve been dialing back on my riding. Compared to last January, when I rode over 400 miles, I’ll be lucky to get in 250 this month. However, that’s not all bad. Riding easier will give me a chance to recharge my batteries, and be better ready to go when the rides I really want to do pop up in the spring.

Problem is, I’ve hit one of those periodic bumps in the road. Not only will I ride easier, but it appears I might have a little trouble riding at all.

This morning saw a cold front sweeping through Central Texas. It dipped into the upper 30s overnight, and when I got up, it had barely reached 40 degrees (4C). I can ride at 40, but along with the temperature, a gusty wind was shaking the trees. Our club ride was scheduled for 8 a.m., but I really didn’t feel motivated to ride.

I decided to pass on the club ride, and settled down in my easy chair with the morning paper and some breakfast. I could wait it out until later, and maybe go when it got a little bit nicer.

I had plenty to keep me busy. The spring semester at my university starts Monday, and I still had to put some finishing touches on one of the classes I’m teaching. After breakfast, I parked myself in the home office and started working on that.

Before long, it was after noon. Lunch time. I had a sandwich and a pear, and sat down to watch some playoff football. Then my wife told me I had to visit the supermarket, or there would be nothing to eat tonite.

I wrestled my cart through the crowded aisles, and finally was able to check out. It turned out I only forgot to get one item — pretty good. But by now, it was after 3 p.m. I sat down at the computer for some more class prep.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Noob decided conditions were just right for biking. She got suited up, and took off without me. I let her go.

So that was my exciting day. I consider Sunday to be my long mileage day of the week, and today I racked up a big goose egg.

But somehow, as surprised as I am about this event, it’s not bothering me. I’ll ride again during the week, maybe more than once, and that will make up for today’s miss. But what does bother me is when I have a “don’t care” attitude toward biking. Here’s hoping I can snap out of that sooner rather than later.

Forgot Helmet

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Some of you might have noticed on my Twitter feed that I had a little issue on Sunday morning’s club ride. One of our A riders is recovering from a bout of sickness contracted during the middle of last week, and so posted a B-level ride on the club’s Yahoo group. The added benefit was that her ride would leave about an hour after the regular club ride, which was welcome, since the temperature was expected to be on the borderline too-cold-to-ride point.

Sure enough, when I got up to let the dog out it was only 33 degrees (1C). Luckily, it was only 6 a.m., and I had three hours to wait for some warming to set in. I had a leisurely and filling breakfast, read the paper, and then got ready to face the chill.

I was counting on it to warm up during the ride, but figured I’d still need to dress more warmly than I usually do. I added a sleeveless base layer under the t-shirt I normally wear. On my feet, I put a pair of polypropylene liner socks on under my woolies. I pulled my headband/earwarmer down around my ears, and a Headsweats doo-rag over that. Then, I got into my windbreaker and made sure I had the needed cell phone and credit card with me.

It looked like the bike wouldn’t need much in the way of prep. I’d lubed the chain the previous afternoon — when it was still warm — and only had to pump three times to bring the rear tire up to snuff. I clipped in my water bottles, started my computer, and I was off.

Yeah, it was cold. But there was a saving grace — no wind. I pedaled easily to the Starbucks where our rides start, turned into the parking lot, and rode across it to the group of cyclists that was already gathered there.

Almost in unison, a shout went up. “Your helmet, Ray!!!” I stopped, looked, and then felt my head. Oh, jeez! After all that prep time (and not even my wife to kid about it this time), I had left the house without wearing a helmet. I know it’s happened before, but always to other cyclists. Not me.

“Look,” I told the group. “I’m only a mile away. I’ll go back and get the helmet.”

“We’ll meet you up there,” said Jordan, waving his hand vaguely up the street I’d be on. I nodded, and set off.

Once I got my helmet, I figured it would be easiest to take a shortcut and try to intercept the peloton at a major intersection in the opposite direction from my house as Starbucks. It occurred to me that I wasn’t really clear what Jordan meant by “up there.” I got to the intersection, was held up by a red light, and saw no one. Hmmph, I thought. They’ve come through here already.

I turned, and headed up the bike lane along the suburban four-lane that feeds traffic into our neighborhood. Up at the t-intersection where the Walgreens is, I could still see no one. I continued on, setting out on the route I knew the group would be taking that morning.

About a mile and half farther, my cell phone rang. It was Debra.

“Where are you, Ray?” she asked.

“Approaching the parkway,” I answered.

“Oh, good grief. We’re back at the Walgreens. Janice had a flat.”

“I’ll wait for you at the turn before the parkway,” I said.

I leaned the bike up against a light pole, and waited. The day was still chilly, but the sun felt good where it hit my jacket. But only on that corner where it hit. I turned every few minutes to position a different part of myself toward the sun.

After a 15-20 minute wait, I saw them, coming up the hill toward me. It turns out they waited for me at Starbucks, and when I didn’t come back for the start of the ride, they set out. By then, I was already two miles ahead of them. “What we should have done, was ride with Ray back to his house and then start the ride from there,” said one exasperated biker.

Yeah, that would have worked. And so would remembering my helmet in the first place.

Ride Prep — Is Yours Like This?

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A chilly Sunday morning in Central Texas. My wife and I labored over a jigsaw puzzle we began on Christmas Eve, and had been struggling over ever since. We were still in our robes, cups of coffee at our sides, waiting to get out and ride. But with the temperature at about 40 degrees (4C), we weren’t in a hurry.

Finally, my wife couldn’t take it anymore. “The heck with this — let’s bundle up and ride!” she said.

Forty degrees is my arbitrary low cutoff point for riding. I won’t go if it’s any colder than that. But I have been able to handle 40 in the past without too much trouble, and with little or no wind today, it wouldn’t be bad. I got up from the table and started collecting my biking clothes.

Let’s see — I’d need my nice base layer t-shirt, and my warm long-sleeved jersey. I got into an older pair of biking shorts, but dug my fleecy leg warmers out of the drawer and pulled them on. There are my wool socks, and my headband/ear warmer. I think I’ll find my Headsweats doo-rag too, to protect my noggin from the cold breeze that was bound to pour through the giant vents in my helmet.

Then my wife walked into the bedroom with a full laundry basket. “Let’s fold these and put them away,” she said.

I did a double take. She was the one who wanted to ride, but all the time I had been dressing, she was still working on the jigsaw puzzle.

I grabbed a handful of bike jerseys out of the basket, did a quick fold on each, and stuffed them into the drawer. Then, the tedious of job of sorting out our cycling socks, and fussing over whose pair of arm warmers these are — no, those are yours — they have that little LG logo on the sleeve, remember? Mine are the Pearl Izumi. By this time, I could feel a trickle of sweat roll down the small of my back. My clothes would work well outdoors, but here inside, I was overheating.

Finally done, and I got my cellphone and its baggie, my bike computer and my water bottle, and attached the sleeves to my windbreaker. Then, it was out to the garage, roll the bikes onto the driveway, check the air pressure in the tires of both bikes, and get on my shoes, gloves, and helmet.

As I eased my sunglasses on, a sharp crack! made me jump. One of the temples of my sunglasses had broken in half. Maybe it was the chilly air in the garage, or maybe it was because I wasn’t careful enough slipping them on under the helmet. In any case, as cocooned as I was today, I could still wear the sunglasses and not risk them falling off — the earwarmers would keep them in place.

I straddled my bike in the driveway, and waited for my wife to join me. She went into the garage, retrieved her shoes, gloves, and helmet, and took them back in to the kitchen to put them on in the warmth of the house.

I unstraddled my bike, realizing that my cleat covers were still on. They came off and went into the back pocket of the windbreaker. I got back on the bike again. Time to get into my polypropylene glove liners. They help keep my hands warm under the cold weather golf gloves I use as full-finger gloves when I ride in cold weather. They also add a little padding, because the golf gloves — although they work great on the bike — don’t cushion my hands on the bars as well as gloves designed for the purpose.

Pat was ready now. She hopped on her bike, looked around at the tops of trees starting to sway from a freshening breeze, and exclaimed, “Oooh! It’s colder than I thought it would be!”

But ever the trooper, she clicked into her pedals and set out onto the street. I followed right behind — chilly from the breeze that hit the sheen of perspiration on my face, and that rivulet of moisture still trickling down my back.

Time from her decision to ride to actually turning the pedals: about 30 minutes.

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