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Working & Biking

02.23.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 5 Comments

Dashed home from work Tuesday in time to sneak in 15 miles on the bike. That happens rarely, but I wanted to take advantage of the day, because we were enjoying summer-like temperatures. I rode in short sleeve jersey and shorts, and didn’t even need a base layer. The sun was just behind the horizon as I pulled into my garage at the end of the ride.

Today, I tried to do the same thing. I figured that even if I work a little later than I did Tuesday, I would be able to get in some time on the bike. Besides, who could pass up this weather? We hit 90 (32C)! A guy’s just gotta ride in those conditions.

Alas, it wasn’t to be. I was scrambling toward the end of the day, and it seemed that as soon as I put out one fire, another flared up. I was still sitting in my office, getting the last items crossed off the to-do list, at 5:30 this evening. Even if I let the traffic on the Interstate pull me along at what seems to be their new standard pace of 80 mph (which I did), there was no way I would be home in time for a ride today.

My flexible schedule will allow me to get in a ride on Friday…oh, wait! The car needs an oil change! I get to leave earlier than usual just to sit in a quick lube joint for a half hour (It never takes the 10 minutes they advertise).

When things work out just right, I can ride Tuesday, Friday, Saturday an Sunday. But it’s more likely things won’t work out right, and at least one of those four days will be a washout. It’s not that I have to get in those miles. It’s that I need to ride for my mental well-being. The bike takes care of both health aspects.

I suppose it’s all for the best, because when I do get a ride in, I treasure the time more. And besides, here I am complaining about not riding one day a week when my biking friends up north can’t get out at all. They’re either grinding away on their trainers in the basement, or pedaling or doing the elliptical machine or something else at the local health club. Maybe I don’t have it so rough after all.

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Categories // Odds 'n ends

A Chat With a Pickup Truck Driver

02.21.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 1 Comment

Debra with the fortunate wheel.

So I took everyone’s advice and rode with friends Sunday, rather than try for a high-mileage ride. It was a good choice, as always, because I rode in one of my favorite areas, with some of my favorite people. Debra, who organized the ride, was in fine form this day. She entertained us all with the story of how she ran over her carbon wheel with her SUV — and only wound up replacing a few spokes. Not a scratch on the wheel itself.

We rode near Dripping Springs, Texas, which I’ve written about before. Country roads in mostly good shape with little traffic, and enough hills to keep things interesting. Barbara, a former regular with our group, recently moved from Austin to San Antonio, and she made the trip up here to ride with us again. Since starting her new job, Barbara has ridden only a couple of times, so there was not going to be lots of speed or lots of distance as we helped her get back in the groove. Russ said he hasn’t ridden much, either. Only Jerry and his friend Nancy seemed to be up for a brisk ride. But Nancy was on a new bike — a nifty Jamis Xenith — that she hadn’t quite dialed in yet. She had some dropped chain problems and said her legs got sore when she tried to go fast. As it turned out, she kind of liked our lazy ride.

Nancy & Jerry on one of the typical roads in the area. (Click on the pix to enlarge.)
A herd of goats runs away as Barbara passes.
Stopping for a breather at a cattle guard. Nancy, Jerry, and Barbara.

As we gathered for a brief rest to let everyone catch up, a pickup truck stopped at a stop sign just opposite us. The driver rolled down his window and called out to us. “Ya know, sometimes it’s hard to see very far ahead on these curvy roads,” he began. He had our full attention now. We didn’t know if he was going to cuss us out or what. But he went on in a casual manner. “And sometimes, the way bikers ride around here can cause problems.”

Okay, we see where this is going, I thought. But I was surprised again. “I was riding along here not too long ago,” he continued, “and I came around a curve and here’s a whole group of cyclists coming at me. They covered the whole road from side to side. I was going to plow right into them. So I hit my brakes just as I came to a cattle guard. The truck skidded sideways across the guard. I coulda taken out the whole group. I coulda killed somebody.” The incident clearly had had an effect on him. “I was lucky not to hit anyone,” he said. “But I wish you all would watch how you ride and keep to one side of the road.”

“Yeah, I know the kind of cyclists you’re talking about,” said Debra. “I hate those types.”

That prompted a double take from the pickup driver. He obviously lumped all cyclists together. We wished him well, and pushed off on the last leg of our ride. He waved and continued on his way.

Wouldn’t it be nice if all biker-motorist meetings were this civilized?

 

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Categories // Rides Tags // Dripping Springs, Rides

Four Years of Noobishness

02.19.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 16 Comments

Yeah, do you believe it? This marks the fourth anniversary of the Bike Noob blog. One thing I’ve noticed since I started writing in 2008 is that cycling seems to have gained in popularity, so much so that it’s now featured in one of those Internet “what they think — what I think” memes that’s going around:

Click to embiggen.

That fits me to a “t” — especially the chimp. I’m him.

I’ve been wondering what keeps bringing people back here to read my posts, and it occurred to me that if I just dig into the statistics provided by the fine folks at WordPress, I might get a clue. So here are the five most popular Bike Noob posts of all time:

5. Metric century. I hadn’t checked all time stats for a while, and this one surprised me. It makes perfect sense, though. A metric century is probably the first major mileage milestone targeted by noob riders.

4. The Selle San Marco Ponza. This is the racing-style saddle I rode for about a year, including on two century rides. I wonder now how I did it, it was so uncomfortable after about an hour. The Ponza is a fairly well-known saddle, and I seem to get lots of traffic from people looking for a review.

3. Triple chainrings — or compact double? For a long time, this was the number one post on this site. I think once new riders get a bike and ride it for awhile, they start to wonder about the advantages or disadvantages of whatever chainring setup they don’t have. To the point that…

2. Triple vs. Compact Double –Again! is the second most-viewed post on the site. Folks, I think we’ve run out our discussion on this one.

And the most-viewed post on Bike Noob of all time?

1. CO2 cartridges or a pump? This post goes back to the first few months of this blog, so its longevity has something to do with its popularity. It’s also one that I listed in my “Favorite Posts” tab, which undoubtedly drove traffic to it. But clearly, these kinds of basic equipment discussions pique the interest of the target audience for Bike Noob — riders who are either new to our pastime, or who are looking for straightforward information about the basics of our sport. And to the post itself, altho I carry a cartridge and an inflator, I will still rely on the pump in the event of a flat.

So — equipment and/or accessories tops our interest quotient. That continues on down the list. Other popular posts include a survey of Speedplay pedals, cleat position (under the ball of the foot for power, but all the way back for long-distance comfort), wet or dry chainlube, and cyclocomputers.

My guest posters, Jeff Hemmel and Don Blount, have also contributed posts on equipment. Jeff’s reviews of the Bontrager Inform and Bontrager Affinity saddles are right up there in page views, as are Don’s posts on trainers vs. rollers and the Bont ctt3 shoes with the moldable insole.

It’s hard to pigeonhole the least-viewed posts — they tend to be all over the map, although many of them were posted in the blog’s first year, before Bike Noob caught fire and rose to become one of the pre-eminent blogs in all of bikingdom. Several of them had to do with specific rides I took. Lots of bike blogs write about rides, so maybe that shouldn’t be a focus here. We’ll see.

I’ve taken down the tab for Favorite Posts, simply because I think it has driven traffic to those posts to the exclusion of others, and for that reason I think I’m not getting an accurate picture of what really interests my readers. We’ll see if the stats appreciably change in the coming year. Besides, if I were to list what I consider MY favorite posts, they’d probably be a different five altogether. (Remember “Smoked By An Old Guy?”)

And while I’m mentioning Favorite Posts, I should note that after two years, it’s time to redo the look of this blog. Nothing drastic, but enough to keep it fresh.

Anyway, in the coming year, I pledge to try my best to keep you interested and engaged with what you read here, as you follow the ramblings of an oldish and unmechanically-inclined cyclist of middling ability and an entry-level bike who just happens to love getting out on two wheels.

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