A Lost Opportunity

Drove to the bus this morning.  On my way, I passed a biker on his way up King's Rd and I thought "Darn!"  Actually that's not exactly what I thought but it conveys the same general meaning while still keeping this blog suitable for family viewing.  Today was the first day in weeks that was slightly above freezing, without significant chance of precipitation for the whole day, and after a brief warm spell that melted all the ice & snow from the roads.  And I didn't even think of getting the bike ready for today.  Drat.

Tomorrow doesn't look too bad either but there's a real chance of some precipitation at or slightly above freezing.  Snow flurries I think I can handle, but I'm missing the outerwear necessary to handle a bike ride in a Spring rain; forget about a December drizzle.  Nevermind the fact that I've managed to get through four seasons of road riding in Southwestern Idaho without buying a fender.  So instead I imbibe and mourn the loss of my fitness that I vowed to keep.  Adding insult to injury, the weather looks to be worsening just in time to ruin the New Years ride as it ruined the Chrsitmas ride.

I may yet break down and put my bike in the trainer.  I should.  Anyway here's a picture of the bike stuff storage corner.  Looks kinda empty - like I need more stuff.  [grin]  The bikes themselves and the maintenance stand are still awaiting their forever homes.

California Dreaming

Well it's time to face facts.  The Winter Soltice has come & gone (without comment from Tyler, which is highly unusual).  The good news there, of course, is that the days are now getting longer and we can officially start looking forward to Spring (and believe me - I am).  The bad news, though, is that it's darn cold out there and the snow covered roads are too much for me.  But that's not because I lack confidence in less-than-optimal conditions (but I do - in a big way); it's more because the lack of any appreciable snow removal around here means that there's no shoulder to bail to when a car approaches.  Plus I sold my mountain bike in the spring and I never got around to buying knobbier tires for my Raleigh so all I've got are slicks.  That's fixed easily enough with a call to Tyler; but it's easier to sit back, eat some peanut butter smidgens, and complain like an old man on his porch in a thunderstorm.

I've got no bike news so I might as well relate some garage news.  The bike storage corner has been completed.  Most bike stuff has been stored.  I've still got to figure out where I want to store my two bikes, rags, old tires, and my work stand; but I'm getting there.  Next on the agenda is another overhead loft that'll fit above the garage doors.  Once I move some rarely-used stuff up there from the shelves I built last fall, then I'll have room for rags, old tires, and my work stand.  :)

I've really gotta clip my toe nails.

Five

That was the temperature outside when I left for work this morning.  Five degrees.  Fahrenheit.  I drove.  Haven't ridden at all since my last post.  And now my gut's feeling kinda ooky, so who knows if I'll get to ride this Saturday like I hoped to.

But I've completed the shelving for my bike stuff in the garage and started organizing all the tools & parts that used to be stashed away in two separate little tool boxes.  I thought I was running short on spare tubes, but somehow I actually have something like seven.  And several of those are as yet unused.  

AND!  I sold the last bits of my Yakima rack earlier this week.  And now I can post three used toolboxes on Craigslist as well.  So slowly but surely I'm getting the extraneous junk out of my life. Kate's thesis rocks are still around though.

General Update

To celebrate my first full month of blogging my biking, I decided to show you my Cyclistats calendar for November.  There it is folks - 12 rides for 176.2 miles during November.  Not exactly staggeringly impressive, but it's roughly 176.2 more miles than I rode last November so cut me some slack.

As you can see, I only rode to the bus once this week.  That's all I could manage this week, what with meetings & other functions all over the valley (2 days), minor bicycle issues (1 day), and laziness (1 day) and all.  But I got out for a ride today, as you can also see.  Last night was my office Christmas party at my boss's place in Eagle.  Kate & I had to drive there separately, so I got a bit liquored up so I had an excuse to leave my truck there, ride home with Kate, and ride my bike back today to get the truck.  So I did that.  Near the end of the ride I got egoslammed by some chooch that wouldn't let me catch him.

And!  Harry will be pleased to know that I changed my truck's oil again today (after less than two weeks and ~250 miles) - I checked the dipstick just one or two days after the last change and the oil was already filthy so I thought I'd give my truck a bit of a treat.  Plus I haven't ridden enough to merit a chain cleaning and I wanted to get my hands dirty and do something manly . . .

In bike maintenance news, I think it's time for a new headset on the Raleigh.  With Tyler's help, I've been nursing the old one for a couple years now - dealing with a wobbly fork and re-tightening it on a regular basis.  On Wednesday night, Tyler stopped by my place to give me a hand in tightening it again.  I rode it sixteen miles the next day, and already it's loose again.  Drat.  This may be a product of the bus though too - that bike rack isn't the easiest on equipment.  Perhaps some experimentation is in order . . .

Something slightly more peripheral but still bike-related is that I've made more progress on my massive garage project - building storage and organizing.  Recent progress involves moving bike hooks to more efficiently use space, building shelves to hold bike paraphernalia, and reorganizing some peg board to house bike tools.  Of course it's slow-going both because I'm anal-retentive and I take weeks to consider things before committing to a single hole in a wall and because every square inch of floor space I manage to clear is taken up again by other junk.

I need a shower.