Week 12 (February 9-14)

Monday - Car (single occupant)
Tuesday - Car (single occupant)
Wednesday - Car (single occupant)
Thursday - Car (single occupant)
Friday - Car & Bicycle

After four depressing days of being a regular working stiff driving himself to work, a glimmer of hope shone through today. Four late nights of work coupled with what would be a longer commute (4 miles into downtown vs. a 10 mile ride across town) kept me from entertaining any thoughts of commuting to work. Plus my connection for a morning shower fell through. By Thursday, my head was throbbing from a constant surge of adrenaline, and I decided that nothing would remedy the situation like biking home from work. I proposed a plan to my wife, she consented, and Friday was glorious. Here's what happened:

Alarm goes off, 6:30 sharp.

I'm exhausted, but I remember:

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

Guess I won't hit the snooze button today.

Pati and I threw my laptop in the car, mounted the rack and the bike, and off we drove to our old stomping grounds for a Friday morning coffee date, close to the client site. (They're usually on Saturday, but since friends are in town this weekend we thought we'd mix it up). The coffee and muffin were decent, but the company was fantastic.

My morning coffee buzz kept me going strong through early afternoon, and the rest of the day was a blur, but a good kind of blur. A few hours before quitting time, I asked our client contact if they had a larger bathroom that I could change in for the ride home. His reply almost made me weep for joy: their conference room has a kitchenette and shower attached to it.

I don't need to know, don't care why in the world this company has a shower in their conference room. All that matters is that it is at my disposal for the next week.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. (And sometimes in the afternoon)

Winter Gear

Before it gets too warm to stop wearing all of this stuff, I figured I'd post a link to the gear I use for winter commuting. Enjoy:

Winter Gear

Week 11 (February 2-7)

This week was bookended with bicycle commutes, and I was at least able to take advantage of some round trip carpooling with the wife on two of the days which was nice.

Monday - Bicycle
Tuesday - Car (AM & PM carpool)
Wednesday - Car & LRT (AM carpool)
Thursday - Car (AM & PM carpool)
Friday - Bicycle

The week started off well, and Monday's ride in (~6 degrees) was almost ideal. My hands and feet weren't too cold, and the rest of my body was comfortable and not too warm.

Everything was fine until 15 yards from the bike rack. As I crossed 6th Street at 3rd Avenue, I encountered some pedestrians so I shifted around them to the left and turned a sharp right onto the sidewalk. The granite slab on the sidewalks proved less than ideal for studded tires, and the bike slid out from under me. This time I was hurled onto my right shoulder, which no longer felt neglected after last week's incident. A citizen in the 40-50, white female, motherly-like demographic ran over asking if I was okay and I shot her a sheepish thumbs up before scooting over to the bike rack. I have never been happier to sport a balaclava covering 75% of my face. Plus I escaped any bodily harm.

There had been a considerable warm-up over the weekend, and the studded tires seemed out of place, given the scarcity of ice and snow-pack. I did not want to wear down the studs, so when I finally had a chance on Thursday night, I switched them out for the original tires. The ride in on Friday felt like a breeze after ditching the studs.

A very serious challenge is confronting me for the remainder of my busy season, despite the anticipated warming trend. I am assigned on a client in St Louis Park for the next two weeks which does not have bicycling amenities. I might be able to work something out at a friend's house who lives a mile or so from the client, but that's uncertain at this time.

Otherwise, I'll have two or three weeks after that in the office to get some rides in, and then the last two weeks at a client site in Minneapolis (not downtown). If I can ride one day each of those weeks, I'll consider it a tremendous success. Wish me luck.

Week 10 (January 26-31)

The combination of cold temps early in the week, exhaustion, and mechanical issues kept me from logging more than one commute. I suppose I'm at least happy I was able to get out there once though.

Monday - Car & LRT (AM carpool)
Tuesday - Car & LRT (AM carpool)
Wednesday - Car & LRT (AM carpool)
Thursday - Bicycle
Friday - LRT

Monday and Tuesday mornings both had negative temperatures, so I didn't feel up to braving it. Plus, both of them were late work nights, so by Wednesday morning my need for extra sleep trumped my desire to ride in. I was well rested for Thursday morning though, and happy to ride in without incident.

I probably would have tried to bike on Friday as well, but on my way home my front fender came off. The nut from the bolt that attaches the fender to the fork came off right at the Metrodome, so I pulled off the street by Hubert's and pushed the fender under the fork to rig a temporary mount from the front (maybe that's the way it's supposed to go anyway?) so at least it would be held on by the bolt.

This lead to a non-stop rattle for the remainder of the ride, and I constantly had my eye on it to make sure the bolt didn't fly out and send the fender crashing down again. Being inattentive to the road ahead of me likely contributed to my demise on 34th Avenue. I think I hit a rough spot in the road covered by road sludge which got me sliding a bit to my left, and when my internal camera started recording in slow-motion, I knew I'd end up on the ground.

I landed with my left arm and shoulder sprawled out, and slid down the icy street a yard or so, definitely a more forgiving surface than the pavement would have been. I had some brief pain which I worried could be shoulder damage, but after walking the bike for about a half block, I got back on and limped home. So far, there have been no delayed after effects, so hopefully I'm in the clear.

Since it was late when I got home and I was a bit disheartened by these events, I decided not to fix the fender and didn't ride on Friday. I have one week left on my downtown client, and the weather looks like it might be cooperative, so hopefully week 11 is more productive than week 10 was.

Week 9 (January 19-23)

This was a pretty good week as I was able to ride three of the six days.

Monday - Bicycle
Tuesday - Car & LRT (AM carpool)
Wednesday - Car & LRT (AM carpool)
Thursday - Bicycle
Friday - Bicycle
Saturday - LRT & Car

Nothing much else to add, except that I'll be shooting for another three days next week. I don't think I'll even try to ride on Monday since temps are supposed to be around -8 in the morning.

Week 8 (January 12-16)

Back in the game.

I was very happy to record the first bicycle commute in 2009 on Monday of this week, but for the rest of the week, the high only ended up being 7 degrees. This is deceiving though, as it was registered on Friday afternoon, while negative temps reigned supreme the rest of the week (ranging from an overall high of -1 to a low of -24 on Friday morning). That's a bit too cold to get out there on the bike so I spent the rest of the week carpooling with the wife and riding the LRT home with the exception of Saturday's ride in.

Monday - Bicycle
Tuesday - Car & LRT (AM carpool)
Wednesday - Car & LRT (AM carpool)
Thursday - Car & LRT (AM carpool)
Friday - LRT both ways
Saturday - Bicycle

Monday's commute in was nothing special. Morning temperatures were around 5 degrees which was not uncomfortable, though a lighter fleece may have been better. I could stand to tweak my glove and sock situation though, as my hands and feet were a little cold (hands more so than feet)

The commute home provided much more excitement. The air wasn't extremely cold (~12 degrees?), but the road conditions were quite worthy of any superlative characteristic applied to them. I had difficulty riding east on 6th Street since it had barely been plowed and tire ruts in the snow made me fishtail considerably. I opted for the sidewalk and limped down to 10th Avenue before I got on the Hiawatha LRT trail. Overall that was nice and easy, some spots with drifting made me fishtail a bit but not I could breathe easy as I was out of the way of traffic.

I took this trail to the Greenway which was also relatively clear (small amounts of snow but manageable - they must have cleared at least once during the day). Getting onto 34th Avenue was difficult if not impossible. I had to deal with more tire ruts and extreme fishtailing so again I went to the sidewalk. Some sections had been cleared, making my life much easier, but there challenging intervals for those that hadn't been scooped. As long as I maintained a good speed I plowed through without difficulty.

When I got home I realized that my feet were frozen. I hadn't worn the plastic bags over my socks to keep the wind off and most of my attention had been spent trying to stay upright on two wheels, not on avoiding frostbite. I've gotta remember that.

When I rode on Saturday conditions had improved markedly. Plows had been through several times, and although there was much snow pack on the streets, the studded tires had no problems forging me ahead. The north wind did make me work a little harder.

I'm excited for the week ahead. The forecast has highs in the double digits, so hopefully I'm able to bike in three or four times.

Week 7 (January 5-9)

I'm in a bit of a slump, going 0 for 5 on bike commutes this week. But after this weekend, I should be positioned for success. At least I was able to carpool in with the wife since she now works on the fringe of downtown.

Monday - Car & LRT (AM carpool)
Tuesday - Car & LRT (AM carpool)
Wednesday - Car & LRT (AM carpool)
Thursday - Car & LRT (AM carpool)
Friday - LRT both ways