Thursday, April 30, 2009

Never enough for pants

The rain continued well into this morning but still stopped in plenty of time to dry up before I finished work for the day. The drying off was helped along by a brisk wind.

The sun was out several times during the afternoon but by the time I rode it was mostly pretty overcast, windy and rude.This picture was taken just before or just past the turnaround point (depending on how you define turnaround point). Those are the railroad tracks along Soo Street in Shoreview, just on the far side of Lake Owasso. This particular view actually looks a little bit better than the typical sky cover. There was never quite enough blue to make a Dutchman a pair of pants.

Overall, April was mostly dry with below average temperatures. It was mostly dry, which means that I got off to a good start on the annual mileage goal. Lots of the miles were hard miles. There are still lots of miles to go, but, as always, there will come a time later in the year when I will be glad that I rode the miles that I did in April.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Confusion

We ride past this all the time but do not claim it in the Ten Lake Tour. In fact, this isn't even an official lake.It is just a pond behind the church at Cleveland and Roselawn. From what I DO know about the area I suspect that pre-settlement it was a wetland. The construction of Cleveland cut off the natural outlet and the water backed up. Voila, lake.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Cold again

Yesterday was an all day rain including occasionally very hard rain. Today was cold again and with that much moisture in the environment it was a raw cold.

But I have the gear and I was never cold.

The sun never really broke through the haze. But at one point it almost did, everything brightened noticeably. I was near Lake Owasso so I hightailed it down to lake's edge to try to get a picture.The photos out over the lake were too gray so I settled on this one. It is of the beach on the north end of the lake, looking mostly towards the sun but also looking in the only direction in which I could get some interesting cloud formations in the shot.

Spring has sprung.
The grass has riz.
I wonder where
My lawnmower are.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Dressed for March 15

There was some rain overnight but no violent weather has appeared here yet. But it did stay cold.

Cold but dry and relatively calm. I feared that violent weather might mean that I would lose the whole weekend but today ended up being a riding day and out I went. I not only got a ride I got the long ride that I like to have on the weekend, for the second time this year riding thirty miles.

I dressed not for yesterday, but for the Ides of March. Full winter gear returned including the hat that covers my ears and the vest underneath the jacket. At about the four mile mark I arrived at the end of a driveway just as the resident of that house started out for a ride. He had on jersey and arm warmers but bare legs. He went one way around the block and I went the other, when we met again on the far side he was on his way home for more clothes.

I was maybe a tiny bit overdressed meaning that I had to do a little fiddling with my jacket and vest zippers to occasionally let some cold air onto my chest but with that adjustment I was warm but never overheated. It was cold out there.

I think I previously described this lot at the foot of Sucker Lake as the most dangerous parking lot in the Twin Cities. I have since reconsidered and it should more accurately be described as the least secure place to park your car in the Twin Cities.They sweep this parking lot fairly regularly. Neither of those piles of glass was there the last time I rode through there. Notice that the one closest to the camera looks just a tiny bit aged, perhaps from early in the week, while the one farther away looks brand spanking fresh and new.

If you park there park up by the street, down here by the trail entrance you are going to get your window broken.

I rode through Vadnais and the number of people fishing declined over the last week in proportions approximately equal to the decline in temperature. Only the die hard were out fishing today.Only the die hard were out riding bicycles.

The new street up from the lake allows a new view of the lake. There is a shallows near to the west shore line that was never approached on the previous roadway. The shallows is where the more exotic avifauna which may be about are often hanging out. This is where I have seen the eagle and the cormorants.The water is still a bit deep for some species but these two herons seem to like it just fine. The water won't be as deep later on in the year and it seems possible that more photo opportunities may present themselves.

There is one problem with this location, it is only about half way up what is still a relatively daunting hill. If I stop on a hill I have to get restarted on a hill. Starting on a hill with clipless pedals means you get one chance, and one only, to successfully engage the pedal and the cleat. If you miss you have to put your foot back down and try again.

Today I nailed it on the first try.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Temperature plummets

I neglected to report yesterday that yesterday's ride was the first taken this year in summer costume*, no base layer, short sleeved jersey, shorts, no helmet liner, summer gloves. Well, it WAS 82.
(*The actual usual summer costume is sleeveless jersey.)

Today is was 73 when I got home, I was convinced that for today's ride I could repeat at least some of the parts of the costume. In deference to 73 instead of 82 I put on a light base layer but, come on, 73 is a summer time temperature, I was ready to go.

Out in the garage to unlock the bicycle I noticed that the northwest wind had a slight chill. The Weather Channel had reported that there was unsettled weather coming as a result of a cold air mass moving in to replace the extremely summer like temperatures. So I went back inside and got my arm warmers.

I rode my near in warm up loop as is my spring time custom. After having faced the north wind out in the open I detoured back home. I changed helmets to put on the helmet that I wear a helmet liner under and donned the liner as well. I also put on a jacket.

While I was riding I saw lots of people out and about dressed for yesterday. Bad choice. At least I was dressed for earlier today but even that was also not a good choice.

It was 58 when I got home, a drop of 15 degrees.

Verdict? Cold. Cold. Cold.

I was on the way home working hard, hurrying, trying to get home. It was uncomfortable out there. But a first is a first and here is the absolute first for this:That one is near the library and then I went around the corner and came to this:This one was pictured last year, and I probably wouldn't have included it as it isn't as impressive as the first picture. But this house is the one where that other tree is going to flower purple in a couple of weeks. I am quite likely to include a photo of the purple so I wanted to also include the white.

The front has passed through, it is officially cold again.

Here's an edit, I have been home for about an hour. After I posted the above I hit the link for "View Blog". That temperature gadget that I have on the side bar is now reporting a temperature of 46. That's like 27 degrees in three hours. Although it isn't as usual when the temperature drops as when the temperature rises that much in that short period of time, but it is still quite likely that a temperature change of that magnitude is going to produce interesting weather.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Well, that was hard.

I was downtown for a CLE today. The seminar was at the MSBA CLE center in the City Center between 6th and 7th on Nicollet. Usually in the past I have parked at the City Center ramp but the last time I parked there for a CLE the fee was finally so completely outrageous that this time I decided I had to find somewhere else to park. I ended up parked in a City of Minneapolis ramp, what they refer to as Ramp B or as the 5th Street ramp. When you walk out of that ramp onto the Skyway you are confronted with the new baseball stadium. So I can confirm that stadium construction is in an advanced stage. It is an impressive looking structure. As is the usual case, the major source of funding for the stadium is public money, I hope we get out money's worth.

I got home and clicked on the Weather Channel and it said 83 and a south wind at 25 mph. Well, that's a little different.

And it was really, really hard.

The outward leg into the teeth of that wind was one of the least enjoyable bicycle rides ever. I literally felt ill. I was extremely pleased to find baseball again, allowing me to take a short break to watch half an inning. This time it is Saint Thomas v. Augsburg. It was 3-3 when I arrived with Saint Thomas coming to bat in the bottom of the third.It went line out to center, hard single to right, attempted pick-off which went awry when the runner broke for second and beat the throw for a stolen base, a funky line drive (sequence pictured above) that ended up short hopping the shortstop but he came up with it and got the batter at first, runner not moving up, then an infield single to deep short, runner to third, a Texas league single to score the run, runner moving up to third, ground out to second to end the inning, one run on three hits, Saint Thomas takes the lead 4-3 (F8, 1b (SB), 6-3, i1b, 1b rbi, 4-3).

I am going to have to check the league rules but I believe that if I see one more game I become eligible to vote for the all-conference team and other post season honors.

I rode a little bit farther east to get out of the rude traffic patterns and then circled around and started for home. When I get as knackered as I did today on the way out I never, ever feel any good on the way back either. Except today the wind was so strong and so directly out of the south that I did, in fact, feel strong on the due north streets. It was different.

As I approached home I noticed that there has been additional activity in the corn field.Can you see it?

Those tire tracks are new, they were left by the corn planter. The seed is in the ground.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Coffee and cows

It was 59 again today but there is talk that it may be 82 tomorrow. A temperature shift of that magnitude is most often accompanied by unusual weather. The sky tonight looked pretty strange so I decided to try to get my allotted miles in while remaining relatively close to home. I guess I didn't stay all that close as I visited three other municipalities (Shoreview, Falcon Heights and Saint Paul) in addition to Roseville. But I didn't get anyplace particularly exotic. The sky was always interesting looking but the weather cooperated by also not doing anything particularly exotic.

The Roeville library is closed for a major expansion. I am guessing that stages of the construction will be featured here from time to time. This is what it looks like now with construction about to begin.Our library has a coffee shop in the building. Somewhat oddly it seems to me, the coffee shop remains open even though the library is closed. As a result you have to be really careful if you ride through the parking lot as I occasionally do. The library has no patrons but there are still a fair number of cars, coffee customers. People stopping off at 5 or 6pm for another shot of caffeine are probably not going to be the most calm and mellow people on the planet. I ride with caution.

I just missed with this photo. I was trying to line up the cows and the sun. As I approached the sun was still behind that cloud bank. It looked really cool about the time I stopped my bicycle but by the time I got the camera out the sun had dropped out of the clouds.I still like it, I guess, but it isn't quite right. I suspect I will try again probably a few times before the season is over.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Back in service

A city pick up truck was coming down the street as I left for work on Monday. The repair was actually completed yesterday but another day of cold rain meant no ride, no post. So a day late but not a dollar short, here it is, we are back in service.This is someone named Danny MacAskill. You can read more about him at his sponsor's website. His talent is a little hard to describe but it is clear that he is extremely talented.

The riding on top of the fence and the back flip off the tree are obvious stand out attractions but a lot of that other stuff is also pretty impressive. I suppose it goes without saying that it looks like Danny has been practicing, a lot.

I came upon the video at BikeSnobNYC.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Cold rain

I have now ridden enough that the NEED to ride is a bit under control. I now only WANT to ride. I love my bicycle.

Definition of conditions under which bicycling is not an attractive life choice: 40s and rain.

Bicycle related content:

I realize that only a small group of potential readers care about this but today in France:

Lorient 1:2 Marseille
Bordeaux 1:0 Lyon

The wins by Marseille and Bordeaux mean that Marseille leads Lyon by 4. Bordeaux assumes second spot in the table, 2 behind Marseille, 2 ahead of Lyon.

The reason why we care about this is that FC Nantes have won the league championship 8 times. Lyon has won 7 times, and in fact, the last 7 in a row. As fans of FC Nantes we root against Lyon accomplishing a feat which would diminish the accomplishments of our favored team.

We also root for Saint-Étienne to be relegated (they currently stand 18th, in the relegation zone) because Saint-Étienne are the chief rival of FC Nantes for honors having won the league championship 10 times.

Allez Nantes.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Maybe a bit less adrenaline

Last Saturday we had five rabbits and a cardinal all in our yard at once. No such wildlife infestation was evident today but TOPWLH does have an interesting story about squirrels that everyone must try and get her to tell.

What I did find in the back yard was another sign of spring, the first sign in our yard of the new growing season, buds on the bush next to the deck.I noticed that my 10 percent post from last year included the description of ice out at Lake Vadnais. I felt sooo good yesterday that I decided to institute another part of the mid season training regimen, the long ride on Saturday. I set off for Lake Vadnais.

Today was several degrees cooler than yesterday and we all know that riding is harder when it is cooler. Then also I may have been a tiny bit pumped yesterday to get out on my nice bike. The long ride was a hard ride. I lost about a half of one of those two mph I was bragging about yesterday. But it also could be related to the fact that I DID get in the longest ride yet this season, hitting 30 miles for the first time.

The ice is completely out at Vadnais so I missed that this year. But I got this photo of some insane pussy willow looking bush in full dress at the edge of the lake.Other information: The A&W on Rice Street is open. Oh, and Rice Street is a state highway. City streets were the first ones swept, followed by county highways, but the state highways are still unswept. Rice Street is a mess.

Nice looked to be the ideal opponents for FC Nantes at this stage of the season. Nice is mid-table and have little to play for in the last six weeks of the season. Nice is well safe from relegation but also now too far off the top seven places to mount a challenge for a finish in the places which enter those teams in prestigious and potentially lucrative European competitions next season. Les Canaris were of course desperate for a victory after slipping into the relegation zone last weekend.

And at this evening's match at the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes the home team was able to make the most of their opportunity, winning 2-0. Nantes vaults out of "la zone de relégation" to stand once again 16th of the 20 Ligue 1 teams. Both Caen and Souchaux were losers today and both slipped behind Nantes, Caen assuming the spot in the drop zone.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Not just harbingers

These are not just harbingers anymore, these are celebrations of spring.

I rode my nice bike today. This means I went from about 22 pounds to about 18, I went from tires with 75 psi to 120 psi, I went from a big ring of 48 to 52 and from a small ring of 36 to 39. I went from riding pretty often in the small ring to riding almost exclusively in the big ring. I gained about 2mph in average speed. I felt strong, I felt fast.

This is not a harbinger, this is cultivation.It is minimum tillage but it is the first step towards corn.

Two hour bicycle rides are saving my life. But two hours on this bicycle means about 4 more miles than on the other one. The extra miles got me all the way to Summit and Snelling to turn around. There is a ghost bike there to mark the spot where a bicyclist was killed last summer. This one seems particularly egregious as the truck had to run a stop sign to get her. The city has responded by installing some new traffic furniture.I am on the Summit Avenue service road to take this picture. The bicyclist was coming up the hill from the left in a marked bike lane on the main route of Summit. The driver had turned right off Snelling onto the service road. At the point of conflict she had the right of way, he had a STOP sign. He said he didn't see her. The new traffic furniture forces motor vehicles to turn more fully towards the path on which bicyclists will be approaching.

When I got home TOPWLH was paying the pizza guy so I got her to come out and take a picture. First day on the LOOK, actually second day of shorts, but definitely first day of short sleeves.Some of you may have noticed that I like orange. Whatya think of my new sunglasses?It is true, I have forsaken my allegiance to George Hincapie and Ram Air Surge Ports although I love those sunglasses and will no doubt wear them again. But Fabian Cancellara has been sporting these in the spring classics. Some of you may have noticed that I like orange.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Ten percent

As I left the street this morning on the way to work I discovered evidence of street sweeping on Fairview (wet shoulders mostly). I think the deal is that all of the main streets out here in the suburbs are county state aid highways (or CSAH as we say in the public land business). So the street sweeping in the neighborhoods is done by the city but all of the county roads are done by the county. Today the county delivered.

This made today's ride a voyage of discovery. Despite a pretty strong wind from the south I set out to the north to check two stretches of Hamline, the Larpenteur to County Road B stretch that I actually do not ride very much, and more importantly the overpass over 36, the last remaining barrier to the northern route. The county delivered.

So I rode around in circles trying all of the main streets, Lexington, County Road B, eventually Cleveland and finally Larpenteur. The county has delivered.

All of which makes today a I guess triple milestone day. It is the last ride on the Axis. The Axis went over 400 miles for this year. And I went over ten percent of the usual annual mileage goal. Last year's ten percent day was April 20 so I guess I am ahead of schedule. I went over 400 while in Lauderdale. Lauderdale has been swept.

I checked the public works project going on in close proximity to my front yard. Does this look like progress?I guess it is, the defective hydrant has been disconnected and hauled away. But somehow no hydrant at all seems to me to be a bit more discordant than an "out of service" hydrant.

I checked that wine bottle. It appears to actually have been some kind of cheap sparkling wine, it has one of those plastic "champagne corks". I can confirm that it is empty. There is also a beer can (Special Export). And that block that looks like it might be bricks is in fact bricks. Quite obviously the area now occupied by that hydrant was filled, and at that filled at least partly with demolition debris. This is just another thing about my house I could have lived happily without having to know.

When I got home I hung the Axis back in its summer, fall and winter spot in the rafters of the garage and went down to the basement to fetch the LOOK. I pumped the tires and moved the bicycle out to the garage. If I ride tomorrow . . .

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Out of service?

I think today was the warmest day of the year, rising to 19 Celsius. Probably some of you know that my personal benchmark for uncovering my legs in the springtime is 20 Celsius. I may venture out in fall with bare legs a time or two after the temperature descends below 20 but on the way up 20 is the rule. Long pants today. And I wasn't the only one. There were many more bicyclists out there today then even a week ago and lots of the new ones were dressed for July.

I found a baseball game again, this time Saint Olaf and Saint Thomas.Again I watched a half inning, the top of the seventh. According to the scoreboard, which was operating today, Saint Olaf had scored 2 in the 5th to lead 2-1, then 2 in the 6th to lead 4-2. It was 4-3 entering the 7th and sure enough the Stolies got 2 more to be leading 6-3 as I left the field. It went smoked single to right, sacrifice bunt (pictured above) third baseman to second baseman covering, ground out to second, runner to third, double to the left field corner, pitching change, triple over the center fielder's head, strike out looking (1b, 5-4 SAC, 4-3, 2b rbi, 3b rbi, Kc).

I was circling the cul de sac upon arriving home and paid a little closer attention to something I had only glanced at on the way out. We know that street sweeping and flushing the hydrants are the two main public works projects of early spring. My street, as previously reported, has been swept. It looks like they came by today to flush the hydrant. The results are not necessarily the best news for the nearest house.I am guessing that the fact that they have left the hole open and posted an orange cone indicates that they are still working on it.

Interesting trash that they dug up while working, that appears to be an old wine bottle. I find myself wondering about the history of that hydrant and what the story is that led to someone burying a wine bottle in the hole when they closed up after installation of that fixture.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

No new sweeping

But I did come across this on Woodhill Drive near Hamline.That is a a serious north facing heavily shaded sun deprived spot.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Serendipity

This is a ride I intend to do every year but often do not. Lots of factors have to line up before I can ride the dirt trail across the Grass Lake park.I can't get out there early in the year as the shaded areas of the trail through the woods are very late to give up snow coverage. And then when the snow and ice finally does melt the road can be very muddy. Additionally, this is a longish ride, I can't do it until some level of fitness returns. And usually about the time I am fit enough to make the ride the streets get swept and I am on the other bike. I won't ride my other bike through here. Not only is this route a dirt road but there are also a couple of sections of the road that have pretty loose gravel.

Today the pieces all fell into place for the ride.

Speaking of sweeping, I discovered today that another big stretch of Hamline has been swept, the entire portion north of County Road B2. That includes the section pictured second in the recent post about dirt on the road. The remaining unswept portion is the overpass over 36 and the couple of blocks leading up to the overpass from both sides. Those stretches are still very messy. The bike change is close, but it isn't here quite yet.

Today made seven straight days with a ride, obviously a first for that this year. Seven rides, 166 miles, 100 miles for the last four days. Right, now I feel completely used up, I am tired.

With all my hand wringing about the fate of FC Nantes I have neglected to report the other news from French football. This past weekend Lyon scored late to rescue a 2-2 tie with Monaco but when Marseille thumped Grenoble 4-1 Marseille moved top of the table. With 7 to play Marseille is poised to perhaps deny the 7 time champions their 8th straight title. A further problem for Lyon is that Bordeaux has risen to third, one point behind Lyon and only 2 down to Marseille. Lyon travels to Bordeaux this weekend for what commentators are referring to as a championship 6 pointer. A loss for Lyon would also move Bordeaux ahead of the defenders and would make it quite likely that Lyon could find themselves at the end of the season on the outside looking in for the first time in 8 years.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Desperately seeking spring time

My usual routine at this time of year is to dress for what I think the weather is but then take a couple of miles in the neighborhood to be sure I am properly dressed before getting too far from home. Today for the second time in the last three days I found myself back at home after only a couple of miles.

I needed a different under helmet cap, the one that covers my ears. And I needed warmer gloves. I keep expecting it to be warm and that cold wind keeps blowing.

I rode into Saint Paul again and this time made my turn at Grand and Snelling (which coincidentally also seems to be the top of a hill). Riding through the college campus located there I discovered that on this quintessentially vernal holiday I was not the only one desperately seeking spring time.It may have been warm enough in the very, very occasional moments when the sun broke through but these college students are completely wrong about today. They are acting like it is finals week or something.

News from France: The spring classics continued today with Paris-Roubaix, the Queen of the Classics. Defending champion Tom Boonen of Quick Step successfully dodged crashes which eliminated one contender after another and won the race for third time, joining a list of luminaries from the sport including the likes of Eddy Merckxx, who have won the Hell of the North three times. Only one rider, Roger De Vlaeminck, has won four times.

News from Finland: US beats Canada to win women's hockey world title. The team includes some familiar faces for us, three players and an assistant coach from this year's UofM team. I found the website where the game was being streamed live and TOPWLH and I watched the last women's hockey game of the year. Count us as pleased with the results.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Outdoor baseball

The weather channels all reported a bit of warming and a shift in wind direction to have the wind be out of the south. This was an encouraging break in the too cold pattern that has prevailed of late and I decided to set out a bit earlier than I have for any previous rides this year. I have finished the last several rides with the temperature at about 48 and it was about 48 when I set off today just after noon. Well, some would say 49, and others might plead for "almost 50". I am sticking with 48.

Somewhat to my chagrin I discovered once out on my bike that the wind was still predominantly from the north and east. It was most cold heading east. I decided to trust the weather types and go ahead and ride to the south. In a eureka moment the professionals turned out to be right. I had a tailwind for about half of the ride out and after a wind shift I had the benefit of a following wind again on the ride home.

The southerly route proved to be somewhat of an inspiration. Once I crossed the border into Saint Paul I discovered that most of the streets there have already been swept. This was true all throughout the Como neighborhood until I crossed Raymond into Saint Anthony Park. Also once I got further south and across 94 the streets were mostly unswept but on the other hand they had had much less dirt spread on them over the winter than the streets in Roseville. Conditions were mostly of the sort where I could ride my other bike and I am considering whether I should do that the next time I head south. The season is well and truly on.

It was my first time down Como Avenue in at least a couple of weeks and it was my first meeting of the year with Tall Bike Guy. He was laboring uphill into the wind near Snelling. I was downhill with the wind and I raised my hand in greeting. Tall Bike Guy proved to be just like the rest of us, not yet in mid-season form as he raised his hand in a return greeting. He quickly realized his mistake and his hand dropped back to the bars from whence he rang his bell. Tall Bike Guy doesn't wave, he rings his bell.

I got all the way into Saint Paul. I know that college baseball teams play lots of Saturday games so I went looking for a game at Saint Thomas. And sure enough, Hamline at Saint Thomas.I watched half an inning, Hamline batting. It went ground single to center, line out to shortstop, runner doubled off first, swinging strikeout. Or 1b, F6-3 DP, Ks for those keeping a scorebook.

I continued and made my turnaround at Prior and Saint Clair. I don't ride that neighborhood much but I can tell you after today that approximately Berkeley (one block past Saint Clair) and Prior is the top of a hill. For some reason there is not a water tower there. I descended Saint Clair to the river. This is a scene probably photographed hundreds of times this week, it is the view of the river from the top of the bluff at Saint Clair and River Road.As of today, the missing college student is still missing.

Very dire news from France, FC Nantes was defeated 1-0 by home standing Toulouse today while Caen defeated bottom dweller Le Havre 2-1. Caen vaults over Nantes and now, after a promising run earlier in the season, Nantes have once again descended into the relegation zone. Only 7 games remain in the season for les Nantais to rescue themselves from the ignominy of immediate return to Ligue 2.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Dirt clarification

The street in front of my house HAS been swept. As has one other neighborhood that I ride through. However . . .

I ride a great deal on Hamline Avenue. On the northern route (which has been every day of late with the persistent wind from the north) I ride all the way to the end of Hamline and duck into the neighborhood behind Lake Josephine. The route varies somewhat but always involves some sort of circuit of Shoreview and then usually a return route that passes County Cycles and hooks back up with Hamline at County Road C for the return trip. On a 20 mile ride I ride about 5 miles on Hamline.

Both of these pictures were taken today on Hamline Avenue. The first one is on the way out, the overpass over Highway 36:This maybe isn't quite as bad as it may look as there is a relatively clear area between the dirt and the white line and I ride there. On the other hand, on the return trip I come across this just this side of County Road C:I pretty much have no option other than to ride through that. So, yes, I am still riding the Axis.

In fact I usually ride between 300 and 400 miles on this bike before the streets are clear enough to convince me to switch over.

The milestone for today is my mileage for April exceeds what I rode in March. It appears that even though it remains cold by my personal bicycling standards the season is well and truly underway.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Chore

Today I finished off that three straight days of 20+ miles that I was hoping to do last weekend. I didn't get it done after deciding last Saturday that it was too cold. Today was also too cold. Mission accomplished, chore completed.

All of the miles that I ride on the spring bike are hard work. That is part of the reason for having that bike. The low pressure tires make for more rolling resistance, a harder task to maintain speed and pile up miles. So I am going to blame the bike for today's ride being hard. It was really hard, for the second time this spring I was running out of gas on the inward leg.

I made the northern swing into that persistent cold north wind but tried to find a different route back. This is Lake Josephine from across the street from where Allison used to work (the Dairy Queen).It's too cold, it's too hard to ride this bike, woe is me, woe is me.

Nah, actually I love my bike. As always, once the ride was over I started to feel pretty chipper. Tired, but chipper.

Shout out to French Canada, hope you arrived safely and maybe even already had some fun.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Harbinger

Actually, two harbingers of spring appeared today. The temperature rose to 52, the average high for the day. It is the first appearance of the mercury at or above the average for, oh, three weeks or so. It has been a cold spring and the pattern continued today, it was cold. That northwest wind returned with a vengeance, still coming across a significant snow pack, cold. And right on cue as I began my ride a bank of clouds rolled in to obscure the afternoon sun. Even at average temperature the day was cold.

The other harbinger is probably only noticeable to the truly bicycle obsessed. It doesn't photograph very well but here it is and it got ME excited:Anyone?

Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?

The street in front of my house has been swept.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Bon Anniversaire TOPWLH

I know what your favorite thing to have for your birthday would be. In place of that I offer a photo of her namesake lake. Ice out on Lake Emily:And I also offer a short story. Wireless called last night during the baseball game. She demonstrated to me that sometimes coaching actually takes even if it seems at the time of the coaching as though no one is listening.

Wireless wanted to report that some fielder in the major league baseball game she was watching had missed a ground ball as a result of the ball going OVER his glove.

Flash back to softball practice.

We went through this ritual countless times after a ground ball went through the legs of a fielder:

Coach: "Over your glove or under your glove?"

Slightly exasperated player: "Under."

Coach: "Do more balls go over your glove or under?"

Slightly exasperated player: "Under."

Coach: "Many, many more balls go under your glove than over. So what do we do?"

Slightly exasperated player: "We keep out gloves down."

Coach: "Fingers in the dirt."

I was recognized on today's ride by another member of the County Cycles staff. Today it was Dan, out riding on his fixed gear who called out after we had met and passed on opposite sides of the road, "Hey, Gene!"

Hi, Dan. Sorry I didn't recognize you until I heard your voice. I maybe should have recognized your bike. I was remarking to myself before we passed that the set up looked vaguely familiar.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Ronde Van Vlaanderen

I think that's Flemish for "Tour of Flanders".

The 2009 Ronde Van Vlaanderen was raced today. Stijn Devolder, a Belgian riding for Quick Step, a Belgian team, successfully defended the championship that he won last year.

Here is a video from last year's race. This is the climb of the Koppenberg. This climb is part of the Ronde and is "feared by many because of its steepness (22% on the trickiest parts) and because of its cobblestones." As the video displays, the absolute best and strongest bicycle riders in the world are forced to dismount and push their bicycles up the hill.

In defense of the strongest bicycle riders in the world, this video is from 2008 when the race was run in what is fairly typical spring weather for Flanders, rain. As a result the cobbles were wet and slippery.

Even so, the absolute best in the world off their bicycles and pushing certainly puts the climb out of Lanesboro into perspective, don't you think?

Friday, April 3, 2009

Pay forward

It was about 5 degrees warmer today than yesterday and the western sky was cloudless. That sun thing really works. It demonstrated its power again today and the ride was only cold, instead of too cold.

Street sweeping has begun. I was a bit surprised about 2.5 miles into today's ride to come upon clean streets. Then shortly thereafter I came upon the actual sweeper. And then on the way home I ended up riding on streets left wet by the sweeping process. Sweeping is a good sign but it doesn't mean that my summer bike will be coming out any time soon. The total amount of my 22 mile ride that was swept was less than a mile and some of the rest of the ride was still pretty heavily sand covered.

Today I tried to put 20+ mile rides back to back for the first time this year. It is a little early in the season for that and I felt my lack of fitness. On the inward leg I needed a little pop to conquer one of the numerous upgrades and it was a huge chore to summon the energy. But if the weather holds I will probably go out tomorrow shortly after noon and try to make it 20+ miles back to back to back.

The turn around point was at Grass Lake. This is a little different angle than other photos of this lake.This photo shows what the problem is with Grass Lake: it is right exactly immediately adjacent to the freeway. But the water level is up and with the brilliant blue sky and blue water I still think it makes a nice photo.

Just after passing the Library on the way home I came upon a forlorn looking occasional rider. She was stopped in the middle of the street gazing uncomprehendingly at the drive train of her hybrid. I slowed and asked if she needed any help, bicyclist's code and all, and she immediately responded in the affirmative.

She was pretty old, which TOPWLH and I increasingly notice means that she was probably a bit younger than I am. She reported that she could not turn the pedals forward. I looked at her rear wheel for a bit and finally figured out that her chain had jumped off the pulley between the rear wheel gears and the derailer. This is almost always a result of pedaling while shifting.

I suggested that she try to back pedal and indeed, that freed up the binding chain, allowing it to remount the pulley. Then I used her shift lever (friction shift, thumb levers on the handlebars) to move the derailer back over to where the chain was still engaging the cassette. I then held the rear wheel off the ground while she forward pedaled enough to get everything back into operating condition. I told her that she should be fine to get home as long as she did not put any heavy pressure on the pedals when in the process of shifting. She gazed back completely, totally without a shred of understanding. But we got her back on the road and I followed her for a block or so. The bicycle was functioning again and I am pretty sure she probably made it home OK. I base this partly on the way she was dressed. The clothes she was wearing were not going to be warm enough for a very long ride, I doubt that she was more than 3 or 4 blocks from home.

I am Bicycle Repairman, hear me roar.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Winter's last soldier

Today the predicted high temperature for the day arrived in the early afternoon. This encouraged me to believe that the actual high which usually occurs in late afternoon was going to be even higher, perhaps even in the area where a comfortable ride would be possible.

The sky was mostly blue, only a couple of clouds. I started to ride expecting the best, dressed for the worst. The sun quickly went down behind the few clouds which were hovering in the western sky.

The sun was behind the cloud, the lighting was bad for a picture. As I rode along I kept deciding on where the next photo opportunity might occur. And I kept passing the points where I intended to get a picture as the sun remained stuck behind that persistent western sky cloud. I made it all the way home before decent lighting conditions occurred.

This is the last piece of ice remaining in our domain, winter's last soldier.The temperature never went up from the early afternoon high. The wind blew from the west, an area of the state recently blasted with brand new 10 inch blanket of snow. Wind blowing over snow covered terrain? If we pause long enough to consider all of these factors we can easily predict the result.

It was cold. It was too cold. Fortunately I was dressed for the worst.