Sunday, December 23, 2007

brrrrr.

i forgot how cold ohio is. it is cold.


i thought bringing my bike home would be a good idea. reasons?


  1. separation anxiety. i sleep right next to my bike, i was afraid i might get dumped if i left for 10 days....gunnar has been a little angry at me lately, so i thought taking her on vacation might make things all better.
  2. my airline only charged $25 for bikes. skybus.
  3. good practice. not so much the biking part, but just the whole traveling with the bike. i figured at some point in the next couple years i will travel with my bike and need to ride it at my destination... like if i visit my friend amy en espagna next year.... so, it would be nice to know how to take it apart, pack it, and put it back together when it is actually important.
  4. riding in ohio would be cool.
here is my report:
  1. now when my family asks me if i am dating anyone, i can at least tell them i brought some(thing?) home with me for christmas.
  2. i didn't even get charged my $25 on my outway flight cause my debit card was being fussy and they just let me on. ha!
  3. disassembly and re-assembly went well. although, i did get kinda confused with how to put the derailleur back on, so i had to call michicko and ask her how to position it. she described things to me with very techincal terms: "rest that little screw on "the beak" on the dropout." i am happy to report i can shift, and even though you think ohio is flat i have used ALL my gears. (some things are not flat! and while some hills are short, a couple have been unusually oddly brutal. perhaps it is the wind and cold...)
  4. riding in ohio. it rules. very beautiful, pristine, no one on the roads-- all to myself. i've seen some cute towns, awesome countryside, pretty farms all covered with snow. it is awesome and beautiful, and i think riding out around rittman, ohio is probably some of the prettiest riding i've done (like black diamond road, which always makes me want to the sing the song black velvet) i have gone on three rides so far. here are the highlights:

ride #1

  • got chased by country dog and swerved into oncoming traffic
  • missed a turnoff cause the country roads do not have signs. asked lady with a really thick ohio accent for directions, and she tried to tell me to go on the freeway to get home...but then she directed me to some backroads.
  • got chased by two other dogs at the same time. the one nearly t-boned me. i again swerved into oncoming traffic. the fear of dogs on a bike is quite different than when running. when running, i am afraid i'll get bit. when i biking, i am afraid the dog will run into my moving path or me and knock me off the bike and then bite me. but i sped off. these two dogs got really close and i think i am going to avoid this road from now on.
  • dogs bring out the best in interval training, much better than county-line signs.
  • i tried to create a liquor store/church game, kinda like the cow game. (cow game = count cows on your side of the road. when you pass graveyard, all your cows die and you start again. this is good in cars and the right/left side of the car complete. it gets really hard when you are up to several hundred cows and then you pass a tiny graveyard. anyway, i thought there could be a funny church/liquor store game... but then i got hung up on whether the churches or liquor stores should nullify.)
  • it is too cold to drink water. i went 30 miles and didn't take a sip cause it was too cold.
  • my feet were very cold, despite 2 pairs of socks. they were all tingly and itchy when i came home. my feet have been worse walking in the snow, so i wasn't worried, but good to know if i go for a longer ride.
  • mountain bike gloves (thanks michiko!) are still warm enough in 36 degree weather

ride #2

  • in 33 degrees with 28 windchill, mountain bike gloves are NOT good enough. i put on my mom's gloves over my bike gloves and they were fine. i don't know what is cycling specific about gloves.
  • i put wool socks over my shoes and cut holes in the bottoms. my feet felt okay, so that was good. this is an okay substitute for booties. i don't know if they are as aero, though.
  • i biked to my best friend's house far away, and it was so much fun to show up on my bike. but then she had to give me underwear, clothes, food, and drive me home cause it got dark.
  • no dogs. a couple motorcycles though.
  • again, i road wasn't marked, so i missed my turn, but found my way.
  • no water again.

ride #3

  • my prettiest ride to date.
  • it seemed deceptively hilly, which got me confused.
  • i had it out with this crazy dog that kept running next to me for ever, so i got an awesome sprint interval in there.
  • it was warmer today, so i did drink some water.

today the rains came in the morning, then the 45mph gusty winds, so i opted not to go out. now it is snowing and the house is rattling from the wind.

i'm behind on my quad update:

december 13- 58.75

december 20- 58.75

9 comments:

Unknown said...

drinking water is kinda important...

missed a fun TO ride yesterday. Coffee stop in Walnut Creek!

Malissa said...

Love your blog and your enthusiasm!

Here's a little tip about drinking during winter (passed down by generations of wise cyclists):

Drink when you're thirsty, before you're thirsty, and in between.

WarrenG said...

On the cold feet thing... I used to live in CT and we'd ride in some cold weather, 25-35 degrees. Using a fixed gear helped keep our feet warmer-I think it was the super high rpm's on the little downhills that pushed warmer blood into them.

A good squirt in the face from your waterbottle will deter some dogs.

Dogs and sprinters...
I used to ride by a house that had two dogs that would chase me almost every day. This was annoying to me. One day they were both alongside my rear wheel barking away so I drifted about 5 feet from the side of the road and then hooked them hard. The closest dog swerved into the other dog and they both tumbled around in the ditch. They never chased me again. Good dogs.

place_holder said...

nullify... i wanna use "nullify."

happy jesus.

norcalcyclingnews.com said...

uh,

there's more than one reason to move away from ohio.

Anonymous said...

happy holidays! happy cold riding!

:-)

Lorri Lee Lown -- velogirl said...

brrr......put HOT water in your bottles. or hot herbal tea. or hot toddies!

Anonymous said...

Maybe psycho aero man should be banished to Ohio.
People might actually smack him when he opened his mouth. And the dogs would attach when he asked how long a run they were out for.

place_holder said...

Let me guess...

december 27 - 58.75