Day 14- Bring on the Rain! (Another Day with St. Joe)

Success!! Day 14

Weather: 64 deg F. humid, drizzle to light rain

Time I left my house: late-ish 8.09 am.

Time I arrived at work: 8:42 am

Distance: 8.19 miles

Avg. Speed: 14.6

Max Speed: 21.2

Time: 33.47 min.

Pre-game: After flip-flopping my decision (my wife offer to give me a ride) I decided to go out. It wasn’t thunderstorming, which I think will be the deal-breaker for future go-outs, so I just got an extra set of riding clothes in case I got drenched. What kind of bike-commuter would I be if I didn’t go out in the drizzle? Besides, I spent all that money on equipment for this kind of weather.

Good ride-luckily it only started raining once I got within 2 miles of my office. I’m amazed that I increased my average speed on the St. Joe. I wonder if it’s because I wanted to beat the rain??

Like boys scouts’ motto “Be Prepared” everything I bought (equipment-wise) held true: the Planet Bike Cascadia Fenders kept me dry; my Banjo Bros. Panniers kept my work clothes dry; my Performance Bike yellow neon rain jacket did its job as well. My only pet-peeve about the jacket was its lack of breathability, but I guess you lose that if you want to keep from getting wet from the rain. I wonder what it will be like once the temps drop and the wind gets involved?

UPDATE: The ride home

Weather: 69 deg F. raining steadily

Distance: 8.44 miles

Avg. Speed: 13.6

Max Speed: 21.7

Time: 37.26 min.

The rain was coming down- I have to say it's my first trip with this much rain- luckily it wasn't that cold.

Equipment thoughts:

Waterproof vs. Water-resistant Panniers: My Banjo Bros. Panniers had either a leak- which I sort of expected as they are not waterproof-so I'm maybe going to get waterproof panniers for such a ride. I know I should've gotten them to begin with, but then I thought I would never ride in so much rain. Luckily, it was worse riding back than going to work- imagine taking our my wet, work clothes!

Clear Lenses: I saw those the other day when the stage was set in the mountains and it was raining- good idea to have since I was squinting or looking down the whole ride when it was coming down.

Waterproof Helmet cap- for obvious reasons

Shoe covers-My shimano MT shoes were pretty dry considering (compared to my running shoes, that absorb rain like a sponge, and you hear the squish/squish when you're running). But probably something to consider for future rides.

I really hate to say it, but I admit I was missing a geared bike for obvious reasons in that rain- I don't know if I made the right choice (I know, I know!) to go with a singlespeed as my foul-weather bike. I know it's easier to maintain, but after Monday's horrible ride and today's rain, I may have to rethink this as a rain bike and look for some gears. We'll see.

Day 6- Commuting with the Bianchi San Jose

Success!! Day 6

Weather: 68 deg F. muggy, drizzle, cloudy

Time I left my house:  7.56 am.

Time I arrived at work: 8:33 am

Distance: 8.34 miles

Avg. Speed: 13.5

Max Speed: 20.4

Time: 37 min.

Pre-game: Wife had the kids again, so off they went. I took the dog out and left him breakfast, just so I could get out at a decent time (I had to get there and change before a REQUIRED appearance at this month’s Employee of the Month ceremony at our company at 8:45 am). Since the weather called for rain, I was pretty excited to take the San Jose (St. Joe) out today. I finally assembled St. Joe last night: I put the $9 Schwinn computer and stock pedals on, as well  as tightening everything (although I had trouble inflating the tires, so I used the presta valve adapter this morning without incident.). 

I knew I was going to be slower today and it didn’t rain at all during the ride, just a few drizzles. This bike is awesome. Even though it’s a singlespeed, I still kept normal avg. time (my Max Time fell as well as my Trip Time). Although you realize pretty quickly what areas on your route are sort of harder when you don’t have gears. But I pushed through it and I think my body’s getting better because of it. 

It’s my first ride with the Planet Bike fenders and they were awesome. At first I thought I heard rattling, but realized that was just all the pebbles, grit and whatever coming up from the road. I also like the tires

I didn’t have time to get another set of clipless pedals, so I rode with the stock pedals. It’s a good feeling to know that I don’t have to worry about unclipping. I do wonder if it makes a difference on a singlespeed.

UPDATE: The ride home.

Weather: 73 deg F. bit of drizzle, very muggy, uncomfortable, cr#ppy

Distance: 8.38 miles

Avg. Speed: 13.4

Max Speed: 19.9

Time: 37.30 min.

Going home on a singlespeed was a bit of a challenge for me- I just have to adapt that I need to work a little harder and accept I can’t go faster on downhills. What still amazes me is that I do still have the same avg. speed but my max speed lowered and my trip time wasn’t as bad. All in all, it was great fun. I didn’t have to think, and stopped looking at the cyclocomputer because, well, there wasn’t a point. I knew my max wasn’t getting any higher down the hill, so I bent down and enjoyed coasting. I just enjoyed the ride. My legs are paying for it. There wasn’t too much rain, a little drizzle, but there were puddles on the street. Thank God for the fenders. There was a little spray when I went through, but no splash or splatter at all- these fenders rock.

Saint Joe (Bianchi San Jose)

It’s rained 17 out of the 20 days this June, and it’s been a chore to clean the sand (there’s a lot of it here on Long Island) and grit, etc., from my drive train. I keep thinking of my bike as a commuter, but it is also a sort of racing/endurance bike- not that it’s a carbon-fiber- pro racing bike for Quickstep, but I’d like to keep it in good condition for a long time. Call it what you will: laziness, fear of my ‘fast’ bike’s drivetrain wearing down, or overzealous need for ‘yet another bike’. But I can justify it by merely saying I need something for foul weather.

Enter the Bianchi San Jose.

I am not a hipster, nor am I a fan of the big scene that encompasses the ‘singlespeed’ or ‘fixies’ niche group. This cadre of folks knows their shite and if you don’t, they’ll let you know it (just log on to bikeforums.net and ask a newbie question in the Singlespeed group, I defy you!). As a commuter, the singlespeed makes sense: I don’t have to mess with tuning and am less likely to have any problems. The Bianchi San Jose is also a cyclocross bike, which could take full-length fenders and racks, wider tires to handle the roadside debris and other shocks of the road, especially when weighted down with a lot of stuff in my panniers. I was on-line for a good part of my day for a couple of weeks checking the forums, the reviews and of course, the bike. So when Jenson’s had it on closeout in my size, I couldn’t resist.

In the weeks before making this decision, I was wondering whether or not to get the Kona Smoke or the Jamis Commuter 3. Both were good bikes, around $400 (I could not spend more than that or I would here from my wife’s lawyer regarding separation) as well as having fenders. Although, what killed me is that I hate flatbars- they serve their purpose on mountain bikes, but I love the drops just for the simple fact of more postions. Kona is a great bike manufacturer and The Smoke is a favorite among commuters, but I was hesitant from the flat-bars. Jamis I heard was heavy and not that great a ride and… mustache bars. Then I saw the San Jose was on sale, so I put that on my list.

The deal-breaker- it’s a cyclocross bike and with that comes versatility. And damn it, I could never afford a ‘cross bike when I was originally looking, so here was my chance. It’s got a flip-flop hub so I have an option to make it a fixed-gear bike should I be inclined. I have a relatively flat commute (there are a couple of hills, but one doesn’t climb for long) and I’m curious as to the difference. There has been nothing but positive comments on the San Jose. And Bianchi makes pretty bikes.

When it came in, I came home for lunch almost every day since to slowly put it together, since I haven’t much time in the evenings to tool around, having kids sucks time in the day- and during the work week, it’s usually the chores of feeding them, bathing them and putting them to bed that makes the most of our evenings. So when the bike came, it pretty much wasn’t assembled until a week. I also ordered Planet Bike Cascadia fenders (touring/hybrid size) and an Eco Rack.




It was fairly easy to put together, although I needed to go to Home Depot and buy some 10-32 stainless steel bolts (3/4 inch). Why? Because the San Jose has only one eyelet on the rear dropout. To accommodate both the rack and fender, I needed a longer bolt- this fit fine (after a few tries with ½ inch and other hardware from the Planet Bike packages). I will need new tires and pedals, but it’s almost ready to ride.