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.

First Ride Into Work!!

Success!! Today was the first time in, and actually, the first time on the bike. I’ll talk about the return trip on another post, this will describe my first trip coming in. As I continue this, I’ll have to see what I’ll add into as far as daily info (weather, traffic, wind, etc.) so as to make it a template for each ride. 

Weather: 55 deg F. and BEAUTIFUL. Hardly any headwind and no humidity. Perfect day to ride. It’s supposed to go up to 70 F.

Time I left my house:  A little later than I scheduled- 8am on the dot.

Time I arrived at work: 8:43 am

Distance: 8.22 miles

Avg. Speed: 12.2

Max Speed: 21.1

Time: 40 min.12 sec.

Pre-game: After my wife left with the kids (Wednesdays she takes them both into Queens to her Aunt and Uncle’s) I had to unpack my FedEx package I got from Performance Bike and went through my stuff.  It took some time to pack and separate, but it was probably 20 minutes total. In one pannier I had my bike stuff (locks, tool, tire lever, tube, pump) along with my lunch and water; on the other pannier I had my clothing. 

I have to say, these Banjo Brothers Panniers are the bomb, and highly recommend them (as it was on Bikecommuters.com). They’re like the black hole, I kept putting in stuff and it kept taking it. Although I have to see how much actual weight I have on the bike.  A couple things I forgot, my bananas and I have this strange feeling I left the garage door open (oops). I’m hoping I didn’t… and if I did, I hope my parents close it when they get there this afternoon. They watch the little guy tomorrow and Friday.

As I left, it took a little getting used to the clips (stock pedals) on the Sequoia and a few times on the ride I had to tighten/readjust the panniers as one side was a little heavier than the other. One of the clips came off from the bottom of the rack and I had stop momentarily, and I need to adjust later on the length of how far back I need them to go as my heels bumped the bags throughout the trip on several occasions. 

Overall the ride was pleasant. I took the easier/scenic route rather than my planned as it was easier to deal with traffic…and all my fears of taking the lane at some intersections were nothing as cars have been more than accommodating as well as cautious when I signaled and made appropriate eye contact. 

This bike rocks- it’s such a joy to ride and I’m so happy I got a road bike rather than a hybrid. The zertz inserts made the bumps nonexistent and I flew at certain sections. My legs are a little wobbly but that because I haven’t been riding in so long. It's great the Sequoia has the handlebars for a good upright position as well as the drop for more aero type of position. Also has the other brake levers on top for ease of braking. 

My helmet (Giro Transfer) was light and airy, which was great since I never wore a helmet at length before, so it was nice to ‘not feel’ it.

My CatEye wireless Microcomputer is awesome. Easily read and gave me the stats above. It’s actually better technology than I have in my car right now (my faded, but spunky1996 Subaru Impreza Wagon with 80K miles on the clunker).

As I got in, I scoped out a tree in the back of the parking lot (there are no bike racks) and double locked it. I have to say, the U-lock I got from Backcountry was difficult to lock and took some time to lock the key in just right.  I locked it to a tree I have clear view from my office.

Once I got in, I quickly changed in the wheelchair accessible-bathroom: used unscented baby-wipes (thanks to the ideas from several sites) to wipe off. My clothes aren’t that wrinkled as they were rolled up (it’s business Professional here so I leave a jacket and shoes at my desk) and I leave a Bounce dryersheet in the pannier with the clothes to give it some added fragrance. I have short hair so no worries about styling or helmet head. After about 5 minutes, I was at my desk, with 6 minutes to spare before 9am.  I wonder how sweaty I’ll become in the summer, so we’ll see what happens.  Otherwise, today was easy breezy louisey.

No one really noticed anything at work- one coworker saw me walk in with my helmet and panniers, but didn’t say anything. Best not to advertise just yet. I feel they see me a poseur or worse, Steve Carell from 40 Year-Old Virgin (Schwinn Armstrong).

UPDATE: The ride home.

It’s a bit longer and takes a few minutes more to get home- I assume because of the insane post 5pm rush hour traffic. There were a few times I had to take the lane when trucks were parked in the shoulder (ie. My Lane) so it was pretty sketchy a few times and I admit I had to bail on the sidewalk for fear of getting ridden off the road, so call me a wuss. The last stretch of the ride had some considerable hills on the service road (for you LI’ers, it’s the Eastbound service road of the LIE, near the So. Oyster Bay Road exit.)  I got home around 6:10 pm which is pretty late (I left late- around 5:18 pm) with my wife just shaking her head. I know what she’s thinking- who in their right mind would double their commuting time, esp. since I need an extra hand at home with these kids???!!

Prologue "Find Your Own Bliss"

Isak Dinesen said to “write a little every day, without hope and without despair.” As an aspiring writer, I used this as my mantra, but it slowly stopped when I got a full time job and eventually…got married and became a father (twice). The stories that I wrote got some play online and then I stopped altogether.

I’ve never blogged and since I’m getting closer to the 4-0, I don’t feel the need to display my internal voice over the internet. That’s for the youth. Blogging, myspace friending, twittering, facebookn’…etc., I thought are reserved for those impressionable techie teens and tweens who actually have the time and the inclination. But since I started to think about my family and my health, I thought I’d put it down somewhere, maybe help me help myself. And if it inspires anyone else to do it, then it’s worth it my ramblings. To inspire is the key.

Let’s say it happened sometime after the birth of my first son. “It’s” something of a mid-life crisis where an adult male goes through this mildly insane transformation- where he needs to relive or restore something missing from his childhood. He decides to take of things not readily thought up as age-appropriate behavior. I took up surfing. I practiced brazilian jiu jitsu, judo, thai boxing with serious vigor. I had a 100lb. heavybag hanging in my basement that I hit for 20 minutes, two times a week. When the water temps got below 40 degrees, my wife and I took up snowboarding. When the snow melted, I bought a Carvestik- essentially a skateboard that can carve downhill like a snowboard or surfboard. And then I purchased a longboard skateboard for cruising. Which somehow, led me to the bike (which I’ll talk about soon…)

Why all these hobbies? “It’s not what you like but what you’re like as a person” (Los Campesinos!)  I can’t say for sure. I thought about quite a bit. At times I feel like I should prepare myself as my boys get older so I can show them some things I never had as a kid. I want them to experience everything and take in what they feel they have a passion about. Or as Joseph Campbell said,”find their own bliss.” I hope they do find it early enough. 

Other times, I feel selfish, almost guilty and irresponsible. Thank God my wife Eve has the patience of Job and lets me do these things. And it’s not something I display to my friends. 

The plus side is the stress-relieving/fitness/gut busting/fountain-of-youth feeling you get. It’s better than crack. Those of you who know- you know who you are…you adrenaline addicts- know what the heck I’m talking about here. When I was at my peak, during my fitness regime, I lost 30 lbs. of fat, had less than 6% body-fat, and a resting heart rate of 39 bpm.

But that was a couple years ago. We sold our house and moved into another one. Last June, we had our second child. Much to our pleasure, he wasn’t a great sleeper and sleep dep led me and my wife into a downward spiral.  And almost every night since then, my wife and I self-medicated with Klondike bars, Carvel cake, carbs, chips and candy.  Needless to say, I gained weight, I lose my wind going up three flights of stairs and I’ve gotten lazy, despondent and look like a hot mess. We both had no time to work out let alone take care of two kids, a house, a full-time job AND ourselves.

 

Something needed to be done. Soon. Enter the bike.