Friday, February 15, 2008

Another "You know it's cold when.."

You know it's cold when, while picking up your bike with your bare hands, you touch the aluminum stem and it feels like getting a chemical burn.

I think it was 0 degrees (do I say degrees, or degree?) when I rode in today. I've figured out that riding in with a full gut is not fun. I ate a big breakfast and had to...um...go to the bathroom, but ran out of time. So I rode in with very full guts. It made me much slower and uncomfortable. The cold didn't bother me one bit. I guess I could say I thought about that saying, "keep a stiff upper lip," as my upper lip (and nose I guess), being my only skin exposed to the elements, was indeed quite stiff.

Congrabulations to Troy for completing his 2nd full week of bike commuting. Hopefully this is a growing trend in Omaha. The more that commuters are visible, and the more that gasoline goes up in price, the more people will consider bike commuting as an option. It's just too bad there isn't a more friendly(non hilly) route from West to East. I notice a significant difference between my commute route that has one big hill compared to the flat one. And I only ride 3 miles!! I guess that's why more people commute in Lincoln. Evil are the hills of Omaha.

Shabbos ride!?!?!?! It's supposed to be near 40 tomorrow so outside riding should definitely happen. I'm going to be riding the heavy bike with complete fenders anyway, just because I really don't want to spend an hour or so cleaning my race machine again. Sunday will be warm in the morning, then another evil Northern front comes in with chilly North winds, so Shabbos + 1 may be inside only. Suggestions are welcome!!

14 comments:

RF said...

I am game for gravel + pavement, on rigid mtb,Saturday maybe starting at noon. Rox probably in as well.

RF said...

sunday it will be near 30 deg but very windy out of the north. lets do a shuttle-run ride. I'll drive us to blair then we can ride home. someone just needs to drive me back to my car later. start around 10am?

munsoned said...

Ryan, Saturday is a maybe on the gravely side of things, depending on how the slick tired people respond. Sunday, probably a no go for me since I have to take Michelle into work at noon. So if a time shift were to happen, or something, then I might take to that shuttle ride idea.

Biker Bob/Runner Bob said...

I'm up for a ride tomorrow morning. As long as you don't mind me hacking up a lung while I'm riding. I'm still trying to clear out all the "stuff" in my lungs from the chest cold I've been fighting for over 2 weeks.

It's either road riding with my commuter with studded tires/fenders/the works, or a gravel ride.

If anyone is brave enough, I'm available as early as 6:30am and need to be home by 1:00. I will not be able to ride Sunday (church in the morning, THOR meeting in afternoon).

If we ride MTB gravel. I'll need a suggestion for SS gearing and somebody will need to bring me a shock pump. My shock is sure to be a bit flat since I have not ridden my MTB in over 3 months.

You can reach me at home (573 then 8051) after 5:00 today if you want to coordinate an early morning/really long ride.

Matt N said...

i could do gravel tomorrow on the cross bike. It's been a while.

bryan said...

I'm free ... well, none of those times. I'm probably going to ride inside from 8-10. Temps in the mid-teens with wind chill around that time ... I'll stay in and get some work doen.

Sunday I'm actually free after lunch, so that'd be fine ... if not for the 25 mph wind. I'll probably either run or stay inside both days. Yeah, I'm lame.

I need knobbies.

Aaron Pool said...

you guys should come down here. I got so warm I had to pull off my knee warmers the other day, no precip either so the machine stays looking sharp.
Also, bike paths everywhere, riders everywhere, plenty of places to stay, say the word. Oh yeah but be sure to bring sunscreen, haha.

Matt N said...

just rub it in aaron. hahaha. we're all pretty jealous, but i think that this stretch of bad weather is raising everyone's motivation for this year. it certainly has mine up.

ARE WE RIDING TODAY? SOMEONE CALL ME OR SOMETHING!

Matt N said...

hopefully it is somewhere near my house to start because of the house no car thing.

munsoned said...

Matt, I'm so sorry we didn't call. Things were still kinda up in the air around the time you posted. Then when Ryan said we could ride 1.5 hrs to Kevin's ride (that was going to be 2-3 hrs) then ride home, I didn't know if you'd be interested. I shoulda called anyway to see. I'm sorry. I'm a horrible friend. Hope you got a ride in today, it was nice out there till about 3pm or so.

RF said...

Matt, sorry buddy. I forgot that you had commented and by Fri late night & Saturday morning I had a few different groups of people asking about rides, and potential group rides, etc, and the final plans kinda got thrown together last minute. And the plans were pretty aggro.

Also the final plans were made via phone and txting and I dont know how to contact you for future rides. email me your phone # so i can plug it in. my email is ryan dot feagan (at symbol) gmail period com

RF said...

Bob, none of us we're nearly motivated enough to start so early. We did end up with 5+ hours of pedalling time, but we started at noon.

also, I'm not so sure there is one right gear for gravel road riding in a group. Sometimes the hills are really long, steep, and into the wind, sometimes you gotta flat section with the wind.

RF said...

Bob & Matt, I do hope you ended up getting some sort of ride in. It was a decent day until cloudcover came in around 3.

T-bone said...

Thanks Mike, every week it gets easier.