Getting out

Boy, do I love the winter thaw!

After my disappointing end to 'cross season and a longer-than-expected recovery period, I had a lot of trouble getting myself back in gear to put in base miles outside. The fact that we'd had plenty of snow and ice (generally things I really enjoy...well, at least the snow...) kept me gun shy about another crash, and the longer I was gone from group rides, the more I knew I'd fall behind frustrated after wasting a bunch of energy trying to keep up at the start.

No more. Today, Kat, Ryan and I opted for a later start time and a goal of 50-60 gravel miles at a pace we could all maintain for the duration. We rolled out a little before 11 and headed into a SW wind, Cortland in mind for a first stop.


We found gravel roads in beautiful condition, with options for packed smooth middles, a little pea gravel in between tracks, or churningly difficult wet shoulders. Kat needed that slowing power later in the ride when her front brake cable snapped, leaving her relegated to stopping with a pretty worn out back brake. Scary!


Ryan, riding singlespeed, kept a nice crisp pace for us whenever we started slacking. After worrying his gearing would be too low, he ended the ride thinking this will be his Gravel Worlds gear for this year. (Sorry nerds, I don't know the gear ratio and he's not here right now.)


With temperatures fluctuating from the low 40s to the mid 50s, plus a wind cold enough to make wind chill a factor, clothing decisions were a little challenging. I stayed pretty comfy with a silkweight capilene baselayer, wool jersey, wind vest (detachable sleeves came off pretty fast), neck gaiter, wool cap, glove liners and shell gloves, and cozy Craft running tights over my bibs. Wool socks in my winter shoes were toasty!

After exploring uncharted (to us) gravel east of Cortland en route to Hickman, we ended up back at home with 59.59 miles. Nice way to kick off the outdoor training year, and it felt great to do something more on roads where you didn't have to worry about just staying upright on 1-3 inches of pure ice. Bring on the Spring!


In other news, I was able to make this likeness of Hunter S. Thompson during a work professional development activity in which a team of us were given 16 items of which we could choose 6 to keep after surviving a plane crash in the Australian desert. We chose none of these, though we spent a good deal of time considering the Jameson. With 6 of us, though, it wouldn't have gone very far.

Rolling Movie Marathon

Winter. Cold. Dark. Movies! Watched in the last week:

Inception
The Warriors
SNL Best of Will Ferrell
The Messenger
Pan's Labyrinth
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Let The Right One In
Big Man Japan
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

I think I'm forgetting one...

Gravel Roads + Falling Snow + Jo = My first ride with D Street

Today, I braved beautiful freshly falling snow on an early Sunday morning to try my hand at gravel miles with the D Street crew.

Once we hit the gravel rollers, technical know-how and pure fearlessness regarding icy ruts were extremely beneficial. I slowed down anytime I remembered what I was doing, but felt exhilarated whenever I relaxed and sped down a hill.

With taking Hwy 77 back rather than braving the ever-meltier gravel on the way back, I clocked in 51.2 miles, not bad for a snowy day in February.




Cornbread has better pictures than I took (and Matt has a nice one on Good Problem), seeing as though I didn't want to take the G11 out in the snow and muck and my cell phone died right after we got out of town. Here, however, is one Ryan snapped of my hands at the Cortland Cenex. It took a lot of calories just to stay warm, and apparently this didn't extend to my fingertips. My hands were purple to the knuckle and white to the tips.

Tommy Two-Tone!

We could use some of these around town...

via Gizmodo, a touch of that ol' New England accent in a hacked road sign.

It's Winter in Nebraska, and I Commute By Bike

Thick be the boots!

Fierce be the facial expression!

Slow Food Brunch 2009

Woke up to howling winds this morning, and I really had to work to crawl out from under the duvet. We missed the worst of the blizzard (allegedly, there are 5 foot drifts in central Nebraska), but the wind was gusting over 40mph, so I put on my trusty winter bike pants and headed into the wind and sleet down to Chez Hay.


The turn-out for this year's Slow Food Nebraska Eggstravaganza was great, despite the weather! Things I ate: spring greens, French toast, lots of cheeses, apple-cinnamon muffins, garlic scones, yogurt & granola, a mimosa, two different individually brewed cups of Cultiva coffee, including the exquisite Sidamo. Heaven in a cup.

It was hard to find a time when there was a gap in the line to get a shot of the spread.

Maggie & Pat rocking the made-to-order omelet bar. The line for this was always long.

Molly's about to dig in to a beautiful plate of food, accompanied by handmade coffee from Cultiva.

Triggertown did a lovely job of playing music. Nice to have such multitalented farmer/musicians in town!

The Cusp

From warm to snow to balmy to stormy...it's the cusp of spring again!

Got some good bike riding in this week, including a long ride with Denise to visit Polly, ending in a dark sprint home by myself through the scary-when-its-dark part of the Rock Island trail.




No scarf! Warm breeze in my hair! Nothing compared to a few weeks ago...




the cusp (a mixture of springs) from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

Lincoln Ve-Low Photoshoot

Conrad asked me to take some photos for Lincoln Ve-Low. On a gorgeous Saturday during magic hour, we hit the pavement.

He insisted this was not to include photos of his face. Whoops. (cough, cough)

Shadows get longer, and the sun is so golden.

Plymouth spire, rolling to Ideal Grocery (where they've known me since infancy) for last-minute soup night ingredients.

My co-worker & her husband (Cycle Works pro Rick Dockhorn), who had seen me out taking photos, laughed when they saw me carrying a bottle of red wine and a carton of half & half. Fair enough.

Calving Time

A little early start this year, but as Mami said today, "At least now, it's February!"

Last Sunday, a first-time mother gave birth to a little bull calf. It was very cold, and beginning to snow, so my mom & Chris carried the calf into the barn, where we'd put down some straw. Generally, the cow will come right along, but this mother was preoccupied with trying to eat, and didn't follow her still-wet and becoming icy little one. My brother toweled off the calf as it tried to nurse on his knee. We tried for quite some time (about 2 & 1/2 hours) to get the cattle all to come into the barn, hoping to be able to separate the mother out and pen her in with her calf, to no avail. Finally, well after dark, well into the snowstorm, and after all we kids had given up, my parents gave up, too.

Monday morning, the first day of the Year of the Ox, Mami went down to feed and found cow with calf. There was another bull calf born this week, too, though thankfully, there was some warmer weather this weekend.

Friday commute

We got quite a bit of ice Thursday night. Lincoln Public Schools, notorious for never closing for a snow day, had no school. The State marches on, however, and the streets were pretty empty for my ride.


There was only one other bike that had evidence of having been ridden that morning. Success!

bittersweet ice

outside my kitchen window this morning.


it's going to be a slow ride...wish i had this set-up.

Ice Rain Bike Commute

• Leaving the State Office Building: "You're crazy. You sure you don't want a ride?"
• M Street, Centennial Mall to 18th: Not bad at all
• 18th Street, M Street to J Street: No big troubles here, easy crossings of L and K, and mostly clear street. See a biker on the sidewalk, front tire slips, contemplate switching to sidewalks. Rescind consideration.
• 18th Street, J Street to C Street: Getting the hang of navigating the patches of ugly brown loose snow on top of the packed base. This is like skiing, with little rushes of excitement in my stomach as a tire begins to slip and I catch it, not falling.
• C Street, 18th to 19th & 19th Street, C Street to B Street: Two well executed turns, no cars.
• B Street, 19th to 20th: Attempt at going uphill. Finding the need to add power (which would mean speed) so as to continue to progress up the hill. Gingerly succeeding, secretly hoping for a cheer from the guy unloading his groceries at the top of the climb. Hope unfulfilled, but hill climbed.
• B Street 20th to 21st: Ice Sprinkle quickly transitions to Ice Rainfall. Sounds like a Steve Reich composition on the leaves of the trees. Hurts the tops of my cheeks.
• 21st Street, B Street to A Street: Have to wait to cross A for a long time, thanks especially to a dark van without lights on. Curse the van. Curse the Ice Rain. Pause. Enjoy the sound of the accidental Steve Reich performance. Cross A.
• 21st Street, A Street to Sumner: Uneven, messy, far deeper brown crap sometimes on clear street, sometimes on ice, sometimes on packed snow. See a guy filling up a car with a red gas can as his dualie runs, blocking half the street. Wonder if the same physics rules apply to a skidding bicycle as to a skidding car. Carefully attempt turning into the skid, turning opposite the skid. Inconclusive, as I am more focused on the reverse psychology involved in this counterintuitive behavior.
  
• Sumner, 21st Street to 24th Street: Smooth riding, even increase the pace a bit. Just a bit.
  
• 24th: Home safe.
  

snow commute

4℉ this morning, snowing, but no wind, and i'll stop dissing my mtb. i had a fun ride.


this was what it looked like out my window all morning. good weather for editing.


this afternoon, different story. it wasn't snowing anymore, but the cars had packed things down pretty well, and the ruts were pretty killer on a relative icebike novice like me. i'm totally thrilled with my winter bike pants, though.

face, masked. head, handknit-hatted & helmeted. eyes, in need of ski goggles. that might make me look less mean.

this is a november sky?

I have a cold. The weather is changing, possibly snowing by Friday. Good time to stay in bed.

Alternative Fuels

Last night, I got in touch with Lou at FoxWear. He custom makes rain pants that, according to the IceBiker, are amazing. My e-mail correspondence with him gives me great confidence that he's a rad dude in Idaho who will keep my legs warm and dry for my second winter of commuting. In honor of that...





Shamelessly reposted from Good Problem

proud (if a bit frozen) face

I biked to work today on a sheet of ice covered in a bit of snow and topped off with a crusty, icy topping that had been formed by the 16mph north wind, making the 1 degree temperature feel like -18 degrees. I bike straight north, and boy I felt awesome after that.