Day off? Cold weather? Go for a ride!

Today is MLK day and my work was kind enough to grant all of us the day off. This time off also happened to coincide with some of the coldest weather we've experienced in a couple years. The high temp for this Monday was 12°F and an overnight low below 0°F. Not ideal conditions for a bike ride, but a great test of my clothing options as we move into the colder months. Biking into a 20 mph head wind half the way there was just a bonus challenge.

Recently I was having problems with my front brake grinding when I applied braking pressure. Upon closer inspection, the brakes were nearing the end of their life span and needed to be replaced soon. That's what prompted today ride, new brakes.

The cause of the grinding is from small pieces of aluminum that get embedded into the brake pad. Rather than having a pad of rubber pressing against the aluminum rim of the wheel, it becomes two pieces of aluminum rubbing together. That leads to poor braking performance, excessive wear on the rim, and an awful noise. The bits of aluminum come from the rim over time with normal wear and tear.

So now I needed to go to the bike shop. I would have gone either Saturday or Sunday, but I was just too busy with too much going on. I would have preferred to go when it was warmer out, but I was prepared regardless. I wore all the warm weather gear I had, and it was enough.

When I bought my bike, I also bought a service plan for it. The service plan covers occasional drive train cleaning, bike tune ups, flat fixes, etc. Today, I used the plan to have the drive train completely cleaned and have the whole bike tuned. This was also an opportunity to have the new brakes I purchased while there installed by a professional.

My bike at the shop after the derailleurs, wheels, brakes, chain, front gears, and crank arms removed for cleaning.

When I left and braved the cold again, the brakes were incredibly responsive, the pedaling smooth, and everything felt great. It's so nice to have a bike that's riding like it was brand new! I didn't realize how much the bike had worn down over the months, especially the brakes, until everything was like new today.

Updates

I may not have updated the blog much recently, but I have not been idle in the rest of my life. Perhaps it's time for an update.

Since I traded my car, I have still been biking to and from work every day. Some days are a little more challenging than others, but I've learned to enjoy every ride, regardless of weather! The trick is layering and proper bike maintenance. I have a decent setup of clothing that makes it much easier.

Recently, we have been oscillating between unusually warm weather, and bitter cold. Today was a cold day, with the ride in at 12°F.

In the last couple weeks as the temperature dropped, I was finding some problems with my clothing. My hands were getting cold, I had lost my ski mask out of my pocket on a long ride, and my glasses were fogging up on every ride. Fortunately, simple solutions are available for all of my problems.

To take care of my chilly digits, I ended up getting a new pair of gloves. The new ones are "lobster" gloves, where the thumb is in one part of the glove and the fingers are split into two groups. This keeps the fingers together to reduce the amount of surface area exposed to the air, and helps the fingers warm each other.

For the ski mask, I purchased a new one at REI. It is a full head mask. The part over my face is all neoprene with holes in front of my mouth and a cut out under my nose to breathe. The top, which is everything above the level of my eyes, is a thin material that helps retain heat, but isn't bulky under helmets. Everything else is a nice, thick, polar fleece. It keeps my whole head warm with the help of my helmet and eye protection.

Speaking of eye protection, the last thing I purchased was an inexpensive pair of ski goggles. They do wonders of both not fogging up and keeping the whole opening of my ski mask warm. It really is an invaluable asset when it is cold and windy!

For the rest of my body, I've made a couple adjustments. My helmet has a solid, rain proof helmet cover that keeps out the wind and any snow. I wear my normal moisture wicking shirts, a winter Gore-Tex cycling jacket, and a reflective, bright, windproof cycling jacket. I have been wearing just a pair of jeans with ankle straps, but I may be changing that by adding a pair of athletic tights under the jeans after this morning's ride. Finally, for my feet I have been wearing wool socks and I've swapped out my clipless bike shoes for a pair of leather light hiking shoes, which keeps the wind out very well.

My coworkers at first thought I was crazy to continue biking in the cold, but once you properly prepare yourself, it really isn't so bad. Proper equipment and layers makes a world of difference, and lets me enjoy biking all year round!

Necessary Skills

On my way to work this morning, I had an unexpected exercise in necessary biking skills as my rear tube blew out. It wasn't a leak making the tire flat. No, the tube actually blew up. Suddenly, I found myself putting into practice the theory of tube replacement while out on the road. I am happy to report that I did it!

My tube forced it's way out from inside the tire before it burst

If you don't have the necessary equipment, you need to get it! What is all the equipment you will need? Fortunately, not much.

• Spare Tube - If you have a small puncture, a patch kit would help, but when the tube gets more damaged, a patch won't work. In my case, the tube literally split, and it is no longer a complete circle. If you want, you can bring the flat tube back home and try to patch it there, but don't bother trying it on the road. Spare tubes are small, inexpensive, and very worth it.
• Pump - Absolutely necessary! After you replace the tube, you have to inflate it, and a pump lets you do that. If you are away from home, a frame mounted pump is what's going to let you do that, unless you are near a gas station with an air compressor, or you carry a full size floor pump on your back.
• Tire Levers - There are small, inexpensive tools that assist in removing the tire from the rim. When it's a tight fit, it's practically impossible to remove a tire without these tools. You can pick up a set for less than a tube.

Once you have these tools, you need the skills to use them. For me, YouTube videos were invaluable. There are others that are much more experienced and better at explaining how to use these tools than I, so I will leave you in their hands.

REI has an excellent guide in both video and written: http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/flat-tire.html

I hope you never get a flat tire, but if you do, you now know what to do.

New Toy

Ever since I wanted to make biking my primary means of transportation, I knew that having a cargo trailer was going to be essential. My wife and I had gone grocery shopping several times, but it was tough to transport all the groceries we wanted to buy, but a trailer would solve that problem. There are other errands that I have been unable to do by bike due to weight or size restrictions. While not all of those could be done by bike trailer, the majority of them could.

For the last month or two, I have been checking Craigslist for bike trailers. During that time, I saw no decent bike cargo trailers, but several child trailers per day. The child trailers were abundant and mostly so lightly used that they often looked new. People would put them up for sale when their children outgrew them. They were an inexpensive option, but not preferred.

Eventually, my desire to have a trailer began to outweigh the availability of used trailers, so I started shopping for a new one. I found a decent model with excellent reviews and an affordable price point, but it was a bit small and had a comparably small weight limit of 66 lbs. It is not often that I would haul anything that heavy, but there have been times that I have purchased 55lb bags of grain for homebrewing beer.

One day last week, I finally saw a cargo trailer go up for sale that wasn't someone's homemade project. It was very fortuitous since this was the day I had planned on finally ordering a trailer online. The trailer was a Burley Nomad. I had researched this trailer when I was shopping for a new one, but it was outside my price range. Fortunately for me, this used model looks practically new and was listed at roughly 1/3 of the MSRP, so I jumped on it.

The trailer was lightly used by an occasional biker in the city who took it to farmer's markets. The tires looked brand new, and the canvas looked only slightly dusty. It really was in excellent condition and probably could have sold for much more. In the end, the previous owner was happy to see it go to someone that would get good use out of it. I really was lucky to see it early enough to get it.

The timing of getting the trailer could not have been more perfect. A while ago I had purchased a kegerator to serve my homebrew beer from kegs. Unfortunately, I recently messed up the assembly of a keg slightly, resulting in a leak that allowed the CO2 to escape. Before long, the CO2 tank was empty and needed to be refilled. The place I wanted to go to refill the tank was closed on the weekends, so I went to a paintball store in Aurora that was open.

The trailer hooked up to the back of my bike when I arrived at the store

Unfortunately, there were a couple of problems with getting it refilled that made the trailer essential. The tank is steel, making it18 pounds when empty, and 28 pounds when full of CO2. The tank is also rather large, making to attaching it to the bike securely very difficult. With the trailer, the tank could simply be laid in the trailer and secured from movement with a couple bungee cords.

The CO2 tank in the back of the trailer after 21 miles of riding, hence all the dust

The trip went very well, despite the heat being in the 90's. I still need to work on proper hydration and nutrition on long trips, but that's easy to fix. The trailer worked very well! It stayed behind me and did not have a width that was much greater than my panniers. I ended up traveling slower than I normally do, partially due to the extra weight, and partially so that I don't go faster than the trailer is designed to handle. Burley recommends not traveling faster than 15 mph to help keep the trailer from inadvertently tipping it on bumps or turns. I only worried when crossing roads or moving from paved to ground limestone trails, as there tends to be an abrupt and violent ledge, which caused the trailer to bump around, especially when taking the bump at an angle. Next time I think that I would wrap the tank in a small blanket to keep it protected from bouncing, as well as use newer bungee cords that would work better in securing it as it did slide around a bit.

In the end, I am thrilled with the trailer, and what it means for my biking. Suddenly, the limitations on what I can and can't do with my biking have been lifted, making biking as a way of life much more accessible.

Wet ride

If you live in the Chicagoland area, you know how wet it got this morning, thanks to some strong thunderstorms that rolled through. I took a deep breath, stepped out into the rain, and biked to work anyways.

Radar shortly after arriving at work, after the worst of it had passed.

After listening to a lot of advice offered up the online forum The Chainlink, about riding in the rain, I was prepared this morning. Over the weekend I picked up some rain pants to go with my jacket. It quickly became apparent that the jacket wasn't waterproof so much as water resistant, so my torso, but mostly my arms, were much wetter than I would have preferred. Fortunately, the new rain pants I got worked wonderfully and breathed better than I had expected. By far, the best piece of equipment I have for biking in the rain is a set of full fenders. Of course, a good headlight and taillight are unquestionably necessary.

This rain was an opportunity to put the tips and tricks I read online for riding in the rain into practice. When the roads are wet, the oil that leaks from cars onto the pavement will float to the surface and make slick spots. Since the rain had just started shortly before I left for work, this was a risk that these slicks would be prevalent. Fortunately, I saw no slicks on my way to work, and the worst thing I had to deal with was just being wetter than I would have preferred.

I feel more confident now than ever before about my efforts to bike to work.

Grocery Shopping by Bike

Since the Tour de Fat, everything has been going great! I have been biking to and from work every day  and running my errands by bike. As I bike, I learn more and more about what works for me and what doesn't, so expect to see me share those lessons learned in the future. I've also begun to tap into a wealth of knowledge and support on a Chicago based cycling forum called The Chain Link, which has proven to be a valuable resource.

Earlier today, my wife and I went grocery shopping by bike. It's been a bit longer than normal for us since we went grocery shopping, so it was a good test to see how feasible it really is.

While we did base some of our decisions on how much storage capacity we had on our bikes, we didn't skip anything we had planned on purchasing. It was a weeks worth of groceries for two people and everything still fit in four panniers across two bikes without having to squeeze anything. It felt really good to be able to run errands by bike and not have it feel forced or a bother.

A couple weeks ago, the last time I went with for the grocery shopping, I was lucky enough to see someone else doing their grocery shopping by bike. They used an old child trailer as a cargo trailer for all their groceries, giving them more than enough space and weight capacity for anything they would want to buy. Fully note: they were parked in a vehicle parking spot.

Someone grocery shopping by bike with an old child trailer for their groceries

I plan on going grocery shopping a few more times with just panniers before I really decide whether or not to get a trailer, and what type of trailer to get. I could get an old child trailer or a single wheel cargo trailer. At the moment, no rush to decide until I'm ready.

New Bike

Thanks to New Belgium's Tour de Fat, I now have a new, more reliable, commuter bike! Please allow me to introduce you to my new 2011 Fuji Cross 3.0.

2011 Fuji Cross 3.0. This photo taken before all the accessories were mounted and configured. Also, before it got dirty!

The bike is a cyclocross bike, which is like a road bike, but built to be more durable and hardy. I chose the style because the road elements allow it to be more comfortable over long distances but it should also be able to stand up to daily use.

Of course, while giving a bike away is the biggest thing you can do to get someone to bike every day, it isn't everything that's needed. They gave me $2,250 in store credit to get the bike along with whatever accessories I may need. After spending some time thinking about all the different situations I may run into, as well as talking to anyone who would give me their opinion, I think I've got a solid base of gear.

The first thing I did with the bike is to pick up fenders and a rear cargo rack. If you've never ridden in the rain without fenders, you really appreciate when you have them. Next was a solid bike lock, which I currently have mounted to the frame so it will always be with my bike in case I decide to stop somewhere while out. I am reusing my old rear red light since it works very well. For the front light, I bought a really solid model that's incredibly bright, which will come in very useful when the days get shorter and I'm biking home every day in the dark. To go with the rear rack, I ended up buying a new set of panniers which seem incredibly waterproof.

In addition to the big stuff, I also picked up some smaller, but also essential, bits of gear. The bike now has a new seat bag, which contains a spare tube and multi-tool, along with my old patch kit and tire levers. On the frame is two water bottle cages with some insulated water bottles for those long rides. I also picked up a set of SPD clipless pedals with shoes to go with them, which will also be particularly useful for long rides. The pedals are platform on one side and clipless on the other, so I can, and have, just hop on the bike for a quick trip to the grocery store.

I've mentioned several accessories that really show their value on long rides. Sometimes I like to go to other surrounding towns for various events, but sometimes those trips can cover dozens of miles. If I am replacing those drives with bike rides, I need to put some focus on efficiently and sustainability over long distances. The clipless pedals with compatible shoes and lots of water storage will help make those rides feasible.

One accessory that I have not yet purchased but that I have been considering is a cargo trailer. The style I'm looking at trails behind my rear wheel, is long, narrow, and has one wheel of it's own. It would make grocery shopping much more feasible. The cargo trailers are several hundred dollars, so it would deeply cut into the biking budget, and is not a decision to be taken lightly.

All in all, I think that I have everything I need to make this next year possible by bike.