She is exceptionally photogenic. I am not sure why, but I feel compelled to photograph her everywhere I go. She makes the world around me more beautiful.
She is exceptionally photogenic. I am not sure why, but I feel compelled to photograph her everywhere I go. She makes the world around me more beautiful.
My bike is but a few months old, and it needed to get some adjustments. I’m not used to using a double chainring and needed some help getting my derailer set right for the perfect amount of trim. I wasn’t sure how much life my stock chain had in it (turns out to be a lot!) and one of my discs had some rub.
I procrastinated for weeks, but finally got out to the bike store. The store moved to separate entrances; sales and service. While several people didn’t read the signage, it was clear and well done. It worked for the most part. Each customer had to wait in line outside until space opened up inside. Each staff person had a marked “zone” to stand in, and they kept a 1:1 ratio for staff and customers. Each staff person had to be their own cashier and checked out thier customer only. Sanitizing stations cornered the zones. They did a great job.
She is exceptionally photogenic. I am not sure why, but I feel compelled to photograph her everywhere I go. She makes the world around me more beautiful.
She is exceptionally photogenic. I am not sure why, but I feel compelled to photograph her everywhere I go. She makes the world around me more beautiful.
I’m nothing if not coordinated. It’s been my goal my whole life. Underwear match my bra? Socks match my shirt? Nails match my outfit? Everything must fit. I’ll even go through great lengths to coordinate my hair color, nails, clothes and ID badge all so everything goes. Still, it came as a great surprise do discover the addition of a 3rd bike meant instant perfect matching of water bottles to bikes! I didn’t plan it, but each bike has a perfectly coordinating bottle. It would take someone like me to notice, and appreciate such things!
I joke that it all started with a bike chain. My chain was due for replacement. I got a bike strand for Christmas. I change the chain myself. But it doesn’t sound right. So I go to the bike shop. Turns out I need a new rear cassette. I buy a new rear cassette. WHile putting on the rear cassette the mechanic notices my discs are shot. So I replace my rotors and pads. While buying rotors and pads I talk to the checkout guy about how I want to get a power meter. He looks up options. Turns out the current market of power meters are not backwards compatible enough to go as old as my white bike. I’d have to replace the whole drivetrain to do that. A brand new bike would be cheaper. So, here I am. I start out with a chain and end up with a 2020 Specialized Roubaix Sport!
This is notably the most spontaneous thing I’ve ever done. I don’t spend money easily. Buying a vanerhome felt spontaneous. It was spontaneous in that I decided which one overnight. But I’d been thinking about buy a vanerhome for 15 years before I took the plunge. This bike? It was literally all of a week from the time I installed the chain to having the new bike. I woke up Saturday morning. I decided that moment to drive down to Portland. I went to River CIty Bicycles, the shop where I bought my first Roubaix back in 2004. I took this Roubaix out on the same roads. I meanered all around the industrial areas of close-in SE. I took it on the bumpy wooden slats of the Eastbank Esplanade. It was glorious and freeing and fun. What a way to start 2020!
I feel like a mom with a new baby. I want to share all the pictures of my beautiful new baby. My baby bike!
My white bicycle is 15 years old this year, which I guess is pretty old for a bike. I remember when I got her, it was spring of 2004, probably this month. I rode a lot that summer, and got a lot of compliments on my bike. Before I bought this bike, I got a lot of guffaws and comments to the tune of, “how and why are you riding that?!” In reference to my heavy mountain bike. I assumed this is just how nice bikes got treated, but after a few years, the compliments stopped. I guess she got old. The resale value on my bike is about 5% what I bought her for. One would think it’s time I get a new bike. But my white bicycle is perfect. I gave her a bath yesterday, and she still glimmers and shines when cared for. Sure, she has dents and dings and scratches galore, but she still rides light and nimble and smooth. I still feel better on this bike than I do anywhere else. I project her taking me where I want to go for at least another 5 years without a hitch.
We cyclists are a picky bunch. I left my commuter at work last night. Really I had other things going on that made riding home inconvenient, but I prefer to blame the dangerous windstorm that fell upon Seattle. I decided to take a ride today at the last minute and because of the things left at work I didn’t have my usual gear. I didn’t have a heart rate monitor. There’s no point in riding without one (!), so I had to get out my old broken one that was too tight. I didn’t have my headband, so I wore a beanie that hit my ears such to amplify the wind noise to a frightening level. It took almost an hour to get used to it. I didn’t have my gloves, so I wore the un-padded backup pair I got in Italy. I had to grip hard due to the slick rain and slick gloves and my hands felt cramped for most of the ride. I wore a different pair of socks, just for the fun of it. They were thicker than my usual pair, but oddly enough my feet felt cold and squishy. I didn’t have my nice new prescription sunglasses. I wore an old pair that was too dark. I also felt blind without prescription lenses. I didn’t have my usual water bottles, so I had to use some backups that are harder to open and get water out of. They paired terribly with the gloves, which were slick. I simply couldn’t get a drink with the bottle and glove combo. I got used to all of these changes by the end of the ride, but it took some time. It chuckled to myself. I do the same ride with the same trusty gear so often every nuanced difference stands out. Somehow I survived. Somehow I got to enjoy the majestic views allowed by the clear sky. Somehow I got so soak in the sunshine and fresh air. I know, it’s rough doing the best most fun thing ever.
Spotted: gigantic geese, goats, a very stern and tiny dog, friendly couples taking walks and wishing us “Merry Christmas!,” people hollering “Merry Christmas” out of their cars, tons of fallen debris from last night’s storm, a Santa scarecrow perched on a bench on the side of the road, a large house with a sprawling front yard and what appeared to be 40 or so larger-than-life inflatable holiday decorations.
The Nutcase Brain Bell earns 3 bikes
If you know me, you know my long-time obsession with brains. How could I pass up a brain bell in the store? That's right, I couldn't. This bell has a pleasant chime and is fun to use. It's loud, but not too aggressive. I only award it 3 bikes because it is not passing the test of time very well. This bell has been the brains of my commuter for about 4 years now. It started sticking; meaning I can't get it to chime when I want it to. Then, it will ding randomly, sometimes embarrassingly. It dings nearly every time I go over a speed bump, but I still struggle getting the trigger to wiggle when I am trying to pass a fellow cyclist. But, that's ok. It's not too often I actually pass anyone!
Vastly opposing ride experiences cycled back and forth during today's ride. I'd ride on quaint, smooth and quiet roads with fast and long descents, chirping birds, interesting houses, and the bluest ocean views you've ever seen. Then I'd turn onto steep highways, bumper-to-bumper with rushed cars spitting dirt and oil on my legs and nary a shoulder to ride on. The contrast was jilting, and gave me chance to ponder the many things in the world that are more beautiful because of the ugliness that surrounds them.
I spent some time the other day reading through past ride blogs. I used to list ride stats at the end of each entry. That sort of went away once MapMyRide and Strava started tracking all the stats for me. Still, they were fun enough to read that I decided to bring them back. I'll just include the bits apps don't catch:
Hotshot tail light earns a solid 4 bike score
This HOTSHOT USB Rechargeable 2 Watt light was a gift for me a few years ago. Since I commute in the dreary year-long gray of Seattle every day, strong lighting is key to my safety. This light does a great job. The battery lasts a long time for the moderate price of the light. It's USB-charged so the LEDs don't dim as time wears on. There are a variety of light options, but I find only a couple of them best to be easily seen without being annoying. Sometimes I accidentally change the light pattern when I am turning the light off, but it's easy to leave it at whatever pattern seems right.
I've been riding with it for years and the battery is still holding out. It is easy to remove for charging, but doesn't ever fall off the bike (yes, this has been a problem with other lights!).
The light has 2 flaws; it requires a micro-USB charge so it's not so convenient to charge out of the home. It also doesn't give me any warning that the battery is running low. I know it says it has a low batt indicator, but the light is behind me and to be honest I've never noticed it. I keep a cheaper light just below it for redundancy. If it dies, I still have something to keep me visible until I get home. I actually have 2 additional lights, however I usually use one of the 2nd lights along with this one, just to add dimension to my silhouette. If I get the "feeling" that this light will die soon, I turn all 3 on just in case. Overall, I've been very happy with the simple lasting durability of this light. I would easily buy it again.
Schwalbe Marathon Plus HS 440 Road Bike Tire earned a 4-bike score. It's not the tire for me, but it is certainly bombproof.
I wore the stock tire that came with my commuter bare, and I desperately needed it replaced. The existing tire was unridable, and I couldn't bear to take the bus to work. So, I decided to order one online. I researched tires, asked questions, visited forums. The 2 best reviewed and most popular commuter tires were the Continental Gatorskin and Schwalbe Marathon. I commuted on Gatorskins in Portland. They rode fine, but I felt like trying something different, so I ordered the Schwalbe.
This is a time where buying from brick and mortar would have been better. The tire arrived in a GIANT box. It didn't occur to me that I could mail-order a non-foldable tire. I should know better. The thing also weighs a ton. I mean, it's really heavy. I feel like this tire completely changed my bike from a nimble road bike to a heavy, lumbering beast. That's what it feels like when I ride my commuter now, a beast. Sure, sure, it hasn't had a single flat yet. Sure, it holds it's 100psi tire pressure for weeks without wavering. Sure, it has a cool reflective stripe all the way around the tire. Yeah, OK, it's a great tire. It's my own fault for not noticing that it was a BEAST. I can't fault it for that, right? But, yeah, I won't buy another one. I'd happily take a few flats a year to not feel like SUCH A BEAST!
Garmin Vivoactive HR scores 3 bikes out of 5.
My beloved Pebble watch started to die shortly before the company was destroyed by one of its greedy investors. I had planned to replace it with a new Pebble, seeing as this watch/piece of wearable tech was one of my all-time favorite devices. I couldn't believe the company ended just like that. It was the business story of horrors. Here I was, with an amazing device I loved, that became increasingly unusable every day. The screen started to pixelate and garble. Apparently this was the one flaws of pebbles, something that eventually happened to all of them. I felt pretty lucky, since mine lasted years longer than my boyfriend's. Still. Time to get a new device.
I spent hours upon hours reading reviews online, comparing features, and looking as devices in stores. I settled on a Garmin Vivoactive HR, in hopes to offset the expense of the device by having it serve as a watch and bike computer in one. From everything I read, the device's one flaw was inaccuracies with it's sleep tracking, which wasn't a concern for me. Sleep tracking was the one thing I didn't care to venture into.
I started writing a review for this watch when it was still new. I'm glad I waited over a year to finally publish it, as my feelings for it have warmed with time. It seems to work a little bit better with every update. I've had a lot of issues with this watch. I'll start by pointing out that I generated 17 threads thus far on the Garmin forum, trying to understand inconsistencies with this watch that haven't been addressed on the web. For instance, buttons on different windows respond differently. The two physical buttons on the bottom of the screen do the exact same thing with every window except one, the "review workout window." On all other windows the left button is a back/exit and the right a forward/toggle. For some reason the review workout screen, they do nothing. The touchscreen is also variable. For example, on the "review workout" touchscreen, the "no" option cannot be selected. Other users agree with my observations, but in over a year no one can explain why they are like this.
It has several other weird inconsistencies. If I use the "live track" option when recording a workout, the device won't sync to the app on my phone afterwards. If I am lucky, I can sync just by turning off live track and restarting both the device and my phone. If I am not lucky, I have to unpair the watch, restore it to factory settings, turn it off, clear app cache and data on the phone, uninstall the app, restart the phone, and then reinstall and pair the two devices all over again. Pairing the watch to my phone used to be a complicated dance that often took hours on hours of attempts until it would finally, randomly, connect. Luckily, I haven't had this issue for several months now. I imagine these annoyances might just as much be due to my phone as the device.
Still, the Garmin software itself seems bizarre. The Garmin Connect app for the desktop needs to be updated almost daily. Frequent updates are par for the course these days with phone apps, but not so much with desktop apps. It's annoying to have an update for Garmin every time I try to use my computer at home. The mobile app is the most fun to use out of the whole Garmin experience, although it's strange to me why Garmin Connect online is inconsistent with the mobile app. Take a look at the 2 calendars below. They are both for the time period, but I can see all sorts of daily data on mobile. Is there any reason Garmin opted to not have all this juicy, colorful data viewable from a desktop browser? I'll never know.
My biggest gripes with the watch are it's functional inconsistencies. One day it stops syncing, the next day it unpairs. I used to have to go to the watch, Garmin Connect Online, Garmin Connect Mobile, and Garmin Express all at the same time to disable my "move bar". Then, the second I have to reset any settings, which is frequently because all of the software is so buggy, the move bar enables again. And don't even get me started with this move bar!
“The red bar on the epix, fenix 3, Forerunner 920XT, vivoactive, vivofit, and vivofit 2 is referred to as the Move Bar. The bar will be displayed after one hour of inactivity. This bar builds in length the longer you are inactive. The first red bar equals one hour of inactivity. Each additional bar equals 15 minutes of inactivity.”
There is all this data out there indicating that just moving a little bit, but frequently and throughout the day, is healthier than being highly active for long periods of time paired with long periods of inactivity. So, I get the intent of the move bar. Apparently, people need to be reminded to get up and move around. Me, I have the opposite problem. There are often times when I need to concentrate, or at a minimum, focus on one thing for a even a short period of time. That's great if I can move around while doing so. Our culture is a sitting one though, and I really struggle staying put. This makes the move bar all the more annoying. First off, the move bar doesn't adjust to any other activity you do. I could have just ridden 100 miles on my bike, which takes me several hours. I could be home, taking a shower, getting dressed and eating some food (things the move bar timer doesn't sense). The move bar can vibrate before I even get a rest. However, the move bar is most frustrating when it vibrates when I am sitting and have little choice about it. The move bar goes off when I am in the dentist chair, at the theatre, sitting in traffic, stuck in a meeting, on an airplane with the seatbelt light on, and all the other times when taking walk would be quite welcome, but quite inconvenient. I hate the reminder. It's not for me. I don't need it and I don't care about walking or "steps" or whatever the trend is these days. I wish it were less of a hassle for me to clear. It's bad enough there there is no watch face that doesn't include the red move bar line into it's design. I just don't care.
One true problem is the hardware's temperature sensitivity. The unit is rated to work in conditions to -4, but mine can't handle temps below 10 or 15 degrees. The screen freezes and the devices stops tracking. Once the device continued to track with the screen froze, but I lost all my data the 5 other times I skied in cold weather this year, even though I had the device tucked in a pocket where I hoped it would stay warm.
Now, you might be wondering why I gave it a 3 bike rating with all these complaints. It's a buggy, annoying piece of technology, sure, but it's also pretty fun. I have always been fascinated with tracking my own activity. Garmin does this well. Garmin tracks what I want to track better than any other competitor I've seen. Nearly every wearable tracker these days is step-based. Since my activities are cycling, skiing, and gym-based, step counters counter my activity. Garmin tracks what I want; distance, elevation, speed, weather, heart rate, maps and more. The newer software interface is colorful, fun to look at, and motivating.
Take a look at some of the images below. It is really gratifying to see data like "you've logged more cycling activities than 99% of other users (all ages, male and female). Who knows how many commuters use Garmins, but it feels like a nice pat on the back regardless. I also get to see a super low resting heart rate, and it helps me to feel healthy and strong. I enjoy how the new interface gives you a snapshot of the day or the week. I enjoy the graphs of various attributes over time. The Pebble is a better piece of hardware, but I never had so much juicy sports data as I do now.
The Vivoactive has a great battery life for my level of use. It lasts almost a week for my typical activities, a couple of days when I am riding for hours on end. Not only that, it charges very quickly. It charges fully in about an hour. If I wake up in the morning and notice I let the battery die, I can charge a couple of day's worth in the few minutes it takes me to get dressed. Syncing with My Fitness Pal, Strava, and MapMyRide has been flawless. I get awesome videos from Relive, too. Relive pulls data from Strava, which uses data from Garmin.
And I trust my data. I can't say if the "calories burned" data is at all accurate, but it is consistent and predictable at this point. I burn about 300 calories commuting to work in one direction. I burn anywhere from 350 to 550 calories taking a boxing class, and the burn is consistent with my perceived effort. The heart rate tracking seems true. The wrist monitor is consistent, and tracks continuously. It also tracks a low heart rate, something my old monitors couldn't do. My older Polar, Suunto, and Sigma tended to lose connection when my heart rate dropped below 60. What it can't do is manage sudden surges in heart rate. When I am biking to work, I can see the wrist monitor under report when I suddenly put out a big effort. Compared to commutes when wearing the watch with a chest strap, the wrist monitor seems to lose accuracy above 130. When my heart is pounding at 160bpm or above, it may report a 40 or 50 reading. At least the inaccuracies are easy to spot. I don't mind this, as it's know that wrist monitors do a better job tracking the heart rate at rest anyway.
I went on a couple of ski trips with other people who had other Garmin GPS devices. While the devices never agreed, they were consistently close within a couple hundred feet, both in distance and elevation. One device would tend to rate the elevation higher than me, so while neither were probably perfectly correct, they all seemed consistent.
This watch has been a hassle, but the activity tracking is fantastic. It works as a bike computer, too. I just strap it on the handlebars like it's a bike and pedal on. Overall, I am glad I made the purchase, but I am going to do a lot of research before I'd buy one again.
I recently purchased my first activity tracker, or fitness wearable, or whatever you call this trendy market of tech gadgets. I now track my heart rate 24/7. Interestingly, the watch gave me a resting heart rate much higher than the last time I measured it. This measurement I took months ago came out in the low 50's. And for the first few weeks I wore the watch, it measured me nearly as 60. In the past two weeks, my activity level has jumped up to "normal levels." I was relatively sedentary in February. Oddly enough, the watch calculates my resting heart rate now to be a bit lower, at 57. I am not sure if the training effect takes place that quickly, or if the watch is just "learning" me more. There is a training effect where the resting heart rate drops with increasing fitness levels, so resting heart rate can be a good indicator of fitness.
Maybe I am getting healthier, maybe I was pretty healthy all along, either way, I am happy to see, (that according to some random chart I pulled off the internet) I still score as an "athlete". So, that's cool. I do feel like my cardiovascular system is pretty strong. And I still get out of breath every time I climb a flight of stairs! The part of myfitness I need to improve is my strength, I am still below average in many scores there. Luckily, I have at least one thing down pretty good!
I got a nifty bike-themed Christmas gift this year- a picture frame that's a bike chain. How cool is that? I decided to display it prominently on my wall of bike ride memorabilia. Yeah, I really have gone on so many organized rides that the dowel is bowing from the weight of it all. Yikes! It’s a pretty fun frame. I put the picture of me, my uncle, and his friends from the MS Bike in Pittsburgh inside.
I researched online the best tire to get fory road experience. I wanted a tire designed to last a long time that at the same time wasn't so heavy so as to slow me down. I wanted a fast tire, but I also wanted grip. I longed for that tire (why didn't I keep records of what I'd purchased over the years?!) I bought back in '08 that felt like I could tilt 45 degrees to the ground and still feel stable. I confidentially took turns and descents at top speed. I have no idea what that tire was. My most recent two tires felt unstable. The best word to describe the feel was "squirley". I just never felt confident of their grip.
Without too much lamenting, I opted for the all-around favorite, the Continental Grand Prix 4000s. They seemed to easily be the most popular road tire. All around, riders felt like they had the best ratios for value/durability/flat resistance/speed "rolling resistance"/ feel.
I paid a good $20 more per tire buying them at a local bike shop instwad of buying the online. It seemed like an excessive difference in charge. I mentioned the price difference to the salespeople in the store, and they didn't make much effort to try to bring themselves up. The guy merely cast his glance down and said, "yeah, we can't compete." The store is doing well, they just opened a new, upgraded storefront, but clearly not from tire sales. Anyway, I'm glad to have had the option to pay the extra amount. These tires are already insanely expensive (about what I'd pay for a car tire) so I might as well help a local store out while I am at it.
The ride is nice, zippy, familiar. I haven't felt invincible on them, but so far I like them a lot better than my last tire. Zippy is the best word to describe the feel of these tires. I like it.
*This post is actually from last summer. I forgot to post it. The tires are still mostly "new" so I think the post is still relavant.
http://www.bicycling.com/culture/advocacy/2014-readers-choice-poll
I need to get updated reader statistics. I imagine since cycling has grown in popularity since 2014, these stats have probably changed. Still, these stats are fun to reflect on.
I am one of the 26% of women having been hit by a car while cycling. I've been nipped several times, but the only full-frontal car ramming right into me was at a 4-way stop. The teen age driver made eye contact with me and continued to drive right into me. She gushed with apology, saying she was just tired. I am incredibly fortunate that she chose to be tired at a 4-way stop and made a full stop while there.
I am also one of the 10% of women to have received a traffic ticket while on a ride. This is a hilarious story. Again, 4-way stop. The only other car in the intersection was a cop car who was doodling at something. When he didn't go, we proceeded across the intersection and he ticketed us. I wrote a letter contesting the $80 ticket and it was revoked. My friend on the ride forgot about the ticket and ended up having to pay upwards of $300 for not paying the ticket on time.
I have never broken a bone while riding.
I am one of the 9% people who have more than one bike stolen. Neither bike was valuable. However, the first bike stolen from me happened the night before my first midterm in college, so I had to content with getting to the test on time without a bike I thought I had. It was locked inside a secure shed, which goes to show you never can be too safe. The second bike was stored inside a key code-entry garage, but was not locked and had 2 flat tires and some broken gearing.
I am a little surpised I tend to be of the minority in these stats.
http://www.bicycling.com/culture/advocacy/2014-readers-choice-poll
This fun infographic from Bicycling magazine is from 2014. I bought a new commuter bike in 2012. I started shopping for a "commuter" in 2010. I got one off of Craigslist, but it wasn't the bike I wanted. I wanted a road bike with disc brakes. At the time, I lived on the top of Council Crest, I steep hill near downtown Portland. I needed a good set of brakes to go anywhere on my bike.
I shopped and shopped. It didn't seem like an impossible request. And yet, it was hard to find. I ended up getting a Redline, a bike made in Seattle that got bought out by another company and no longer exists. It's a great bike, but probably not what I would have picked had there been more choice. Fast forward a couple of years and its hard to find new road bikes that DON'T have disc brakes! I was just slightly ahead of the trend. If I wanted to buy a commuter now, it would be a breeze.
I thought the following description from intheknowcycling was fascinating. I am not alone! It pretty much describes me perfectly, with a few exceptions. Pace-wise, I average in the mid teens instead of the high teens. While the amount I've spent on my bike, including upgrades and gear reaches the low-end of what enthusiasts pay for their bikes, my bike itself doesn't come to that amount. Perhaps this implies if I upgraded I'd go faster, but I doubt it. Obviously, I am in the "growing women" category, but I probably even out my majority status as I'm of the 1/3 who's been hit by a car. I'm surprised about half of the enthusiasts ride on trainers. Maybe I should get one?
Check it out:
Road cycling enthusiasts are serious, committed and regular riders who rack up between 2,000 to 5,000 miles (3,000-7,000 kilometers) a year. We ride on flat, rolling and mountainous terrain and do interval, strength and endurance training. We will generally be on our bikes 4-6 days a week outdoors in decent weather. In lousy weather, about half of us will ride on a trainer. Some will still ride outside and the rest will sleep in. We ride on our own, with regular partners, and in group rides.
During the year, we’ll normally ride for the pure love of it and for the way it energizes us (and reduces stress). Some of us will also add in a few races, club rides, centuries, gran fondos, sportives or charity events to motivate our riding and measure ourselves. As a road cycling enthusiast, we average speeds in the high teens to low twenties (mph) or 28 to 35kph over the course of a typical 35 to 50 mile or 50 to 80km ride, depending on terrain, conditions, fitness and training objectives.
About a third of us have been hit by a car and one in eight have broken a collarbone riding. (Yes and yes). And, of course, we enjoy a beer or two every now and then.
Most cycling enthusiasts will have modern composite bikes or high-end alloy or titanium ones that cost us typically between $2500/£2000/€2500 and $5000/£4000/€5000 to buy or build. Some of us spend more, some much, much more. We use electronics and apps that allow us to track and analyze distance, speed, cadence, heart rate, and for many, power.
Most of us are men though a growing number are women. We weigh between 150 and 200lbs (68 to 90kgs), are pretty fit and use cycling to help stay or get there. Yes, we’re probably a little vain and selfish with the clothing we wear and the time (and money) we spend on cycling.
We’re also dedicated to our cycling to the point where most of our family and friends know that riding is something we do and for some, do a lot of. When it comes to cycling and buying bike gear, many of us do a lot of research and are analytical, often overly so and that’s part of the fun of it.
