What the heck is #Coffeeneuring??

I freaking love Twitter.

I love all social media, to be honest. I'm a talky person (I am sure you're shocked to learn this) and I love projects and sharing information with people who think about the same kinds of things. My Facebook group of friends is diverse and wonderful, but it's through Twitter that I can really explore my feelings and experiences with money management, simple living, decluttering, and bicycles.

And so, through Twitter, I found Mary G. of @coffeeneur. I mentioned her in last week's post. She started this fantastic DC-based project called "coffeeneuring" after reading about it online (another person started the term; but it is my understanding that Mary is the one who really ran with it). There are something like 19 rules, but they boil down to these essentials:

1. Within a fairly short period of time (around 8 weeks?), visit 7 coffee shops.
2. They must be different coffee shops.
3. You must ride your bicycle.
4. The total (round-trip) ride must exceed 2 miles.
5. You must take a photo of your drink, which must be coffee, tea, hot cocoa, or cider.
6. The rides must take place on a Saturday or Sunday, some holidays, or your days off, but shall not exceed two per week.

Here are all the rules.

She sets it up as a challenge, and if you send photographic evidence and a brief description of your experience and the length of your route, you get something as a prize. I don't know what the something is, but I seized upon this as an opportunity to keep riding as the days shorten and as I evaluate my bike commute's place in shorter, colder days (remember, I'm pretty new to this, and still figuring all of this out).

I joined halfway through the challenge, and so must ride every single available weekend day between now and Sunday, November 17, in order to complete the challenge and win. So as soon as we returned from a family trip to the Lake of the Ozarks, I hopped on Fleur, and we moseyed to St. Louis Bread Co (mostly because I was sure it would be open on a Sunday evening), arriving home just as the light had started to fade. 

 It was a great experience! I timed myself through MapMyRide, which is one of my favorite apps. The time shown includes my time at the coffee shop. 

Shop 1 of 7.

Total (round-trip) route: 5.3 miles. 

My drink was a venti chai tea latte.

The best part about my ride was: powering up a hill I had to walk up last time. Also, this tiny older gentleman spent about 45 seconds ogling my bike when he left the shop, and Fleur was totally flattered.

The worst part about my ride was: powering up a hill I had to walk up last time. I also forgot to get one of those stick-in-the-coffee-hole plastic doohickeys, and my yellow purse is now pretty dirty. My suede wedges also need to be clean, and so does Fleur's front basket. Will have to address these things before Saturday's ride...

I sure hope to complete the challenge. I am a total project-addict (did I mention that already?) and next month will be a busy one. I've just come off a minimalist game, where I decluttered one thing for each day # of the month (1 thing day 1, 31 things day 31) for a total of 496 items purged. I need to get the donate-able/sellable/specially-recyclable stuff to the right places and reclaim my dining room because tomorrow is also the start of NaNoWriMo! This writing project will be eating my life alive for the next 30 days so my posting and riding will probably reflect it, though I picked up coffeeneuring specifically with the idea that I could ride to a coffee shop with the computer and write for a nice block of time while maintaining interests outside of crazy-frantic-novel-writing.

If this intrigues you , by all means try it out, just for fun, and if you're on Twitter, follow Mary and "compete" the next time there's a challenge! 

Cheers and happy riding!

Random Thoughts and Busy Days

Holy busy days, Batman.

I have a million things I could have written for this post, but no time in which to write. Weekend travel, Thursday rehearsals, and busy-ness at work are conspiring against me, but such is the slide into the holidays -- somehow it affects everything, n'est-ce pas?

Light riding week for me, but big week for bike news. This past weekend I went to Kansas City to visit family and had the chance to get back on the mountain bike, on which I did a nice little 5mi street-and-trail ride that made me think more favorably about the suburbs than I usually do. My brother lives about as close to a lovely little trail as I do to Grant's trail, but his trail was empty. Seriously, in five miles, I think we saw four people. For better or worse, I can hardly get over 5mph on some stretches of Grant's (especially by the farm) because people love to use the trails and parks in St. Louis. To be clear, I'm not complaining. Use means we're more likely to get MORE TRAILS, rather than face resistance to our requests for this sort of infrastructure.

I also picked up my mom's old 1970s Motobecane 10-speed, which is in surprisingly good shape for a bicycle that has been hanging out in a garage attic for decades. No rust, some scratches and missing paint (my brother and I are almost certainly responsible for this during our adolescence), gorgeous brazed joints and badging, and new tubes, tires, and brake pads thanks to my handy brother. I love the look of the gumwalls he picked. Good brother. :)

So, here's my complete stable:

I have names for each of them.
UPPER: The Radish
MIDDLE: Julek
BOTTOM: Fleur

Julek is a dude. Mostly because he told me so.

Ten-speed derailleur (2+5) w/downtube shifting
21-speed derailleur (3+7) w/thumb shifter
Three-speed internal (1+3) w/grip shifter

The 10-speed needs: wheel to be trued, spokes to be tightened, brackets to be checked. 

The MTB needs - surprisingly little, but I found a tiny crack in in one the mounting spots on the Rock Shox. Does anyone know if this is a big deal? My brother didn't think so. I know I have the original fork if they are shot, but would probably need to repurchase the appropriate headset to swap them. 

The Linus might benefit from different or additional gears. I'm totally on the fence about whether to mess with her at this point.

I plan to add, at a minimum, kickstands to The Radish and Julek, and to swap a single-footed kickstand to a double-footed one for Fleur, since she's my basketed friend. I'd like to get fenders and small rear racks for the 10-speed and MTB; the 10speed has an eyelet on her rear-wheel that makes me think this was contemplated from the start. KISMET, I TELL YOU.

In stable news, Bikes For the Rest of Us, a great bicycle resource blog with numerous reviews and multiple contributors, featured my stable on its website. They are looking for stories about your bike(s) and why you chose it/them. Please find them if you wish to contribute. 

Out of town this weekend, but I'll end this on a caffeinated note: I recently started following @coffeeneur (Chasing Mailboxes, otherwise known as Mary G) on Twitter, and she (of the DC area) talked me into participating in a "coffeeneuring" challenge, which at this point, boils down to riding my bike at least 2mi round trip to get a cup of coffee and nibble at a local coffee shop SEVEN distinct times on SEVEN distinct weekend (non-work) days before 11/17. Which means, coffee Sunday, Nov 2, Nov 3, Nov 9, Nov 10, Nov 16, and Nov 17 to "win". More info here if you'd like to join up, but with one of the few remaining weekends upon us, time is of the essence. 

Finally, I just received this AMAZING bumper sticker for my car (designed by Elly Blue, of Everyday Bicycling, Bikenomics, and Taking the Lane). If I can find 32 seconds, it's so going on that 4-wheeled thingamajig I also use to get around.

Cheers and happy riding! xx

Night Rider & New Helmet

A couple of things sparked this post:

1. I bought a new helmet, and right after I bought the new helmet, I received a comment reply from a Trisha at LGRAB (on her post about her Carrera folding helmet) asking about my experience with the Yakkay helmet I bought earlier this summer. So I thought I'd share my thoughts about the helmets I currently have.

2. Biking at night is something that seems totally normal and totally terrifying to me, all at the same time. So let's talk about that, since I could avoid it pretty easily from May until now, but HEY WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF SUNSHINE.


"I have no lid upon my head, but if I did, you could look inside and see what's on my mind..."
-Dave Matthews Band

I currently own three helmets.

A 2006 Giro something-or-other that was the least-offensive-option when I started riding my mountain bike again to cross-train (I needed something to compliment the running I'd just discovered). This helmet is US-certified. It has vents, but I find it tight and hot when I wear it in the summer, and it dents my forehead unless I wear it with a bandanna, and then I have to remove a pad so it isn't too tight. I paid about $50 for it, new. It looks like this when I wear it:

A 2010 Yakkay Smart One which I bought secondhand via Amazon, because the suckers are expensive. ($80 I think for a new helmet and $60 for covers?) It is EU-certified but not US certified, and I think I know why; more on that in the reviews. There is a Smart TWO which is available for sale in the US. The primary difference between the two (from what I can gather) is that my helmet has a fabric strap to secure the helmet at the base/back of head; the Two has wires that dial for tightness. It looks like this when I wear it without a cover (most of the time in the summer; details in the review):

(I don't have a photo yet with the cover on, because I've only used it once; the helmet is theoretically safer without it, among other benefits when it is warm outside, and I'm certainly not just wearing the damned thing to look cool.)

And the newest member of the brain bucket club, my 2013 Nutcase. I have wanted a secure, adjustable-size helmet and kept coming back to the nutcases. I like their patterns, and unlike the Giro Surface, which made me look like this, I  think this one suits my narrow face a little better. This is what I look like when I wear my new Nutcase:

I took this last night after I got home from a rehearsal (the reason the chin strap is released). It was blurry enough that it looked dumb in color, so I made it B&W. This is what the helmet looks like in real life; the design is called Mellow Swirl, which is totally weird, but whatever. 

So, my thoughts about these helmets. There are good and bad things about all of them. I may keep all three or let one go. I don't object to having multiple helmets if they all serve me well, but I don't need every surface of my home covered with bike-related goodies, either. I welcome thoughts, experiences, feedback (about these helmets, other helmets, and how many helmets - whatever).

The Giro is secure, and pretty comfortable, though it's snug. As mentioned, I must remove the front pad to fit a freaking handkerchief under the helmet, and it gives me a head dent when I remove the helmet, even after just 20 minutes. And if it's warm, that means I have a head-dent for like half an hour. Not my favorite look. It's vented, and it is very light, so it's a pretty good summer helmet. But it gets very warm when the temps inch upwards above 70 or so, largely because the pads are continuous enough that even if air can get into the helmet, it doesn't move around much to cool you down. Also, it's the most aggressive/racy/MTB-type helmet I have, and I don't feel very feminine in it, which matters to me. I'm also concerned that, at 7 years old, the foam may be past its prime. That said, the helmet lives inside in a temp-controlled home, so it's not like it has had to suffer the ravages of sun and ice or anything. I welcome any feedback about whether the age alone is enough reason to part with the Giro, or whether you'd hold onto it.

The Yakkay is very light-weight, and the most minimalist/stylist. It's also a champ when it comes to ventilation, which I did not expect. At all. Here's why it works. The half-bowling ball style has four perfect circle holes on the top of the helmet. Instead of linear pads inside, the Yakkay features fairly stiff circular pads, which aren't very soft, but which hold the helmet just a bit away from your scalp. Air can -- and does -- flow between the helmet and your head. I still sweat -- heavens knows I would sweat riding in the summer without a helmet -- but I can feel a breeze! And that's pretty awesome. HOWEVER, the helmet does NOT feel particularly secure, and, in fact, slides back on my head. The lovely mid-forehead position it enjoys in my photo, above? Only stays that way when I wear the handkerchief. Otherwise, it slides back on my noggin. And this bothers me tremendously. I don't know, but suspect, that the more rigid Yakkay Smart Two's back-of-the-head fit system helps prevent this better than the strap. But it occurs to me that if I were to get into a bikey accident and need it, the helmet may not do for me what I need it to do. This is also due, I'm sure, to chin-strap slippage, which seems to be aggravated with this helmet. So, take that as you will. I'm thinking about ditching the Smart One in favor of the Two if I can try it on first and if it feels more secure. But only if I can try it first. Too expensive to guess. (The "hat" covers fit both models.)

The Nutcase is new, and my feelings about it will surely develop into more profound thoughts over time, but here's what I think so far: (a) it fits like it was made for my head. Given my issues with the first and second helmet, this is lovely. (b) the padding is so soft. So. soft. (c) it's adorable. (d) I can already tell that if it's over 65 degrees my brain will melt. So far, the fact that it will clearly be warm is the only meaningful downside. I sort of think it's just another reason to move to Portland, OR (with milder summers and winters), but hey. I tend to think most things are reasons to move to Portland (I love it there).

Michael Knight: I need ya buddy!

KITT: Right away Michael.

-Knight Rider

Now, a quick little bit about riding at night. 

I'm just starting to get into night riding. I'm largely embracing it because autumn is upon us and the light is waning...even with extended daylight savings time. So while I've been able to avoid it for the most part by focusing on riding my bicycle to work or other daytime activities, it's closing on in the time that night will fall before I can get my rumpus out of the office, and long before I pull my bicycle into my driveway at home. 

I have ridden after dark a handful of times since I started riding again last spring. Once to a happy hour 2 miles from my home in the same suburban area as my home, which ran from 8-10pm (I had a single beer and an appetizer, and it was about 90 degrees outside). Twice to my evening rehearsals (also 2 miles away, same suburban area), and twice to meetings, which started while it was still light out and weren't totally dark when I was heading home. There was one occasion a couple of weeks ago when I was late at work finishing a project and was about 30 seconds from needing my lights when I pulled onto my street. In every instance, I was, ultimately, safe and pretty comfortable. That said, here's what I've gathered from my experiences so far.

1. I am so glad I purchased really really really bright, high-quality lights. Mine are by Serfas, and I talk about them here. They were about $150, so you bet I take them off my bike when I park it out of my sight. If I am locking my bike to something, the lights are coming with me, thatstheendofthestorythanks. This is what they look like when they are on my bicycle at night:

The back (red) light blinks, and attaches by a neato little bungee. The only complaint I have is that the bungee is wholly detachable, and I lost one at the supermarket a hot minute after I purchased the lights. I'll have to look into a replacement, just in case. But it means I can attach my light to my bike rack, my seat post, or just about anything else I can wrap it around. The light has several settings: high-steady, mid-steady, low-steady, high-blink, low-blink.  

The front (white) light is nearly as bright as my husband's Maglite. It is fantastic! It has several brightness settings, as well as a blinking option, which I endeavor only to use at dusk, because it's too intense (for me AND drivers) when it's truly dark. Then I use a steady beam on the front of the bicycle.  You can get a sense of how bright the beam is on the high setting in my photo. It's resulted in a complete white-out of the top of the plant on my porch and part of the exterior wall of the house. I can see the road in front of me pretty well, as well as obstacles and objects, and people can see me coming. When it is angled slightly at the ground, my front basket is SUPER shiny, and I can see the road, signs ahead of me are illuminated, and even some leaves above my head are a bit illuminated. I try to aim it down just a bit so it's not obnoxiously bright in someone's eyes while they are driving. I'm nice like that.

This is what my sleepy neighborhood looks like when I ride at night:

Dead. All the people were inside and silent. Seriously. In two miles, I saw one car. Which brings me to my next point: yay for only seeing one car. Seriously.

I live in a very safe part of the county, and while quiet back streets are always worth paying extra attention to, they are not scary where I live. This was my first time taking my quieter route home after dark; in past evening rides, I favored the more brightly-lit main streets (nothing arterial, but in each mile-long stretch, I probably get passed a dozen times by cars, even at 10pm on a Thursday; more if it is earlier). And here's the thing; I don't like getting passed by cars when I am riding at night. Hate it. It's so much harder to confirm they see you and are giving you enough room when they pass, and in one of my rides in my idyllic suburban setting, a huge-ass Suburban hollered at me, honked and scared the snot out of me, which really put me off night riding. I was actually pretty anxious before starting this ride, and decided I preferred the quieter side streets... and it was better. I don't know if your part of the city or county will be as safe on side streets, but it's something to consider. I was passed by one car on the way home. One. Single. Car.

Still, I rode faster than I do during the day. There isn't a lot to see, but there are a few streetlamps, as you can tell from my photo. It was so quiet, and quite chilly, and my 20-minute ride took just fourteen minutes on the way home. I stood up on the hills and kept my butt in a productive gear. I consider it my cardio for the day, too. All in all, I don't know that I'll avoid night riding, and I may make it a goal to test my fears in this safer setting, but it's not my preferred time to ride, just like it's not my preferred time to run. Maybe my small & female instinct is just too strong, and I'm not sure I want to totally quiet that voice, because she probably keeps me safe from time to time.

Cheers and happy riding!

xx

Re-Routing

You guys, I just fixed almost everything that frustrated me about my work commute by changing my route just a little bit.

1. It's a full half-mile shorter, because it's more direct (less meandering). 
2. There's a bike lane for part of my ride now! A real, on-street, clean-and-smooth bike lane!
3. I LOVE REAL BIKE LANES.
4. Not as fond of sharrows.
5. Especially when the sharrows are in the door zone.
6. Or worse, in the parking lane.
7. We need more bike lanes.
8. Though it is FAR from perfect, the .6 miles of sidewalk on the busiest street is preferable to having cars zip around me at 35+ mph. 
9.  And by far from perfect, I mean:
• The sidewalk is about two feet wide.
• There are pedestrians, including pedestrians with dogs on the sidewalk.
• They (pedestrians) are going both directions.
• On this tiny sidewalk.
• Because I'm polite and practical, I dismount and let them pass.
• When there aren't pedestrians, there are telephone poles. 
• Telephone poles smack dab in the middle of the two-foot-wide sidewalk.
• And a street sign for work that isn't being done.
• Blocking. the. entire. friggin'. sidewalk.
10. My new route has much fewer crazy hills. 
11. This is life-changing.
12. For the first time since I have started biking to work (I've biked to work about 7-8 times now? Not enough, because it was too easy to talk myself out of a commute I wasn't enjoying), I'm ecstatic, have full-on "bikey face", and can't wait to ride to work more often. 

I consider this a MAJOR coup.

In bike event news, the Arch Women's last brown-bag luncheon for 2013 is next Wednesday, October 16, 2013 from 12-1pm at the Railway Exchange Building on the 12th floor in the lobby. Topic: bike laws! No luncheons in November and December in anticipation of the crazy holiday season. For specifics, click here!

Scenes from my ride in this morning:

Bike Lane! Yay!

Quiet side-streets.

Bike Path.

Sharrow!

Streets of downtown Clayton, MO.

Totally sweaty and gross, right? Nah.

Make it Work: Trek Mountain Bike

Happy Friday, friends! 

Let's go on a virtual bikey shopping-spree, shall we?

Today, I want to talk about my moutain bike. I worked in a bicycle shop in my hometown when I was in high school, when mountain bikes were the thing. As I mentioned in my initial post, I cycled (heh) through a few mountain bikes due to bike theft (my hometown is kind of steal-y about these things, though my second MTB was actually stolen from the flat we were staying in in London for the summer in 1995). While I was working at the shop, I purchased an alumnium-frame Trek 8000, then upgraded the fork to Shox. It has its original tires. My bike looks like this, except for the headset and Shox:

Photo Source

It's a gorgeous bicycle, and I love the color scheme - loved it in 1996 and love it today (charcoal and yellow are a fab pairing). I also have a yellow bottle cage. That said, I wouldn't mind it getting a slightly more sophisticated style. I'd ideally like to make the following modifications (not in order of preference):

1. Upgraded saddle - The current saddle is not comfortable and the gel cover I have over it shifts and doesn't help much. Plus, since I've been riding again, I'm a little more accustomed to the bike saddle. I would like to get a Brooks, since I don't like this saddle (I don't LOVE the Linus' stock saddle, but it works just fine, so if I'm going to spend money to replace a saddle, it will be the MTB's). I like the ochre ($117.00).

Photo Source

2.  Smooth tires. Let me be honest: I've never been a big "off road" girl. I don't mind fairly flat trails, but I'm not going to "shred" and never have. I like my spine and noggin intact, and I'm not an aggressive- or competitive-sports girl. The knobby tires slow me down. I'd like to get smooth tires. These Kwenda Kwests (~$25 each) would be fabulous . 

Photo Source

3. Rear-view mirror. Always. I am particular to Sunlite mirrors, because they are crazy-inexpensive (under $8.00) and large and have reflectors on the back. Also, they mount to the handlebars instead of the bar ends which means your grips remain intact. Speaking of grips...

4. I'm now obsessed with these grips... ($81.00) to match the ochre Brooks saddle. My plan is coming together nicely...

Photo Source

5, 6, 7, 8. The foregoing address cosmetic and comfort issues. From a truly-practical standpoint, I'd also need a kickstand ($29.00), rack ($90.00), fenders ($55.00), and I'd like a chain guard ($29.00) to protect my pants. I have combined them, because VeloORANGE makes gorgeous accessories. All photo credits below are VeloORANGE. 

I would be inclined to order two of the kickstand, since the single-leg variety (which I have on my Linus) doesn't do well with heavy loads, or since I've added the front basket. 

9. Finally, I'd like a pannier for the Trek. The narrow Philosophy Burnside is perfect, and the grey and black is really sleek (if a little expensive at $259.00).

Photo Source

10. Bonus? A bell. Can get those anywhere for a song.

My thinking, here, is that the Trek could become a meaningful commuter option for work (extra gears), and I'd have the Linus for errands and local travel. I've have a couple of very good-looking bikes, and since I know the Linus can get me to work and since the outfit on the Trek can accommodate baggage, either would be a perfectly-reasonable substitute for the other in the event of a flat or if repairs were needed.

Sidewalks, Great Commuting Link, Bikey Dates

Can I get a hallelujah for cooler fall weather? 
With lows in the 50s and 60s and highs barely above the 80-degree mark, being outside is a good thing again.

Since my last post, I rode my bike as transportation three times, and three days in a row! I rode to a retreat 2 miles from my home on Saturday, to church two miles from my home on Sunday, and to work 6(+) miles from my home on Monday. It's been a long time since I've ridden that much and 21 miles in 3 back-to-back days did me in. I will try to ride twice to work next week, and go from there - maybe add once per week and see if I have a week where I can ride all five days?

The bike is set up perfectly for commuting, now, in terms of accessories: I love all my baskets, and having ready access to my phone (photos while stopped; safety) is fabulous. I also continue to love my easy-to-charge-mount-remove Serfas lights. Where I'm struggling this week is with the hills to and from work. I am trying to decide whether to replace the rear wheel/hub and shifter (currently a 3-speed Shimano Nexus) with an 8-speed Shimano Alfine. I wonder if that would help much on the hills... I struggle on a few. I may also require (at least temporarily), a slightly different route in order to reduce some of the hills. In particular, a route I favor for familiarity and safety and reduced traffic may not be my best bet. It may be better to take the road just a smidgen West of it, which I have been reluctant to do because: (1) it also functions as a highway on/off ramp in both directions in addition to being an overpass, and (2) it requires additional time on a very busy, if only somewhat bike-friendly arterial road (which makes it friendlier by a mile when compared with most other arterial roads in the area). My current route places me on this large road for .3 miles; the changed route would place me on the road for .6 (1/2 kilometer vs. full kilometer).

On this arterial road, I find my ride east in the morning to be okay to share with cars. I think this is because the sun is blocked by tall buildings, and because there's not really a standard "start" time to cause a total glut of cars - people are working their way in to their offices any time between 7:00-9:00am. My ride home is a different story. People flee the area between 5:00-5:30 en masse, and after a day of work, they are anxious to get home and annoyed with traffic. Their mood is not improved by a struggling bicyclist huffing up an incline at 5MPH. I feel crowded, like I'm at risk, and it's upsetting enough to make me want to ditch th commute...all for this .3 miles of my 6+! That's, what, 5% of my ride? Crazytown. So, Monday, I opted to take the sidewalk on my westbound .3 miles on this road. There are occasionally pedestrians, but there were none that day. The sidewalk is hardly ideal. It is narrow, bumpy, and quite close to the road, but the decision was made for me when I saw that the position of the setting sun would operate to blind both me and the cars behind me. (Ah, that time in the fall when the sun is right in your eyes at 6pm. Duly noted; no staying at the office past 5pm when you're biking home, Rebecca.) Added to my stress about this stretch was the realization, at about 5:30pm, that I had left my pouch with my bike lights at HOME. So I couldn't even be blinky to help my visibility, and I was stressed bout getting home in time for the 7:00pm sunset. I ultimately decided that the decreased visibility (I got home before dark; no worries from that angle), the aggressive rush-hour drivers, and the narrow and busy arterial street posed a greater risk (one which I had minimal control over) when compared with the sidewalk for the following reasons:

1. Limited risk of pedestrians. In half a dozen rides so far, I think I've seen pedestrians twice. If I see a pedestrian approaching from the opposite direction, I can hop off the bike to let them pass comfortably. This is entirely within my control.

2. Exclusive sidewalk-riding on this particular road. One of the most dangerous things a bicyclist can do is alternate between sidewalks and the road. Weaving in and out makes you unpredictable, and cars are not looking to interact with or avoid bicyclists on the sidewalk and aren't prepared for you to enter the stream of traffic. On this part of my route, I was able to turn directly onto the sidewalk from a quiet side-street, and stay on the sidewalk until I could cross the route with a crosswalk, then resume road-riding on a less-crazy and wider street (=friendlier for bikes).

3. Very quiet side streets and minimal driveways.  On the .3 mile route, there are only two side streets which intersect the sidewalk, and only a couple of business driveways. Again, this is something I can control for by being especially observant of traffic patterns around me. I ride slowly on the sidewalk (~4-5MPH) and looked around extensively prior to entering any driveway or street.

I am generally an advocate of "bikes belong in the street / pedestrians belong on sidewalks", but I also think that you have to make a call based upon how aggressive your vehicular companions are and how visible and easy to avoid you can be (in this stretch, and with the particular angle of the sunlight? NOT EASY).

If I decide to continue west past my normal street to the next option to the west, I will lose the sidewalk option, but gain a wider shoulder. The road, in general, gets a smidgen wider and quieter at this point, so I think this could be okay. And when I reach the road on which I'd need to turn off, I can, as with the current route, take advantage of the crosswalk and light to safely transverse the five lanes of traffic.

The advantages to the alternate route? It's flatter. Also: shorter! By half a mile. How do I know?

There is a great link I discovered (in desperation, due to some of the hills I encounter) called Flattest Route. You put in your start and end point and it tells you, in color code, and section-by-section, the % grade of every incline you encounter. It defaults to the flattest route (which, in my case, would require heavy reliance on two arterial roads that feel more like courting suicide than reasonable options), but like on most mapping software, you can grab parts of the route to move it, and see how that affects distance and the grading of the slopes you'll encounter.

Mapping my current route and a proposed alternative, I am able to determine:

• The current route is 6.5 miles and is estimated to take 43 minutes (this assumes I can cover a mile in 6 minutes and 40 seconds; it takes me more like 8 minutes and 10 seconds per mile or closer to 53 minutes to complete the route).
• The proposed route is 6.0 miles and is estimated to take 40 minute (extrapolating from my real-life experience with the 6.5-mile route, this would shave about 4 minutes of my route, getting me to work in 49 minutes instead of my normal 53).
• The current route has a maximum slope on the way to work of  15-20% ("Very Difficult") twice. There are two places where the incline is over 10%. On the way home
• The proposed route never exceeds 15% slope and exceeds 10% just four times in each direction.  
• My lowest altitude is 465' above sea level; my highest altitude is 603'. In both routes, I start high, work my way to the lowest point about 1/3 of the way through (toward work) or 2/3 of the way through (toward home) and end high. 

I may try out the route this weekend; if it feels good, I will try it for my work commute next week. Through this site, I can find even flatter routes, but certain bike-commuting obstacles, like highways, business complexes, or an inability to avoid arterial roads, require me to increase those routes to closer to nine miles.  

Let me just say that I totally understand why people consider bikeability when they scope a new residence, now. If (when) we decide to move someday, I will definitely require the route to be at least as, and preferably more, bikeable than my current route.

Upcoming bicycle events:

Next Arch Women brown-bag lunch: Wednesday, 10/16/13 from 12-1PM

Where: Railway Exchange Building, 611 Olive Street, 12th Floor Lobby

Topic: Knowledge Is Power! (Missouri Bicycle Laws)

Special bike events:

25th Trailnet Anniversary Ped-A-Palooza

Friday, October 11, 2013, 630-11PM

Randall Gallery downtown

Drinks, dinner, dancing, raffle, prizes!

Registration by 10/4, cost: $150pp

25th Trailnet Anniversary Family Fest

Sunday, October 13, 2013, 11AM-4PM

Culver Pavillion at Forest Park

Free entry; food and drink available for purchase

Registration encouraged, demonstrations, helmet fittings, cake, raffles

More information about either special event here.

More information about weekly rides and events here.

Happy fall! and happy riding!

Photo Source. Image Credit: Bryter Later / Flickr.

Trunk When You Need It; Coat Guard When You Don't

A story about storage.

When I first purchased Fleur back in May, I had grand plans for her. She is the full-on car-replacement bicycle option in my developing fleet (I will get the mountain bike and 10-speed into "transportable" state by adding fenders and rear racks, but want to preserve their off/on-road nature pretty carefully). I have tweaked her as need, gifts, and my budget allow.

Fleur came with her rear rack and Fenders. I immediately stole my husband's red bungees (free) and bought a new U-Lock ($50). The bungees allowed me to strap my U-lock to the outside of the rear rack, where it was FAR more secure than on its bracket -- and besides, brackets and and racks and things are almost always designed for diamond-frame (straight top-tube) bikes, rather than slopey/swoopy loop frames, like the Dutchi has. 

The next step was great lighting. I opted for Serfas lights ($200 for front and rear), and so far I've been super-pleased. They are easy to mount and remove, sufficiently bright, and recharge via USB cord. I have had them since June and have not had to recharge them yet (though I really haven't done much night riding). They really have been great lights and make me feel visible while lighting my way home when the sun sets.

For my first few rides to work, I used a diaper bag (which I'd purchased to use as a camera bag due to the bottle-shaped pockets working well for lenses and the fact that, when traveling, it suggests I'm carrying diapers instead of fancy camera equipment). The straps that let you attach the bag to stroller handles also allowed me to attach the bag to my rear rack. This worked just fine as a pseudo-pannier, but the soft shape meant that I was often adjusting things to ensure nothing touched my spokes or tires, and it meant I didn't have a dedicated camera bag. 

This issue was resolved when I received my front rack for my birthday in July. I specifically chose the Linus Delano model, because of the drink ring. Again, due to the shape of my frame, there's not a convenient place for a drink (water, coffee, whatever). My diaper/camera/pannier bag had a mesh pocket for drinks, but I couldn't access that without getting out of the saddle, and it often collapsed once the drink was removed, which required both hands to replace it. Not the end of the world, but once again, not ideal. This basket solved the soft-bag and soft-drink-pocket problems for me. I can access things easily, there's a place to throw my helmet when I'm locking up or not riding, and to carry bags, cardigans, and other things while I'm riding. Huge improvement. 

Unfortunately, as anyone with a front basket quickly learns, extra weight on your front wheel (the basket mounts to the wheel, not the frame, in my case) makes steering...different. As in, It's really hard to remove a hand to signal to turn without the bike wanting to veer off in either direction. I realized quickly that I do require the front basket for convenience, but do not enjoy carrying heavy loads on the front of my bike. The other issue I found was that the open-cage design on the basket meant that I still had to tuck my phone safely away, making mid-trip photos (while stopped, of course) virtually impossible, and also hampering my access to the phone in the event of an emergency (flat tire, assault, whatever else might happen). Also, YES, you can technically strap anything down with just a rear rack and bungees, but I dare you to figure out how to transport a loaf of bread that way. WITHOUT SQUISHING IT. Exactly. If my bike is really going to function as a car alternative, it needs a trunk for my junk.

So I purchased two things for my bike recently: two rear, folding Wald racks ($50 for 2), and an inexpensive handlebar phone mount ($5). Installing both was easy as pie. The hardest part - by a mile - was unlatching the folded baskets because they desperately needed some oil for the latch to move. Once I oiled them up (and the rest of the moving parts on the basket), they worked smoothly.

The baskets, awaiting attachment.

The basket is just hanging from the rack at this point.
I then used the screws provided to attach the top of the baskets securely.
Tip: I skipped the metal loop provided to attach the bottom of the baskets and used black zip-ties instead.
There was no real way to access the screw to tighten the metal tie-downs, making them essentially useless.

Before I strapped anything down too tightly, I ensured that there was clearance between my heel and the basket.
This is especially tricky on my bike since it's a small frame and shorter overall.
I have clearance, but may move the baskets back just a scosche to give myself a little more room.
My foot position varies based on my footwear. 

Tadaa! Mounted baskets.

Baskets, folded.
When folded, the baskets function as a dress/coat guard. Yay for multi-tasking!
The downside is that it means the U Lock now lives on top of my rack, which is fine,
but unhooking everything to access the baskets can be a slow step.
A general reminder with bungees - practice safe securing.
Those suckers can get you good if they snap back.

View from the mounted camera (before adjusting).
This shows my little Yakkay helmet/cover, and my pouch of "bikey essentials".
I carry this to hold my tools, lights (when I remove them from the bike) and lots of lip balm.
ESSENTIALS.

Strange angle, but you can see the camera mount.
I was able to record my ride to church the next morning, and carry my music in the rear basket.
I want to edit it down, in part because it's 20 minutes long (I'm slow), and in part because it's super-jiggly.
(For the record, I did have to move my foot forward on the open-basket side twice due to heel-
strike, so I WILL be adjusting both baskets a little closer to the rear of the rack this weekend.)
 

All-in-all, Fleur is just about perfect now. I toy with the idea of upgrading to a Brooks saddle, or maybe purchasing this gorgeous bag as a casual and bike-friendly alternative to my leather work-tote (especially for days or trips where I'd be inclined to use another bicycle with just a rear rack), but I feel like she's in pretty good shape at this point. For future FYI, I am considering swapping her rear wheel and shifter for an 8-speed IGH (306% ratio vs 186%; could be very nice with hills, especially because Fleur now weighs about 40 pounds with her extra baskets and the U Lock before any extra cargo). The three is functional, but I do find myself wishing there were steps between 1/2 and 2/3 and something above 3. (I spend 50% of my time in 3, 45% of my time in 2 and about 5% of my time in 1). Alternatively, I wonder if tweaking the cogs for the current 3-speed set-up might work without utterly disabling the granny gear when I need it... I'd like to go faster on flat terrain in order to address the major slowdown on hills. That said, I plan to get my mountain bike and my mom's old 10-speed up and running for alternative transport before I determine if that is really necessary or ideal.

As far as the rest of the "fleet", I'm hoping to take the mountain bike (a 1996 Trek 8000) in to have a once-over and find out about installing fenders and a rear rack (both jobs I am disinclined to tackle). I also need some chain grease. 

The ten-speed bike (a 1970s Peugeot Mixte) has been given a once-over by my brother, who has determined that she needs new tires, tubes, brake pads, and brake hoods, and probably new cables. I am hoping to pick her up toward the end of October.

In riding news, this week was a bust (other than riding to church on Sunday, my schedule and weather conspired against me), but next week looks perfect: highs in the upper 70s, lows in the 40s-60s, and clear. I'm so excited to get back on the bike and take advantage of the new baskets and phone mount!