Biking of Day #30 #30DaysofBiking

Day 30 finally arrived. My meeting schedule left time for a quick spin in the middle of the day. The narrow window of time meant go, and go now! That also means a minimalist ride. That was somehow appropriate.  Just a bike, not even a water bottle.



A nice path forward.



No backpack, not even biking gloves. This view was odd to me with no gloves, no GPS, no aerobar, no bite valve, and no food bag. The contrast between this and my normal view really struck me.



This bit of trail and bridge struck me as a good metaphor for life in the moment. Some immediate obstacles, a path without guard rails for some safe excitement, and then some guard rails from the most extreme conditions.



Heading home to make the next meeting I couldn't avoid the value of access. Low barrier to entry is a huge recipe for success. For #30DaysofBiking access to safe biking routes is huge.



30 days are over and biking likely is not. This may be more of a rolling stop. And then an aggressive acceleration!

Perspective on 29 of #30DaysofBiking

Crest of the final hill at the end of today's ride. Gamin still showed "time to sunset".



180 miles in two days on the bike. All systems were still go at the end of the ride today. This bodes well for the back to back centuries that are my goal for Tour Divide. Some different perspectives on 180 miles and ~ 18 hours in the saddle in two days:

• Almost 2.5 work days.
• iPod playlist is 25 songs. At 4 minutes per song that's 100 minutes. That's almost 11 genius playlists.
• I consume one 200 calorie bar of some sort every hour while riding. 18 bars. 3x boxes of 6 or 2x boxes of 8. I've learned to carry about 4 varieties.
• Over 10,300 calories burned while riding. 6700 calorie deficit after bars.
• 10,300 is 5 days worth of the "average recommended daily caloric intake"
• I would almost finish (18/21) the unabridged Dune audiobook
• I would be almost 30% (18/62) through the unabridged Atlas Shrugged audiobook
• I could commute to and from work 9 times. Biking to work adds up!
• 180 miles is 3 full round trips of the complete American Tobacco Trail(61 miles)

Today I made another new friend who is planning to ride some of the Great Divide route. "Great Divide" refers to the route within the United States border. "Tour Divide" adds the Canadian section. Gunter and I traded bikes as he was curious about the Moots platform. We each had quite an experience with several inches of height difference between us. We traded plans and fears, approaches and gear reviews. It was great to have a bit of human connection during the ride.

Speaking of human connection, riding is also a great time to catch up on phone calls so long as wireless headset battery holds up. To those who have endured wind noise and occasional vehicle traffic on the phone - Thank you!

Biking doesn't have to be this much time in the saddle. Ride what works for you. The world takes on a significantly different perspective from two wheels.

Tour de Tunnel 28 of #30DaysofBiking

The end of this 30 day streak is in sight. This is my trusty ride.


Aerobars provide extra mounting space, a different riding position, different hand holds, and a speed boost on smooth regular terrain. The bars hold one, soon to be customized for two, Planet bike 2 Watt LED light. The tank bag holds current rations. This will replaced with a larger unit soon. The frame bag holds a 2L water bladder with bite valve on the handlebars. It also holds extra nutrition and a pill bottle of ibuprofen, Sport Legs, and Endurolytes. A Garmin eTrex 30 on the stem provides navigation. Fox fork gives smooth ride in the rough stuff or power saving lockout on smooth terrain with quick switch on the right fork. Planet Bike Grunge Board keeps me a little more dry and less muddy from the front tire. Specialized Armadillo tires with Slime Tubes front and rear provide double protection against flats. Saddle bag contains bike lock, spare Slime tube, lightweight neon riding vest with removable sleeves, GoreTex rain hood, water resistant cycling pants, leg warmers, hand towel, and repair kit. The repair kit includes tire levers, spoke wrench, fiber spoke, first aid kit, spare brake pads, Petzyl head lamp, special tool for bottom bracket, extra batteries for everything, and more. Two Camelback bottles provie ~1.2L of water. There will likely be one more added in front of the downtube behind the front wheel and maybe two more on the left and right fork. Fluid disk brakes provide ample stopping power for a heavily loaded rig and rider. 3x9 front/rear gears provide a nice low gear that climbs anything where I can keep my balance. Brooks saddle looks like a medieval torture device but rides great. Moots lockable soft tail flexes enough to save my spine from hard hits while remaining light and locking out with the turn of a screw. Ergon pack on my back carries even more stuff. Complete inventory later.


Something doesn't seem quite right here.



This is better in some ways and worse in others.



Finally on the trail. Blustery wind lashed me pretty good on the open roads making the tree cover a special treat. Overcast sky, high humidity, blustery wind, and cool temps combined for a chilly experience. I added more layers as the day went on to minimize exposure. Exposure and fatigue are major concerns on long rides.



Tunnel #1 under NC highway 55.



Nice fountain in a neighborhood pond. There were a drake and hen mallard duck paddling peacefully around the pond.



Tunnel #2 on the day under Cary Parkway.



Spring Daze Arts and Crafts festival was in full swing at Bond Park in Cary in spite of the weather. It's great to see so many bike commuters. I found a bike toolkit on the trail near here and hung it up on the side of the trail for better visibility. It was quite a nice tool kit that had everything but owner contact information. I hope they make it back and find the kit.



The gray and cold were getting the better of me. I needed some inspiration. Starbucks coffee and apple fritter provided short term motivation and dreams of warm soup back at home got me through the rest of the ride.



I saw a painter refreshing these customized hydrants recently and complimented them on their work. I wonder if dogs think twice before urinating on the hydrant?



Tunnel #3 under Edwards Mill Road.



Old train depot, I think, near NC Museum of Art. A spin down the dock was irresistible.



Honey suckle is in bloom. I love the smell in the air.



House creek provides some nice vistas.



What kind of trees are these? The blooms are pretty and different.



This is an old bridge over Crabtree Creek. There is a great metal bridge hiding in there. It's quite scenic in this state. It's also a shame to see the precision rusting away.



I lost count of the tunnels. All of them twice - going and coming. There are even more on the extended route. Every tunnel is another opportunity to stay out of vehicular traffic. Hooray for tunnels!



Gray day over Lake Crabtree on the way home.



Again, what kind of tree is this? I'm thinking a type of dogwood?



I never noticed this statue before but the form never resonated. Welding is definitely an art.



Spring Daze festival was wrapping up. Vendor cars were parked door to door here earlier.



Sunset and nightfall are challenges on their own. Tonight I watched the GPS change from "hours to sunset" to "hours to sunrise". Looking down and seeing the prediction of sunrise as a bit heart breaking. My mind was focused on finishing tonight. Sunrise raises the specter of being back in the saddle in the morning. This is the countdown timer to rinse and repeat. Time is unrelenting. Occasionally reminders of that fact are harsh.

I managed to botch the mileage with not one but two GPS units. Dad always said I could take a canary feather and wreak havoc on an anvil. I say a knack for breaking things and then having to fix them is good training for my job. Today's ride was a bit short. That should save some gumption for more high quality miles on Sunday.

Ignore the straight line just beneath "Glenwood Ave". That is GPS operator error. A dream ride is taking shape out of all of this that includes all the ATT, all of Umstead, all of Crabtree Creek Greenway, and the Shelly lake Spur.  That would be all bike friendly routes that are reasonably well connected except for the onroad bike lanes in Durham and RTP. There are ~100 miles of those alone. Including those pushes estimates up to 48 hours of continuous riding and that is yet another level of endurance. Hmm, maybe with slicks and staring on a Friday afternoon...

Ride. Day 27 of #30DaysofBiking

I imagine a baseball bouncing off a bat, a golf ball bouncing off a club, a hammer bouncing off an anvil so the handle reverberates up your hand, up your arm, and up into your torso to shake your core. A bounce is more violent than a dead blow; more energy is released. I bounced out of the house today on a mission to ride. The only slack was time to warm up.

I rode hard and it felt good. Every pedal stroke cast down a stress. Flat stretches were coated with trifles. Uphills were washed in internal contortions. Downhills queue up more fuel.



Stress poured out. At one point fear crashed in. Riding hard is not riding defensive. A driver careened through a stop sign and almost crashed into me. The only response I had was to raise my leg as high as possible on the impact side so the bike would take the direct impact rather than my shin. I was braced for impact when she slid to a stop with horn blaring. She runs the stop in her steel protection cage and audibly lashes out at my exposed flesh? Neon riding vest be damned, or rather, be invisible. Let it be. Let it be fuel. Pour it into the pedals.

Dinosaurs are exchanged for steel meat grinding descendants.



A couple hours later the ride was done, the turmoil was done, and I was done. Sometimes you just have to ride.

Inertia on Day 26 of #30DaysofBiking

Sometimes getting out the door is the toughest part of a ride. Finally out the door I realized another mis-adjustment in my left cleat. I stopped at the first convenient sitting spot less than a quarter mile from home for adjustments. Even when I'm out the door the ride still isn't "on".




Two miles away the tides turned and stationary inertia gave way to the inertia of motion.



It can be difficult to get out the door


but once out I'm glad to be out whether on two feet or on two wheels.

Another Side of Durham on Day 25 of #30DaysofBiking

Biking during peak commute hours provides a different view of the world. Usually I find that view to be pretty hostile with the primary communicators being four wheel vehicles and their owners.

Circumstances today afforded the opportunity to bike during peak evening commute AND stay on bike friendly terrain like the ATT. A vast array of bike commuters rolled past. I wouldn't even call it a linear spectrum. It was more of random amalgamation. There was as much variety in rides and riders as there are miles of trails, and possibly more. We need more miles of trails and bike lanes.




Day 25 done. 582 miles on the month.

Hard Stop 24 of #30DaysofBiking

We have unseasonably cold weather for late April in what is likely that last clutches of winter. Blooming flowers did not get the memo. Fortunately it didn't hard freeze everywhere sufficiently to kill them:






Today was a short ride up the ATT and through Duke Forest. I mixed it up a little by riding in the gravel beside the trail. This paid dividends later.

I found the front derailleur shifter frozen hard. I found this in the middle of a very busy intersection while stuck in low gear creeping along. Oh well, I'll get there when I get there. After navigating traffic I found nice patch of grass to investigate the shifting dilemma. After some prodding I found two pieces of gravel nestled inside the derailleur mechanism wedging it in place. Two little pieces of gavel about half the size of a dime placed just right held the whole operation in low gear. This requires investigation to see if I can protect the shifting mechanism better. Another lesson learned.

It took a few minutes to repair shifting so I headed back home to secure a daylight finish. This is an interesting little piece of connector trail in Duke Forest. I think it is paved underneath several layers of sediment washed in from what has to be many rains.



In paying close attention recently I found my left pinky to pressing firmly against the outside of my shoe. This interferes with my downward power stroke. This in turn I think is contributing to my left knee issues. I repositioned the cleat once more slightly to the inside of the shoe and just behind the ball of my foot. I changed out shoe inserts as the new ones push my foot further to the outside. I'm going to give this a try and if problems persist the next step is 1/2 size bigger shoe.

I've also added leg exercises to better support my knees. Here's hoping. I'm finally getting a handle on GPS issues. I think I'm getting close to a final map using http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl . With good basemap the Adventure Cycling Association GPX tracks are much more manageable. This may alleviate the need to rebuild my own GPX files.

I was originally considering this week for a trip up the GAP/C&O. Pittsburgh got snow this week. I'm happy to not be on that trail just now.

Coming up on the todo list:

• new tank bag, handlebar bag, and top tube bag
• acquire and learn Steripen for water treatment - anyone have pointers?
• inline water filter
• more big miles - still hoping to do the TNGA route or GAP/C&O
• bike computer for GPS backup and reroutes
• new and longer hose for frame bag water bladder

Bike to Work Day 23 of #30DaysOfBiking

This morning I opted for a change of pace. I swapped the Moots for the Tricross for the road ride into the office. The morning was brisk for late April making me appreciate long sleeve cycling jersey and miss full fingered cycling gloves. Morning meetings cooperated nicely allowing me to roll into the office after temps warmed a bit. Thanks to Dad for keeping me company during the ride.



I made a bit of progress on tour planning during work today by getting the name of a charity coordinator. Hopefully she can help me get a donation site setup that will also do company match. Here's hoping.

The evening ride home was brisk. I waited until later to miss peak traffic and to avoid rain clouds the forecast showed sweeping through the area. The rain clouds never materialized at the office and I didn't get drenched on the way home. I did get to play my favorite game with the speed limit sign again.



I rewarded my hard work with a bowl of Blue Bunny ice cream with chocolate syrup. Yum.



I also spent more time this evening with Open Street Map and the Garmin eTrex 30. I may have finally figured out a way to get the right OSM content onto the unit with maps from CloudMade.

My left knee is holding up after 121 miles and crash on Saturday followed by 10ish miles on Sunday and 15ish miles today.

Does anyone know a good way to send blog post notifications on blogger.com to more than 10 people? Do I have to create an email list? Any recommended list service?

Going Long for Days 21 and 22 of #30DaysofBiking

Heading out late Saturday morning I was quite amused by stickers on neighborhood hydrants. I wish it weren't graffiti. The message is still good.

This will be the future path of the American Tobacco Trail bridge over I-40.

 The Honda Ridgeline has unique lines. This is the first one I've seen with a camper shell.

All field at Herndon Park were busy with games

Further down the ATT then heading east on White Oak Creek greenway.

At Bond Park I always want to try and climb the monstrous grass hill that is the offside of the dam. So far I've avoided for fear of tearing up the grass triggering more erosion.

Then into Umstead park with a nice canopy.

From Umstead I took a slightly different route heading east toward the NC Museum of Art. 

The path less traveled included a serene gravel path.

This is one of two pedestrian bridges I know of around Raleigh. This one connects NCMA trails to Meredith. I have yet to find a greenway that connects to the other bridge which crosses US 1 south out of Raleigh.

I found many tunnels and bridges on this ride. It is great begin out of traffic.

House Creek greenway is under construction. Eventually it will connect Crabtree Creek greenway to Reedy Creek Greenway. That will provided a dedicated bike path from the eastern part of Raleigh inside the beltline all the way to Umstead and down into Cary.

House Creek greenway is coming along nicely.

From Crabtree Creek Greenway I followed every branch and offshoot that went anywhere. This tunnel is heading towards Shelly Lake. I paused briefly here on the way back to help a family with some bike mechanical issues.  Good deed done.

The path around Shelly Lake is quite nice. It's pretty busy so plan on slow rolling.

Bridge over the lake is the highlight as always.

Last time I was over this way I skipped Shelly Lake. I was glad to pick it up this time.

This fungus was trailside climbing toward North Hills Park.

Toward the eastern end of Crabtree Creek greenway it is heavily wooded.

And that wood gets slick when wet. This is where the bike skidded to a stop.

These are slide marks left by the tires

Another view of skid marks

And this is the result of the impact on my left knee. I *think* IT band fared much better this time. My knee was sore otherwise from the impact. I hit the wooden deck hard enough to bounce. That one stung a little.

The tank bag holds nutrition. This keeps it close, handy, and ever present. At the eastern end of the greenway my tank bag ran empty. This is a sad site. It's like looking into an empty pantry or barren refrigerator.

I saw a similar picture in another cyclist's blog recently. It really resonated. You may have to be a cyclist to appreciate it or you may have to be there. An empty food bag is a sad site. Luckily I had refills ready in the Ergon pack.


Heading back west on the greenway I think these guys really have the right idea. Pedal AND recline in an armchair. I saw several of these on Saturday. At least one had neon flags sticking up to help provide visibility. Otherwise these guys scoot along close to the ground and out of sight.

House Creek is still under construction. This was a nice powerline climb.

The sun was low and clouds rolling in by the time I passed Lake Crabtree again.

I was worried about clearing this area before dark as park Rangers take closing time seriously. After this it's all open greenway that I know well. I paused at Wendy's for dinner. It was a day of doing thing different. It was an opportunistic sort of day. I followed whatever trail presented itself. I refilled water when the opportunity presented. I took a dinner break subconsciously preparing for a long evening.

I unwound my route back to the ATT and then turned south to rack up some extra miles. My GPS mileage was off due to forgetting to start my watch a few times. This is why I need to get a cycling computer.

Late night on the ATT spooked me this time. I heard a sound I could not identify. That sent my mind reeling. It was pitch black out other than the few feet penetrated by my lights. It took a conscious effort to calm down, stay focused, and keep pedaling. Well, maybe not pedaling, I was pedaling one way or another, and with calm the strokes were sustainable rather than hair on fire sprinting.

A few minutes later I reveled in the song of a hoot owl. The volume and intensity seemed like he might have been perched right over the trail.

Several miles further up the trail rain set in. Rain threatened since I stopped for dinner with clouds and occasional lightening. The threats ran out and it quickly escalated to a downpour.

There is a moment when riding in the rain. Tires splash water up. Rain falls down. All the moisture collects on your legs and begins creeping down. Your ankles get a little chill. The water soaks down through your socks from the top. Water puddles splash up and soak upward from the toe cleat holes through the shoe soles. At some point the two fronts meet. That is the moment. The two tides of wetness meet and you shoes, socks, and feet are suddenly soaked through.

Eventually I reached Herndon park. Handily some shelter lights are left on at night. Under the shelter I traded out my kerchief for full on rain hood and steeled myself for the rest of the ride.

I arrived home some time in the 1am hour. Food, shower, and I had to sit down to manually calculate total distance. I was hoping for 120 but really didn't know.

121 miles when all was said and done. Technically I rode Saturday and Sunday to boot.

Straight lines are where I forgot to restart GPS.

Sunday afternoon I got back on the bike anyway. I rolled to Durham for the Earth Day fair. Rain, wind, and cold got the better of the event. I still managed to find a tasty funnel cake.