A screw loose

This morning as I was riding to work I was thinking, "Gee, there is a lot of slop on my left foot!"

As this was my first experience with the Crank Brothers / Lake winter boots combination, I sort of came to the conclusion that this was not a good shoe/pedal combination.  Then, as I pulled up to a stop in front of the school and gracefully toppled over onto my side, I affirmed this belief.  So after wrestling myself out from under the 38 pound bike (and yes, I just stood on the scale to confirm this number), I checked to see if anybody had witnessed this.  Confirmed that indeed I had been spotted, then hung my head in shame and went inside.

It quickly became evident that my left foot was making a different noise from my right foot.  Whereas the right foot thunked loudly on the floor, the left foot made more of a chiming note, like the tintabulation of clunky bell.  So upon inspection I discovered a loose cleat.  By the time I reached my roome, that cleat was spinning around on it's one remaining screw.  Fortunately for me, the screw was spotted in the 7th grade hallway by a social studies teacher and repairs were made before I left for home.

I cannot imagine what life would be like trying to ride home with one cleat and a road sole. 

Batteries are cheap

Work technically doesn't start for another 15 minutes, so in 15 minutes or less, you will have the distinct privilege of reading about my first commute in 3.5 weeks.  Of course, you'll probably read faster than I type, so make that 5 minutes or less.  (I have now spent some time editing for the benefit of those of you reading for the first time.)

I see that Steve A made two very insightful comments yesterday, or this morning (well at least sometime after I went to bed last night).  Comment #1 was on my post about the relative pitifulness of a red-blinky when pitted against the awesome power of the sun.  His quote (which was quoting somebody else, and which I am paraphrasing here): "batteries are cheap so you might as well leave the light on."  I'm down to 10 minutes, I don't have time to look up exact phrases.  Sorry.

Comment #2 was "Tell us about your ride."  Of course referring to this mornings commute on legs that spent 30 minutes doing lunges with the extremely rude Jillian Michaels as trainer.

In any case, little did Steve A know that his first comment on batteries (which I didn't read till AFTER I got to work was the most important statement of all.)  Oh, I intend to fully address #2 as well.

The only thing that saved me this morning, was the fact that I remembered to plug in my Cutter headlight last night.  This is something that I always forget to do, and then this light always peters out after a few minutes.  This morning, as I unplugged the Cutter from it's charger and snapped it onto it's mount, I considered changing the batteries in the Cat Eye since they haven't been changed in a REALLY long time

Of course, at 5:15 AM this morning, I hadn't yet read Steve A's post informing me that batteries are cheap.  So I did not change the batteries. 

At approximately 5:45, fifteen minutes into my commute, I had one of those moments where I realized that a car was passing me without the requisite 3 feet required by law, and I was aimed dead at a pothole.  So I faced the pothole with a kind of resigned annoyance.  No use being upset, I was going in and there was nothing I could do about it.  (Like the time Lufthansa told me my carry-on was too big and I had to spend an entire flight to Germany with NOTHING to occupy my time... annoying, but nothing I could do about it).

When I hit the pothole, the elastic band holding my headlamp around my helmet did an awesome shift, and the entire headlamp flipped off my head.  Fortunately, I was able to retrieve all pieces and stash them in a pannier.

At around 6:00 I noticed that the pavement in front of me got noticeably dimmer.  Cue the dying of the Cat Eye batteries.  So, that left me with only the Cutter; the light that I have learned not to trust, because even when I do remember to charge it, it never seems to last.

I began thinking of contingency plans.  If I lost my last headlight, what would I do?  Would it be best to just dismount and walk until dawn?  I had plenty of time as a buffer.  Should I call somebody to come get me?  I hate doing that because it makes it seem like the bike is not a good form of transportation (when really all of my problems are caused by user error).

Fortunately, I didn't have to make this decision as the Cutter proved itself worthy of the money my father spent on it for Christmas last year.

My new plans:

1. Secure headlamp with velcro ties for security while riding yet still easy removal.
2. Label the Cat Eye with the replacement date of batteries so that they can be replaced again before it gets too late.
3. Dig out my 4th headlight from the bike box and mount it on the bars so that I have another spare.

It's about time

I haven't written anything in awhile because I've simply had nothing to write about.  Because I haven't been able to ride my bike.  Because my doctor told me I couldn't... unless there was a zombie attack and I deemed escape by bicycle to be the better method since all of the roads would be jammed with people trying to escape that way.  Of course, the car offers a bit of rudimentary zombie protection... In any case, zombies did not attack eastern Pennsylvania, so I had no bike riding.

The doctor diagnosed me with what she called "a minor case of walking pneumonia."  Walking pneumonia, is by definition 'minor' pneumonia.  So I had minor minor pneumonia, which would make you think that it was nothing.  Though, as a person who uses approximately 1.5 sick days per year... being out for an entire week was something of a novelty (and a source of constant stress).  After the first three days I was starting to run out of ideas for my substitutes.  At which point I finally decided that a substitute teacher is still a certified teacher and they can make up their own filler lesson for the day.

In any case, after my follow up appointment at the end of last week, I was cleared for bicycle riding.  A minor (much more minor than my pneumonia) fiasco with the alarm clock (which I set for 5PM instead of 5AM) meant I had to scrap my plans for riding this morning.  But tomorrow is another morning, and my panniers are already packed.  That reminds me, I need to go plug in my headlights for charging.  And I really need to find my hi-vis yellow jersey, it's missing again.  Only I could lose something that is radioactive in color.

Where to draw the line

I am a firm advocate for riding on the road.  For the most part I am one of those who hangs out in the general vacinity of where a car's right wheels will fall... unless I am given one of those monstrous 4 foot wide shoulders that is magically free of debri.  In those instances, I take the shoulder.

I tend to take it very much to heart when I see folks that are NOT riding in this manner.  Specifically folks who still think they are better off riding against the flow of traffic rather than with it (because you generally encounter problems at intersections this way).  I also get really upset when I see grown persons riding bicycles on the sidewalk, because as a pedestrian, it is really annoying having to dodge them.

There is one exception though.  Kiddies.  Young children have my wholehearted support for sidewalk riding.  Afterall, if you live in town, and you want to learn how to ride a bike, generally speaking, weaving all over the sidewalk and taking out innocent pedestrians is a much better practice than weaving all over the road and alarming innocent motorists. 

But then where does the line get drawn?  At what point do you go from being the 5 year-old that weaves like a drunkard, to the teenager that endangers pedestrians?

On my way home from work today, I was slightly startled when a crossing guard stepped into the crosswalk with her "STOP" sign to halt traffic and allow the students going home from school to cross in safety.  There was only one student crossing the street in the crosswalk, and he was on a mountain bike, and he looked to be about 14 years old.

I'd like to encourage students to ride to school... but I'd like to encourage them to do it within the parameter's of the law.  Pennsylvania's bicycle law clearly states that bikes are to be ridden in the street NOT on the sidewalk.  If you are uncomfortable with your child riding their bike properly... maybe have them walk instead.

Competition

There have always been several bike shops in the area that I visit.  And I visit all three of them regularly, often depending on what exactly I need.  One of my shops, probably the one I visit the most (due to the fact that it is about 5 blocks away) is Curt's.  Owned, appropriately enough, by a guy named Curt.  Clever huh?

Well, Curt used to employ John part-time.  And John had his own business as a bicycle fitter that he did with the other part of his time.  So, I bought my bike from Curt, got it fitted by John, and then went on rides led by John every Saturday morning from Curt's parking lot.

Just a few short months ago the local cycling community was floored.  John had finally gone through on plans to open his own shop.  How was Curt going to take this?  Who is going to ride Curt's rides?  Who will I take my bike to when I need a barrel adjusted turned?  Who's weekly rides will I go on?

So now there is a fourth LBS entering my shopping circuit, spreading my business out thinner.  But I do know one thing, John's shop has a really awesome fuzzy pink saddle bag that I simply must have.