Of Flats and Internet - Commuting Goes On

Gee, don't realize how much we depend on the internet, until it's gone. While switching providers to gain more speed, there were 4 days of absolutely no internet. Wow! Sure glad to have it all back.

Thursday, January 20, 2011
The commute last week (20th) was, weatherwise, fairly uneventful. Lot's of clouds, as you can see here, and a little cool. Notice how brown the Willamette is? So much rain, lot's of mud, tree debris flowing along. This was taken on the upper portion of the MUP, just east of the Steel Bridge.

I was on my way to meet Evan at school for our ride home. As we were leaving the school, Evan said his bike was pulling to the left. So we stopped just a block away. His front tire was flat! At least it was not raining like my recent flat tire adventure! I got out the tools and took the tire off and we discovered a first -- the stem had completely separated from the tube, plus the tube had, somehow, rotated 180 degrees! How bizarre! Shortly we were back on the road.

The next day's ride home was about the same, slight chance of rain, but mostly just plain grey. Here's another in my on-going series of the Steel Bridge. I guess because it is the biggest landmark next to the work building, plus, I just like all the lines and angles.

Friday, January 21, 2011
Friday (21st) was the first test of using my new Keen shoes only. I did put cleats on and under certain conditions the cleats do crunch on the ground, but it was nice not carrying an extra pair of shoes. I guess I'll have to do a gear review sometime soon. The Keens are definitely not as stiff soled as my normal biking shoes, but that's okay, I'm willing to sacrifice a bit of stiffness for carrying less. Bike commuting is feeling just, well, just normal. Evan is still lovin our joint bike commuting, too.

The weekend was spent replenishing the spare tube supply, getting Evan some new gloves and a neck/face shield. I tweaked my tool kit so it fits into a nice bundle in one of my water bottle cages, but can easily be removed and plopped into my messenger bag. Speaking of messenger bags, I replace the small one with a medium and it is so much easier to carry my stuff. I guess it is spreading the load out more. I like the messenger bag better than a backpack, my back gets less sweaty and it just feels more comfortable. Plus, I think I carry the load lower so it seems to have less impact on my back.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Following a very nice weekend, Monday was pretty nice, too. This was shot through the Steel Bridge (surprise, surprise) toward the Broadway Bridge (foreground) with the Fremont Bridge in the background. I'm still trying to get that just right image using the Steel Bridge as frame. Someday.

Legs are getting stronger and going up the few hills are draining me a bit less. I guess using a bike without super low gearing is paying off, beyond the pure joy of riding my favorite bike.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Okay, catching up to current events. Love seeing the check marks as I log my commutes on the Bike Commute trip log. (I'm sure my doc would love it, too, cuz I'm getting some kind of exercise in daily, ya know, 2 30 minute spins a day.)

I was initially home half day as I needed to be there for the internet installer. Funny, he ran a little late on finishing, so I had to rush to get to work to a meeting. I left at 12:20pm and got in at 1:10pm. Seems no matter how fast I try to go, my ride is about 30 minutes. Not much I can do about stop signs and red lights. Nice in that I rode in my work clothes, fortunately we have a casual dress code, but, hey, still just work clothes.

The evening was really nice, this is a picture of, can you guess?, the Steel Bridge. I love evening/night images. The river looks so calm and you cannot tell it is a rustic brown due to all the run-off.

This is a shot from the same location, just the other direction. 20 rides and each one has had something different about it.