The Hi-Viz Pink Cyclist Club: the vest

It was inevitable: the hi-viz pink reflective vest. I hate the orange, I'm at peace with the yellow, but I really wanted a pink one too.

I really love my Endura jacket, but the thing's BLACK. I prefer to more visible... much more visible. I like a nice hi-viz reflective vest over it.

Finnegan checks out the new duds

Reflective mode: ON! *SHA-POW!*

You might see that Endura added some reflective piping to the jacket. Can you see it? It's near my wrist. Look closer.
Yeah, that tiny bit of reflective piping doesn't meet my needs.

I can't wait to wear it about town.

Begone, snow!

I'd debated with myself a great deal today about riding. I'm sick to death of snow... I want to see this stuff melt away and soon.
The roads were crap. I hadn't been out in several days and was in dire need of some biketime, so I put on my big girl britches and went out despite my misgivings about the roads.

Roads still have ice and slush on the sides, narrowing travel lanes.

The trails are crap too. I turned around at the EFT and decided to stay Downtown and in the Strip District.

The Eliza Furnace trail. Icy and dangerous.

The Fort Pitt Bridge Switchback and pedestrian footbridge looked great though.

I enjoyed pedaling about my limited range.
I had an abnormal number of close passes... Maybe the narrowed lanes made for a few close calls with drivers? Maybe it was the holiday? I cannot account for so many violations of my space today.

A compilation of today's squeezins from the handlebar camera:

I think I'm guilty of not taking the lane with enough authority in those instances. I tend to scoot over to the right and drivers think "I can squeeze in there!"


Sometimes I fall for no apparent reason other than I'm clumsy:

I may be tiring of winter

For a second day in a row, the office was closed. Every school district in the area had classes except Pittsburgh Public. I slept in until Cal decided it was time to play his favorite game: 'step on mom and stick my cold, drippy nose in her eye until she wakes up because we're hungry'. Ask me if I like playing that game.

I was loathing the thought of dragging myself into the office and undertaking the task of layering.  Getting ready for a ride takes as long as the ride itself when the temperatures are very low. Boots, socks, glove liners, mittens, toe warmers, goggles, ear warmers, 3 layers of pants, 4 layers of shirts. Damn, I am finding this rigamarole tiresome.

OK, I had to get on the bike somehow today. I really needed to try out the new toys on this last cold day for some time. A long range forcast for February looks good as far as temperatures.
I mustered up and I brought the bike back to work and got caught by the president in the office when we're not supposed to be there. Ooops. I used the excuse that I was dropping work off that I had finished at home and was collecting more work to take home that night. Never you mind that bike I'm rolling in.


Cadence computer: I must have it installed incorrectly, I can only get a reading of 45-56.
Pogies: Ugh. I'm glad I only spent $20 on them. I feel like my arms are lashed to the handlebars. This might be OK for long trips where one doesn't need to brake and shift constantly. These may be good for trails, not stop and go on the streets. They come up very far on my arms and it's difficult to pull my arms out of them. I don't like feeling tied to the bike, (bedposts, sure, but not a moving bike!) I'll never use clips. I could not use them today.
Bar extender: I don't like where I've positioned it.

Ohferthree on the new toys.

With a pair of Gore-Tex Cabela's mitts, two layers of liners and a set of toe and hand warmers I was great starting out in 10 degrees. I decided I might try and get over to Thick to see if they could adjust the cadence computer and re-situate the bar extender, but I had forgotten my wallet... again. I'd remembered everything except my wallet. This was a bad habit I needed to get out of.

So, I went as far as the Cork Factory in the Strip to get more shots of the icy Allegheny.

The view of the Allegheny from the Cork Factory

A warped panorama from atop the Clemente Bridge.

I saw this cyclist on the Clemente Bridge, one of three I saw along my travels today.

On the way back, gusts nearly knocked me over, twice. My hands were perfectly toasty. No one beeped at me and only one close pass by a distracted driver. I was able to use the still-warm toe and hand warmers around our chilly house in my slippers: BONUS! On this cold, sun-drenched day, a 1 hour ride that ultimately, I didn't regret.


2014 YTD Miles: 151
BMI: 25.9

Vortex vs Pogies

The Allegheny river is frozen save a narrow route for barges.

I'm messing around with Photoshop's Photomerge Panorama feature again. I took these shots with the Nikon on Monday the 27th when it was about 16 degrees and very windy. The trails were once again impassable and even the streets were iffy in spots. I can only tolerate 30 minutes at those temps before I scamper back inside with my tail tucked between my legs.

Even Bill looks cold

I'm working on organizing my handlebar stuff. I got a Topeak bar extender with the hopes I could add the phone holder, blinky, rearview mirror and potentially a bottleholder, because I'm not coordinated enough to reach down on the frame to get a drink while the bike's in motion. I see other people performing this acrobatic feat and I'm in awe. I'd eat pavement if I tried that.



Tuesday, Pittsburgh woke up to another Polar Vortex. It's damned cold. Again. Yesterday's 16 degrees seems balmy.

It's warmer in a dark Northern Alaska than it is here when the sun is shining

I spent the latter part of the afternoon in our cold garage installing the cadence computer and the bar extender. For my sanity's sake, I should have left them to professionals. Eventually, I got the computer working and the handlebar gadgets arranged to my liking (for now).

My cheap ATV pogies arrived! Just in time for another cold day tomorrow!

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Classic-Accessories-QuadGear-ATV-Mitts/716428.uts

Pogies Update: Ugh. I'm glad I only spent $20 on them. I feel like my arms are lashed to the handlebars. This might be OK for long trips where one doesn't need to brake and shift constantly. These may be good for trails, not stop and go on the streets. They come up very far on my arms and it's difficult to pull my arms out of them. I don't like feeling tied to the bike. I could not use them today.

Gloves, gloves and more gloves.

It's been over a week since I've been able to ride and I was desperate to figure out a cold fingers dilemma. Today it was zero degrees for a morning ride. With 3 layers, I was able to go for a 24 minute ride before my fingers told me they'd had enough. Not bad, I suppose.

I wore two layers of liners and one giant pair of Hubby's gloves over them. I brought in a variety of our gloves to test out, trying a cheap and dirty method of getting around buying a super-expensive pair of mittens. No doubt, if I do spring for a pair, the weather will improve by the time they arrive.

I think between the two of us we have too many gloves, none
of which can keep my fingers toasty with minus windchills.

One of my co-workers took these shots of me as I headed out in the afternoon (4 degrees) because she thinks I look like an alien. I do, actually.

Raaawwwwr!

Do these gloves make me look phat?

Our Google Supreme Overlords informed me that I would like an animated .gif of the shots. Freaky.

I rode down to PNC Park on this glorious sunny day and got a shot of the snow-covered yard.

I rinsed off the salty drivetrain this time with water with the assumption that the salt was damaging the components.


2014 YTD Miles: 140
BMI: 25.7

Rule #9 might be the DumbAss Rule.

Almost 11 hours later, my fingertips still feel weird... numb I suppose is the word to describe them. I've found my Achilles heel when it comes to riding in brutally cold temperatures: keeping my fingers warm. I've mastered keeping everything else nice and toasty and free of frostbite.

I went out for a ride before work when it was 8 above zero, stayed out in those conditions for an hour. I stopped twice to stick my hands inside my layers and warm my screaming fingers. I continued once they warmed up. When I got back to the loading dock to lock my bike back up, my fingers began to ache and throb intensely. Holy crap, that hurt. I paced back and forth in the bike rack room flinging my arms around and rubbing my hands trying to get the blood flowing to them again. After a few minutes of this, the intense pain went away, but I'm still left with numb fingertips.

Wow, I was wearing liners and thick lobster gloves and I still managed to get a mild case of frostbite? I now have a healthy respect of severe cold. That's not stuff to screw around with. Looks like my tolerance level for long rides in the cold is about 20 degrees.



A fellow cyclist over at Twitter suggested circulatory issues are to blame.

The rivers are chunky style.

The Lands' End boots kicked ass though, no cold toes, no toe warmers needed. I'm completely head over heels (pun intended) in love with my boots.


Thankfully, the days ahead are promising better, more hospitable riding weather.



2014 YTD Miles: 50
BMI: 25.3

Down with the Sickness

Monday brought a close encounter with a car on the trail.


Some Dead End and/or Authorized Vehicles Only signs are sorely needed there at the end of Kroll Drive, there must be GPS devices directing motorists to drive on the trail, I see MANY drivers lost on this portion of the trail. They normally yield to cyclists and ask me how to get where they want to go. This guy wasn't interested in hitting the brakes in order to avoid hitting me.

When we got home, this was waiting for me, all the way from Latvia:

 It's a red waterproof basket cover! I really could have used this yesterday.

The sickness.

I've discovered I have a sickness; I love riding in the cold. I love it more than an 80 degree day. On warm days, I sweat and it's evident. I'm hot and woozy. I get a headache. On a few occasions, on very hot days my nose bled. I get a disturbingly red face, but I think that's some Irish genetic thing. Irish folk get red in the face from many things: drinking, hard labor, the sun, politicking, embarrassment... sometimes the politicking and embarrassment go hand-in-hand.
The heat will keep me indoors, it seems the cold doesn't. Hubby was telling me that the temperature on an upcoming day would be in the single digits. I said "Yes!"
What the heck is wrong with me?

The Snow Ride

 I started early hoping to beat the snow that was forecast, about 8:45. I should have started earlier. The temperature was 21 with windchills in the teens.

Here's some graffiti reflecting the love/hate relationship with my bike.

The seat nose adjustment made to the bike made a considerable difference, but I still feel like I want the handlebars in a different position. Higher perhaps?

But, I don't want to walk my bike!

7 miles out and I wanted to keep going. Much snow had fallen and there was about a inch accumulated on top of the crunchy older snow.  I decided to turn around at this bridge in Cecil.

 On the way back, I noticed an old gas station with some vintage pumps that were yearning for a photo opportunity.

Fill 'er up, please.

Note the difference in the trail on my way out vs. on the way back:

Before

After

I heard and saw many species of bird: nuthatches, flickers, downies, wrens, jays, red-tailed hawks, chickadees, cardinals and white-throated sparrows.

On my way out, I noticed one very slick icy patch while going down a hill. I carefully avoided it. On my return in granny gear back up the hill, everything was covered in new snow. I wondered where the icy patch was, and then I saw the fresh footprints of a trail walker under me, they suddenly turned into 'swishes' rather than crisp footprints. 

Then this happened:

When I started out this morning, I knew there was a strong possibility that I might take a spill. I had in my head the advice of other cyclists when it comes to falling: 'Just let it happen, don't fight it'. I did just that and nothing was broken, ripped out of a socket or bruised. I don't even feel the tensing of muscles after taking a fall.

I'm still going to take one of those super hot showers that are good for loosening up muscles.

YTD Miles: 498

BMI: 25.3

Is it cold enough for yinz?

I attempted to do some cycling this morning with temps in the teens. I used the same layering I had on Saturday when it was around 30 degrees. I got about a half mile before I realized that my ears were not protected at all. They were screaming at me. I'll add a hooded windbreaker on my lunchtime ride and see how they fare. For now, I'll settle into my workday with tingly ears and a warm bowl of quinoa pumpkin almond raisin oatmeal.

There's an added benefit with wearing 3 thin layers of tight stretchy material: they act as if they were some compression-type girdle Spanx garment. I'm keenly aware of much flatter abs. I feel like I just did 200 crunches. Maybe no one  knows there's middle-aged flab hiding under there?

Curses! Foiled!

I started out late in the day after working Saturday morning... about 3PM and left with no particular route in mind, I just wanted to get out in the cold and pedal around, testing the triple layering I'd dressed in. I took the Ft Duke/Pitt bridges over to Station square and ran into this bit or rudeness:

*Curses*






Then I stopped and attempted to locate a geocache.

Is it under there?

 No. How about under there?

I never did locate it. Curses, foiled again.
Stupid geocache.

Then, I happened upon this:

It's rather odd to see police cars on the bike path. I think someone was having mental health issues, so I didn't gawk too much.

Further down the path, my bladder started pestering me. 

Great, a port-o-potty! Hey, there's music coming from the SUV parked next to it in this desolate park. *spidey senses start tingling* I glance in the driver's seat to see just how dangerous a situation this might be, and sure enough, I'm interrupting a wanking session. Maybe he was getting a BJ, I dunno... I only saw enough to know I'd crashed some private party. I went right on past and FAST. My bladder would just have to wait. Curses, foiled *again*.

Further down, I fully expected the path to lead me to the Hot Metal bridge, but much to my frustration, there was orange plastic fencing and "KEEP OUT" signs at the Riverfront park "Closed for Season" they said, and I had to turn around. Curses! Foiled AGAIN!

By the time I got back to the port-o-john, creepy guy had left, which made my bladder very happy. I tried to find the Hot Metal by taking East Carson, but by now it had started snowing like crazy, I was caked in snow and thankful I'd worn my goggles as the snow was hitting me in big golf ball sized globs. Visibility was poor, can drivers see me? Had I passed the bridge? @)##%*I@)(*!!  
Nervous Nelly that I am, I went back to the safety and familiarity of the trail. Will I ever learn my way around this city via bike?


I took the Smithfield bridge back into town and back to base. My layers worked wonderfully and only my fingers and toes got a bit numb in the hour and 45 minute trip. It wasn't until I'd changed back into my street clothes and walked out to my car that I realized how dang cold it was outside.