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.

Gambling with Fat

I like reading about other bloggers' struggles with weight and food. I can relate, it's not that enjoy watching them struggle. I discover tips and tricks and live vicariously through their triumphs over food addiction... sometimes, I'm inspired by them.

 

Inspiration

So, when Fat Cyclist posted a weight loss challenge to his readers, I perked up.

Here's how it works:

• You create a goal at Beeminder.
• Swear your honesty at tracking. (yeah, it seems pretty easy to cheat at this)
• Lay some money on the line. 

I'm hoping I'll be more successful at getting back to that normal BMI (that I was only able to achieve for a fleeting moment) and ultimately, achieving better eating habits and exercise regimen.

I need to develop a cue-routine-reward habit for myself in regards to non-cycling exercise. I'm really drooling over the Fitbit... I'd be the sort of person obsessed over getting all those LEDs to light up by the end of my day. I watched Charles Duhigg on the Colbert Report recently and became so intrigued by habits and rewards and developing good habits that I borrowed a book of his from the Library.

So, much to my dismay... here's my Beeminder page. Why am I dismayed? It shows my weight. I really should have set it up to track BMI. I figure most folks can take a look at me and determine I'm on the pudgy side without the benefit of charts, graphs and numbers, so I need to stop minding so much that folks know how much I weigh.

A Reward System.

The other day, I was looking at cycling clothes. I like the idea of cycling in non-spandex clothes, but I'm not interested in returning to work in a dress riddled with sweat stains. Ewww. I found a blog that promoted the Perfect Pants, so I checked out these pants... made with Schoeller Dryskin fabric that dries quickly, repels water and does your taxes. They make tailored skirts out of this stuff too.
They're damned expensive, clothing made from this crazy, space-age Jetson's fabric... so I put them on my "I should save these as a reward." list. Looking at the sizing chart, I need the largest size they make. *sad face* Really? I'm as big as a female cyclist gets? *even sadder face*.

• Goal: not to need the largest size they make
• Reward: the cycling pants made from the skin of aliens.

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

New and improved!

Ruby looks nekkid without the basket and pannier. I think she's checking out that red Brooks saddle.

Ruby was released today. Thick gave her lots of new, more durable parts. I hope I don't ruin them so quickly this time. 

I took her back to my fitter to have a new, shorter stem installed with a spacer to raise the handlebars. I hope the weather improves so I can get out and try the properly fitted version of my bike, but I think Mother Nature has different ideas.

They look worried.

When we got back to the house, I discovered the computer installed isn't one that measures cadence. This is entirely my fault, I didn't explicitly express that I wanted a cadence computer. I am an idiot.*facepalm* Well, at least I have a computer.

I think I need more space on the handlebars, I'm out of room even though I removed the bulky camera mount and want to add a mirror and cellphone holder that won't fit on my oddly-shaped handlebars and mirror-unfriendly grips. I think a bar extender is what is needed to increase the real estate for all the necessary gadgets.

Ruby goes to the hospital/Viking prep

The Bike Hospital, that is. I dropped her off at Thick Bikes on Thursday to have the wrenches figure out why the chain was skipping and generally, making bad noises that no bike should make. I left her there for a few days while they gave her a new cassette, chain and general tune-up. I also asked to have a double kickstand and computer installed. I could pick her up on Tuesday. This proved to be a good time as I'd not be able to ride due to appointments, obligations and weekend wind chills in the single digits.

In the meantime, I looked for ways to decorate my helmet for the upcoming Viking Biking ride.

I had an old plastic Viking helmet lying around the house. Not a typo. I also have fake brains and a severed arm in the 'box of weirdness' we have in the spare room. You never know when you'll need a rubber severed arm.

I took the horns off the Viking helmet and velcroed them onto the bike helmet. They just looked like devil horns: not the look I was going for.

Meh.

After examination, I decided the horns needed to be lower.

Much more Viking-y.      The P is for 'PILLAGE'

I suckered Hubby into stopping at Goodwill (OK, I didn't have to twist his arm very much) to see if I could find any furry items that I could disembowel and add as trim to the helmet. I found a brand new faux fur jacket with the tags still on it and a child's toy armor breastplate with a dragon on the front. 

Hubby just shakes his head at me.

2014 YTD Miles: 133
BMI: 25.5

The Pannier Disaster

No, I didn't have a mishap with my bike bag, as the title of this post might lead you to believe.

One day last week, Yale and Vannevar were having a conversation about Panniers and the Latin root, Panis. Panniers means 'Bread Basket' literally... as they explained.
Perhaps that's where Panera Bread got its name? If it did, it's rather redundant.
The conversation drifted off to speak of a company on Pittsburgh's North Side, the Pannier Corporation. While they have nothing to do with bread baskets or bicycle accessories, I noted to Yale and Vannevar that I remembered reading about a horrific and historic fire that took place at that very building in the early part of the last century. I sometimes have a Cliff Claven-esque moment and provide obscure trivia. The conversation re-triggered my interest in the disaster that took the lives of 13, mostly women and girls, almost 100 years ago that sparked changes in the way fires are fought and building safety.

The building on GoogleMaps as it appears today

Ruby pays a visit to the Pannier Corporation:

The Brown Building (as it was called then the fire broke out)

 

MultiMedia page on the fire at the Post-Gazette 

A Post-Gazette piece on the fire:

The Pannier Brothers Stamp Company moved into the restored Brown Building 2 years after the fire and have been there ever since.

Noizy Wheelz and bruise perks

Monday, Jan 13th
I took the day off from riding because my knee insisted upon it. I spent much of my hallway chats with my co-workers explaining why I was particularly gimpy today... a limp that was out of the ordinary from my regular everyday limp. "Speegs, what'd you do to your leg?" or a joking "Red, did you fall off the bike?" (I'm pretty sure there's an office pool about when and how I'm going to end up in the ER) to which I replied "Yes, but that's not why I'm limping." and then I'd show my blue lump to my squeamish co-workers. Even my supervisor, who is an EMT, grimaced at the sight of my arm. Funny, I was able to get her to gasp at the sight of a large oozy-blistery burn on my hand a few months ago, how does she deal with the really gory stuff she sees when she has to work the meat wagon?

The Lump, 48 hours after impact.

The Lump has diminished 5 days later, but was very colorful.

Being unable to ride, this was an opportune time to give Ruby's chain, cassette and rear brakes a good cleaning and re-lubing. They were making rubbing noises that no doubt annoyed and perplexed the heck out of my fellow riders on Sunday. By the end of the ride, the chain was making a squeaking noise and the chain was skipping in certain gears. I gimped over to the loading dock bike rack on my lunch hour and brushed quite a bit of gunk and debris out of the chain and rear derailleur. I don't think the cleaning of the brakes helped with their stickiness, I may have to take it to a professional.

Bike fitting follow-up

It had been 3 weeks since my bike fitting. My fitter had told me that the stem he was ordering would be in 2 weeks ago. I've not heard from him, so I sent an message to him to see what's up.

Tuesday, January 14th
My knee was somewhat back to normal-ish so I took Ruby out in the rain to see if I had mad skillz at cleaning and lubing a drivetrain. The good news was that I heard no annoying rubbing noises! Even the rear brakes were silent. The bad news was that the chain still skipped when I'd shift into or out of my 2 most frequently used gears. Ugh.

More bruises emerge
There's a bruise and tender spot on my left hip, so I guess I hit that too when I took my spill on Sunday.

My trainer/massage therapist took pity on me when she saw my arm and I explained my knee and shoulder might not be 100% for a vigorous workout, so she massaged me instead. Bruise perk!
She also scolded me for poking at it. She explained that it could trigger a hematoma or loosen a clot. Good to know.