RecumBum

February was an odd month. The first half was pretty decent (with one perfect day), but the second half was just a big black hole of bleariness, with about ten days of simply cruddy weather – snow, sleet, rain, clouds, and wind.

Finally, this week the weather broke a bit, and I was able to get in a few reasonable rides. And tomorrow’s forecast calls for 60+ degF, albeit with 20+ MPH winds. So perhaps winter really is loosening its grip at last.

February stats: 284 miles, 14.38 MPH average

My goal for the month was 250 miles, so I’m happy with that. Year-to-date, I’m at 521 miles, 71 miles over goal.

Dare I hope for more consistently warm days in March?

Monday was an incredible day, hitting a record high of 69 degrees, mostly sunny, with manageable winds most of the day. Naturally, I was on the bike.

In fact, I put in a half-century. Granted, it was a s-l-o-w half-century (13.1 MPH average speed), but that wasn’t the point. The mileage wasn’t even the point. The whole point of the day was just enjoyment of the perfect weather.

I looked up from my work around 11am, and noticed that the sun was shining and it was already 60 degrees. “Damn,” I thought, “I better get moving!”

And so I did. I grabbed a quick early lunch, changed (wearing shorts for the first time this year!) and hit the road.

The wind was from the WSW, and it was predicted to be from the SSW later in the day, so I decided on a westerly loop that would take me first north, then west, south, east, north, with a final short westerly leg. I figured on about 40-45 miles, with options to shorten of lengthen it.

I took my first little break at Gardner Lake, where the ice was rapidly breaking up in the wind and sun. There was still enough left for a gull to peck a hole in the ice and do a little fishing. As I watched, it reached into the hole and pulled out a squirming little fingerling, and proudly carried it off to a thicker section of ice (that’s the fish on the ice in front of the bird). How cool is that?

After stopping for a quick self-portrait near the dam, I headed west on 151st, then 143rd. At Edgerton Road I headed south for seven miles, and took another break at the convenience store. After ambling through town, I stopped at the Edgerton City Lake for a bit, and rode the half mile or so of paved trail that connected the lake to the sports complex to the south. Edgerton has a quite nice little collection of baseball fields, tennis courts, playgrounds, and horseshoe-pitching pits.

Sunflower Road heading south was, as always, a really fun ride. I stopped for some pictures on the west side of Hillsdale Lake. The one to the right is on the bridge on Spooncreek Road. The water on that shallow arm of the lake was still partially iced over, and for some reason, almost green in color (not that you can tell it from that photo). I continued south for a bit. I knew the pavement ended at some point, but didn’t know quite where. After another half mile of so I found out, so then turned around and doubled back.

I stopped again near the Antioch arm of the lake. The water here was completely ice-free, and the ground was covered in a soft surface of decaying leaves. The very top layer was slightly crunchy, and underneath it was spongy and almost mushy in places. In open areas I found raccoon and coyote tracks, and a small discarded snakeskin on a rock. I also scared up a rabbit at one point, and heard what I think was turkeys in the woods farther along the shoreline.

Before I returned to the pavement, I stopped, standing in the middle of an access road, and just stood there. I’m not sure how long I was there, but it was a magic time. No cars came by, and I just watched and listened. The only sounds were the slight rustle of the dried grasses in the wind, a songbird calling in the trees, and farther off, the scree of a hawk.

Eventually I looked at my watch and realized that the afternoon was getting away from me, and I was still 20 miles from home. As soon as I got the bike back on the asphalt, I heard the sound of cars in the distance. It was like time has stopped there for a bit, but now it was moving again, and so was I.

Now, headed east, I had the wind at my back, and I made good time to Spring Hill. I’d been betrayed a bit by the wind, which remained stubbornly from the west, so as I turned north I had a crosswind, and for my last little western jaunt, I had a stiff headwind. Two miles from home, I realized that I was going to end up with just over 49 miles. That close, I figured I might was well hit the half-century mark, so I took a detour through a new housing development, and ended up with just over 50 miles for the day.

It was a perfect day, but now winter has returned full-force. After I got home, the winds shifted to the northwest, and the temperature dropped quickly into the 30′s. The next few days are filled with forecasts of freezing rain, sleet, and snow.

So Monday’s spring-like weather was just a tease, but in a good way – a promise of things to come.

When I purchased my Burley Django recumbent, it didn’t come with a kickstand. For an all-purpose bike, I think that’s just silly. Why lay a bike on the ground or have to hunt around for something to lean it against? Sure, there’s a weight penalty, but unless you’re racing, what does it really matter?

So one of the first things I added to the bike was a kickstand. The one I purchased was the Greenfield Stabilizer Kickstand (mostly because that’s what my local bike shop had in stock).

The kickstand is a two-piece assembly – the kickstand mechanism itself, plus a mechanism that clamps to the rear triangle.

Problem is, the Django doesn’t have a rear triangle. Burley’s solution was a kickstand adapter, basically a flat strip of metal bent at a right angle and attached to the rear drop-out.

So, you take the clamp part of the Greenfield kickstand, throw it away, and attached the bottom part to the kickstand adapter.

This works OK, for the most part. I’ve had some trouble with the kickstand wanting to rotate on the flat plate, but that’s easily adjusted.

Also, the kickstand is just a smidge too long, leaving the bike just a bit too upright, and vulnerable to a gust of wind knocking it over. I’ve had that happen a few times, and it’s frustrating, but for the most part, if you pay attention to how you’re parking the bike, the kickstand works reasonable well.

Calhoun Cycle offers the kickstand alone, or as a combo with both the kickstand and adapter.

Click the photos on the right for details (please forgive the grunginess of the bike – between melting snow and mud, the bike’s been pretty hard to keep clean lately).

January turned out to be a pretty good month for me, with 237 miles. Compared to last January (0 miles), it’s infinitely better!

It does beat my goal for the month of 200 miles, so I’m happy about that. Weight-wise, the news is not so good. I’ve gained about 3 pounds this month, and nearly 8 pounds since summer. Too much sitting around and snacking on leftover holiday treats, I’m afraid. But once the weather warms up, that’ll start to come off again.

My coldest ride was at 12 degF, my warmest ride was at 62 degF; most rides were in the 30′s. Compared to last year, the month was just slightly colder (an average daily temperature of 29 degF in 2008 vs. 30 degF in 2007).

I think I have most of my cold-weather clothing selections down pretty well by this point, but I still need to write that up. It’s on my to-do list…

Statistically, January is the coldest month of the year here, so hopefully that means we’ll gradually start to see some warmer days. Bring ‘em on!

It’s been cold here lately, with nearly two weeks of colder-then-normal temperatures. But at long last the cold snap has broken, with a 40+ degree day on Saturday, and a 50+ degree day today. A warm day in winter is a sin to waste, and although I’d gotten out for an hour on Saturday, it was in the cool morning, and I missed the warmth of the afternoon.

Not today.

After attempting to put a group ride together, and having plans fall through, I ended up going out by myself a little before one. The wind was from the south-southwest at about 15 MPH, so of course that’s the direction I headed.

Taking Ridgeview to 207th, I came across my first cyclist of the day huffing up a short rise just east of Spring Hill. Another mile south on Woodland I came across two boys on BMX bikes carrying buckets, stopping every so often to pick up cans from the roadside, stomp them into flatness on the asphalt, and toss them into their containers. A little bit further on, a man and his young son rode their bikes along the road, the little boy struggling up a short hill and his father urging him on.

After passing over 169 highway on 223rd, I took Old Kansas City Road south towards Hillsdale. A few miles down the road I was passed by a white pickup truck driven by a man wearing a black cowboy hat, who proceeded to lay on his horn with two long “get the f*** off the road” blasts. That’s how I took it, anyway. But I just smiled and waved. No sense in returning anger with anger. But still, sometimes stereotypes are richly earned, aren’t they?

At 255th I headed west towards Hillsdale Lake. There were a fair number of people out and about on this sunny day, and most didn’t seem to be in too much of a hurry. After topping the big hill east of the lake, I coasted down onto the dam, and after stopping for a few pictures of the still-frozen lake, I rode the length of the dam road before turning around and heading back east. Finally, the wind was at my back.

Shortly after turning north on Harmony Road, I stopped for a little break and checked my cyclocomputer – 19 miles at a 13.1 MPH average. Better than I expected, given the wind.

Back on the bike, and pushed along by a nice tailwind, I quickly passed over the Tontzville arm of the lake and on towards Gardner Road. By the time I reached 199th Street, the wind was coming fully from the south, and turning back east, the crosswind was rather rough, but another three miles and I was on Clare and headed north once again with the wind, making good time.

At 175th I had to turn east again, and noticed a rider several hundred yards behind me. Given a lightweight road bike and a reasonable fit rider, I knew I couldn’t hold him off for long. Even though I was rolling pretty well on the flat road and wide shoulder, he caught me after about a mile-and-a-half.

He said he was about halfway through a 40-miler, and we talked for a bit before he said so long and took off. By this time we were at my turn-off anyway. I had one more mile, this one into the teeth of the wind, and then I was home.

It turned out to be about 37 miles, with an average speed of 14.6 MPH. So yeah, I must have made pretty good time on the return trip. I was fairly well cooked by the end, and even now, several hours later, I can still been it in my legs. But it’s a good feeling.

Riding a recumbent, I don’t need to wear padded (diaper) cycling shorts. Instead, I wear a simple unpadded compression short (available from many sources; mine are Champions) with wicking underwear (no, I don’t go commando).

I came across the Champion C9 “Active Performance” seamless series on sale at my local Target store, regular $6.99, on sale for $3.48, which is a pretty decent deal. They don’t appear to have them listed on their web site, but the ones shown on the right (“Ex Officio” brand, from Hostel Shoppe) are similar, except much more expensive.

The ones from Target come in three styles, brief, boxer, and boxer brief. I wait until they go on sale (typically several times a year), then grab a few. I’ve been wearing these for the last couple years, and they work fine – no chafing, decent wicking, and good support – much better than plain old cotton underwear.

So if you have a Target store in your area, check ‘em out. I’m not sure how long they’re on sale…

Since the first of the year I’ve been riding irregularly – mostly short rides every few days. Except for two glorious days the first weekend fo the month, when the temperature got into the lower sixties, it’s been mostly right around freezing. Three days ago, it snowed, then it turned colder and continued snowing off and on. Today, it turned markedly colder.

The temperature is 12 degrees, but it’s clear and sunny, and the wind is mild, so I decided to try a short run and continue testing some of my cold-weather gear.

Results were mixed. I was only out for about 45 minutes (10 miles), and it wasn’t altogether unbearable, but it wasn’t exactly pleasant, either.

I started off with three layers of socks, two layers on the legs, three thin layers on top, two layers of gloves, and a winter skull cap on my head.

After a half mile, I realized I needed something on my face, so I stopped and swapped the skull cap for a balaclava. This worked fairly well except that it fogged my glasses up pretty bad, making it very difficult to see. I kept this configuration until the turn-around at mile 5. Up until this point, the wind had mostly been at my back, and I was feeling pretty good, except the fingertips of my right hand were very cold.

After swapping out the balaclava for a Masque/skull cap combo, I headed back home. It felt fine just standing there swapping headgear, but as soon as I got moving again, my upper body was quickly cold. So after a half mile or so I stopped and put on a thin shell.

I kept this configuration the rest of the way home. Using the Masque instead of the balaclava solved the glasses-fogging problem, and I was otherwise pretty content, except that my the time I got home my fingertips were again cold, as were my toes. Heading into the wind at 13 MPH, that works out to be about a -7 degree wind chill, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

Still, I probably won’t ride at this low a temperature again, if I have a choice. It just wasn’t that enjoyable. I feel like I’m getting closer to figuring out my layering strategy, but I’m not there yet.

On the positive side, the next two days are looking to be in the mid-thirties. Balmy!

The first ride of the new year was short, but at least I got it in. Temperatures had warmed into the lower forties by the time I hit the road, but with a strong and gusty wind under a gray and cloudy sky, it felt much cooler. I did my “standard loop” of 14 miles, at a pretty good clip of around 15 MPH.

I dressed just a bit heavily, and ended up with sweaty legs and torso. Still working on that dressing-for-winter business. Seems I can’t avoid a sweaty back no matter what I try. Today it was a Champion C9 compression shirt and light pullover jacket. The combo does a good job of blocking the wind, but the jacket material is to bulky for my taste, and doesn’t breathe as well as I’d like.

It feels good to get a few miles in, particularly after my experience last January, when I was shut out for the month. I don’t want that to happen again.

The weather forecast is calling for warmer temps for the next few days, so hopefully I’ll be able to get in some longer rides before the winter chill inevitably returns.

The end of the year is the traditional time for looking back, reflecting, and taking stock, so that’s what I’ll try to do here: a succinct summary of the ’07 season.

My cycling year really didn’t get started until February. January was cold and snowy, and I didn’t get out on bike at all, even indoors on the trainer. I did do some walking and running in January, so I wasn’t a total zero, but still, I think I lost a lot of fitness in that month-plus off the bike.

February didn’t amount to much, but I did get in nearly 100 miles. March was somewhat better, with a little over 200 miles, and my trip to Arkansas was fun. But the big news of the month was the launch of this blog! I worked on the site while in Arkansas, then registered the domain and took the site live in the last week of the month.

In April I slowly ramped up the mileage and speed, culminating in the Spring Classic, the local bike club’s kick-off event of the season. April was also when I registered for the Katy Trail Ride and started planning for the year’s big tour.

May was a low-mileage month, as I was gone for nearly two weeks on vacation with my wife in San Diego, but I did get in my first 50-miler of the year.

In early June I rode for the first time with a local Wednesday-morning group, a ride that was soon to become a regular part of my life. In mid-June I rode the Katy Trail with my nephew and about 300 other people. This was his first bike trip (and my second), and after a tough day early in the trip, he recovered, and we had a great ride. I’m hopeful that this tour is something he’ll look back on fondly and remember his whole life. The early returns on that look good.

July, for reasons I’m not quite clear about, was a bit of a down month, cycling-wise, but I came back big time with my biggest month of the year in August – 570 miles. The clear highlight of the month was my first century. I didn’t really plan to ride a hundred miles on that hot and windy day, but I felt good, was spinning easy, and just kept on going and going. It turned out to be an amazing day, and the feeling of accomplishment at the end was just incredible. I feel like I carried that high with me for the rest of the year.

September was another 500+ mile month, capped by an unsupported century, and also highlighted by my first look at professional cycling during the Tour of Missouri.

October also topped 500 miles, beginning with the Octoginta and ending with a daytrip on the Prairie Spirit Trail. October was also the month I put trail riding (with disappointing results). As the weather turned I began to experiment with cold-weather gear, a process that continued into December (and is still in progress).

In early December I enjoyed the Kansas City Cyclocross Championships, but as the days of ice, snow, and chilly temps continued, I rode less, but still managed nearly 250 miles for the month.

At the beginning of the year, I set my mileage goal at 3000 miles. As late as early June, it looked unreachable, but by August it was within sight, and I reached the goal by mid-October. For the year, I ended up with 3924 miles, eclipsing last year’s mileage by more than 1000 miles. I track my miles on BikeJournal, and ended the year in 1245th place globally, but #15 in Kansas!

All in all, 2007 was a great year for me, and I’m absolutely satisfied with how it turned out. I had fun, met some cool new riding partners, accomplished some goals, and learned a few things in the process.

As for 2008, I don’t yet have any resolutions, but I have a few ideas in the works, and they may yet harden into resolve. But that’s a topic for another day…

Last week the Kansas City area was covered in ice after a day of freezing rain. Most roads were fine, but everything else was coated with about 1/4″ of the stuff. But with sunny skies and warmer temperatures forecast, I knew the ice wouldn’t last long, so I headed over to the Prairie Center for some pictures before the thaw.

It was still mostly cloudy as I arrived, but when the sun came out for good, the grasses and trees quickly began to shed their load. Walking through the woods I was constantly pelted by drops of water and bits of broken ice, and touching a bush or a low-hanging tree limb was like setting off a booby trap, with the ice disintegrating at my touch, and setting off a chain reaction that set the underlying plant springing up in my face.

Overhead, there was a similar situation, as a gust of wind would knock loose a half-melted bit of ice at the top of a tree, and it would cascade down through the canopy, dislodging more ice along the way. I soon learned to cover the camera and tuck my face low until the avalanche of falling ice had subsided.

The prairie offered a similar scene, though the grasses took longer to melt, and their shedding of ice was less dramatic. Still, by the time I made my way along the paths and returned to the parking lot, much of the ice was gone, and the land looked much different. There were fewer sparkles but more color, as the rich browns, yellows, and red of the grasses began to reveal themselves once again.

Here are a few images: