1. By Bicycle 500.7-mi (92.6%)
2. By Car (Solo) 35.0-mi (6.5%)
3. Carpool 5.0-mi (0.9%)

• Money spent on driving (est. $0.37/mi including depreciation): $12.95
• Money spent on gas (tangible): $0 spent on gas this month

It’s an interesting comparison to last month (How I Traveled Last Month (Bike vs. Car vs. Transit vs. Foot)) where I was in a car 100mi more and I also had to hitch a ride on the bus a few times. This month, I’ve rode everywhere.

I bought new tires, tubes, a cycling jersey, and fenders for the Poprad while the Cannondale has not been ridden for the entire month. I am still wanting a new seat badly but bills had to be paid first so it is on the backburner. Hopefully I don’t need anything fixed after my two incidents where bike, body, and pavement met intimately. We’ll see… Well, it’s very late and I am very tired and should definitely get some shut eye and rest up my raspberry’d cheek. I’m not gonna lie, tho, it makes me look so much more badass :-p

I was on my way home from work last night, taking the route that the lil race is planning to take (Route). The route takes me on South Shore Rd which curves and runs over Lake Oswego. South Shore is a little two-lane road with no bike lane going west (up the hill) and a 6″ shoulder before big gravel on the side. I was just about to begin the climb up South Shore when the 6″ shoulder become a 2″ shoulder and my front tire slipped off a 5″ drop onto the gravel.

My bike flipped up into the air and I landed, half clipped-in, on my right side. I got some nice looking raspberries on my right elbow and right shoulder. A little side-of-the-road maintenance and I was up and running. I made it up the hill in ten minutes which seemed like very good timing. All was okay.

Today, on my way to work, I felt really good. I was zooming down McVey, almost hitting 40mph in a very very light drizzle. It was refreshing to ride in the mist, although fenders would be nice. I hung a left carefully on to Hwy 43 and climbed up to Wilbur St while staying above 16mph. I reached the top of the mini climb and felt good; I had a lot of legs left. I started the small descent, passing cars who had to stop behind other cars (always a good feeling).

Ahead of me about 6 cars was a huge cement truck so I slowed down and, thinking rationally, pulled off to the side because I didn’t want to have to try and squeeze along the side. I waiting for traffic to pass and continued on. There’s a set of train tracks that I have to cross. They cross Hwy 43 right before the big intersection w/ A Ave in Lake Oswego. The tracks intersect the road at a 60-degree angle which is what did me in today.

I rode into the street, looked behind me to see no cars within a quarter mile and merged into the left-most lane to hang a left onto A Ave. I started a light sprint and hit the tracks and slipped. I hit my shoulder and my left cheek. I stumbled up and the car was now alongside me asking if I was alright… I felt dizzy and low on breath. I hobbled onto the median and stood there until I got some of my bearing back.

Two days in a row and I remember how mortal I am. I am no Greek god, I am no angel, and I am not surrounded by some mystical forcefield. I am a human being and I can die if everything lines up that way. I’m lucky that all I have is a headache and some impressive bruise/road-rash combination battle wounds. Even tho my falls were nothing horrible, they could have been. I’m still alive and well. I can still ride my bicycle (although I think it needs a check-up now) and I have 3 days off from work and am well enough to go about life as usual.

I can heal but the bike (and my Peet’s Jersey, which got ripped) cannot… I cleaned up the bike, rotated the tires and gave the bike some general TLC tonight. I plan to ride around a bit tomorrow to make sure everything is alright with it… I hope so! The F600 will most likely get some saddle-time tomorrow as well as it has been damp and/or rainy. I bought SKS fenders for the Poprad but they may need some custom modifications to get them to work how I want them to.

Lastly, here are my stats from last month…

• 34:25’46″ moving along in the saddle (1:06’38″ per day)
• 500.79mi traveled (16.15mi per day)
• 14.91mph average speed
• 44.3mph max speed
• 24,820kcal burned (800 per day)
• 58,188ft of climbing (1,877ft per day)

Comparing June vs. July

• 9:30’32″ more saddle time in July
• 180.91mi more traveled
• 1.86mph faster average speed
• 6.7mph faster maximum speed
• 11,422 more calories burned
• 20,750ft more of climbing

Tonight I was counting money in the back of work with a hundred things running through my head… “$20, 40, 60, 80… Does that encounter mean anything… $120, 140, 160… What is Pop’s problem… $200, 220, 240… That girl today was a real cutie… $300, 320… When am I going to find a place to move out…”

That went on for, well, quite awhile. I was counting tips & cash registers from 6:45-7:10pm and thinking about something else almost the entire time. Once we were closed and I was on to those duties, it was the same thing. My brain was full of pretty good thoughts… Nothing negative just some perplexing issues and my general over-thinking of very small interactions with people.

The crew and I got out about ten-minutes later than we were supposed to. I looked outside to see pitch black at 9:15pm. It’s been staying light for so long that I forgot how it was to get off work and have the sun hiding on the other side. The night had been damp but it wasn’t raining when I rolled the bike out the door.

I threw the light jacket on, my head/taillamps, and clipped in, leaving with a smooth attitude down and out thru the parking garage.

Once on the bike, everything melts away. The sensation is not different from the feeling I would get behind the wheel of my Subaru on a leisurely drive. Things just mend together and everything just makes sense. My legs turn the pedals which turn the crank which turns the wheels which holds the tires which gripped at the damp pavement of the street. Everything just works. All is well.

Twenty-five minutes later, I’m sweaty, slightly wet, breathing heavier, and home. The ride takes all thoughts of the day and compresses them into a wee little box for later. Everything just melts away as the miles add up. Home, I’m relaxed and ready for some after-ride calories and a shower before settling in and sleeping kindly.

All is well.

My cycling as of Tuesday, June 29, 2008:

• 1,057.77mi (479.04 this month – 16.5mi/day)
• 13.55mph avg (14.81 this month)
• 44.3mph max (achieved this month)
• 37,042kcal burned (23,644 this month – 1,277/day)
• 92,372ft climbed (54,934 this month – 1,894/day)

To take it a step further, If I had kept up driving the way I used to (1600mi/month), I would have added 4,800mi to my car which adds up to over $800 saved on gas! That pays for the entire bike… Still, I have noticed that I up’d the amount of money I was spending on bike related things and that really adds up too. If all I factor in to driving and operating an automobile is the price of gasoline, I will have paid for absolutely all of my bike related purchases in less than 6 months.

I realized that I have closed one expensive hobby door (driving and modifying my car) and opened up another which, while less expensive, is still pretty damn expensive. Fortunately it is so much better for my health, my livelihood, the world I live in and it has been rubbing off on others at work. My buddy Rex, who was once a very very avid cyclist, said that he began riding again because of the devotion I was putting into commuting and cycling. Also, two sisters I work with have been biking to work and back every so often which is quite a feat considering they have a 300′ climb up to their house and heavy city bike cruiser hybrid thingy’s.

Still, I’ve got a whole bunch of expensive things on my list of mods for the Poprad:

• Fizik Arione Saddle & Thomson seat post
• Thomson stem, over-sized bars (31.8mm), & some sexy new bar-tape
• Chris King Headset & Reynolds Ouzo Pro CX Fork

Not to mention biking gear:

• Showers Pass Jacket (for when it inevitably begins to pour)
• Full Finger Gloves (for when it inevitably gets cooler)
• More cycle-relevant pants
• At least 1 more jersey

The F600 will become my bad weather beater and general utility bike. All that I really want to pick up for that bike is some Crank Bros Candy SL Pedals to accommodate my Sidi’s when i hop on that bicycle. Of course, none of this is even beginning to talk about Bike 3 which will be a SS/Fixie commuter for when I live in a land of less climbing.

I’ve got 4 more nights of commuting before having the weekend off. I was planning to take part in the Blackberry bRamble down in Eugene but I was invited to a small unsanctioned bike race from the LBS to the Canby Ferry on the same day… I’m fully expecting to get my arse kicked but we’ll see. It will be my first “race” and first “group ride” so disaster is eminent.

My cycling as of Monday, June 28, 2008:

• 1,047.15mi (468.42 this month)
• 13.52mph avg (14.77 this month)
• 44.3mph max (achieved this month)
• 36,490kcal burned (23,092 this month)
• 90,878ft climbed (53,440 this month)

So, it’s been 2 weeks since I wrote on here… Damn I need to make it more of a habit of writing these things… I am filling all my free time with, well, it seems nothing. Still, I am away from the keyboard long enough that when I get home, all I do is record my trip times, distances, etc, and then hit the sack.

So, I guess a lot has happened(?).

I started watching Le Tour pretty profusely. I don’t have cable so I’ve been chilling at one of two St. Honore bakeries. They have one in Lake Oswego right down the street from the Peet’s where I work and the original one in NW Portland (Thurman & 23rd). Their pastries are pretty kickass and I’ve heard good things about their paninis but I really don’t want to shell out almost $7 for turkey, spread & cheese on a croissant. I have not been impressed with their espresso… Long shots producing a whole shit-ton of espresso makes for a piss-poor shot. I started getting them over ice and they are much more pleasant. Either way, they have the Tour on and that’s all I really care about.

Sadly, the Lake Oswego one has been lacking with their coverage of the Tour. I take it as a sign when it’s not on… Today, golf was on… ‘Nuff said. There was a nice crowd of enthusiasts (including a super sexy primer-colored Vanilla Cyclocross bike locked up outside) at the NW location when I watched Stage 9 with a bike buddy from work. It was a good time watching Ricco blast up the Pyrenees… Doping or not, I was/am still impressed (Ricco fails doping test). It’s a good thing they caught his doping early otherwise there could have been more stage wins tainted by the fact that the winner was on something. I don’t get the lack of ethics when it comes to riding out of good ‘ol fashion man power in such a prestigious race like one of the Grand Tours.

I’ve done 319mi this month. Drug free. Not super impressive but I just keep on taking aim on all my set goals and reaching them. When I started this thing, I hoped to ride 1000mi this year… I’m at 898. Only 100 to go and I hope to do a 30+ mile ride tomorrow to get ready for the Blackberry bRamble put on by Greater Eugene Area Riders. I am not sure if I plan to do the 43mi route or the metric century (100km, 62mi). The plan was for the 43mi but I guess we’ll see. Tomorrow’s route will include 4200ft of elevation gain when the day is said and done… That’s a lot. I am questioning if I can do it…

The plan is to go out early, get some espresso part way through, hit up my friend’s family’s garage sale and then ride up to Portland and back… Then work. Then ride home. Then die. It may not be the smartest thing, especially since I open the next morning, but I was meaning to do a nice long ride on my days off (the last of which was today).

This biking thing has bit me hard. I have been saving a lot of money on gas and all that crap which, in turn, has been funding my bike stuff.

In the past month, I’ve gotten some nice goodies which I hope to review sooner or later:

• Specialized Armadillo Elite Tires (700x25c) with matching Specialized Tubes
• Voler Peet’s Coffee & Tea Limited Edition Cycling Jersey
• More Sock Guy Socks

The Poprad has been working out great. It’s an agile performer with good get-up and climbing prowess. It has been the commuter and rec ride of choice. The new tires make the bike stiffer, smoother, and faster (albeit not as comfy) and encourage me to take the long way home.

There is some ugly fork chatter at times… It’s a lot like slamming on the brake pedal of a car without ABS. In that instance, all the car does is skid and the car stops so much farther and with a lot more drama than normal. The fork chatter really hinders my ability to slam on the front brake, making me modulate power front & rear with infinitely small adjustments of power. At times, the bike cannot brake as hard or as smooth as I’d like it to. The Avid Shorty 4s are sooo squeaky and loud that I can overpower the noise of a braking city bus sometimes. I’ll probably clean the rims before I head out tomorrow and see if that helps…

So, the mod bug hit me bike-wise just as it did car-wise. I have a nice bike but everything can be upgraded. First, the saddle needs to go. My ass is not liking the stock Bontrager Race Lux seat. A more comfortable and lighter seat will sit in its place.

Then, the fork shall go. The Kinesis aluminum fork paired with canti brakes seems like such a horrible design idea. It needs to go but since I have my eye on a Reynolds Ouzo Pro CX fork, which will definitely cost a pretty penny, it will have to wait a few paychecks. I plan to have nothing but the best, a Chris King NoThreadSet, installed at the same time as well(I’m still trying to figure out what color). Oooh the world of bikes! It makes me so happy and full of gleeeeeee.

After I have those few mods, I will probably begin to build up an old school Fixie/Single-speed Project with a classic, short-wheelbase, sporty, older steel frame. Hopefully by then, I won’t live up a 600ft hill where a SS would be torture of the absolute worst kind.

Well, it’s past 1am and I told myself that I was going to wake up at 8am soooo…

Nite

I was hoping to take some pictures of the fireworks last night but I forgot my tripod so that would have been a lost cause. It was a dark night with only the fireworks brightening the night sky.

I had to close the shop last night so I rode up towards PDX around 9:30. Bikers wanting to go from Lake Oswego to Portland have two options… Brave (and by brave, I mean stupid) the dangerous ride along Highway 43 where shoulders are non-existent in some places and SUVs blow by you at 60mph OR ride up the 400′ climb to the Riverview Cemetery and then do thru it. Last night, figuring there would be more drunkies out in their cars (great world we live in, eh?). I chose the alter and rode up Tryon Creek which is a nice little climb… I’m not sure how high but it’s around 400′ or so of elevation gain. It was dark. The path is under the cover of trees and there are no lights or moon or stars to brighten anything. My bike is sporting a Blackburn Quadrant headlamp.. It’s decent. It has four bulbs which can all be on at once but I still found myself wanting more… I might buy a second one for extra visibility under the cover of darkness…

Anyways, around 9:45pm, I reached the cemetery and started the descent down to the Sellwood Bridge. In the distance, I could see Oak’s Park setting off their fireworks and even further to the east, Milwaukie or some other city was setting off some of their own. It was beautiful and eerie with the gravestones in the foreground. I reached Sellwood where I was planning to meet up with some friends for lemonade and relaxation but, to the north, the noise of Portland’s fireworks could be heard. So, on a whim, I hopped over to the Springwater Corridor and headed north to Portland.

On the left, Oak’s park was reaching the finale of their display of patriotism. It was amazing riding a bike to the sound of fireworks. The path was a lit for the first half of my journey and the sensations were indescribable. Ironically, I was listening to Explosions in the Sky, my absolute favorite band ever. I left my headphone dangle by my ear so I could hear the fireworks foremost and the music would provide a faint background aura. It was beautiful. Explosions is an instrumental rock band, I don’t know how else to describe it… Kind of like modern day classical music, full of crescendos of drums and guitars. It rocks my world, always.

After passing Oak’s Park and out of range of the light of their fireworks, the path was dark and without a person on it. I bombed towards PDX the fastest I have ever been on the Springwater. I couldn’t see my cyclometer but I had to be carrying 20mph+ the entire way. I had so much adrenaline and endorphins running throughout my body that I just pedaled and pedaled harder and faster. Through the trees I would catch a glimpse of Portland’s light show and I could feel the concussions through the ground as they crept up my tires and into my body. I really cannot describe the euphoria of chasing fireworks on a pitch black night on a bike path all by yourself. It was incredible.

I reached OMSI and watched the last 10-minutes of the fireworks display in a crowd of people. I can say with complete honesty that I am always astounded at how many bikes I see when there are huge groups of people gathering in Portland… The finale rang through the sky through the smoke of previously exulted fireworks. Underneath the I-5 bridge the sounds were amplified and the feeling was of awe. I felt like a little kid seeing fireworks for the first time. I pulled out my camera for pictures but no tripod+dark night+bright lights=no bien.

This is all I could get out of my 4 year old Olympus digicam.

I rode to Sellwood for nice sweet lemonade and then back to Lake Oswego where I stayed at a friend’s house. Overall, it was one of the best Fourth of July’s I have ever experienced… I can’t say that I’m surprised that a bike was involved in this one…

Today, I took the long way home. It was like a little mini 9mi weekend ride (err, if I ever had weekends off). I climbed up McVey to the roundabout with Rosemont Rd. It’s a nice little climb and takes you up almost 400ft (the first hump on elevation graph). Once you reach Lakeridge High School, it’s a fast barely downhill run to Johnson Rd. I was happy and sad that I kept a constant 32-34mph down this little incline but I wished I could’ve been going a little more. I was pretty much topped out in my 46 front and 12-tooth rear cog.

Around mile 3, I hung a fast left onto Johnson and continued on. Johnson has some nice turns and then two very long straights (well, long for the hills of Oregon). The first straight is kind of downhill where I held 30mph and the second one is kind of uphill where I was barely eclipsing 12mph. I need to learn how to rock the rolling hills… I’m not used to them yet.

Johnson continues for a bit with a few big turns and then it goes downhill around mile 5 (the dip right before the climb). At mile 5.8 is where I turned left onto Woodbine/Wisteria road and began the climb up to home, up to rest and relaxation. It’s a slow 7-12mph climb up Wisteria. By the time I reached the top (around mi 7.75), I had sticky, hot sweat burning my eyes as it accumulating in their corners and crevices. I had sweat dripping down my legs onto a new, open wound on the back of my left ankle. It stung like alcohol on a cut. I had sweat and salt on the outside of my pants by my knees… My knees were sweating! I did not even know that was possible.

Anyways, the climb continues another 150′ up towards Rosemont Ridge Middle School where I continue on to home. It was a great ride and my legs are feeling it. It was such a good ride that the first thing I had to do when I got home was drink 24oz of water and shower. Aaah, showers. I have a pile of sweaty-backed shirts from my endeavors home from work. The climb is hard but the reward of tangible self-supported transportation is worth it.

32 car-free days, 58 to go

1. By Bicycle 320.5-mi (57.5%)
2. By Car (Solo) 120.1-mi (21.5%)
3. By Public Transit 55.4-mi (9.9%)
4. Driving (With Others) 54.4-mi (9.8%)
5. By Foot 3.8-mi (0.7%)
6. Carpool 3.4-mi (0.6%)

I think it’s kind of interesting how I have tried to keep away from being inside an automobile at all. I used to not be able to get enough time behind the wheel but now, I would much rather be on my bicycle.

• Money spent on driving (est. $0.37/mi including depreciation): $40.41
• Money spent on gas (tangible): $60.60 to fill up my tank
• Money spent on bus fare: $13.45

Okay, sorry for all the random statistics. I hope to do this same type of thing once August comes along. We’ll see.

• Bicycle-specific stats from last month:
• Total time riding (moving): 24:55’06″ (49 min/day)
• Total distance: 319.88 mi (24.65mi on the Poprad, 295.23mi on the F600) 10.6 mi/day
• Average speed: 13.05 mph
• Max speed: 37.6 mph
• Calories burned: 14,532 kcal (484 kcal/day)
• Altitude gained: 37,438 ft (1,248 ft/day)

I’m also trying to figure out how much it costs to fuel my biking addiction. That’s for another post but, shortly, I hope to look at how much extra I need to eat (based on calorie consumption calculations) to bike as much as I do… My car averaged 23.6mpg over thousands of miles of recording. At the current Portland average (according to Portland Gas Prices) of $4.23, that means that the cost to drive one mile is equal to 17.9¢ ($4.23/23.6mpg). Anyways, it’s way too late and I really need to get to bed. I close today on the 4th and then I plan to ride up to the fireworks on the waterfront in downtown PDX and possibly camp out at a co-workers house out in the boonies so it might be a late night for me. Anywho… Sleepytime.

The ride took a lot out of me. It was 80deg and the humidity weighed heavy on my skin. While in motion, things were fine with the cool air (and constant headwinds, apparently) keeping body temp in check. Once that motion was stopped, though, insta-sweat occurred. I biked to Coffeehouse NW, a coffeeshop with a semi generic name and pretty consistently delicious capps and macchiattos. I <3 the baristas there. They gave me 2shots of espresso on the house for my 15mi trek there. Can’t argue with that…

I had a change-of-shirt there and the shirt I rode in was gross. After a few minutes off, it was cold, damp, and heavy with old salty sweat. My arms glistened like the buttery organic milk that Coffeehouse uses… The cappuccino was delicious… My arms, not so much.

Rode back home after some hours downtown and more caffeine at the Peet’s in NE PDX. Don’t get me started on Peet’s baristas… As a “bar specialist” at another Peet’s, I know our standards in and out… The barista there violated so many things that I only drank the trad capp I got because my brother paid for it. I’m sorry, Andy, you shouldn’t have to pay for that ish. Peet’s baristas either care a lot about their drinkmaking or they give those of us who try on every drink a bad name.

I love the Broadway Bridge, I love riding in the city, I love the Eastbank Esplanade and I love the Springwater Corridor along the Willamette. What I do not love so much, is the Sellwood Bridge. It’s a horribly dangerous way to cross a river by bicycle. I’d rather ford it a la Oregon Trail (the black & green old school 5″ floppy version).

The elevation profile from the ride home.

It was a good 2,100′ of elevation gain. The fist hump is the climb up the Riverview Cemetary which zigs and zags for 1.4mi and 550′ of elevation gain. That’s an average grade of over 13% which I definitely found myself delivering the mail during parts (zig and zagging from side to side). The last climb is the hills up to my house. Today I chose Pimlico-Summit-Apollo-Zeus-Rosepark. It’s a 1.1-mi climb of 495′ (11.7% avg grade). I love and hate living up a 400-600′ climb (depending on the route). My legs hate it during but my entire mind, body and soul love it afterwards.

I need bigger legs and a higher threshold for the kind of pain that a self-supported propulsion up long double-digit grades brings. I also figured out that, after a ride like today, I need to eat at least 3,500kcal of food just to not loose weight. Argh. I’m already a BMI of barely over 20… It’s healthy but definitely towards the lower end of that spectrum. I’m self-conscious about my weight like a bride but in an opposite way… I definitely lost weight today and fooey to that.

Still, I’m happier than a clam.

My cyclometer as of tonight (plus 48 more miles of non-cyclometer riding). I’m so very proud of myself.

I have been very intricately keeping track of my nerdy stats for riding thru multiple websites now (Bike Journal, Map My Ride, Velo Routes, and as of tonight, The Daily Plate). Why do I do this? I’m still not sure. I think it’s a disease, maybe?

I have a year-long goal as well as a monthly goal. The year-long goal concerns my dependence on oil, fossil fuels, and my automobile. Currently, my precious lil Subaru wagon is sitting relatively dormant in the street. She has seen more attention and better days in the TLC department. I put just over 24,000-miles on her throughout the first year that I owned her and took amazingly detailed care over her. I bought it with 38-mi on the odometer and now it has just under 42,000. It’s an ’06 and that’s a whole shit-ton of miles, I’m sorry.

On May 22, 2008, I set a goal that I wanted to be completely car-free for at least 90-days out of the remainder of the year. So far, it’s proving slightly difficult. I have been car-free for 29 days so far! I have just under six months left to accomplish my goal and I am almost 1/3 there. I don’t know if that’s good or bad… I have to average at least 10 car-free days every month… That seems do-able? I can’t believe I went from putting 2,000-miles per month in a bucket seat to spending just under 100-miles in that same seat last month! I don’t mean to toot my own horn but toot tooot beep beeeeeeeep.

Last month, I set a goal to cycle 300-miles. With 4 days left, I broke my left pedal out of the crank arm of the little silver Cannondale. It took all the threads with it and the LBS could not re-thread the beast. WTF. At that time, I was at 295.2mi…. I felt that I would not accomplish my goal. So close, yet so far. No bicycle… No means of cycling anywhere… I hopped in the trusty Subaru for a few miles of fossil fuel bliss. I had almost forgotten just how effortlessly a car glides over pavement. Sure, my bike does glide somewhat effortlessly sometimes, but, the majority of the time, I am sweating buckets and fighting my burning legs communicating screams to my brain.

The same day the pedal broke, I went to check out a bike I was really liking from a guy in NE Portland on Craigslist. It was a 2005 LeMond Poprad, white w/ blue decals, and I loved it. I bused from West Linn to Portland (where I attended a training session for Portland’s annual bike count volunteers) and then up to NE. I am new to the whole bus thing and, long story short, I ended up walking about 15 blocks to Tim’s place in the NE Alberta area. It was nice out and sunny so no complaints.

I test rode the bike and it was great. It felt very similar to the brand new 2008 Poprad I test rode at Bike Gallery a few months prior. The bike was in immaculate condition and had a few very nice aftermarket additions (Crank Bros eggbeater pedals, Mavic CXP22 wheels laced to Ultegra Hubs, & Conti Twister Cyclocross Tires).

The next day, after work, I drove up and bought the bike for a very reasonable price. Excited, I got home and adjusted everything to my liking. The bike was sooo purdy. I had splurged on some Sidi Zeta mountain shoes from REI (the morning of) to congratulate my bike find and I was tempted to ride then and there but it was 11pm and I had work the next morning so I went to sleep. I was so tired that I fell asleep on the couch with my shiny new bike leaning on the backside of the couch.

Sometime over the course of the night, I heard a crash and I immediately woke up… The silhouette of my family’s orange tabby was on the back of the couch and the bike was on the ground… For some weird, innate reason, my first reaction was to jump over the back of the couch in pursuit of some invisible being that may have been trying to take my pretty pearl white bike!

In the haste, I caught my left foot on the front chainring and blood rushed from my foot, quickly staining the floor. I, of course, was thinking “WTF just happened?” I felt my foot throbbing and the wet trickle of blood, hot yet cool. I hobbled to the bathroom, light headed, and tried to clean up while still being pretty much asleep. I wrapped the wound up with tired eyes and went back to bed.

In the morning, I awoke to a hurting foot, a blood-stained wrap, and a slightly bent chainring. Long story short, I wasn’t able to ride that day to work or back. I drove. I was angry at the universe for putting these obstacles in my way.

The next day, I didn’t ride to work in the morning, fearing I might harm the healing process of the two gashes and the big white bruise on the outside of my foot. It felt good after that shift so I drove home and threw on the new shoes and left the house on my new bike. My legs felt like they lost 25% of the muscle and power that I worked so hard to gain over the past month. The ride was the fastest ever but it was damn hard. I got to work for our bi-annual inventory with a sweat stained back and the sting of that same sweat in the corner of my eyes.

It’s a good sensation to go from a hardtail mountain bike to a cyclocross bike. The gearing is a little higher and the geometry is creating even more new biking leg muscles. I love it. The hills are harder and easier at the same time. I carry more speed but I can’t go much slower than 7mph without feeling like I do not have the strength to pedal. On my mtb, I found myself at 3.5-5mph on a daily basis going up some of the bigger hills home.

I’ve ridden the LeMond everyday since and I fall in love with it more and more everyday.

I’m interested to see the difference now that I will be riding the CX bike much more than the MTB…

More to come. I hope to reach 400-miles this month. That’s 13-miles per day on average… Last month, I averaged 10.7 miles/day. I hope to ride in the 9th Annual Blackberry bRamble down in Eugene on August 3 with the Greater Eugene Area Riders. I plan to ride in the 43-mile route which would be most mileage I’ve done in one sitting by far. I’ve ridding 39mi in a day but with lots of resting, errands, espresso, reading and socializing. I have not ridden more than 10miles in one sitting. I hope to work my way up to that almost half century, even with the July/August heat we’ve been enduring (once again, not complaining).

Wow, I’m very talkative today… Well, I guess it’s been awhile since I really let myself loose on this page. All is well and I am well. The LeMond has taken a spill each day except today and I hope to keep the streak of no falls going. I feel pretty used to my Sidi’s+clips and also I’m more used to the bike. Up next for the LeMond will be some commuting slick tires. Right now, it is rocking 700x32c Continental Twister cyclocross tires. They are great and knobby but I plan to run Specialized Armadillo 700x25c’s to lesson the rolling resistance, pick up some SKS P-35 fenders to keep me dry when PDX decides to turn back to PDX, and then a new seat as the Bontrager seat is trying to make me unable to have children (and I want a few lil me’s biking around one day!). After that, I hope to replace the aluminum front fork (can you say f*o*r*k* *SHUDDER* under hard hill braking) with something nicer (TBD) and a Chris King headset… That is probably a few paychecks or months off. We will see.

As for now, I’m loving the ride. My arms and legs are ever so slightly sore from the climbs and descents and my bruised/cut foot is healing. Pain is the name of the game, here, and I am loving it.

1. Riding is pain is pleasure is life
2. I can and will bike places I used to drive
3. I need more comfortable padded biking underpants

I started biking about four weeks ago on a bit of a whim. And I got bit hard. With the help of Bike Journal I’ve been keeping track of all my rides. I’ve ridden just over 13-hours this month and just over 152-miles! I have to say, I’m very proud of myself.

That is what this blog is going to be about.

This morning, I was looking at custom Oregon bike makers like Vanilla Bicycles (check this out, these are some of the most beautiful custom bikes eva!) and came across Ira Ryan Cycles. Some very purposeful and amazing bikes are coming from this guy.

So, after some poking around I came across his WordPress blog and read about the Rapha Continental. Ira’s a PDX guy and he’s part of a team who is working on a project to artfully, skillfully, and amazingly endure some of the best rides in North America.

Long story short, I was checking out Rapha’s website (by god I want some of their damn cycling attire, it’s amazingly sexy looking for cycling gear) and came across an amazing quote from The Rider by Tim Krabbé.

“The greater the suffering, the greater the pleasure. That is nature’s payback to riders for the homage they pay her by suffering. Velvet pillows, safari parks, sunglasses; people have become woolly mice. They still have bodies that can walk for five days and four nights through a desert of snow, without food, but they accept praise for having taken a one-hour bicycle ride. ‘Good for you’. Instead of expressing their gratitude for the rain by getting wet, people walk around with umbrellas. Nature is an old lady with few friends these days, and those who wish to make use of her charms, she rewards passionately.”

I wrote these words on a scrap piece of paper and put it into my messenger pack along with my tools. Today, these words kept me going.

To preface, I’m quite an amateur rider and definitely in the recreational group right now. I’m no speed demon (although I try) and I’m still in the beginning of developing my riding legs. I huff and puff up 3% grades my legs burning almost all the time. But I absolutely love it. I’m stuck and a cyclist for life.

Three and a half weeks ago I biked around West Linn, Oregon (where I currently live w/ my family). We live atop a hill. It’s a fast descent down and a slow climb up. I started commuting to work by driving down the hill to a park & ride and then biking <3-miles to work. Not the most efficient… I decided I wanted to see if I could make it up the hill without dying.

I started with a small loop. A tiny bit of climbing and then a very fast downhill (hit 36mph on my mtb). Then along Hwy 43 south to the smallest grade possible to climb back home. The choices are, huge quick double-digit grade, slightly smaller but not by much ridiculous grade, or my choice, the slow climb up Sunset.

Needless to say, I did not make it up that road without stopping. I had to stop and rest 5 or 6 times. It was like dying or getting tortured. I got home and laid on the floor. Dead.

Today, even after 19-miles of riding, I made it up the hill in one piece, without stopping. The pleasure from reaching the top of the 500-ft climb was unbelievable. It was a burning, amazing high, a euphoric experience.

This is why I ride. The pleasure from a reaching the top of a painful climb. This is why I am so addicted to the sport and the lifestyle already. It was a slippery slope and I’m still sliding. Happily. Life is good.