This is part of my afternoon commute home. I ride through part of Fort Snelling State Park. I prefer this much more than driving. As I took this picture up on 5 and 55 cars are backed up for nearly a mile along the road. Suckers.
Friday is bike to work day and you should do it. If you have showers near/at work you have no excuse. If you drive less than 5 miles, no excuse. :) 10 miles was my excuse for a long time not to ride in, but it is pretty easy. I met one guy here who rides nearly 26 miles each way 2-3 times a week. Makes me feel like a slacker all these years. Get out and ride!
I have been riding this route for about a month now, 3-4 days a week and I never want to go back to commuting full time by car. The thought of it makes me sad. Even in the winter I want to ride in and I am going to try. Right now my route is about 10 miles in each direction but the ride home usually get stretched into about 15 depending on time. :)
I am not exactly sure how many miles I have ridden, or how much weight I have dropped but by riding into work I am happier in the AM, get in two 45 minute workouts each time I ride in. Well have a good bike to work day Friday!
-pete
Labels: bike, commute
I left work excited to get through the first 4 miles of my ride home. The first 4 miles are all on highways, usually the speed limit is 55 but people usually go 60 or more. Once I got across the bridge and into Fort Snelling I decided to take a few minutes and watch the people across the river sitting on the beach. There were a few people playing with dogs and a few just tanning. I snap a quick picture up river and move out.
I look at my watch when I get near the dog park, 5:10 it blinks at me. I remember telling Anne I would be home by 6. Quick math, 50 minutes to keep riding. It was too nice just to go straight home. So I keep heading north through Minnehaha Park. I come to Minnehaha parkway and cross 55 heading toward Lake Nokomis. I follow the parkway and go around the Nokomis ball fields until I hit Cedar. I follow Cedar back south towards the lake.
When I hit the lake I have a choice to make, long way or short way. Long way it is. I made it home with plenty of time to spare. It was a great day to commute by bike.
Labels: bike, commute
They made it hanging off the handle bars for about 4.5 miles into work. They smell nice.
Labels: bike, commute, flowers
I wish I would have had my camera this morning. As I was crossing the Mendota Bridge the sun was shining through the mist over the river, the wind was non existent and I didn't even notice the cars. It was awesome. I rode that mile of bridge pretty slow. When I got off the bridge and up the hill I could smell something... It was my favorite smell of spring. Lilacs. God they smelled good. I rode pretty slow along that stretch as well.
The commuter tires are working well, 40 miles on this week. The ride home was windy and out of the North, felt like a 10 mile uphill ride, I cut down to the lower part of Fort Snelling for the part of the ride after the bridge, got some wind relief but there are more hills and way more runners. Damn shirtless runners. :)
Later.
Labels: bike, commute
I left off the last post with a lumpy tube in my tire and a good guess that it would also be flat when I got back out there. I did some thinking in the afternoon and decided I may need to figure out how to get a ride to a shop to buy a tube or find someone at work that also may have biked in. I decide to hit up the Caribou Coffee to grab some coffee and think about my situation. Miss the first part?
Here!As I was walking to the elevators I ran into a guy I know from Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists that also works in the building. I asked him if he had an extra tube and told him my story. He says, "Yeah, I do, let's go grab it." Yes! So we go out, grab a tube from his bike and head back in, I promise to bring him a new tube on Monday and pray to god that he doesn't get a flat on the way home since this was his only tube. He didn't.
End of the day. Walking out to my bike I can see that the tire is flat. Not low but flat. I remember that West has a mobile repair guy that repairs flats on cars and jump starts them. I replace the smaller tube for the larger one I secured earlier in the day. I walk my bike up to the building and head to the guard desk and ask them to have the guy swing up to the front for an air fill.
When he arrived I walked over to him and showed him my flat. He tells me that he has never filled up a bike tire at West. He asks me how many PSI to put into the tire, I tell him 40. He says okay and it is full in about 2 seconds. I thank him and am on my way.
I get to my Super America turn about 4 miles into the ride and notice that the tire is leaking slowly still. I looked over that whole damn tire and couldn't find anything in there. So I pull up to the SA and run inside and ask them to flip on the compressor. I fill the tire back up. On my way again.
I decide to hit up
Hiawatha Cyclery to pick up some tubes and sympathy. Got both, 3 tubes and a little bit of sympathy. :) The tire is holding air better since the SA fill up, so I ride it home. It is running at about 10 PSI when I get home and bring it downstairs.
It goes up on the stand, I eat dinner and go to work. Time to put the commuter slicks on the spare wheel set, the winter wheel set. I pull off the studded tires and hang them up. I pull the slicks off the Bianchi and hang that back up. I pull the tires off my MTB and hang the front up. I pull the flat tire off the back and give it a closer inspection. Nothing that I can see on the outside, so I turn it inside out.
I am running my hand over the inside and feel a little something. I look, don't see anything. Run the hand over again. Ahh, What is that? It looks like a needle or something. I grab the needle nose pliers and try to get a hold of it. Nothing. Umm, try the other side and I get it pulled out. It is literately about this big --> | but 1/2 the thickness.. I hang that tire up, I don't even remount it on the rim, too frustrated. I do however mount the slicks and adjust the brakes on the bike...
I guess we will see how she rides Monday...
Labels: bike, commute, flat
I thought I was prepared, I really did. A little back story first...I have been riding my bike into work for the last few days. I have been really enjoying it for the most part. The first half of my ride takes me through my neighborhood, Minnehaha Park, Fort Snelling and across the Mendota Bridge over the river. The second half isn't quite as scenic. It is a ride along and on 55 and 149. Traffic on my left going 55mph+ but it does have a pretty good shoulder for the most part and everyone has been giving me a ton of room.
The ride is about 10 miles each way and takes me about 40-45 minutes on my mountain bike, 35 if I really push it. Well this morning I took off a few minutes later than I have been since it was a little chillier this morning but there wasn't any wind so I waited until it went up a few degrees. The first half of my ride was beautiful as usual and went by pretty quick even though I was taking it pretty slow enjoying the ride.
The second half was far less enjoyable...In fact, it sucked. As I am riding down 55 I noticed the rear tire was getting a little mushy so I kept riding until I found a little business park to pull into. I pull in, get on the grass and give the tire a squeeze. ppppssssssstttttthhhhhhh......fuck. No big deal, I am good at changing flats, I can do it in a few minutes at the most. So I reach into the bag to grab my C02 pump and hook it up to my valve and give it a blast. ppppsssstthhhh...fuck. Alright, I have another C02 cylinder in here....fuck. No I don't. Well I guess I get to push my bike through the business parks to Quik Trip where there is a free air station. Sweet, it is only about a half of a mile or so...wait, no, it was .75.
I get to Quik Trip, pull up to the air pump and get my spare tube out. I look at it, and it looks a little skinny...oh shit. Wrong tube, it is a 27x1.5 and my mtb is a 26x2.20...for you non bikey folk out there that means that it is too big around and too narrow. Fuck it. I don't want to walk the other 2 miles to work. So I shove the tube in there and fill it up. It is a little lumpy and really slushy as the tire moves in corners when the tube does not. It gets me to work and I have learned some good lessons...I am bringing a better pump and looking at what tube I am carrying as a spare...
Route: Google MapLabels: bike, commute, flat, fuck
