Pea Soup

The fog was as thick as pea soup this morning. I should be honest and let you know that I've never actually seen pea soup. I'm really trusting that the metaphor does the fog justice, here.

I rode the single speed Redline 925 for this trip. I keep a blinky light mounted to this guy. So instead of reaching up on a shelf, grabbing another blinky and clipping it to a geared bike, I just opted for one speed for the entire commute. I love riding this bike, though. It's just fun.

And a blinking bike is a good choice when visibility is so limited. I'm sorry to force the image of my arm hair on anyone, but look how water is beading up and causing wetness on my arm. That's all from fog condensation. As I pedaled under tree coverage, little droplets would fall off of the leaves and hit me. That's a lot of fog... not rain. Great ride, though. It felt great today.

Get out there.

Do You Need a Rain Jacket?

Same location and same time as the bright blue photo from Monday. But today it was raining pretty good the entire commute. My rain jacket was nowhere to be found this morning. So I just wore a Prana long sleeve shirt to deflect a little of the wind.

Here's my thoughts on rain jackets: They're not really breathable, no matter how nice it is. When I wear a rain jacket, I'm warm at the beginning of the ride and dripping with sweat by the end of it. When I don't wear one (like today) I'm chilly at the beginning of the ride but I warm up just fine by the end of it. So there is really only one question... Would you rather be a little chilly on the first half of the ride or a little overheated on the second half? If you don't have a rain jacket, go with the first option. That way, you'll still be riding.

For me, I've got the jacket. I make the decision based on the length of the ride and the temps outside. Today it was mid-60's. That's plenty warm enough to keep me going without a jacket. And most of the time, I don't wear it. I would much rather be too cold than too hot.

I'm not sure why I'm sharing this. I think it's to get some of  you to try riding in the rain. You don't need a ton of equipment. Just go for it. It does some damage to your bike, but I'll help you fix it. Just ride.

Get out there.

Blue Skies Today

Get out there.

I Love to Bike Commute

Probably 80% of my mileage is bike commuting. I don't have a ton of extra time in my life with four kids, a wife I want to be around all the time and doing pastoral work. But I certainly make time to commute by bike. In reality, it doesn't take too much time away. My alternative is to ride in the car and shorten things a bit. But it wouldn't be worth it. I could save time at the sacrifice of mental stability. The last couple days of bike commuting have offered me such peace before and after work. My brain decompresses. My emotions settle and my spirit gets lifted so that I'm 100% when I put on my dad and husband hat. I absolutely love it.

I forgot to post yesterday. It felt good to forget. I ride to ride. I don't ride to post on this blog. Yesterday was a good reminder. Being that I forgot to post, I decided I'd take an identical photo this morning since I was on a different bike (today has a chance of rain, so I rode the single speed).

So this post has no point. It's me rambling about how I like to ride. But I could ramble for hours.

Get out there.

Two Weeks

The geared Cross Check comes back tomorrow. It's been two weeks since I've used a derailleur on my commute. There's a bittersweet feeling as I pedal the 925. This bike is a blast to ride. I love riding single speed and this has been the perfect bike for my foul weather adventures. But I love riding single speed so much that I've built up a single speed Cross Check with Doug's old frame (photos to come soon). So I've spent two weeks gaining lots of mileage on the 925, only to post it for sale online.

It's available if anyone wants it. I don't want to fool with shipping it. But if someone wanted to pay for a bike box and shipping, I guess I'd do it. Shoot me a price that seems fair to you to jayremenshneider(at)gmail(dot)com or leave a comment. If you can tell me what reference "Jay Remenshneider" is, I'll knock twenty bucks off :)

Get out there.

And Another...

Yes, that's two bike commuters riding with me to work this morning. Neil and Justin both rode in today. I'm pretty sure having two commuting companions is a first for me. I was feeling pretty energized by it all. Too bad neither are riding home with me in the 85 degree heat, though. I'll be cursing their names at that point :)

Get out there.

No Gears, No Problem

In yesterday's post, I mentioned that I loaned out my geared Cross Check to a friend. Today as I pedaled my one gear all 11 miles into work, I kept thinking how much I love single speed. You can almost turn your brain off once you get onto the bike path. No cars traffic. No bike traffic. No gears to change. No reason to brake or turn. To me, it's meditation at it's finest.

Get out there.

Commute Buddy

My friend Neil (who happens to work with me and live in my neighborhood) got a bike for his birthday. His wife found a steal of a deal on an old Jamis hybrid that was in perfect condition. So with the hype of a new bike and the fact that we live close and work together, commuting together is a simple decision.

It was fun to have someone on the bike for the ride. It's few and far between when I have someone with me. I let another friend borrow my geared Cross Check, so I was rocking the single speed. It was fun to do a side by side of a geared bike and the 925.

 Congrats, Neil. Let's keep 'em rolling.

Get out there.

Pushing It

I woke up this morning feeling gross. Perhaps it was the Filet o' Fish I ate at Dirty Ron's yesterday. Perhaps it was because I didn't sleep well. But whatever it was, I tried to shed the feeling on this morning's commute. I took the Redline (which is for sale, by the way, if you're interested and local) and just hammered it all the way here.

No panniers, either. I somehow left them both at work. So with a backpack and a single gear, I beat that nasty feeling into submission. It felt great. I thought I had underdressed as I waited at the stoplight outside of my neighborhood. But I eventually pedaled hard enough to warm up.

It was awesome. I don't think I could have beat that nasty gut feeling with a car commute.

Get out there.

Darkness

One thing I love about winter is riding in the dark. This morning I had an early meeting at work and had the opportunity to ride in the peaceful cover of darkness and light rain. As I pedaled in the dawn of day I got to watch the sun rise to my right. It's a great way to start the day.

Get out there.

Year in Photos

I'm a little late getting up my year end review of my favorite photos of 2011. When the last day of the year came around, we were still in the hospital. But I love to look back and see all the fun that was had. So here you go. This was 2011...

Looks like I had a lot of fun. Now I only have to wait for more to come.

Get out there.