We’re having a summer weather preview this week, complete with hot afternoons and overnight showers.  We had a line of rain come through just before dawn, which gave me an opportunity to really put my new clip-on fenders through their paces.  Except for a bit of spray on my shoes and ankles, the fenders do a good job keeping me dry.  The real test is going to be when I go to wipe down my bike later.  To really be worthwhile, the fenders need to keep the gunk off my drivetrain so that the bike is easy to clean off.  Stay tuned.

Today I rode into Ellicott City via the infamous College Ave., which runs between Bonnie Branch Rd and St. Paul St.  College Ave. is known for its seven steep hills as well as numerous ghost stories and old wives’ tales. I don’t ride College Ave. all that often because the first hill is a total killer.  Today I managed to slog up it without dropping to the granny gear, but it wasn’t fun.  Once you’re up the initial hill, though, the remaining 6 aren’t that bad.  It’s just a matter of building up enough speed on the downhill parts to carry the bike most of the way up the next hill.  I came close to 40mph on a couple stretches.  Once I was in Ellicott City, I took the same route as yesterday, doubling back to Patapsco State Park via River Rd. and then through Relay and Halethorpe.  For some reason I thought this was going to be a shorter ride than yesterday, but it’s actually about a mile longer, clocking in at just under 19 miles.

I’ll probably keep riding the road bike for one more day, then switch to the fixed gear for the end of the week.  By then the temperatures should be returning to early-April seasonal norms, which will be nice, although I’m enjoying not having to bundle up in the mornings.

This week is Spring Break for Baltimore County schools, and next week is Howard County’s Spring Break.  Spring Break always means less traffic in the morning, so I’m planning my rides accordingly.  This week I’m doing some rides through Catonsville, and next week I’ll extend my rides on the Howard County side, maybe riding out to New Cut Rd and going through Ellicott City.  It’s a nice preview of Summer Vacation and its blissful lack of morning traffic.

April is one of those awkward months, like October, where 30-degree swings in daytime temperature are not uncommon.  Today figures to be one of those days.  When I left this morning it was 45 out, and the predicted high for the day is 75.  This callls for warm clothes in the morning and cool clothes in the afternoon.  I like to wear shorts, leg warmers, a long sleeve jersey and a windbreaker early.  I pack a short sleeve jersey for later, then stash the leg warmers, long sleeve jersey and jacket for the afternoon ride.  Just need to make sure to leave enough room to stow the extra clothes on the bike.

Winds of March..  an awesome old song by Journey, and a massive annoyance on a bike.

I rode in today in a stiff 15-20mph west wind that didn’t let up for a single second.  The good news is, although I wouldn’t call myself 100%, I wasn’t nearly as draggy as yesterday, and didn’t struggle as much against the wind.  It helped that it wasn’t raining.  The weather forecast calls for the winds to diminish today, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

I wrapped up March with 15 commutes to work by bike and 1 by car.  We’ll see what April has in store.

It’s been a dreary couple of days here in B’more, though there’s hope of some improvement later today.  I’ve been taking Benadryl the past couple of nights at bedtime, to help with a lingering post-nasal drip that tends to wake me up at night if I don’t drug it into submission.  The Benadryl helps me get a good night’s sleep, but unfortunately it makes me incredibly draggy in the morning.  That, combined with drizzle and thick fog, led me to skip riding yesterday.  I regretted it later, of course, but it was probably the right call.

This morning, it was raining again, but visibility was better, so I rode.  It turned out to be one of my toughest rides of the year.  I’m not sure if it was the Benadryl after-effects, the 20mph headwind, or both, but I was really laboring to get up the hills during the second half of the ride.  Hopefully my rides will improve with the weather for the second half of the week.

The good news is, the clip-on fenders I ordered for my road bike arrived on Friday, one day after I ordered them.  I hope to try them out soon.  I’ll post a write-up on them after I’ve taken them for a few bad-weather rides.  I’m interested to see how they compare to full fenders.  I tried full fenders with the road bike for a while, but the bike just doesn’t have enough clearance for them, particularly under the brakes.  They worked, but it took an hour of fiddling to get them adjusted correctly, and even then they would still occasionally rub the tires.  The clip-ons shouldn’t have that problem.

Still battling the virus I came down with this past weekend, which has now moved into my throat.  The good news is, it hasn’t kept me off the bike, though it is detracting somewhat from the overall excellence of the riding experience.  I switched to the fixed-gear this morning because there’s a threat of rain later (NWS says “mainly after 5pm”, but I’ve heard that before) and I wanted fenders.  It’s becoming clear that I’m going to need a set of fenders for my road bike if it’s ever going to see any regular use this spring.  So, this morning I ordered a set of Planet Bike “SpeedEZ” clip-on fenders to use with the road bike.  I’ll report back on them once I’ve tried them out, probably in a week or two, depending on how fast Amazon’s “super saver” shipping gets them to me.  My hope is that they’ll be easy to put on and take off without a lot of fiddling.

A while back, I bought a Topeak “Beam Rack” seat post rack to use with my fixed-gear bike, which lacks rear eyelets for mounting a standard rack.  I also bought an optional accessory that allows me to use it with panniers.  This setup works really well, but it’s a bit of a pain moving the panniers back and forth between my two bikes (my other bike has a standard rack).  Then I had an idea: why not take the standard rack off my other bike, and just use the beam rack back on both bikes?  The rack has a quick release, so I can move it from one bike to the other easily without tools, and this way I can just leave the panniers attached to the rack all the time.  Today I tried it out, and it seems like it’s going to work out fine.  I’m always looking for ways to make it easier to switch bikes.

There’s one thing I don’t like about the beam rack.  The quick release mechanism is on the large side, and it sits right at the base of the seat post where it enters the frame.  In this position, my legs tend to brush it as I pedal.  This is a little annoying at first, but eventually I get used to it and don’t really notice it.  It seems like an acceptable price to pay for a convenient quick-release rack.

The weather is definitely warming up, although it’s very windy, which is typical of March around here.  We’re getting close to that time of year where I have to dress warmly in the morning, but can wear shorts in the afternoon.  As such, I’ve ditched the long pants and am now riding with shorts and leg warmers.  Last week’s temperatures in the 70s erased all remnants of last month’s snowstorms.  I’m seeing a lot more riders out, particularly in the afternoon.

It’s March, which means it must be raining.  The big rain isn’t supposed to hit till overnight, so this morning, despite a steady drizzle, I was able to squeeze in one last ride before Spring Break.  I wore rain gear over a long sleeve jersey and cycling pants.  At long last, I was able to switch back to clipless pedals.  The timing was perfect..  last night’s rain washed the last of the snow off the park access road, and I only had to dismount to get past the gate.  And neoprene shoe covers do a much better job keeping my feet dry in rain than hiking boots.  I highly recommend the Performance brand shoe covers.  Get the ones with the rubber soles, and order two sizes larger than your normal shoe size.  I wear size 11 cycling shoes, and the size 13 shoe covers fit perfectly.

This is my last day in the office, and therefore my last bike commute, until Tuesday, March 23.  If the weather cooperates, I hope to get a couple of rides in next week, though.