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Happy 2010
My first ride of the new year was a 15-miler to work. Temperature was 25 with a wind chill of around 13. Not the coldest conditions I’ve ever ridden in, but one of the longer sub-freezing rides I’ve taken (most of my really cold rides last winter were around 8 miles straight to work). I…
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Year-end wrap
I finished up 2009 with 144 rides in to work on the bike, which is an average of 12 per month. My goal for 2010 is to top that. I’m expecting the weather to keep me off the bike more this winter than last, but hopefully I can make up for that with more rides…
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Wind Tunnel
I went out for another ride this morning at 7:15. Took the fixed-gear bike, rode down to the airport, around the BWI trail, and back home. Total round trip around 22 miles. The temperatures were in the upper 20s, but the real story was the wind. It didn’t really become a factor until the second…
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Rode today
Well, this morning I finally got the planetary alignment needed to sneak in a holiday-break ride. Woke up early and snuck out while the rest of the family was still asleep. Yesterday’s rain washed most of the remaining snow and salt off the roads. While it wasn’t exactly great biking conditions, it was the best…
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Snowy
So, unfortunately I bagged my last chance to bike yesterday before the big snowstorm. Had to do a bunch of stuff around the house to get ready for the storm, and ran out of time to ride. Looks like I’m going to be burning some cycles on the trainer over the next few days. I…
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Night ride
It was right around freezing when I left work. Wore the same clothes as the morning, minus the PolarTec top and plus arm warmers. This was pretty comfortable. The helmet liner by itself (no ear band) is enough to keep my head warm down to at least freezing, it seems. Might see if I can…
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Hot & Cold
24 degrees at the start of the ride this morning, sunny with a 7mph west wind. I took a 12 mile ride in. Shoe covers, toe warmers, hiking socks, thermal jogging tights, bike shorts, short sleeve athletic shirt, long sleeve light cycling jersey, PolarTec pullover, windbreaker, medium weight cycling gloves, head band, helmet liner. Feet…
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Ride notes
We are finally starting to get some more favorable conditions for road biking. The roads are completely dry except for a couple puddles in the park. I took the fixed-gear bike today and didn’t miss having fenders. No road salt anywhere, either, which I’m going to enjoy while it lasts. According to NWS, it was…
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Tonight’s ride home
Only 3 degrees difference between this morning’s ride temperature and this evening’s (49 vs 46) but that’s where the similarities end. Cold front came through during the day, flipped the wind around to the northwest, and dropped the humidity a bit. The result was a more comfortable ride home. I wore the same clothes as…
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Maxing Out on Credit Card Reward Cash
I’ve always been a big fan of credit cards that pay cash rewards. Pay the balance off in full each month, collect the free money – what’s not to like? I started out in the early 90s with a Discover card, which was one of the first to offer cash back rewards. Then in 2004,…