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Mid January Biking Report
Thanks to our continued warm winter weather, I’ve started off 2012 on a biking tear. I’ve already ridden to work 9 times, reaching that mark a week earlier than any previous January. The spreadsheet I use to track my rides tells me that I’m on pace for 259 total rides and 5617 total miles in…
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Happy New Year
Well it’s 2012, and I’m back to work, and by extension, riding to work. My 2-week holiday break was great, and much needed, but it seems that the older I get, the less my body likes changes to its routine. I don’t miss work much for its own sake, but I miss the day-in, day-out…
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Wrapping up 2011
Today is my last bike commute of 2011. I’ll finish up with 154 rides, 20 fewer than 2010, but 10 more than 2009. May and June were my most prolific months of the year, with 17 rides each month. As usual, February was least prolific, with only 4 rides this year. I rode 11 times…
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Cold Feet
So, it finally felt a little wintry this morning. It was 35° out when I left the house at around 7:50am. We got a lot of rain yesterday evening, and I’m told there were a few flakes mixed in, though by dawn, there was no evidence of snow anywhere. In a true shocker, schools weren’t…
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Closing out November
As hoped, I’m finishing November with a total of 13 rides, smashing my previous record of 12, set in 2009. I almost always take the first week of November off work, which combined with the Thanksgiving holiday, cuts down significantly on the potential ride total for the month. For November 2011, out of 14 total…
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Mileage milestone
I always find it noteworthy when one of my bike’s odometers turns over another thousand miles. Given that I have three bikes that I ride regularly, it’s kind of a meaningless stat. Nonetheless, it’s a good excuse to note where I was when it happened, go back over previous ride logs, etc. Anyhow, this morning…
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T-Day Week
Well, our unseasonably warm and wet autumn has lasted into Thanksgiving week. The weather for this morning’s ride was around 58° with fog. I took a longer ride this morning, because it wasn’t raining, rain is predicted for tomorrow and Wednesday, and I actually managed to get out of the house before 8:00am. Last Friday…
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Lights
So it’s mid November again. We all know what that brings.. chilly mornings, dark commutes home, and G.I. bugs. I used to get GI bugs maybe once every 3 years. Ever since I had kids, I seem to catch them all the time now. I’ve often joked to myself that if I only rode on…
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Grips and Spikes
We had a few early-season snowflakes fall over this past weekend, so to get in the spirit, I mounted my new Schwalbe “Marathon Winter” studded tires on my mountain bike. They were a bit of a pain to mount, but I was able to wrestle them on eventually. Unfortunately, my “bead jack” tool is not…
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Bike Commuting from UMBC to West Catonsville
Once every year or so, I have occasion to bike commute from UMBC to the western part of Catonsville, MD, during afternoon rush hour. I’m still trying to find a route I like, that doesn’t require dealing with really heavy traffic. The first time I did this, I took this route: Exit UMBC via Hilltop…