Category: Biking

  • Planet Bike FTW

    Well, it happened.  I rode my fender-less road bike to work today, and now it’s raining.  So much for my theory that “30% chance of storms after 3:00” means it isn’t going to rain near Baltimore until evening. I have a set of Planet Bike “SpeedEZ” fenders for this bike, because full fenders don’t really…

  • 8000 Miles

    I hit 8000 miles on my road bike at the beginning of yesterday afternoon’s ride.  I was coasting down through the UMBC campus in the 92-degree heat, on my way to Poplar Ave.  That’s part of my usual strategy for beating the heat on hot summer afternoons.  The two keys are:  take it easy, and…

  • Maryland Summer

    Well, it took 6 months, but I finally picked up a ride on 2010.  Today marks my 16th ride of June, compared with 15 last June.  Looks like I’ll finish up June with 17, as I plan to ride tomorrow, and I’m off on Wednesday the 30th.  July is relatively low-hanging fruit too; I rode…

  • Nearing the halfway point

    Getting close to the end of June, and the midpoint of 2011.  I’m on pace to finish June up with 75 or 76 rides, which is around 10 fewer than the same time last year.  Most of those rides were lost in February and March, for which my crash on Feb 8 is partially to…

  • Summer Showers

    Finally got my single speed bike back in service this morning, just in time to ride it to work in the rain.  This is the time of year where you almost hope for showers to provide relief from the humidity.  Indeed, the ran stopped about halfway through my ride, and I started sweating almost immediately. …

  • Beautiful Morning

    There are so few nice mornings this time of year in Baltimore, that I couldn’t let this one get by without writing about it.  This morning’s ride-time temperature was 62°, dewpoint 51°, sunny with a light breeze out of the northwest.  I wore a long-sleeve jersey for the second morning in a row, which is…

  • Code Orange

    Well, just like last summer, this one looks to be nothing but bad air days as far as the eye can see.  And of course, on these days we’re all supposed to stay inside or drive around in our air conditioned cars, thereby creating MORE smog and continuing the downward spiral.  And in beautiful eastern…

  • Battle of the Bulge

    Well, as it always seems to now, summer has arrived in May in the Mid-Atlantic.  We opened the pool last weekend, and the water temperature is already pushing 80°.  By Sunday, it’ll likely be up to 82 or 83.  Amusingly enough, we had the cover off the pool at 9:30am and the kids were in…

  • Bike to Work Day 2011

    Today is “Bike to Work Day” in central Maryland, so I did what I do pretty much every other day:  I biked to work.  Unfortunately there are no BtWD “rallies” anywhere near where I commute, so I didn’t register for the event, nor did I attend a rally.  My hope is that eventually, this will…

  • Yay.. more crappy weather for Bike to Work Week

    Next week is “Bike to Work Week” in Maryland, and the weather looks like a carbon copy of last year’s Bike to Work Week: rain as far as the eye can see.  With any luck, we’ll dry out by Friday, which is “Bike to Work Day.”  But unfortunately, it’s not the kind of weather that…