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Today’s ride home..
It was around 40 degrees for the ride home. Left at 4:45 and had a little bit of light for the first half of the ride. Wore exactly the same stuff as the morning, minus the arm warmers. This would have gotten a bit warm if the ride had been longer, but it worked for…
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Ride notes
So, I’m starting my second winter season commuting by bike, so I figured I’d use the blog to record notes on my rides, including clothing I wore, which bike I rode, etc. The idea is to get a better sense of what works best in different weather and road conditions. So here goes. First sub-freezing…
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The Great Tire Showdown
Summer’s over, and that means that the joys of cold weather bike commuting are right around the corner. I’m still trying to find an all-season commuting tire that provides the best combination of speed and resistance to flats. And of course, nothing provides a better test bed for tires than Maryland roads in the winter.…
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Beep. Beep. Beep.
So. We were without air conditioning in our building for awhile today. Fortunately it’s a nice day out with unseasonably low humidity and a breeze, so I was able to open the window to make it tolerable. It’s amazing how much beeping you hear in populated regions (like college campuses) nowadays. Seems like all day…
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Today’s Ride
I got an early start on the commute this morning, so I decided to try an alternate, longer route to get from Elkridge to UMBC on the bike: West on Montgomery Rd Right on Rockburn Dr Right on Montgomery Rd Right on Kerger Rd Right on Ilchester Rd Left on Beechwood Rd Left on Bonnie…
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Today’s ride
It was my coldest morning commute of the year today. 14° with a wind chill of 2°. I usually check the temperature before getting on the bike, so I can figure out what to wear. Didn’t bother today.. already knew it was going to be cold, so I just bundled up. In hindsight, I’m glad…
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Aargh, I hate winter
Forces of nature are conspiring to keep me off my bike lately. I managed to bike to work twice last week in spite of the big ice storm that hit the Baltimore/Washington area. Then I went out for a quick 20-miler this past Sunday, and promptly broke a spoke on my back wheel. This was…
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Back on the bike after ice storm
I rode my bike to work today for the first time since the ice storm that hit the Baltimore/Washington area this past Tuesday and Wednesday. My usual commute takes me through Elkridge, Relay, and Arbutus, MD, including a short trip through the Patapsco State Park Avalon Area. Today, the roads were fine for the most…
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The Joys of Winter Biking
Took my first fall of 2009 yesterday. We were coming off two straight days of rain, it was 7:45am and the temperature was right around freezing. All of that adds up to (you guessed it) ice on the road. Most of the roads were treated and in pretty good shape, but in my infinite wisdom…
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Fenders on a Road Bike, Part 2
This is part 2 of my story about how I put fenders on my road bike. Read about my motivation for doing this in the first installment. There are a couple types of fenders made for road bikes. “Full” fenders cover the back wheel all the way down to the bottom bracket, and the…