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Heat Wave
So we’ve hit one of the two times of year (the other being the dead of winter) where you really have to be hard-core to be out on the bike. This afternoon I should easily break my record for hottest ride home. It was already close to 90 when I rode in this morning, and…
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Solstice
Happy Solstice. I’m writing this around 1 hour before solar noon, which is supposedly when the Sun will be at its highest point in the sky of the year. Hard to believe the kids are still in school, but we have Snowmageddon to blame for that. June hasn’t been the greatest month in the world…
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6000 miles
We’ve got ourselves some good old-fashioned Mid-Atlantic summer weather this week. My morning ride was a nice, sweaty, humid 81°. High of 89 later today, with (you guessed it) thunderstorms predicted for late afternoon and evening. I tend to take shorter rides in this kind of weather, and today was no exception. Yesterday afternoon I…
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BtWD – Late Start
I didn’t get out of the house until 9:15 this morning, but fulfilled my obligation to ride to work on Bike-to-Work Day. By the time I left, it was around 70 degrees out. I rode down Lawyers Hill Rd, through the park, out River Rd to Frederick Rd, up Oella Ave, up the #9 Trolley…
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State Bird
I think I’m going to start a petition to change Maryland’s official State Bird. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen a Baltimore Oriole, in the wild, in Maryland. Wouldn’t it be better to use a bird that is much more commonplace? I’m thinking that a more appropriate choice would…
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Happy Bike-To-Work-Week
So it’s national bike-to-work week. Bike-to-work week is intended to encourage first-time bike commuters, and unfortunately, the weather in Maryland this week has not helped the cause. I rode in a steady drizzle Monday morning, Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning. By Tuesday afternoon the rain had stopped, but it was still damp and chilly. This…
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Week in review
This week’s weather was nice through Tuesday morning, then the rest of the week was damp, overcast, and alternated between cold/clammy and warm/muggy. There were a couple more-or-less rain free days, but it still seemed like a week that called for full fenders. So I rode my fixed-gear every day this week. Monday I rode…
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Psychology
I’ve gone through my entire adult life so far in one of two conditions where physical exercise is concerned: I’m either in a “groove,” or a “rut.” A “groove” is a period of time where I’m exercising regularly, and generally feel “fit.” Conversely, a “rut” is a period of time where I’m slacking off, skipping…
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Allergy Time
It’s official: Spring Allergy Season has arrived in the Mid-Atlantic. I used to be mostly unaffected until early June when the grass pollen starts ramping up. But now the tree pollen seems to be getting to me earlier in May. During peak pollen season, the 24-hour Claritin I take doesn’t always do the trick. When…
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Another first..
Today my plan was to ride down Lawyers Hill Rd into the park, then through Oella and Catonsville. But I was stymied near the beginning of the ride by that rarest of rarities, a flat front tire. Flats on the front tire are so rare that this is the first one I can recall getting,…