Due to Illness ...

I will not be posting anything today.  And sorry about the week.  Stomach illness. 

While you wait, why don't you check this out:

No thanks!

Nooner

Not that kind, perv. 

My cage had to go into the shop on Sunday from what appears to be too little driving.  Well today it was fixed.  I decided to hightail it outta work early to go pick her up.  It was an 8 mile route. The temp was 30 and the wind out of the north.  I did the route in 40 minutes, which is OK considering it may have well been the Alps. 

Oh how it must be nice to be a commuter in a flat city.

Here's how the day started:

And here's how the day ended:

Peace out hommies. 

What, Who, the Bazooka was who ..

... and to my rescue was the S1W.  Hello all!  Yes it has been awhile since our last encounter.  But I am back.  So, no need to fret. I will hold you and cuddle you and call you George.

Anyway ... we had a bit of bad rainy cold weather here and I decided to keep my health for the holidays.  But I am back in the saddle again.

It was a bit slippery this morning out in the streets.  I witnessed a cager take a corner at high speed and lose it on the black ice.  The car was about 50 yards in front of me.  The back end fishtailed at speed, he over corrected, the car fishtailed the other direction, aimed right for a telephone pole, he corrected again, missed the pole by inches and shot into oncoming traffic.  Luckily the oncoming traffic saw what was happening and slowed, then stopped.  This guy had at least 3 misses by inches.  WOW.  Good morning. Finally, he aimed the car down the road, in the correct lane, and went on to change his poop-stained pants.

My ride was much better.

Peace.

Due to Rain ...

... I have decided not to post yesterday.  Today's post will also be limited due to:

But don't let that stop you if you're thinking of venturing out into the thick of it.


One reason to head out today from 7-9 pm is brought to you by the good people at the Community Bike Project Omaha.  Don't know who the Community Bike Project Omaha are?? Well get over here and read up.  They're a great organization helping spread the goodwill of bikes to those who may not of experienced it otherwise.  

Hey guys and gals, RIDE SAFE AND HAVE FUN!

Fenderlicious

Thanks to a pairing of Groupon and Greenstreet Cycles, I FINALLY gots me some fenders on the winterbike. 

As I mentioned yesterday, I decided to purchase instead of fabricate.  The fabrication attempt consisted of old fender hardware and bent clothes hangers.  This is as far as I got:

The next step was to acquire either coroplast or landscaping boarder for the actual fenders.  I still like the idea of coroplast. It's lightweight and cheap. BUT, it seems like a chore to go out and find some (SEE: lazy)(Just you wait until next November, though!!).

Then, I realized I had a Groupon sitting unused.  A quick call to the LBS to check the stock. Boom. 

Hours later, I had the last set of Planet Bike Cascadia 29er Fenders.

Hours after that, and after some cramming and knuckle scraping, I had the fenders installed.

  

I have to admit, I veered toward the puddles on the commute to work this morning.  Worked as intended as expected. 

I will randomly post updates on how they hold up through the winter. 

Until then ride safely, and keep the rubbery side on the ground. 

 

Post Postponed until Tomorrow

I didn't get much sleep this weekend due to a 2 year old insomniac.  I did attempt to mock-up a set of fenders for the winter bike.  BUT, in the end I decided to go with the Planet Bike Cascadia 29er Fenders.

Pictures to come, I promise.  As for now, sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. 

When Hell Freezes Over ...

What a mess.  When you commute to work in weather like this AND you don't have fenders, your bike ends up looking like this:

Nice coating of snow and sludge.  So, this weekend I might busy myself coming up with a 29er DIY fender set.  I have two old sets of fenders and hardware in the parts bin, so that's a start. Also, we have plenty of empty $6-a-gallon organic milk jugs (Only the best for the baby!).

I will post updates as the project proceeds.

It may have been an ugly ride up, but once I got into the park the ride took a turn for the better.  I love the downhill portion of the ride, through the snow.  Once at the bottom, parts of the park looked like this:

As you can see, we got a wee bit of snow.

The sun is out now, but the temp is still well below freezing.  I may take an alternate route home, just to mix it up and stay on the flatter portion of the planet.

Don't forget tonight is the Omaha Bikes winter bike and see the lights and eat burgers and drink beer ride.

So get out there and ride, but do it with some decorum and safety please.

Living in the Majority

Caged it in AGAIN today. It does give me a change to run some much needed errands (See: wife needs groceries).

Also, we are due for another snow storm this afternoon.

By the evening, the bike rack could look like this:

                   

                    



So, I can't wait for tomorrow's commute!  I absolutely love riding in the snow.  It's like playtime.

Biketacularness!

Good morning fellow commuters in arms.  Heat wave coming through today. We can expect highs in the low 30s!  Wow.  It was another fun ride in this morning, through the snow laden fields. It feels good to feel like a kid on a bike again.

The street crews did a great job following the snow storm and most of the main arteries are a clear as a sun-streaked summer day.

If you're looking for something biketacular on Friday night, Omaha Bikes is riding around looking at Christmas lights.  They have 3 different routes to choose from.

While kicking it around on Omaha Bikes site, I noticed they have a Winter Cycling Guide.  You may as well check that out too while you're there.

Have fun, stay warm, and keep the shiny side up (unless of course you have shiny studded tires, then keep them down.).

It's Why They're Called the Better Half ...

Well, another day I did not commute in.  I did see two riders braving the cold this morning.  I wanted to ride but my wife I decided under 10F is my limit.

I guess that means I should go on a grocery run today now that I have the cage.  She'll be happy about that.


A little reading in absence of a true post ....

Salon.com asks, Don't cyclists deserve scorn?

Monday Funday

Well well well.  As you can see we had our first snow storm of the winter riding season. You know what that means, that's right, Winterbike!  Great ride in today. 

It was just like back in the snowboarding days.  In fact, I had all my snowboarding clothes on except the pants and boots. 

I rode my usual route, Leavenworth Street heading west. The road was dry and without any snow or ice. Great job plows. Once I got up the hill to Elmwood Park, instead of taking the route I crashed on, which looked covered in ice, I cut down a snowy hill. AWESOME!  The rest of the ride, the plows had cleared a nice path.  The only other person I saw out of their warm car was the old man walking in the park with whom is always nice enough to wish me a good morning.

Out of the Office due to Illness

Sorry I couldn't post yesterday, but I was down with a stomach virus.  Still feeling a bit wussy woozie today, but I made it in to the office (sans bicycle). Not much to post. So, feel free to catch up on some updates regarding the bicycling community in Omaha.

And check out the Greenstreet Cycle's Greensprints this Saturday at House of Loom, located at 1012 S. 10th St downtown across from the Durham Museum.