pressure drop

pavement has returned to my route
notions of remaining ice had me dropping tire pressure
65 down to 40 something I'm guessing this morn
great on the ice rink alley
struggle within 50 ft when I reached the road
buzz along waiting for the patches of ice
gone
too lazy to stop and air up
press on and curse these damn studs
second guessing the temp as I'm severly overheating
alright enough of this
prop the bike up against a highway overpass
air the front
air the rear
resistance greatly reduced
relativley flying with a 60" gear
pressure modulation is worth the time

now the question arrises
pull the tires this weekend
or wait and see if next weeks storm materializes
studs on bare pave are fairly annoying

reduced coefficient of traction commuting

nokian hakkapeliitta w106 - let me put it this way, without the studs I would've been walking a good bit of my commute today. pouring rain yesterday turned the snow into a slushy mess that only remained on the shoulders and less traveled thoroughfares. cold front blew thru overnight whipping up the wind as temps quickly dropped to the low twenties. by eight last night it was glazing over as we left the grocery store.

reflective surfaces were abundant this morning as first light bounced off the iced over landscape. clipped into the pedals and down the alley the studs are biting in already as I tenatively modulate speed via the fixed cog. on the road with speed increasing as streetlights shine from both above and below and confidence grows. take a turn keeping the bike vertical and I'm thinking these studs are the shit.

intermitent patches of clear pave make the studs hum madly but ice all but silences them as they happily dig in. easy cruising for a while until I approach the point in the commute where the conditions always turn for the worse. well today the worse quiets down quickly as the sheet of packed snow and ice covering both lanes pass under my tires with no ill effects. stand to climb the little rise? sure. miles of this pass as the narrow road weaves around the hillsides before pointing up and over the top.

down the windward slope where moisture is greatly reduced and onto the busiest road I'll travel today. shoulder is partially cleared but what remains is a lumpy cobble like ribbon of sketchy riding. transitioning from smooth pack to choppy ice doesn't allow for the same number of studs to make contact and subsequent sliding occurs. body english normally reserved for cross or mt biking comes into play as quick adjustments are called for; very reminiscent of riding a rock garden but slick as shit.

trying to avoid said conditions I finished off the commute taking the lane where called for and very happy overall with the performance of the nokians.

on smooth ice they got all the traction you need. on choppy stuff skill and sketch blend together with varying results. and it should be noted that off camber roads also allow for a bit of sideways drift; not much but noticeable.

wednesday morning conditions

plowed and melted off till the afternoon
pouring rain didn't help either
icing up as i type this
another test for the studs.

an hour and ten minutes

four to five of the heavy, wet, white blanket fell. to the window scoping the situation. plow trucks working the hood making some mighty progress. this is deceiving however since our side streets tend to be clearer than major arteries. snow is not falling but sleet has replaced it and pings off the windows.

eat, dress for the day, and shovel out before mounting up. get a "good luck" from a neighbor as I make first tracks down our alley and fill the fenders with snow. muscle thru the foot plus wall pushed by the plow and out onto clearer streets.

first prognosis of how this ride will be; slow. low gearing, extra rotational weight, couple inches on the road, and extra drag all make for more work. but I'll be damned, these things are predictable. motor right along where the snow is packed and controlable drifting where it gets deeper. shovels get a break as their operators stop to gawk at the loon on a bike. first small rise and I'm out of the saddle pushing hard with just a bit of slippage. sweet.

tool along thru town and light traffic doesn't try to assault me as wide berths are given. take the lane and no obnoxious honks as yeilding to let them skirt past isn't a good idea with variable traction. onto true backroads that plows have touched but not recently and the heartrate climbs as effort ramps up. only sound I hear over my breathe is sleet hitting my jacket which then collects in little pockets in the creases of the material.

more climbing, more standing with mindful modulation to keep from spinning out. sweat begins to soak into my wool and unzipping can't provide enough ventilation. keep the pedals turning and top out before a cooling descent. back pressure the pedals and here's my left turn onto unplowed roads. get it sideways a little as speed is quickly scrubed in six inches of crusted over snow. water break and a photo op as I ponder my outlook on this road. gravity to assist and a busier road a mile plus away tell me it won't be so bad. lots of skittering slides as I try to stay within the wavy tire tracks with a couple moments where I nearly stall out. and then the county line hits and the road plowed. gotta love the jurisdiction lines that seperate us.

after that it was taking the lane on a normaly busy road since the shoulder was not an option for pedaling. multiple times I glanced over my shoulder only to see a snowy landscape free of cars. motoring along the slushy road I fell the pitted patter of the studs as they touched asphalt for the first time. they don't roll bad but are certainly noticeable; that said I'd opt to take them off when not needed since mounting them was not a painful procedure.

more slushy miles and refreshingly polite traffic rounded out the trip. last section of side road hadn't been plowed but rather packed down by traffic to two inches of icy snow. no problem, just glid right along, that is till you hit a soft section and go all squirrely as the snow randomly gives way. transition to freezing rain also occured and a thing layer of ice coated both me and the bike.

stayed warm and kept it upright so i'd say that was a successful commute. plunging temps tonight so we'll see how this things handle ice soon enough.

snow is falling, tires are mounted

snow to sleet to freezing rain. testing in the morning.

212 carbide studs

the hakkapeliitta have made their way to the garage but have not made their way onto the crosscheck yet. light snow for the morn commute but existing road salt took care of most of that. backroads thru the hills were dusted but mainly wet elsewhere. additional called for tonight in the three to five inch range. we'll see how that pans out.

tire swap to occur and a drop in gearing is warranted too for snow cruising. should still be accumulating during the morning trek so fun may be had. only sticking point is the couple of miles of sub-rural kinda busy miles between stop lights state road i traverse daily. might need to take the lane and pull over as traffic builds behind me.

even lacking ice for the studs to bite into, i'm guessing the tread alone will help in the snow. the slicks i'm running certainly sink down to the pavement but offer little grip when putting any extra effort into the pedals. fun to geek out on new bike bits. anxious for some real snow to fall.

and a wealth of studded tire lore can be found over at peter white cycles.

contradictions

how is it that half a pot of coffee would still allow the head to nod and the eyes to close at nine am? while a couple big beers to the wind at eleven something pm has me trying to squeez a little more life out of the day? five am doesn't sleep in.

skinny tires make me smile

all good road rides should start off with a cobblestones. family trip down to philly with pacer packed in the hatch to visit max, meghan, and the twins. full on dirt ride was ruled out due to recent thaw. fine by me, road rides are fun, at least my kind of road rides.

started off in the andora section of town and dropped down the cobbles above till we reached the mighty schuylkill river. a light touch kept air in our tires as gravity took hold. max was modulating speed via a fixed cog while i was the lightweight with gears.



manayunk tow path led us closer to the city as we sank into the thawing mud. top inch was soft though a frozen base kept a hike-a-bike at bay.





fenderless for easier transport; though i'm liking the look as well. onward we pressed along the heavily salted kelly drive bike path, crossing falls bridge, and climbing up towards belmont plateau. what's that i see? singletrack? don't tempt me. too late. hey max, wanna cut thru here? two wheel drifting down the trail seconds later. little soft but not too bad. mild route taken though fun ensued with log hopping from the tops. goodness.



soon enough west river drive lead us to the art museum. and a noticeable tailwind silenced the ride as well. we'd be paying for that gentle nudge.



quick loop around the front of the museum and the wind hit us as we pointed north. weaving around runners added to the sense of speed but our pace had greatly reduced. paceline ensued as sitting on a wheel was quite enjoyable. to the tip of fairmount park we fought the wind till forbidden drive got us into the protection of the trees.



snow remained in the shadows while we rolled over the rocky dirt road. normal ped/bike traffic was light though others were enjoying the day as well.



couple of miles of this and we pointed back up hill to compensate for the initial drop down the cobbles. paved climb this time and a reasonable pitch added warmth on a cold day. out of the woods, into the wind, and back to the reality of traffic.

so to sum things up; within city limits, cobbles, singletrack, and dirt roads. that's my kind of road ride.

excellent weather pattern for studed tires

go figure. saturday morn the carbides should be in my posession and nothing but sunny skies thru next thursday. this is the exact reason why I've never bought them before; sporadic winteriness. guess I'll hold off mounting them up too. might as well keep the crosscheck in normal commuter mode rather than low geared winter beast.

and on the subject of fair weather, road home yesterday sans shell and with only glove liners keeping the digits warm. thick winter blood makes 40's feel down right balmy. more of the same today and the pacer made the trek into work as roadside slug is waning. still sporting the fenders but drivetrain maintainence is low on my priority list.

hitting the road again tomorrow with max the studded tire donater. wisaahicken park is his backyard but freeze/thaw will keep us off dirt. mt penn would probably be fine but his young twins are harder to transport than our lone evers so we're philly bound. should be good to catch up and trade war stories of child (or in their case, children) rearing.

old timey fixing

homestead
Originally uploaded by jrobtp

snagged off of Flickr. funny how my xcheck has looked nearly the same a century later. goes to show good ideas never die.

crosscheck parking

salt on the garage floor
partial fender melt off
unheated parking
but runoff still occurs
similar stains at work as well
another bath due this weekend

nine months

even on the most difficult days
and the days have been difficult lately
she's still got me in the palm of her hand

pressing the easy button

2" of unexpected snow monday afternoon
turned into 1/4" of packed ice
accidents closed highways
my backroads turned into primary routes
bumper to bumper frustration passed by
as 40x18 propelled me home

clear sky and 6 degrees this morning
black ice warnings
4 wheels are more stable than 2
so driving to work makes a little sense
gotta work on getting those studded tires

skinny tires out in the snow

a trip up and over neversink mountain rekindled the love of skinny tires offroad.

















gotta do this more often; maybe some fat 32's and no fenders once the winter muck is gone. sometimes mountain bikes seem like such overkill.

Bilenky Junk Yard Cross

gotta get this on the calendar for 2009.

VIMBY - Bilenky Junk Yard Race

heat not included

heat not included
Originally uploaded by fxdwhl

bikes to be wrenched on, salt to be washed away, and a seventeen degree garage to work in. kerosene to the rescue. water froze to the crosscheck as salt was rinsed off. two week old ice still clung to the kararte monkey bottom bracket. it's been cold in my garage.

snow gone, cold still here

sitting here, espresso in hand, sun is shining, and it's still only seven degrees. that's cold as shit for around here. furnace has been rumbling away as i re-check our doorways for drafts. a sixty degree temperature imbalance makes every crack feel like a little whirlwind. and our original doors with single pane glass while quaint looking, allow more radiant heat loss than i'd like. it's cold.



friday's nine degree morning left it's mark on my beard. layered well and actually sweated more than i would have liked but for a 45 minute spin all was well. new mittens with an extra liner keep the digits warm and intact until vanity forced their removal to snap the pic above. gotta get the shot out in the cold otherwise the lens fogs up within seconds of steeping indoors.

temp didn't rise much for the ride home and as the sun fell from the sky the temps followed as well. a touch of a tailwind had me opening the jacket more than i would have thought comfy but i spun along in silence that only a tailwind can provide. soon enough tail turned to cross and i was zippered back up as the surrounding hillsides make their own wind patterns that i have come accustomed to over the years.



the depth of salt spilled onto the roadways nearly matched that of snowfall. you can taste it in the air as cars pass and a dusty film covers my crosscheck. a warm, wet rag should be taken to the garage for a quick wipe down. this bike has seen a lot in four years and i'd hate to see salt take it out. maybe it's not too late for framesaver? maybe i should have thought of that a while ago. just dug up old photos from my coldest ride ever; zero degrees back in 2004. funny to see how the bike has changed over the years and how pathetically thin my beard was.



finally the solstice has definitely passed as daylight has been a tad more abundant lately. i actually caught the sun for the shot above but only by a minute. had more issues with my switchback one light again this week; try to charge but doesn't charge. justin's scratching his head over this one too but a replacement battery seems to do the trick. time will tell as i've had shit luck with lighting lately but princeton tec has stood behind their product which is the best i can hope for.

state of the commute

state of the commute
Originally uploaded by fxdwhl

18 degrees
no wind
partly cloudy with moon showing
light snow falling
squeaky tires on covered roads

drop bar and woolen goodness

embrocation
rouleur
swobo

wore the hat for warmth this morning. one size fits all? yes, but ear coverage comes up a tad bit short for a skull of my size. >30 should be fine, <30 still wearing the ear band thingy.

as for the written texts, haven't had the opportunity to read them yet. quick perusal shows promise. clean layout with strong photos, very appealing. drop bar mileage will be sure to increase as a result.

'nother cold snap

couple o days of sub-freezing temps
nice way to close out the week
happy to say the winter kit is pretty dialed in
toasty this a.m. with a touch of beard frost
other morning commuters?
haven't seen'em for a couple of weeks now
not that there's many to start with
but one or two isn't uncommon
it's just me, cars, and road salt out there lately

bye bye bedframe

first off, it should be said that we co-sleep with evey. never planned it. it just kind of happened when she'd scream after being put in the basonette next to the bed. so angela would scoop her up and she'd quiet down in her arms. fast forward 8 1/2 months and we have this little ball of squirm.



cute as hell but pure trouble. her mobility has dramatically ramped up the past few weeks and we've wondered what we were gonna do about her sleeping for a few hours by herself before we come to bed. she's been walking the past couple of days while hanging onto the coffee table and that's translating into her having a hard time shutting off at night. she usually nurses down so when we leave her she is asleep but her mobility continues.



we thought about bedrails but if she would wake up she'd pull herself upright with the potential to tumble over said rail before we heard any inkling of trouble. so instead I dismantled the bed frame tonight. not that the bed was high mind you; maybe a solid foot off the ground as the model didn't require a box spring. so now a bare mattress rests in the floor much like my high school days of yore.

and it's a good thing we did it tonight. just as I began to type this post angela called me to the bedroom. our little sweety pie had squirmed a couple of feet thus placing herself on the "emergency baby feel off the bed pillows" laying adjacent to the mattress. there she was sandwhiched between two pillows sound asleep.

these babies a pure trouble. just when you figure something out they go and change it all around on ya. so bedrails will be purchased afterall just to keep her on the matress. and if she stands up, at least she'll be close to the ground.

ready for another week

ready for another week
Originally uploaded by fxdwhl

the fendered fixed gear winter beast
near impossible to trump
studded treads may be in my future
anxiously awaiting acquisition

excellent winter footwear

excellent winter footwear
Originally uploaded by fxdwhl

maybe an inch?
not enough for a true snow ride
roads are wet
grass is still showing
looking at the radar
more to the west
couple more inches please

wednesday's ice

most has melted this point
or been blown down by the wide

north face remnants
higher elevation chill
linger on still

sleeves of ice
that clung to power lines
now litter the shoulder
shattered to bits
giving the illusion of glass
but yield to rubber tires

dipped in silver

up with the first buzz of the alarm. to the window peering out at the wet world. paper lady tentatively steps out of her van and crosses the street with four ways flashing. trees glisten under the street lights with a sheen of ice. low spots in the road collect water and reveal that the rain is still falling. but what's the temp? dig the iphone out of my pants pocket and launch the weather channel app; 32 degrees. check the temp at work; 32 degrees. dress in riding garb but still not sure of prospects. out into the backyard testing the sidewalk for grip finding just one icy spot. then into the alley for further assessment finding more ice. uncertain of my outlook, back into the house just to head out the front door. front steeps are fine, as is the sidewalk, as is the road that has recently been salted and cindered. decision made, pedaling will occur. inside and up to the bedroom to fetch evey for a fresh diapering. she slowly wakes as the task finishes and i pull her pj pants back into place. cute little eyes flicker in the dim light. return her to bed with mommy and kisses goodbye. as i leave the room evey begins to whimper. could it be she doesn't want me to go? a few gentle touches and i go to leave again with same result. my heart fucking melts. angela soothes her as i head downstairs. iphone internet and breakfast routine commences and bag is packed. leaving the porteur empty as nimble handling required for ice sketch. jacket, rain legs, lake boots, mittens, go. fixed crosscheck retrieved from garage. led's fire up and illuminate my way. down the icy alley and onto wet side streets. patches of slushy ice here and there. rain starts to fall at a heavier rate. tentative thru the turns but confidence builds. stones kick up and rattle around between fender and tire. cruising along, just another wet commute in the cold. as quiter roads approach so increases the slush content. cross an iced over bridge and switch has been thrown. once wet roads are now covered. drift. stabilize. repeat. getting a feel for conditions and surprises lessen. seated grunt climb passes and wet road return. then back to the icy mix. water sprays against the fenders but icing does not occur. main climb of the route is clear and i rise out of the saddle as usual. after elevation gain comes elevation lose. back pressure the pedals and a patient car behind waits for me to make my left turn. fear or courtesy i'm not sure. just wet so let the legs wind out the rest of the decent. still raining hard. sun gets closer to the horizon and brightens the clouds to reveal a silver dipped landscape. pretty but too dark for a camera to capture. some moisture is rolling off the rain legs and wicking into my dickies. not bad, still warm, but a little moist. cruising the flat section. conditions allow the mind to wander and it passes quickly. traffic is light is i pass over the turnpike and catch my first glimpse of work in the distance. small downhill, small uphill, pull into the parking lot. notions of a rainy 32 degree commute were worse than reality.

so much for snow

rain with a touch of freeze. what a pissy winter.
outdoor research meteor mittens are toasty.

green light go

green light go
Originally uploaded by fxdwhl

three days commuting last week
one and a half this week
yellow light glowing
recharged before red made an appearance
replacement sb1 working so far

maybe some weather tonight?
snow ride even?
predicted but not feeling confident

babbling and giggling

maybe tomorrow i'll talk about bikes but this is just too cute.

we went shopping

and didn't purchase any of these items.


caffeine addiction


alcoholism


family sized pants

on the mend

on the mend
Originally uploaded by fxdwhl

sick babies make for no fun
started earlier in the week
new years eve was the worst ever
fever was the culprit
doc said most lkely viral
lasted longer than the quoted 48 hrs
sleepless nights take their toll
better now
but we're still recovering

last shot of 08

windy one today
caught the tail end of daylight
part of my bicycle commute 365 set