Short term goals

Are you riding outside of the commute trips? If you are working your way up to a longer distance (50 miles), you should ride more than once a week (whether or not those are commute trips or fitness workouts). Otherwise, a 50-mile ride is not going to be that pleasant for you.

Not all of those rides need to be long, but it would be good to make one of the rides a longer one during most weeks. The long ride plus the total weekly hours both make a difference in how well you build up your fitness. (Intensity matters too, but until you get comfortable with a particular distance and weekly volume, it’s not quite as important. As people always say, just ride a lot, or as much as you reasonably can, and ease up when necessary.)

@lordofthemark 98236 wrote:

5. Competitions etc – Get a smart phone (probably on black Friday), download Strava, and decide which competition or challenge makes sense for me.

FREEZING SADDLES. This is THE competition. It is perfect because:
1) You’re on a team of people, many of whom you already know.
2) It’s handicapped, so you aren’t directly competing with crazy people who do 80 miles a day at 30mph.
3) It’s pretty much the focus of the forum from January to March.
4) It’s highly motivating, and for both number of rides and distance of rides.

@lordofthemark 98236 wrote:

Get a smart phone (probably on black Friday)

I cannot impart any biking knowledge, as this will be my first winter commuting by bike. Perhaps though, as someone who sold cell phones at a large box store where people wear blue shirts and we imply we are the apex of locations to purchase things I can give some advice here.

If it is your first smartphone, and you have any concerns about receiving help, support, generally good customer service – do not buy it on black friday. You will receive none of these things.

The prices are (from my experience) not really any better. Phones are not like TVs (I also sold TVs and sound equipment at a place where you wore red shirts and is now only a website … retail paid for college & dominos pizza). They can’t just put them in a different boxes and act like they aren’t really just selling you last years model for a lower price. Customers know the models and there are no “special” black friday ones. Because of this the prices don’t really change much at all. Besides, its that 2 year contract with additional charges that really matters more in terms of the good deal part.

I would encourage you to go to a carrier store (like the employees are actually employeed by Sprint, or At&t etc) not stores like “My Cell” or any other third party kiosky thing. You can search for carrier stores on their websites by expliciting filtering on just their stores typically. Link to Verizon. Note the box that says “Show Authorized Retailers”. Don’t press that box. They are the devil. When signing a two year contract, best to actually be talking to employees of the company you are signing with.

*Disclaimer – I do not have Verizon service and am neither advocating for or against. The site is just easy to navigate.

TLDR: The price of the phone is nothing. Realize how quickly you will pay more in monthly bills than what the phone costs. Most places have a 14 day price match. Use it if needed. Do not shop for something you will be tethered to for two years on Black Friday unless you are very confident in your own ability. Shop carriers/plans just as much if not more than phones.

On Topic bike note – I am unsure about the frozen saddles thing. I am not concerned about cold. I am concerned about ice but I ride 100% on the road. I fear dragging a team down since I have no experience of how much I am willing to deal with. Also, Strava. I have avoided it…… but I would have to plunge into its dark orange underbelly.

@lordofthemark 98263 wrote:

Thanks, but none of my goals are total annual mileage goals. While thread drift happens, bumping a ten month old thread to take it (somewhat) off topic is not my thing. Usually.

Yeah, I have no issues at all with this new thread. Just thought that a more specific Google search could help if you can’t find something you’re looking for. (Last post in that thread was July, so it’s not super ancient.)

I found the prices on new smartphones to be better at Best Buy than from the carrier itself. Not that much different, but better to have that $50 stay with me than go to someone else, for the same exact phone.

(Samsung Galaxy S5, which I’m very pleased with. Nice big screen, great camera, various nifty features like screenshots using a karate swipe motion–honest!, and maybe most relevant, it’s water resistant. I wouldn’t take it scuba diving, but rain won’t hurt the phone. I’ve even rinsed it off a few times under a faucet with no problems. Just have to be sure that the bottom cover for the USB/power cord is closed. The top headphone jack doesn’t have a cover but apparently that doesn’t matter. People report that they have put the S5 in aquariums and full sinks with no headphone cover, with no damage to the phone. Just let it dry off a bit and tip it upside down to let the water drain out.)