My Morning Commute

[worktheweb]

Nice ride in this morning aside from the headwind. Tested out some toe warmers for the first time and they really do help (Little Hotties from Costco). My feet weren’t sweating, but they weren’t nearly as cool as they would have been at this temperature either. Oddly enough, my feet were cold after I showered and got dressed at the office, but I just took the warmers and put them in my work shoes. Problem solved. As much as I hate generating more waste, I think I’ll add them to my boots for sub-freezing rides from now on.

This weekend I took advantage of the warm weather to give my bike its first full cleaning in a while. Soap, water, a scrubbing of the chain and rims, a good rinse, and a thorough re-lubrication. By the end of it all the water in my soap bucket was black as midnight. The last two days it has felt like a brand new bike. Shifting is crisp and silent (I run friction, but the skippy chain on shifts is gone and it is easy to forget that there is a chain going around down there), braking no longer sounds like I’m sanding my wheels, and everything just feels great. I really need to do that more often.

Can’t wait for my commute home …

[dkel]

Rode my first FG commute today, and had a blast. Being new to FG, I am always worried about that tough climb that I’ve never tried fixed before, and there are a couple of good ones on my commute. So far, I haven’t had to walk once, so that makes me happy.

In other news, as much as I like my Keen cycling sandals (even in this weather), I think the additional pedal force required for some of these FG maneuvers is overcoming the stiffness of the sandals. They are quite comfortable to walk in, so they can’t be that stiff, and as a result, I have a little soreness from all that pedal-mashing. I haven’t had that since I first started putting in some serious miles cycling to work every day. So I think I’m going to have to get new shoes. Sigh.

[Harry Meatmotor]

@dkel 103069 wrote:

Rode my first FG commute today, and had a blast. Being new to FG, I am always worried about that tough climb that I’ve never tried fixed before, and there are a couple of good ones on my commute. So far, I haven’t had to walk once, so that makes me happy.

In other news, as much as I like my Keen cycling sandals (even in this weather), I think the additional pedal force required for some of these FG maneuvers is overcoming the stiffness of the sandals. They are quite comfortable to walk in, so they can’t be that stiff, and as a result, I have a little soreness from all that pedal-mashing. I haven’t had that since I first started putting in some serious miles cycling to work every day. So I think I’m going to have to get new shoes. Sigh.

stiffer shoes are going to keep your ankles and knees a lot happier, too, should you do more than the occasional ride with a fixie.

[dkel]

@Harry Meatmotor 103076 wrote:

stiffer shoes are going to keep your ankles and knees a lot happier, too, should you do more than the occasional ride with a fixie.

Given how ecstatic I get on my fixie, I think it will be more than occasional!

[Harry Meatmotor]

@dkel 103082 wrote:

Given how ecstatic I get on my fixie, I think it will be more than occasional!

That’s good! from a bike fit perspective, excessive heel drop while pedaling (either from poor fit or from soft-soled shoes) can cause some big problems/pain real quick. So be careful!

[pfunkallstar]

W&OD was gloriously vacant this morning with the exception of the woman who likes to scream at me for not calling my passes when even though I do every day very loudly. I think she just needs some hot cocoa and a warm cat. She probably has cats. So maybe just the cocoa.

[lordofthemark]

Once again I am punished for being good

Proceeded from HDCC (only four of us were there) on empty 4MRT, up the windy MVT. Came down from the 14th street bridge to make the right by the Jefferson. Remember a thread I started some time back on how lots of folks salmon there after coming down from the bridge? Well lately I have been good and have not salmoned. But that is a pretty quick 90 degree turn onto the sidewalk instead. I guess I took it a bit faster than usual this time, and found myself proceeding at speed toward the lampost. My new brake pads very effectively prevented any contact with the post, but instead I found myself on the ground. No injury to me other than a somewhat nasty looking surface cut on my right hand (but my glove which covered the hand is fine) and apparently no harm to the bike, other than the saddle being pushed to the side, which I readjusted with the assistance of a very helpful CaBi rider.

There was utility work on eye street SE – of course they put the “utility work” sign in the bike lane. Thankfully the lead driver in the general travel lane crossing South Cap was polite and went slowly, enabling me to easily scoot around the sign.

[ian74]

Blissfully quiet this morning. I saw one other rider from Alexandria to the 14th St. bridge. Of course, on the CCT, I was the only one heading North, nobody ever seems to going North in the morning. Plenty heading south to DC though.

I also had ice in my water bottle when I got to work

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7288[/ATTACH]

[cyclingfool]

Not the coldest AM ever, but cold enough for me to*wear leggings and give my Planet Bike Comet shoe covers a break-in ride. They were a little tough to get fastened at the back of my size 46 Shimano MTB style shoes, but I did get them on. I hope they loosen up and stretch a little. That said, they kept my feet super toasty. Made a big difference. I’ll be curious to try them if and when we get some colder mornings – a la the Polar Vortex days of last winter.

Odd to think that 2014 is already ending…

[worktheweb]

This morning’s ride was cold, but not too bad. If anything I was overdressed. I might shed a layer on the way home – my soft shell jacket from Performance is very warm. I also used the toe warmers and some hand warmers between my glove liners and gloves which worked well enough. I left my water bottle in the shed on the bike last night and it was frozen solid this morning. I saw very few people riding on the MVT this morning — around 5 if my memory serves me well. I really enjoyed the solitude on the trail this morning. I am going to be about 7 miles shy of 500 miles for the month if I just go home tonight, so I might do my first Hains Point laps of the year (and incidentally, my last) to get up to that nice round number. Looking at my ride data, December is my second highest mileage month after July … I can’t wait to do even better in January, February, and March with FS

[Jason B]

@dkel 103069 wrote:

In other news, as much as I like my Keen cycling sandals (even in this weather), I think the additional pedal force required for some of these FG maneuvers is overcoming the stiffness of the sandals. They are quite comfortable to walk in, so they can’t be that stiff, and as a result, I have a little soreness from all that pedal-mashing. I haven’t had that since I first started putting in some serious miles cycling to work every day. So I think I’m going to have to get new shoes. Sigh.

If you’re not looking for an all-out bike shoes, Chrome Kursk have a built in stiff plate. I currently use egg beaters, but they will accommodate spd’s. I don’t know how casual your work is, but they are a comfortable all day shoe. They are made of a very tough codora. They even have a cool little loop to keep your laces tucked.
They run big. I normally wear 44 but went 9 for these with plenty of room to spare.

[dkel]

@Jason B 103172 wrote:

If you’re not looking for an all-out bike shoes, Chrome Kursk have a built in stiff plate. I currently use egg beaters, but they will accommodate spd’s. I don’t know how casual your work is, but they are a comfortable all day shoe. They are made of a very tough codora. They even have a cool little loop to keep your laces tucked.
They run big. I normally wear 44 but went 9 for these with plenty of room to spare.

The guy at the shop showed me some shoes that were more like normal shoes, but I just went ahead and got some actual MTB shoes, since I keep normal shoes to change into at my office anyway. I figured the MTB shoes would be about as stiff as I could get, and they’d be able to fit shoe covers more easily than shoes that are better for walking (one of the problems I had with the Keen sandals I had been wearing). Speaking of which, my feet got super cold in those new shoes this morning; much colder than they used to in my sandals (really!). I’m stopping by the shop this afternoon to get some shoe covers!

[dplasters]

@dkel 103175 wrote:

The guy at the shop showed me some shoes that were more like normal shoes, but I just went ahead and got some actual MTB shoes, since I keep normal shoes to change into at my office anyway. I figured the MTB shoes would be about as stiff as I could get, and they’d be able to fit shoe covers more easily than shoes that are better for walking (one of the problems I had with the Keen sandals I had been wearing). Speaking of which, my feet got super cold in those new shoes this morning; much colder than they used to in my sandals (really!). I’m stopping by the shop this afternoon to get some shoe covers!

And so it continues, the circle of cycling purchasing.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7289[/ATTACH]

[Crickey7]

@cyclingfool 103149 wrote:

Not the coldest AM ever, but cold enough for me to*wear leggings and give my Planet Bike Comet shoe covers a break-in ride. They were a little tough to get fastened at the back of my size 46 Shimano MTB style shoes, but I did get them on.

Same experience for me and my newish Gore shoe covers and Shimano MT-43s. They make a big difference–especially since I mate them with neoprene toe covers–but they are a pain to put on, and I fear they are kind of fragile.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Jason B 103172 wrote:

If you’re not looking for an all-out bike shoes, Chrome Kursk have a built in stiff plate. I currently use egg beaters, but they will accommodate spd’s. I don’t know how casual your work is, but they are a comfortable all day shoe. They are made of a very tough codora. They even have a cool little loop to keep your laces tucked.
They run big. I normally wear 44 but went 9 for these with plenty of room to spare.

I have the Truk Pro Grey, which are basically the same as the Kursk, just a different color scheme…oddly, but relevant to winter, they are only slightly less warm than my winter boots, so they are actually pretty nice to have in the winter, since I can wear them with “normal” clothes rather than having to wear my winter boots or fuss with shoe covers. The downside is that they don’t breathe particularly well…

[Author]

Posts