Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Ride home for Wednesday, 30 March

I stopped off at the bike shop on the way home to pick up another set of calipers for my front brakes. While I was there, I also got a new seat, as my current "ergonomic" seat is great for commuting on, but causes pain in the arse region (to use the technical term) after about 80km or so. The one seat has springs on the back, and is quite a bit wider, so hopefully I should be good to go.

The ride home was really windy - gusts of 80km/hr. Of course, it was all headwinds - I should have known my luck wasn't going to last. I ended up taking all the back roads wherever I could, so that (a) I could try to avoid some of the wind, and (b) be away from other traffic if I was hit by a bad gust. The worst part was on the fire trail, where I was on a slight downhill incline, but stuck in granny gear in first gear and unable to go any higher - if I'd had any lower gears I would have used them!

The winds are supposed to be a bit less tomorrow, and drop down to a rather more reasonable 20km/hr by the weekend. I suppose at least it's a sign that spring is here...

Distance logged: 12.767km
Time: 50:44
Average speed: 15km/hr
Temperature: 0C, windy, overcast
Cumulative distance: 1071.294km

Ride into work for Wednesday, 30 March

Changed over to Doc Martens for the spring, I think I've saved about 2 pounds in weight right there!

Very windy today, but (most unusually) I had several tailwinds today, which was a pleasant surprise. Of course, with my twisty turn route that meant that they turned into headwinds and sidewinds quite often, with the worst being coming into work, which is a fairly fast two lane road - which I had trouble getting over 15km/hr on! Fortunately I managed to time it so I missed most of the cars by squeezing through the traffic light, but it was still pretty sucky.

Looking at the average speed I guess I got a bigger boost from the tailwinds than I expected. Hopefully I'll get tailwinds on the way home, but somehow... I'm not counting on it!

Distance logged: 12.081km
Time: 35:32
Average speed: 20.7km/hr
Temperature: 0C, overcast
Cumulative distance: 1058.527km

Ride home for Tuesday, 29 March

Even the dehumidifier didn't manage to completely dry out my clothes, so I went home with puddles in my shoes, which wasn't a whole lot of fun. At least the rain had eased off and was just a constant drizzle.

Distance logged: 11.67km
Time: 38:55
Average speed: 18km/hr
Temperature: 7C, drizzly, cloudy
Cumulative distance: 1046.446km

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Ride into work for Tuesday, 29th March

Environment Canada was 100% correct in their forecast; it absolutely pissed it down on the way into work. I found out the hard way that my winter boots are quite definitely not waterproof, obviously time to pull the Doc Martens out of the cupboard and put them back into action. Didn't really feel much difference with the knobby tyre on the front instead of the winter tyre, but then again with 40km/hr winds gusting to 70km/hr I can't say I'm overly surprised. The winds were all headwinds and tailwinds, of course, since the wind was northerly and I was heading in a generally south-east direction. It'll change this afternoon, just in time for my ride home.

The dehumidifier in the server room is getting a good working out today, at any rate.

Distance logged: 12.056km
Time: 39:58
Average speed: 18.1km/hr
Temperature: 5C
Cumulative distance: 1034.776km

Monday, March 28, 2005

Ride home for Monday, 28 March

Well, the rain definitely started today. I got soaked on the way home, I suppose at least the bike got a bit of a rinse.

I changed the tyres tonight... Well, I changed the front one and found the brakes had dried out again. The plastic on one of the calipers is starting to wear out, too, I really don't think it's going to last much longer. Time to hit up Ideal bikes and pick up a new set, I guess.

Continuing the GPS obsession... Below is my route home. The red part is where my route home differs from the route into work, and the blue box marks approximately where the office is. Contrary to Expedia, I don't actually live in a white void, it's just for some reason my street isn't on any maps yet.

Map of the commute home

Distance logged: 11.631km
Time: 37:22
Average speed: 18.9km/hr
Max speed: km/hr
Temperature: 4C to 3C,raining
Cumulative distance: 1022.720km

Ride into work for Monday, 28 March

Back to work after a nice holiday. Spring definitely seems to be arriving, most of the snow has melted and there's hints of green here and there (other than the evergreens). Biggest hint that spring is on its way:

Heavy rainfall warning for Nova Scotia

Oh well... it least it should wash the salt off the roads, then I can pick up my new bike!

Broke 1000km for the year, too.

Distance logged: 12.023km
Time: 36:56
Average speed: 19.5km/hr
Temperature: -4C to 0C, sunny
Cumulative distance: 1011.089km

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Ride for Saturday, 26 March

Went for a ride out to Tantallon. The road out (#213) after Kearney Lake Road started out extremely rolling, after 15km or so the road seemed to change into some kind of proto-highway with a 90km/hr speed limit. I hopped over onto the shoulder at that point, which was a mixture of (extremely battered) paving and earth. The earth wasn't too bad when it was dried out and/or compacted, but there were several sections which were waterlogged and muddy, which wasn't much fun.

The weather was pretty chilly, I ended up putting on a fleece about 8km after I set off, and didn't take it off until I was about 15km from home. It wasn't actually all that cold in terms of looking at the thermometer, but I think the water evaporating from the melting snow was what kept things cool. I checked the thermometer after I stopped off to have an apple, and it was actually reading 10C, but I think that might just have been because the thermometer was in the sun - probably because the thermometer was black.

Less than a km till I roll over to 1000km for this year! Not bad considering I was out of action for January...

Another kludged up gps map, this time with the excess clipped off so it doesn't overflow the blogger.com layout:

GPS map of the ride to Tantallon and back

Distance logged: 48.315km
Time: 2:19:43
Average speed: 20.7km/hr
Temperature: -1C to 2C, sunny
Cumulative distance: 999.066km

Friday, March 25, 2005

Ride for Thursday, March 24th

Finally got the chance to do the Peggy's Cove run. Set off at 9:15 from Bedford after a chiropractor's appointment, and stopped off at home to drop off a couple of locks since my backpack was feeling really heavy (it was mostly water - 2 * 2 litre platypus bags, and 2 * 710ml bottles of gatorade mix). It was snowing lightly (mostly ice crystals, I think) as I set out, the forecast was for things to warm up to 4C, but I don't think it ever did. I stopped off after about an hour to put warmers in my boots, then another half hour later stopped off to put on a fleece and rain pants. This was enough to keep me warm enough for the rest of the time, although I switched gloves a few times.

I did this ride as the longest ride of the year last summer, and managed to shave 40 minutes off the time this time around, which is pretty good.

Here's a cobbled together map of the route I took:



Distance logged: 105.29km
Time: 5:21:21
Average speed: 19.6km/hr
Temperature: 0C to 2C, snowing, then cloudy
Cumulative distance: 950.751km

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Ride for Wednesday, March 23

Wrote a GPS interface for my warbiking software this morning while it was snowing and went out warbiking this afternoon. Unfortunately, the batteries in the laptop didn't hold out, and I didn't get any data. I rode some hills (since the best way to get better at hills is to ride more hills) and played with the GPS... unfortunately the battery there died too!

Hopefully I'll be able to go down to Peggy's Cove tomorrow.

Distance logged: 19.370km
Time: 1:07:42
Average speed: 17.4km/hr
Temperature: 3C, sunny
Cumulative distance: 845.461km

Ride home for Tuesday, 23rd March

Picked up a bike computer at MEC - not the one I wanted, but the next model down which doesn't have average speed, so the calculation is my back of an envelope result, which may well be incorrect or slightly off due to rounding.

Managed to lose a lens and the nosepiece off my glasses; I switched over to clear lenses up near the end of the steep hill and pushed the bike the rest of the way, but somewhere on the pavement the lens (plus nosepiece) fell out of the frame. Despite going back over and searching, I couldn't find the lens... Most annoying!

Distance logged: 11.957km
Time: 51:06
Average speed: 13.8km/hr
Max speed: ?km/hr
Temperature: 0C to -1C
Cumulative distance: 826.091km

Ride into work for Wednesday, 23 March

Still with the broken bike computer. Nice sunny ride in, going to pick up a GPS on the way home which should be a fun toy.

Distance logged: ?km
Time: ?
Average speed: ?km/hr
Max speed: ?km/hr
Temperature: -2C, sunny
Cumulative distance: 814.134km

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Ride home for Monday, 21 March

Yet again, my bike computer has crapped out. It seems to last for about half a click then stop recording, most frustrating to troubleshoot.

I think my ride home must have been one of my fastest ever, too - I was home about 15 minutes earlier than usual. It was probably helped by hitting green lights at the traffic light every single time except once (and that one was because I didn't push it to go through on amber, but instead hung back and went through first on the next rotation).

Distance logged: ?km
Time: ?
Average speed: ?km/hr
Max speed: ?km/hr
Temperature: 4C, sunny
Cumulative distance: 814.134km

Monday, March 21, 2005

Ride into work for Monday, 21 March

Nice sunny day to cycle in. Bike computer crapped out again, I think I might have elevated it to high, so no stats. I'll adjust it at lunchtime if I get the chance. Oh well!

Distance logged: ?km
Time: ?
Average speed: ?km/hr
Max speed: ?km/hr
Temperature: -5C to -4C, sunny
Cumulative distance: 814.134km

Sunday, March 20, 2005

Maintenance day

Gave the bike a good cleaning and rearranged the lighting, cables, computer and handlebar bag. Hopefully this combination will work... Fiddled with the bike computer, looks like I may have the wrong wheel size selected - 26A instead of 26", whatever the difference is there I don't know. I guess I'll find out on Monday if the figures are noticeably different.

Mother in law successfully repaired the cycling pants!

Saturday, March 19, 2005

Ride home for Friday, 18 March

Weather is starting to get warmer, plus vernal equinox this weekend. Won't be long before I'll be wearing just a jersey - I was down to a jersey and windbreaker on the way home!

Distance logged: 11.905km
Time: 40:05
Average speed: 17.8km/hr
Max speed: 44.1km/hr
Temperature: 3C to 2C, sunny
Cumulative distance: 814.134km

Friday, March 18, 2005

Ride into work for Friday, 18 March

Fire trail was nicely frozen again, but I'm sure it'll be slush by the time I head home.

I was stopped at the traffic lights on Quinpool (intersection of 3 major arterial roads) when all the cars around me started beeping their horns. I can only assume they received some command on the radios to beep their horns, buggered if I can figure out why, though.

Distance logged: 12.317km
Time: 36:06
Average speed: 20.5km/hr
Max speed: 58.7km/hr
Temperature: -1C, cloudy
Cumulative distance: 802.229km

Ride home for Thursday, 17 March

Left a bit early as I had racked up some overtime and wanted to gethom to get some stuff done. Bike didn't slip at all, hopefully it's all good now! Fire trail was all muddy, I should have gone by road, I suppose...

Picked up some new cycling pants at lunchtime. They're not as windproof as the old ones. I think I'll keep these for now for warmer weather use, then when winter hits again in November I'll pick up some windproof ones.

Distance logged: 11.932km
Time: 40:50
Average speed: 17.5km/hr
Max speed: 46.6km/hr
Temperature: 2C to 0C, cloudy
Cumulative distance: 789.912km

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Ride into work for Thursday, 17 March

Tried the jogging pants and rain pants combo, it's not a winner - I arrived at work with sweat dripping out from my ankles, not a great way to start the day! I suppose it's an excuse for a visit to MEC, at least.

I think that I may have found the final problem with the derailleur - the friction shifter wasn't quite tightened enough, so after a while it was slipping which meant that the gear would shift. I tightened it this morning and it seemed to hold fine on the way in; the acid test is the way home with the uphill part, though...

Distance logged: 12.559km
Time: 38:01
Average speed: 19.8km/hr
Max speed: 56.9km/hr
Temperature: -3C to -2C, cloudy
Cumulative distance: 777.980km

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Ride home for Wednesday, 16 March

Windy trip home today with gusts of up to 60km/hr, not a whole lot of fun. They were, of course, almost all headwinds, with a few sidewinds for variety. Gearing seems very close to being fixed, it seems like it's only when I'm going uphill that it decides to slip - unfortunately that's when I really need it not to slip!

Fire trail was mushy as all the ice had thawed, I took a detour off halfway behind the sports centre, all the snow and ice was thawed there into a slushy mess so I ended up walking through that - didn't want to hit a 20cm deep patch of slush with my front wheel and go for a dive!

Also managed to tear off the windproof skin on my cycling pants. Doesn't look like it can be fixed by hand, unfortunately, if at all, so I'll send it off to the mother-in-law to see if she can do anything with them. I'll try wearing jogging pants and waterproof pants tomorrow and see if that works as a stopgap measure.

Distance logged: 13.752km
Time: 43:10
Average speed: 19.1km/hr
Max speed: 99.9km/hr
Temperature: 2C to 1C, windy
Cumulative distance: 765.421km

Ride into work for Wednesday, 16 March

Nice sunny day today, still a bit of ice left on the firetrail but that's about it... I guess spring is finally starting to arrive! Now I just have to decide when to take the snow tyres off.

The rear derailleur seems to be fixed now, I had one spot where the gear slipped but that could have been me not quite having the gear in properly. I think the gear lever might need a little tightening, too.

Nice fast ride in, too - only problem was sweat dripping into my eyes, not a problem I've had for quite a while!

Distance logged: 12.387km
Time: 34:15
Average speed: 21.8km/hr
Max speed: 99.9km/hr
Temperature: -3C to -2C, sunny
Cumulative distance: 751.669km

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Ride home for Tuesday, 15 Mar

Spring is starting to arrive, I cycled home with just a jersey and a windbreaker on, and I was dripping sweat. According to environment canada it was 2C, I saw one thermometer reading on a local hotel reading 8C - I think that was a touch optimistic. It was novel not to ride up to a traffic light in a roil of steam, too...

May have figured out the problem with the rear derailleur - it seems the new handlebar bag was leaning on the rear derailleur cable, which would lead to random shifts back there (*cough*). I've now fixed that, so we'll see how the gearing is with tomorrow's ride.

Distance logged: 12.196km
Time: 42:44
Average speed: 17.2km/hr
Max speed: 46.6km/hr
Temperature: 2C, cloudy
Cumulative distance: 739.282km

Ride into work for Tuesday, 15 March

It snowed overnight, only about 4cm, but it made for a fun ride in. It was snowing lightly, too - not enough to need goggles, but enough to have a nice cooling effect. Just as well, since I overdressed; I thought it was warm enough not to need a neck gaiter, but cold enough to need two jerseys and a windbreaker. I was half right - I could have done with a jersey and a T-shirt, or possibly just a jersey, but not two jerseys.

Bike computer behaved itself today, too.

Rear derailleur still isn't quite right, it's started shifting on its own. Perhaps this Altus isn't going to cut the mustard... Guess I'll have to take the bike back to the shop. Oh well.

Distance logged: 12.287km
Time: 38:30
Average speed: 19.2km/hr
Max speed: 73.0km/hr (hmmm)
Temperature: 0C, light snow
Cumulative distance: 727.086km

Ride home for Monday, 14 March

Sleet on the way home, not much fun. Bike computer now acting up even more than usual, it's convinced I'm barrelling along at 60km/hr. Even when I'm sat at the end of a queue of traffic. Some twiddling revealed it was, of all things, my flashing LED light that was causing it. Took off the light when I got home, it's now bright enough that I'm not required to show a light in front (sunrise is 6:23am, sunset at 6:18pm, I have to show a light an hour after sunrise and an hour before sunset). Kept the big beefy (non-interfering) Luxeon LED light on.

On a positive note, it's almost vernal equinox!

Distance logged: ?km
Time: 42:57
Average speed: ?km/hr
Max speed: ?km/hr
Temperature: -2C, sleet
Cumulative distance: 714.799km

Monday, March 14, 2005

Ride into work for Monday, 14 March

Bike computer is acting up again, it seems to be doubling figures so I've halved them. I took a slightly different route today, with March break the traffic is a lot lighter so I had a little fun. The snow was almost all cleared away, it was mostly just where cars had driven into snowbanks. The council had also cleared the fire trail using bobcats, which meant the trail was a bit ripped up, so it's going to really suck when it all thaws out and goes mushy...

Distance logged: 16.841km
Time: 48:33
Average speed: 20.8km/hr
Max speed: 45.2km/hr
Temperature: -4C, clear
Cumulative distance: 714.799km

Saturday, March 12, 2005

Maintenance day

Cleaned off the bike, hopefully the waxing will last until the weather warms up and I can take it outside for a proper cleanup and waxing (instead of wiping it down dry with kitchen roll). Cleaned the chain, rims and pads, and re-shimmed the rear brakes to align them better after having the rear derailleur replaced. I think I need a shim of some sort on the left dropout to offset the wheel so it's centred better, but for now a bit of electrical tape over the section that's getting caught by the flashing on the tyre will do. When spring hits and I'm back to slicks it shouldn't matter anyway. Actually, when spring hits I'll be getting my new bike anyway!

We're getting more snow; depending on which forecaster you listen to, we're going to get somewhere between 4 and 30cm of snow. If only I could get away with such inaccuracy in my job! Still, it should make for some fun riding - I might go out on my bike tomorrow...

Ride home for Friday, March 11

Hectic day as a competitor for one of our biggest web host clients went bankrupt, meaning all the airline customers were flooding sites like our client's to try and book an alternative ticket. Our server held up fine, but the remote booking server was up and down, so initially we were blamed ("the web site's having problems!"). The web site was running a little slow as I like to keep some bandwidth in reserve (TCP starts having problems over about 75% pipe utilisation), I opened the floodgates to full and got some extra bandwidth from our upstream provider. This meant that the booking website was unable to keep pace, so I ended up throttling back traffic anyway. I ended up sitting there babysitting the connection whilst the client kept trying different strategies and getting me to run more bandwidth through. All this fun and games meant I didn't get out till late, and seeing as I was supposed to be at home having a meal to celebrate the mother in law's birthday meant I was under a bit of pressure! Leaving later meant I hit a lot more traffic than usual (I usually arrive at work early and leave early), so I was slowed down even more. I finally got home around 6:45, about an hour late.

The rear derailleur behaved after being picked up, at least. It's a Shimano Altus, which has extremely mixed reviews out there; it seems like you either love it or hate it. I have a suspicion that most of the people that hate it bodged the install, as the usual complaint is they couldn't get it to shift cleanly. I don't think that'll be too much of a problem for me anyway, as I have all friction shifters.

Distance logged: 11.357km
Time: 39:03
Average speed: 17.5km/hr
Max speed: 49.3km/hr
Temperature: -4, cloudy
Cumulative distance: 697.958km

Friday, March 11, 2005

Ride into work for Friday, 11 March

Nice sunny ride in. Bike computer was acting up again, registering 0km/h when I was quite patently doing more than that. Also had problems with the rear derailleur slipping. Went into the bike shop at lunch and found out that the secondary spring was shot, so it wasn't returning properly in 6th gear, hence leading to chain falling off, which is understandably a problem when you're on a bike - especially going uphill! $15 for a new rear derailleur, and I'll be picking it up after work...

Distance logged: 9.317km
Time: 38:11
Average speed: 14.7km/hr
Max speed: 48.9km/hr
Temperature: -12C, sunny
Cumulative distance: 686.601km

Thursday, March 10, 2005

Ride home for Thursday, 10 March

It was snowing heavily this afternoon before I left work, but it cleared up just before I left, just a few flakes drifting down. It wasn't really sticking, only a centimetre or so, then it started snowing heavily again, so I had to keep stopping and switching between glasses and goggles, and putting on and taking off the neck gaiter so I could breathe without choking on the snow.

The bike computer kept cutting out, too - it would suddenly start registering 0 while I was pedalling along. Definitely time for a replacement, I think.

Distance logged: 11.488km
Time: 43:10
Average speed: 16.0km/hr
Max speed: 99.9km/hr
Temperature: -5C, sunny, snowy, heavy snow
Cumulative distance: 677.284km

Ride into work for Thursday, 10 March

Nice enjoyable ride in after the failure of the last two days. Cool, crisp morning with blazing sunshine. Traffic was very quiet for some reason, so I got to bomb along some sections I'm normally stuck in traffic for. I think the bike computer may have been affected a bit by the cold, though, as it logged a couple of km more than I usually do.

Distance logged: 14.169km
Time: 39:17
Average speed: 21.7km/hr
Max speed: 60.2km/hr
Temperature: -12C, sunny
Cumulative distance: 665.796km

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

No ride today

Winds of 80km/hr with gusts of 150km/hr, roads closed, powerlines down... Probably not a good day to be riding in. At least I'm not alone - Terry in the UK doesn't ride in high winds either (nor snow, but then again snow tyres aren't de rigeur in the UK!).

Hopefully should be riding again tomorrow... It's now snowing outside and I'm missing out on a fun ride.

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

No ride today

I was ready to ride in, but then a thunderstorm passed over with a full-on lightning display, and I decided discretion was the better part of valour and got a lift in in the car. Oh well... At least it means summer is on the way!

Monday, March 07, 2005

Ride home for Monday, 07 March

Nice cool ride home. Fire trail was thawed, which was nice, but all the snowmelt had turned the trail to mud, which was not quite so nice. Took off halfway down to see if the snowdump grounds behind had cleared, it was iced over but rideable (albeit slowly) so I had a fun little diversion. Should be interesting to see what happens with the rain tomorrow, though...

Distance logged: 12.763km
Time: 40:53
Average speed: 18.8km/hr
Max speed: 99.9km/hr (nope)
Temperature: -4C, sunny
Cumulative distance: 651.627km

Ride into work for Monday, 07 March

Started off clear then it started snowing, something that was fairly close to hail. I stopped off and put on the goggles and suffered in the 0C heat, oh well. There's a heavy rainfall warning in effect for tomorrow, which should be fun - 25 to 35mm in the afternoon!

Distance logged: 12.472km
Time: 35:34
Average speed: 21.1km/hr
Max speed: 91.2km/hr (ehhh...)
Temperature: 0C
Cumulative distance: 638.864km

Sunday, March 06, 2005

Maintenance day

Not much to do since the everything's running in reasonably good order. Noticed that there was a lot of gunk accumulating on the rear derailleur (probably because I'm using Tenacious Oil, which is tenacious not only on the chain...) so I dropped out the rear wheel and cleaned up the mess. Cleaned the chain, the rims and the brake pads, and that was it.

Saturday, March 05, 2005

Ride home for Friday, 04 March

Seriously underdressed for the weather; allegedly it was -3C when I set off, but I saw a temperature display outside a building that said -10C. Of course, I was just wearing cycling shorts and cycling tights, so my legs were freezing cold. I didn't want to stop and put on leg warmers or my rain pants, so I just carried on regardless.

The fire trail was still frozen over with a light covering of snow hiding my earlier tracks, which meant I had the bike bouncing all over - even the studded tyres didn't stop it (although I suspect without them, I'd have gone down several times).

My bike computer worked fine, though, so it looks like there's definitely something temperature related going on.

Distance logged: 12.667km
Time: 44:29
Average speed: 17.1km/hr
Max speed: 51.1km/hr
Temperature: -3C to -10C, windy, cloudy, occasional snow
Cumulative distance: 626.392km

Friday, March 04, 2005

Ride into work for Friday, 04 March

Another nice cold day, no clouds, plenty of sun. The bike computer didn't fare so well, however; after reading reasonable values through the fire trail and down through Fairview, once I hit the steep hill the readings went bonkers - specifically, they were reading twice what I expected them to be. I saw this last fall for a while, and then it started working fine. I have a suspicion that the battery in the remote has to be drained past a certain point for it to work OK in cold conditions, which rather goes against electronics logic, but there you go. The computer itself seems fine, since it keeps time without a problem, so it's not an issue with the crystal. As such, I'm going to take the readings I got and divide by two, which seems to give near-reasonable figures (if marginally less than expected - it was reading fine through the fire trail and Fairview).


Distance logged: 12.901km
Time: 45:27
Average speed: 17.1km/hr
Max speed: 47.4km/hr
Temperature: -9, sunny
Cumulative distance: 613.725km

Ride home for Thursday, 03 March

Picked up the new pedals at MEC. Like a talismanic charm, my pedals are now working perfectly. Oh well.

Ride home was quite nice, pretty cold, quite snowy. The ride along the fire trail was bit of a bear as it had completely frozen over. Not only that, but where I had ridden yesterday through the slush had frozen over, so I now had my own deep tyre ruts to contend with.

Worked on my bike to put in a standoff, as my new handlebar bag (for $20) is already showing signs of wear from rubbing against the handlebar. I had an old brace for a U-lock which I never used after the U-lock fell out (!) when I stopped one day, which works perfectly - all the cables route through it apart from the front brake cable which routes through a crease, and it supports the handlebar bag quite nicely. In the process of doing this I found the front brake assemblies showing signs of corrosion again, so I disassembled them, gave them a good solid cleaning and regreasing, and reassembled them.

I managed to put the bike computer together and got it working, too. Seemed to read fine from my unscientific "spin the wheel and watch the numbers fly" testing.

Distance logged: ?km
Time: ?
Average speed: ?km/hr
Max speed: ?km/hr
Temperature: -6C, intermittent snowing, overcast
Cumulative distance: 600.824km

Ride into work for Thursday, 03 March

Back to cold again, but nice and sunny, at least. Pedals still a bit iffy, so I'm going to pick up another set from MEC at lunchtime.

Edit - it was Thursday March 03, not 04... Getting too eager for Friday to arrive!

Distance logged: ?km
Time: ?
Average speed: ?km/hr
Max speed: ?km/hr
Temperature: -2C, sunny
Cumulative distance: 600.824km

Ride home for Wednesday, 02 March

The ride was warm and slushy with flurries of snow, the fire trail was particularly bad with puddles of slush/mud up to 5cm or so deep. Yuck.

Computer still bonkers, it's now reading data even when the bike's stationary. Oh well.

Had some problems with the pedals on the way home, spent the evening working on those intead of twiddling with the bike computer.

Distance logged: ?km
Time: ?
Average speed: ?km/hr
Max speed: ?km/hr
Temperature: 4C, overcast, flurries
Cumulative distance: 600.824km

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Ride into work for Wednesday, 02 March

Still with the flat batteries. I turned the computer on just to see what would happen, and it went somewhat bonkers; apparently I covered 35km on the way into work at an average rate of 44km/hr. Highly unlikely; definitely time for a trip to MEC at lunchtime.

I went up to Canadian Tyre last night for a new mirror, as my cheap MEC mirror fell out (!) on the way home last night. I got another $10 Schwinn model, which is what I had last year until I (*cough*) dropped the bike on it and it broke. While I was there, I also saw a
handlebar bag
that was absolutely huge, and only $19. Admittedly it used velcro fastenings, so at some point I'll probably have to replace them with proper buckles, but it's a pretty good little device for the money - it's even got a hard plastic shell inside to protect stuff in there. I've put my toolkit, first aid kit, emergency blanket, hand and foot heating pads, spare lenses and lock in there and moved quite a bit of weight off my back, which is nice. Next step is to look at getting panniers, I think - a possible Easter gift.

The handlebar bag added some weight to the steering, as expected, but it was nothing I couldn't handle after getting the hang of it. The ride in was fairly cool with occasional flurries, drivers still don't seem to quite know how to handle the snow...

Distance logged: ?km
Time: ?
Average speed: ?km/hr
Max speed: ?km/hr
Temperature: 0C, overcast, intermittent light flurries
Cumulative distance: 600.824km

Ride home for Tuesday, 01 March

A wet and slushy ride home. It looks like my bike computer's batteries have died - I'm not sure if it's the computer itself or the wireless remote that's died. Time to go look at a new set of batteries. I'm sorely tempted to get a new wired computer for $14 - I suspect that may well be cheaper than a set of batteries, ironically enough.

Distance logged: ?km
Time: ?
Average speed: ?km/hr
Max speed: ?km/hr
Temperature: 0C-1C, overcast
Cumulative distance: 600.824km

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Ride into work for Tuesday, 01 Mar

Fun ride in. The snow was about 5cm deep by the time I set off, and was drifting on the fire trail. I hit a couple of deep patches that slowed me down, then I hit one I didn't expect and ended up jumping over the handlebars. The roads weren't too bad, I was going not much slower than most of the cars. Some of the back roads were really iffy as my wheel kept getting caught in car tyre tracks - would have been a great ride if it weren't for those!

I had to stop partway through to change my gloves (the neoprene gloves weren't warm enough) and take off my goggles (steaming up) and put on my glasses. Looks like I took long enough that the bike computer turned itself off, I couldn't tell because it was covered in a layer of ice... The ride actually took around an hour and 20 minutes, as far as I could tell, putting it in as a contender for slowest commute in yet.

Distance logged: 6.903km
Time: 31:22
Average speed: 13.2km/hr
Max speed: 42.4km/hr
Temperature: -1C to +1C, overcast, snow, hail, rain, blowing snow, winds gusting up to 80km/h
Cumulative distance: 600.824km