Rounds 92 and 93

The last 4:30 am bike ride (for a week or so) was no sweat Monday, and today’s 8:50 am departure was nice.  I’m getting into the habit of leaving later and later on my bike, now that I have the travel time down to a science.

On my commute, depending on which way I go, I can bike right beside 2 businesses that are roasting coffee beans in the morning.  Niagara Grocery on Niagara street, and Discovery Coffee on Douglas, can both be roasting between 8 and 9am.  On a good day, I’ll get pleasant blasts of the nutty and bitter smell on my way in.  It’s a high-light for sure.  These are the small things that you risk missing in a car.

Dave: 92

Global Warming: 0

Round 91

Friday was another 4:25 am ride, and there is still one to go on Monday.

Not much more to report, I’m excited to go back on my regular shift Tuesday, and bike to work a little later:

Dave: 91

Global Warming: 0

Rounds 89 and 90

My face is red.

Seriously, R-E-D.  In a recent post (the one directly below this ) I lost my cool about having to pay to put air in my tires at the James Bay Esso.  I’m not going to get into the details again, but just the thought of paying for *air* was enough to make my internal temperature reach a dangerous level.  I rode my bike to work for at least 2 days on “splashy tires” because I was to stubborn and upset to bring change with me to the gas station.  Saturday afternoon, my front tire was so flat, I had to stop.  I brought a quarter and a loonie, positive that one or the other would get me some sweet, sweet compressed air.  Wrong.  The machine ONLY takes quarters, and it costs 4-bits.  Fail.

Seconds later I stroll into the lobby of this joint, ready to go BALLISTIC, for all the wrong reasons.  The second the lady behind the counter saw that I was on a bike, and needed air for my tires, she casually says: “I’ll just turn it on for you, press the red button on the side to start it up.  Have a nice day!”.  Win.  Thank You James Bay Esso!  I felt like a giant D-B at that moment.  Lesson learned.

I mentioned that I did a little service work and cleaning on the Prairie Bullet the other weekend.  I’m no expert, but I’m guessing that I let my bike go a little “too long” before I gave it a good scrubbing.  If my bike was a car, the “service engine” light would have went on in December.  Check this out:

Yuck.  It’s a lot cleaner now, and running smoother as a result.

Dave: 90

Global Warming: 0

Round 88 “Changing”

I’m starting to get excited.  Soon, I’ll surpass the “100″ mark.  100 rides to work.  Wow, it feels like I started this challenge just the other day.  I can’ t wait to crack triple digits!

The up sides to riding my bike to work FAR outweigh the down sides.  I know for a fact that I’m more productive at work because my mind is much sharper when I walk through the front door after my ride and  I’m not burning fossil fuels in any way, which is a big plus!  The single biggest downside is the amount of times I have to change everyday.  Take today for example:

I get out of bed, put on clothes, and walk the dogs.

I finish walking the dogs, have a shower, and change into my cycling clothes.

I cycle to work, and change into my work clothes.

I cycle to the gym at lunch to play squash, I change into my gym strip.

I finish my squash match, have a shower, and change into the cycling clothes again.

I bike back to work, and change back into my work clothes.

I finish my workday, change back into my cycling clothes, and head home.

I get home, and change into jeans and a t-shirt.

That’s a lot of changing.  Some days I feel like I spend all day changing.

Dave: 88

Global Warming: 0

Rounds 86 and 87

The new lights are kick-ass.  The front flashing beam is so bright, I get “flash back” off of road signs, and other reflective surfaces.  Very nice.  My only concern is it’s angled up too much, I might make a slight adjustment this weekend.

I noticed this morning that my front tire is low.  I *would* have stopped at the Esso in James Bay on my way to work, but they CHARGE to use the air compressor.  Seriously?  I have several problems with this poicy:

#1.  IT’S AIR!  Your telling me I have to pay for it?  I just don’t get it.

#2. Nobody carries change anymore.  Put an debit machine on it at least.

#3.  They “say” they give the money they charge you to charity, but why?  If these businesses were so concerned about making a charitable donation before, why did they wait to start charging at the air compressor to make it happen?  Sounds fishy to me.

Dave: 87

Global Warming: 0

Rounds 84 and 85

I finally had made the time to get my bike up on my work bench this weekend.  The rear brake pads were wore down to virtually nothing, and needed to be replaced, and the thick build up of “sludge” on the gears, shifters and chain needed to be addressed.  I made a trip to North Park Bicycle Shop to for the brake pads, and did the job myself.  Not too big of a job really, and after my ride in this morning, I’m confident I did it right!

I learned a valuable less on Saturday as well.  The pro’s at North Park Bicycle told me to NEVER use WD-40 to clean the working parts of my bike.  This goes against everything I was ever taught by my father growing up.  He used WD-40 to clean EVERYTHING.  If it was metal, and had grease on it, WATCH OUT! He’s be spraying WD-40 like it was Mardi Gras!  Sadly, the bike experts said my fathers logic is flawed, and the WD-40 will only attract dust and grime when it’s all said and done.  They recommended an environmentally friendly citrus cleaner that eats away at grease.  I bought it, and it worked quite well.

I also splurged and bought new lights.  A red flasher for the back, and a bright light “beam” style for the front.

When it was all said and done, I spent the $50 gift certificate Lindsay got me for Christmas, plus an extra $16.  Money well spent!

Dave: 84

Global Warming: 0

Rounds 82 and 83

The days have been getting longer since December 22nd, and recently I feel like I can really tell!  I no longer need to turn on my lights for the ride to work (still need them on the way home though) and even when I walk the dogs in the morning, it’s not completely dark!

The “Prairie Bullet” needs maintenance like nobody’s business, here’s  a short list of problems:

1. The rear brakes need to be adjusted, because right now, they don’t work.

2. The “face plate” on my front gears (by my right leg) came off last week, and I still haven’t put it back on.

3. All the gears on the front and back are CAKED with mud, and other road “gunk” I can’t imagine that’s helping efficiency

I’m going to do some internet research this weekend, and try my hand at the repairs myself.  Wish me luck!

Dave: 83

Global Warming: 0

Round 81 Can you imagine…

…life without a car?

If you’re lucky enough to own (or have access to) a car, it’s pretty hard to imagine life without it.  The convenience of getting from A to B, quickly, and comfortably is addictive.  Since I hardly drive my car anymore (except on the weekends, or when I have to in order to make an appointment) I’ve learned to do just fine without it.  However, it’s still there if I want to drive (and not ride) to a squash match, or if we want to take the dogs to Esquimalt. Could we go without it totally?

My girlfriend and I live in James Bay, so we’re close to a supermarket, video store, 4 or 5 coffee shops, a liquor store, drug store, pizza place, floral shop, dentist’s office, etc.  If all I had to do was bike to work, I could spend the rest of my day on foot, and life wouldn’t be much different.

Rozie, this super cool girl I work with, was raised with her sister, in a “carless” family until she was 7!  Her parents drove her to school on their bikes, and a trip to the grocery store was a bit more of an event, because they had to cart the food home afterwords.  Rozie’s folks worked from home, which was a huge bonus, but they still had 2 kids, and made it just fine without a car.

Maybe my goal after this year is up, will be to go a year without riding in a car?

Dave: 81

Global Warming: 0

Round 80

Mother Nature picked a fine day to rain on me like she’s never rained before.  Instead of just cycling into work this morning, I had to visit my dentist, which is in Oak Bay.  So I went from James Bay, to Oak Bay, to Quadra Village.  In the rain (sad face)  Have I mentioned before how much I like my dentist?  She’s the best.  I never feel uptight, or nervous.  Although there are chairs in my dentist’s office, I’ve never been in them.  If you show up on time, you walk right in.  I love that, because I hate waiting.  If you’re looking for a dentist, or want to ditch your current dentist, give these guys a call.

On a day where I could have used dry pavement, I had buckets dumped on me.  There’s something wrong about cycling to the dentist in the rain (on paper) A person should be carried on pillows, while a super-hot greek goddess feeds you grapes or something.

Dave: 80

Global Warming: 0

Round 79 Change Jar Update

So, it’s been 8 days since my last Change Jar Update, here’s the latest picture:

Does it look much better than this?

The goal is to keep all my spare change in the jar until my last day of the 365 day challenge.  On that day, I spill it out, count it up, and cash it in on a new bike!

Nothing much to report on today’s ride.  It was mostly rainy today, but it seemed to let up while I went to and from work. Thanks Mother Nature.

Dave: 79

Global Warming: 0