anniversary

While I don't remember the exact date it was sometime in late October of last year that I sold my car and decided that I didn't need another. I wasn't driving it all that much anyway. And my wife has a car so if I need to go get a bunch of groceries then I can. So, mostly what changed is that I have now for the last year pretty much ridden to work every day instead of driven. Figuring 4 days a week for most of the year and 7 days a week during harvest I think I've ridden the commute close to 250 times. So about 2,500 miles of commuting. What has that done? It has had a more profound effect on my fitness for sport riding than I would ever have guessed. My general strength is up. I don't worry too much about getting training rides in anymore except one long ride midweek and another long one over the weekend. The year's not quite over yet, but it looks like my hours of saddle time will top 500 - near a record for me. There's 150 gallons or so of gas that I didn't burn. That's 2,700 lbs. of carbon less in the atmosphere, which I'm pretty stoked about. That's $600 on gasoline I didn't spend not to mention the insurance and repair and maintenance. I'm guessing I'm a couple grand to the good. Even with my somewhat obsessive spending on all things bicycle I think I came out about even this year. So in one sense getting rid of the car has eliminated or more accurately offset my bicycle spending. I arrive at work a bit more alert in the morning and I get home with my head a bit more cleared out - both good things.

Wrenching

Harvest is slowly winding to a close as it always does at some point. This is when I typically recommence my athletics. I start with a couple days a week in the gym doing circuits with light weights, and try to throw in a longer hillier ride both mid-week and on the weekend. Yesterday, I took the afternoon off fully intending to put in a couple hours of saddle time in the hills, but I was feeling more lethargic than motivated after lunch so I bailed on the ride. I still wanted to devote the afternoon to bikes so I started in on the myriad bike related projects that have piled up over the last two or three months. First of all of course fixing the flat on the Cinelli commute bike that I got coming back from the gym a day or two ago. Then replaced the brake hoods, housing and cables on the Sam Cotton. I used these incredibly trick looking braided housings made by Orange. they really dressed up the bike. Whoever had that bike before me had it set up fairly funky. The front brake was on the right instead of left and the cable routing was whacked as well. Took the opportunity to tune and lube the brakes at the same time. Next up was the Graphtex. It needed to have the rear brake installed and the housing and cable run. I got the brake on, but realized I didn't have the cable only the housing. I think I'll get another set of the braided cables from Orange and put those on. I also need better levers and a better front brake for this rare beast so it may be a few more weeks before this project is complete. The Steve Rex needs a complete rebuild of it's gear change systems. I'be got all the parts, but will wait till I've got most of a day to dive into this project.