Mar 9, 2010: Bells

Total distance: 0 miles

I have been waiting for a Slow News Day to talk about bells. Several years ago I picked up a package of moderate-sized jingle bells in the grocery store for $1. The next December, I put these on a piece of string and tied them to my bike. Two clumps of bells, one on each side. I loved listening to them jingle on the rough patches of streets. After January I put them away. The silence was so loud.

The next year I put them on in November, and took them off in February. The year after that, I never did take them off. One night ride, a couple friends told me to ride in front, so that they could hear the rough patches ahead. The glue holding each bell together deteriorated and one by one, the bells fell off. I could tell the string wasn’t going to hold forever either. One night in June I heard a “thunk” and the next day I finally realized what had fallen off: the bells.

The silence was sad.

Shortly before this past Christmas, I saw a big solid gold bell attached firmly to a velcro strip in the bike shop. I did not hesitate. I knew I had to have it. $9 did not seem too much to pay.

One of my students said “Does your bike have a bell?”
“Yes, a jingle bell, did you hear me biking?”
“You were going past Speaker Circle and everyone was staring at you.”

Of course they stare. I am probably a celebrity!

This is the last post until I get back from the Gender Summit on the Postdoctorate and the National Postdoctoral Association Annual Meeting.

Mar 8, 2010

Total distance: 5 miles
Conditions: Sunny, 60F, tailwind. This is heaven!

Tomorrow I’m flying out of Columbia Regional Airport. I called and asked where I could park my bike. “Nowhere,” they answered. Thanks for the help, buddies. I’m getting a ride from a friend (Denise is the best!). Next I called some places in Philly to see if I could rent a bike when I get there. I’ll have a half day before the meeting starts. The one place I found doesn’t open until 11:00, when my half-day is nearly over. What I really need is a Dahon or (expensive) Bike Friday. Then I could bike the 12 miles to the airport, fold the bike up and check it as baggage, and have it to bike around Philly the next morning, however early I wanted to ride.

So, not this time, but I am very motivated to get one before my next trip, to Montreal in August, or to Costa Rica in November.

I biked to Columbia College to eat lunch with Iain, but rode to the bowling alley and then home with him, because I had a lot to do to get ready for Philadelphia. I tried hooking the ball, and scored about as well as I always do, which surprised me. I thought I would do worse for a while until I learned the technique.

I’m going to take a week off from posting while I am at the Gender Summit on the Postdoctorate and the National Postdoctoral Association Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

Mar 7, 2010

Total distance: 0 miles
Warning: innuendos ahead

I cleaned the trail muck off my bike today. I only cleaned the important bits: the chain, cassette and cogs, cables and derailleurs, wheel rim, lights and magnets. The rest of the bike is still pretty muddy. The next good rain will take care of it.

It was the third day in a row I did not bike at all. I headed upstairs to change into my bike shorts for the grocery trip, and got waylaid. Hur hur. (I wish!) Actually Iain told me he was going to the grocery store with me and we were going by car. I didn’t argue. I make a point of choosing him over my bike. As taciturn as he is, he is still a better conversationalist than Crush is. (He does better in the “hur hur” department too, I believe.)

These are a couple pictures I took at the end of my last long ride. I was trying to show my lane positioning as I approach and proceed through the roundabout. I don’t think the pictures make it clear. I held the camera near my waist and took the pictures. Of course I couldn’t really see what I was doing, since I was riding my bike and observing traffic at the time.

Mar 6, 2010: Get rich, lose weight

Total distance: 0 miles

Bicycle commuting is the one activity that is capable of following through on the promise to get rich and lose weight. Most bicycle commuters lose 20-30 pounds in the first year, even without dieting. Even more fat is lost, because muscle is built. A bicycle commuter can lose several clothing sizes. I went from size 14 to size 7 over a couple years.

If you are a two-car family, like we were, bicycle commuting can make you a one-car family. If you are a one-car family, bicycle commuting can free you from that last car. Even if you keep that car, only using it for long trips, you save a lot on gas and repairs. If you reduce by one car, you save on car payments, gas, repairs, property tax, and insurance.

You lose a little of this on bicycle expenses. It seems expensive to buy a $200 jacket or a $70 undershirt. So far both of those items have lasted me two seasons and I expect to wear them next winter. I spent about as much on my winter gear as the major car repair that year, or the equivalent of 2 or 3 car payments. The car had another repair this year, but I did not have to replace my winter gear.

I’ve always wanted to join a gym, and maybe some day I will, but I know that finding the hour to go to the gym is impossible, and until I have $400 burning a hole in my pocket for a gym membership, I’m not going to do it. Finding time to bicycle is easy. That’s not because I love bicycling and can’t wait to be on my bike again. (Even if that is sometimes true.) It’s because I spend that time traveling anyway. It takes me 15 minutes to drive to campus, find a parking space, and walk to my lab. It takes me 20 minutes to bike there. For a 5 minute investment I get 20 minutes of exercise. I double that because I have to come home. I lost only 10 minutes of my day to get 40 minutes of exercise.

Ride a bicycle, you’ll become rich and sexy.

Trail closed in town because a bridge is being replaced. Tempted to look for a way through, but I was running late by then.

Hindman Junction, named for Mayor Hindman who was responsible for the 9 mile spur that connects Columbia to the main trail. Someday I hope to have enough influence (in power or money) that some bicycle facility or trail will be named for me.

On the Wabash, the wide variety of benches was a curiosity. I thought because the MKT benches were all alike, that they'd been paid for by the state. But this plaque proclaims this bench was an Eagle Scout project. Perhaps Iowa Eagle Scouts are more imaginative than Missouri Eagle Scouts.

Mar 5, 2010: Off topic f-word

Total distance: 0 miles

I thought up most of this on my bike ride yesterday. “Development” is euphemistic for “fundraising”. Apparently it is crass to say the f-word. This week I’ve been coming up with all kinds of crazy ideas for fundraising, er, development. When I was younger, I thought fundraising was the most boring and undesirable chore. My only experience with fundraising was selling candy bars door-to-door for the Pep Club.

When I founded the University of Missouri Postdoctoral Association, I discovered the fundraising is simply asking for money. In fact our first fundraising was when the Dean of the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs said, “The Vice-Chancellor of the Office of Research wants to give you $5,000. Is that enough?” After that I visited with the heads of departments and colleges and said “Hi, I’m with the Postdoc Association–” and then nodded as they told me how awesome we are and asked how much money should they give us.

I am now Chair of the Development Committee for the National Postdoctoral Association Board of Directors. Emboldened by my local successes I am confident that throngs of people, companies and organizations out there are champing at the bit to give us money, they just don’t know how. Or they don’t know that they are desperate to give us money. But I know they are, and I will help them discover their desperation and I will show them how to get satisfaction.

Mostly I will contact companies the way I contacted the heads of departments & colleges at MU. But I know a lot of postdocs, grad students, and faculty are just dying to give us money too. I don’t want to deprive them. And I am dying to put my new programming skills to good use. I am going to make computer games that are tied in with donations.

For each dollar you donate, you get a virtual token. You use the token to play a game. When you run out of funding, er, I mean lives, you can pay another token to keep going or you can stop and use your tokens later to start over.

You can use your tokens to buy virtual puzzle pieces and put together puzzles. Or clues to a crossword puzzle.

One game is based on Nell’s “make a pizza” game, instead of pizza toppings you are making up buffers for your experiment. Another game is the basic click on a spot game, where you have to pipet the RNA into the right well before the 96-well plate moves.

As you succeed at the games, you gain levels. You start off as a high school student, progress to graduate student, pass your quals, comps, and defend, progress to postdoc, and then you progress to… well, you have a 15% chance of becoming a professor. X% chance of research prof, y% government lab, z% industry, q% science policy, and so on.

Another game is the Responsible Conduct of Research game. It’s a bit like Monopoly. “Caught plagiarizing, you are suspended.” “Accused of falsifying data. If your notebooks are up to date, lose one turn. If your notebooks are not organized, lose three turns.”

ice on the hill side still

Mar 4, 2010: vitamin D, and temporal misalignment

Total distance: 27 miles

I was trying for a sunburn today. Last year I got sunburnt on March 5. The sun might be high enough at mid day now to provide sufficiently strong UV-B radiation to a) produce vitamin D in my skin and b) cause a sunburn. I finished everything I could (except for the things I didn’t want to do). I’m waiting for about a hundred people to get back to me on one thing or another. And I didn’t want to fight with the computers to try to get my statistics run. So I went for a bike ride.

I had a test at 3:30 on Columbia College campus, for the C++ online class I am taking. I had 2 1/2 hours to get there. I went to the trail and rode all the way to Hindman Junction. I calculated that would leave me with plenty of time to get to campus. I’m not very good with numbers that I can’t see. When I got back to the trail head I realized I had calculated wrongly. I put some effort into it and I made it to campus right at 3:30.

I had the polartec fleece on, and wool socks. I had bike shorts underneath, which I don’t like to wear by themselves, even if it’s just a pair of shorts over. But it was too hot for the polartec so I ended up wearing just the bike shorts. And I took all the upper layers off too, so I ended up with just my skimpy jersey.

I took a lot of pictures. I’ll spread them out over the next few posts.

Ducks in Water Reclamation Unit #4. They didn't like the corn nuts I tossed into the water.

Mar 3, 2010

Total distance: 5 miles

The Pedouins, a family of 5 bicycling from Kentucky to Alaska, needed to get through a tunnel on a narrow, busy highway. A semi truck stopped and offered to follow them through the tunnel so they could get through safely. “Upon my oath, I am not a sentimental man” but the story brought tears to my eyes.

I am an avid fan of the Pedouins and their quint cycle. The three little girls are now 3, 5, and 7 years old. They have each had a birthday recently. I love the photos of the kids playing outside, on the side of the road, in the grass, in dirt, in the rain. People sometimes call me “brave” for biking in traffic and weather but they really mean “crazy”. The Pedouins are truly brave. They aren’t crazy at all. I admire them and I am more than a little jealous.

I feel like I sat in front of a computer all day. Other than biking 5 miles to the car to pick up Nell from school, that is exactly what I did. What a shame to spend such a beautiful day inside. I knocked several things off my to-do list. I completed them as well. I wished I had my camera with me. Nothing particular to photograph, but the day is so beautiful. There were many people outside.

I saw an older, overweight man struggling on an attractive single speed. I saw a rough looking fellow on an old bike who probably had gotten off the Greyhound at the bus stop on 10th street. He waved at me. Several taxis were waiting there.

Mar 2, 2010

Total distance: 10 miles
Conditions: beautiful again!

I was about 20 minutes early to a lunch date with a friend so I swung by Walt’s. Sarah is back with her new baby! And he is HUGE for a 6 week old. He is as big as a 3 month old. She said he is growing alarmingly fast. I didn’t need anything done to my bike, I just stopped by to chat. With my new bike stand, I don’t have any excuse to go to Walt’s.

After lunch we walked back to campus. I struggled with statistics until my students showed up. The struggle wasn’t actually with the statistics. It was with the software and figuring out how to access both the department server and the Software Anywhere. My data is on the server. The statistical software is on Software Anywhere. Answer: I can’t have both at the same time. Any time I need one, I have to get off the other one. This is NOT a solution.

I talked to a new student who might be interested in working with the lab. He’s a philosophy major and I’m excited about that. I really like the idea of non-science types getting research experience. It’s good for them. It’s good for science too.

Mar 1, 2010: The e word, and don’t take no

Total distance: 20 miles
Conditions: BEAUTIFUL

I’ve been too tired to notice much about the bike rides lately. In theory they must have been awfully nice. It’s been such beautiful weather. Cool with a hint of warm. Sunny with no heat. I biked to the bowling alley and then home for a teleconference. Then I biked to Shakespeare’s for the MU Postdoc Association Career Development Series, aka Pizza Night. The topic was Research in a Controversial Field, the guest is an anthropologist and so uses the E word (evolution) a lot. It came up that in China, evolution is what is taught in schools and there is no controversy about it. Eventually I pointed out that China is that way because Chairman Mao decreed it shall be so. That perspective makes the US seem less backwards and provincial.

Friday I got an email from the programming coordinator at Lawrence Parks & Rec about whether they are interested in offering the bike class. The email said they’ve tried bicycle safety before and there’s no interest in it. I was mad, because she had rejected my proposal without knowing anything about it, and inclined to give up on them.

But I called her again, and this time I actually spoke to her. I asked if I could explain the idea before she decided it wasn’t suitable, and she was friendly enough and listened. After I explained it, she seemed more amenable to it, and asked me to email her all the information so it can be considered as they set up their spring & summer programs.

I was proud of the email. My grant writing skills honed through the past years as a postdoc & grad student are shining through. I open with a personal but brief anecdote which lays out the problem and the solution. I end with relating how I am going to help them (the City of Lawrence). And yet it doesn’t (I hope) read like a sales pitch.

I would like an opportunity to teach Traffic Cycling 101, a 9-hour course endorsed by the League of American Bicyclists, in Lawrence, KS. I took this class in Columbia, MO in March 2007, and it made a profound difference in how I felt about cycling in traffic. I learned the best practices for cycling in traffic and gained the confidence which has kept me cycling for transportation. As a cyclist commuter, I get exercise during my transportation which is efficient and fun!

The League of American Bicyclists promotes cycling for fun, fitness and transportation through advocacy and education. http://www.bikeleague.org/about/index.php

Bike League Education program: http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/education/
“Traffic Cycling 101: Gives cyclists the confidence they need to ride safely and legally in traffic or on the trail. The course covers bicycle safety checks, fixing a flat, on-bike skills and crash avoidance techniques and includes a student manual. Recommended for adults and children above age fourteen, this fast-paced, nine-hour course prepares cyclists for a full understanding of vehicular cycling.”

Qualifications: The instructors (Rachel Ruhlen and Laurie Chipman) are League Certified Instructors (LCI). To become LCIs, we completed the 2 1/2 day training and passed the written test. We are members of the Bike League and as LCIs the class is covered by League insurance. Both of us are cyclist commuters and have been cycling for transportation for 5 years.

We anticipate a class of 10 students with 2 instructors. If the class exceeds this size we will have an additional LCI but the ratio will be 1 instructor per 5 students.

To cover the expenses of the student packets and our travel to Lawrence, we will ask that participants pay a $30 fee. If we need to pay rent for the space, this fee may increase.

I have contacted the Lawrence Bicycle Club and Sunflower Outdoor & Bike, who are both willing to help advertise the class. In Kansas City and other cities, MS150 participants are often interested in attending the class. Traffic Cycling 101 is offered regularly in Columbia, MO in conjunction with Columbia Parks & Rec, and in KC MO with the MS Society.

The reason I want to teach a class in Lawrence is because my dad lives & bicycles in Lawrence and I want him to take the class. Currently, the closest place he can take Traffic Cycling 101 is Kansas City, MO. I hope that after this class, local cyclists will be inspired to become LCIs, as I was, and teach the class in the future. The 9-hour course can be offered in a day long session, or as three 3-hour sessions. Because we are out of town, we can only offer it as a day-long session. Local cyclists could offer different formats. However, to enroll in LCI training, they first must pass Traffic Cycling 101.

Lawrence became a bronze level Bicycle Friendly Community in 2004. Education is an important component of this League award, and regular Traffic Cycling 101 classes will help achieve silver, gold or platinum level Bicycle Friendly Community status.

Feb 28, 2010

Total distance: 9 miles
Conditions: Sunny, beautiful, lovely!

We will have to switch banks in Kirksville, because our bank doesn’t have a branch there, and one of the criteria will be if the bank allows cyclists to use the drive through. I have heard of cyclists having trouble with drive-throughs. I have not had any problems but I usually use the drive through ATM, not the drive through window. Perhaps with only a camera watching, no one cares enough to give me any trouble.

Our landlord was due to visit at noon today. She had told me she was going to look at it for herself, but actually she was showing it to a prospective tenant. We learned long ago we can’t believe anything she says. I chose to run my errands to Walgreens & the bank at noon today because I can’t stand to be around her.

I learned that Sunday on the southwest side of town, the posh area where Doctorsville is, the predominant car is NOT Toyota, Ford, Chevy and Honda. It is BMW, Mercedes, Lexus and Toyota. I crossed Nifong and suddenly the predominant car was once again Toyota and Ford.

Feb 27, 2010: Forgetfulness

Total distance: 13 miles with trailer
Conditions: downright heat wave. 40F! Sunny and windy.

I waited in line behind a stupid kid buying packs of Magic cards and finally got to the register to pay. That was when I remembered that I had given my debit card to Iain yesterday to put gas in the car, because he had discovered that morning that he had left his at Olive Garden on Monday. He was at a meeting for a group project for school. At least I had picked the closest place first of my four errands today, so it wasn’t far to go home and got my checkbook.

The odd thing was, I was very angry when I got home. Not angry at Iain for forgetting to give me my debit card back, not angry at myself for forgetting to retrieve it, but angry at the situation, and at various things unrelated to the debit cards. I stayed home for a half hour and chatted on the computer, and drank some water. When I headed out again I was happier. I think I’m stressed out about moving and small things trigger a reaction. Saturday afternoon traffic was unpleasant, and dumb kids think it’s hilarious to honk or yell at me.

I know these types of things will happen more frequently as our routine is disrupted and the chaos of moving builds.

Back at Valhalla’s Gate, Thad said he’d had to go downtown early this week to give his wife his debit card so she could go to a lunch meeting, because she’d left hers somewhere. At the grocery store, it had been so long since I’d written a check that the system required ID. No one commented at Sherwin-Williams Paint. At Walgreens, one clerk asked another where the left credit cards were, because a customer had called to ask if he’d left his credit card.

The water filter cartridge I picked up at Walgreens is the wrong type so I have to take it back. I need to deposit some checks. That will be my excuse for a bike ride today. I don’t want to be in the house when our landlord visits–which she probably won’t do. She’s always saying she’s going to stop by a certain time, and then never shows up. It won’t bother me if she doesn’t show up.

Feb 26, 2010

Total distance: 0 miles

The house we looked at in Kirksville is on edge of town, 2 miles from the osteopathic school and 2 1/2 miles from the high school. I could walk or bike to work. I won’t get much exercise from biking!

Feb 25, 2010

Total distance: 14 miles

More and more I leave my helmet on when I go in to stores. In Staples a manager remarked “Cold day for a bike ride.” I answered “It’s ok if you’re dressed right.” He said “But your face is red.” As I left he said “Be careful.”
In Westlake, a customer said “Cold day for a bike ride.” I answered the same, and HE replied, “That’s true.”
By way of contrast, a fellow standing outside downtown called out “Nice day for a ride!” as I rode past. I agreed!
A couple days ago, also in Staples, the clerk saw my helmet and started telling me about how he’s getting back into running.

I don’t know anything about running. The clerk thought I might be interested because I bike. I don’t mind. I was interested. But it isn’t a safe assumption.

The manager annoyed me. I hate the phrase “be careful”. It implies I’m doing something dangerous. I want to say, “You be careful too, when you get in a car. Or when you sit in front of your tv or computer.” I’m never reckless, on a bike or car. Weather conditions, particularly temperature, don’t require me to be MORE careful. If the road is wet, icy or slushy I ride more slowly. But not more carefully.

This weather has been lovely. Chilly and sunny.

Feb 24, 2010

Total distance: 7 miles
Conditions: sunny, bordering on chilly. Very nice.

I’ve been worried that we might not find a place that is available in June, allows cats, and is big enough for us. Today our agent called. A house that fits the bill is available for rent. “It’s outside of town, about five minutes away from the hospital.” Five minutes by car means about 5 miles, which is a half hour by bike. I like that. I hope the roads are good to bike on, but it’s on a MoDOT highway (highway H), infamous for the lack of shoulders. It will depend on how much traffic it carries.

No progress on the bike class. The program coordinator is very busy. I have her direct number now, and have left a message, a voice mail, and an email.

A funny thing happened on the way to the grocery store. My rear derailleur quit shifting. I got off the bike, picked up the back wheel and shifted it through the gears, looking for what was wrong. After a couple attempts, seeing nothing, it suddenly started shifting again. The only thing I could think of was maybe the cable froze. But that is unlikely. My brake cables have been freezing up regularly, and they didn’t freeze. My bike had been inside all night, so any moisture had dried.

Tomorrow night I’m cooking for 7 people, which is why I went to the grocery store today. $24 is not bad for feeding 7 people! After the store, I biked to Columbia College, found the car, which DID have a bike rack today, loaded up my bike and drove Nell home.

Feb 23, 2010: Traffic Cycling 101

Total distance: 11 miles
Conditions: dry & sunny, chilly & windy

As a League Certified Instructor (LCI), I’m on the LCI mailing list. One might imagine such a list is a wealth of information, resources and shared experiences about teaching Traffic Cycling 101 and the other League courses. Alas, it is yet another place where fanatic cyclists rant at each other about their favorite issues, such as whether “taking the lane” means riding in the exact geometrical center of the lane, or if it means riding in the theoretical right tire track if one were in a motor vehicle.

I am planning to teach Traffic Cycling 101 in Lawrence, KS. If the LCI list were the good list, I would ask if anyone had experience organizing a course from 180 miles away. I would visit the existing exhaustive discussion of how much to charge for the class. I would browse the discussions of locations and other organizations to collaborate with. I would ask about contacting the local police ahead of time, to prevent any misunderstandings. I would read with glee the “worst student” anecdotes, and be prepared for the most argumentative type.

Since the list is useless, I am muddling through on my own. I think I’ll charge $30 and hope it covers our costs. I contacted a woman who was in my LCI training. Success! She is interested in teaching it with me. I won’t be on my own! Of course, she hasn’t taught the class before either. But she bicycles for transportation and is a vehicular cyclist, so we have plenty of expertise on the topic, between us.

I called Sunflower Outdoor & Bike, and Andy the Mechanic was very helpful. He made some phone calls and got back to me with the suggestion of using the East Lawrence Rec Center. I called the East Lawrence Rec Center, which turned out to be Lawrence Parks & Rec. They transferred me, and I was told to call back tomorrow. The next day I called back, and the East building supervisor told me to contact the programs coordinator at the South Lawrence Rec Center. I called the South Lawrence Rec Center, and left a message. She’s not in today.

I hope that she turns out to be the person I actually need to talk to!

The Lawrence Bicycle Club is also interested in helping organize the class, and may provide some students. Sunflower Bicycles agreed to post flyers for me. When I have a date, I will order the student packets, and communicate with the police. I also will review, review, and review the course material! That means practicing my quick turns and rock dodge, and scanning, scanning, scanning.

Feb 22, 2010: Kissing Anniversary

Total distance: 18 miles
Total time: 17 years

It’s important to choose a thriving chain restaurant for your first date. 17 years ago today, Iain kissed me. The way he tells it, I kissed him. Two weeks before that, when he was still seeing one person and I was still seeing another, I took him to Olive Garden, because he had never been. (And because I had a crush on him, but I didn’t tell him that!) I wore black that night, because I thought he liked black, because he always wore black. Later I found out he’d been wearing black a lot because his great-grandmother had passed away recently.

To celebrate, we wore black, or rather, gray and silver, because that’s what we have in our closets, and went to Olive Garden. It’s not the same location because that was in Springfield and this is Columbia.

So what does this have to do with cycling? Absolutely nothing. We drove there.

I biked to campus early this morning because my student needed a form signed today. Of course he had put it off until the deadline. If I had been busy I would have told him too bad. But I wanted the bike ride so I bundled up and headed in. It was cold but nice.

Iain called a couple hours later and asked if I still planned to meet him for bowling at 1:00. I had forgotten. He’d gotten it onto my calendar last week but hadn’t set it up as a recurring event. So I went back through campus and out the other side because that is always the route I take to get to that side of town. I bowled terribly today, and Iain didn’t do much better. By the time I got home I’d put in 18 miles for the day. The sun was shining and I was sweaty!

Feb 21, 2010: Thoughts on Goretex

Total distance: 6 miles
Conditions: Very rainy! Not horribly cold.

The storm came through this weekend, mostly rain by the time it go to us and not so much the snow & ice. We needed some groceries so I wrapped up in goretex, hooked up my trailer, and headed out. I bought all my rain gear last year. Goretex rain jacket. Goretex rain pants. All of it specifically designed for cyclists. That means pockets in the back, narrow sleeves, reinforced crotch, and velcro at the ankles. Overshoes, which are not as waterproof as they might be, but do well enough. Mitten shells.

This fall, I was disappointed that my expensive goretex didn’t seem to be waterproof anymore, after just one year. It seemed a bit pricey to buy a $200 jacket and $200 rain pants every year, although cheaper than a 6 month car insurance policy. It’s all relative. However, I learned that goretex should be dried in a warm dryer to re-activate the chemicals that provide its waterproofness. I was dubious, but I tried it, and I was amazed.

I stayed warm and dry. If I was damp it was with sweat, not rain. I can tell because sweat dampens the armpits first and rain dampens the thighs first.

Feb 19, 2010: Education

Total distance: 13 miles
Conditions: Cloudy, balmy (or, not at all chilly)

I told my student about some of my problems with C++ homework this week. “Get your husband to help you,” he advised me. “No, I want to learn how to do this. I don’t care about the grade, I want to be able to program after the course is over.” I could see how novel this notion was to him. I doubt that he has ever in his life tried to learn something just so he’d know about it, or know how to do it. He has always learned for the test, and forgotten everything as soon as he could.

He was silent for a moment–for him, that means he was really stunned. Finally he started ranting about how ridiculous the grading system is. How you can get the highest score in the class, and still come out of the class knowing next to nothing. I told him about some of the grade-less schools, but how they start off by offering pass/fail, then start designating pass with honors, and pass with high honors.

This topic doesn’t have much to do with cycling, other than that I thought about it a lot on my bike. By that criterion, any topic will do. I think about everything on my bike.

Today I learned the logos for Cadillac, Audi, and Mercedes. I started looking at models. That will be harder to learn than logos. Toyota Camry, Chevrolet Cavalier, and Ford Escort are extremely common, but two Camrys don’t necessarily look a thing alike, depending on year.

Feb 18, 2010: Bicycling teaches you cars

Total distance: 14 miles
Conditions: Sunny, beautiful, barely chilly!

As a cyclist in traffic, I want to be aware of the traffic around me. If there is an incident, I want to be able to describe the vehicles involved. It’s difficult to look for a plate number, or make & model of a car. I decided to train myself to get to know the logos and shapes of cars better. Ideally I’ll be able to get a plate number, but even better I could recite the make & model just from remembering the shape or a logo on the car as well.

What I have learned since I started this a couple days ago is that most of the cars are Toyota and Ford, and Chevrolet and Honda. Today I made more headway on logos. I can identify the Subaru stars, the Pontiac arrowhead, the Mazda wings, and the Mitsubishi trefoil.

For today’s outing, I met Iain for lunch on his campus, returned books at the library, and picked up fruit at the grocery store. In my mind the Gerbes on Ash St is closest to the library, and it probably is, but it’s much further out of my way than the Gerbes (or the new Hy-Vee) on Nifong. At the library someone asked about my trekking bars, wanted to know where to get them. I used to know everyone in town who had them but I have seen two bikes with them, who I don’t know.

Feb 17, 2010: Unprepared

Total distance: 10 miles
Conditions: Sunny! A bit windy, a little chilly

I looked at my basket on the floor and hesitated. I was only biking to the car, I wouldn’t need anything in there, would I? I rode out of the garage, stopped and went inside and pulled the garage door remote out of the basket. I biked the four miles to the car to meet Nell and drive her home. That was when I remembered what I had noticed on Monday: I hadn’t put the bike rack back on the car after taking it off last weekend to drive to Lawrence.

No problem, I told Nell. I’ll lock it up. Only my lock was in the basket I hadn’t put back on the bike.

Here’s what we’ll do, I told Nell. You ride my bike down the street to Walt’s, and I’ll follow you, and we’ll leave my bike there and I’ll drive you home and come back with the bike rack ON the car. Nell said the seat was much too high, she couldn’t ride my bike (but she could drive the car maybe?) No, she can’t drive the car. But no problem, I’ll lower my seat with my handy multi tool that I always carry…

…in my basket.

I rode to Walt’s, walked back to the car, drove Nell home. I put the basket in the car, and the bike rack on the car. I drove back to Columbia College, parked the car and texted Iain what lot the car was in, and walked to Walt’s with the basket. I bungied the basket to the bike and rode home.

I take the bike rack off when I make a long trip because the car gets better mileage without it. Unless I am bringing my bike on the trip, in which case I suffer the low mileage. I took the basket off because it is easier to hang my bike up on the bike stand when it doesn’t have that heavy basket full of crap on it. Crap like the U-lock, and the garage door remote, and my multi tool. I had put the bike on the bike stand to check out my headlight, which I thought might need a new light bulb.

I don’t have a spare light bulb at the moment. I replaced this one recently and haven’t gotten around to ordering a couple spares.

Feb 16, 2010

Total distance: 14 miles

I had two cavities filled this morning. On the way home, I think drool froze on my right cheek, but I couldn’t feel it. The staff at the dentist’s office were amazed that I biked in the cold. I patiently explained that it is not all that cold. The hard part is staying cool enough. There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.

I find myself saying that a lot. Yesterday, when I biked to the bowling alley, the staff said “You are braver than me”. I thought he meant the traffic.
“Oh, it’s no more dangerous than driving a car,” I said.
“No, I meant the cold.”

Iain crowed that I always assume it’s about the cars, but I thought it was a strange thing to say. We “brave the cold” but I wouldn’t have automatically thought that was what someone meant.

The anesthesia wore off eventually, but I had trouble concentrating on my C++ homework all day. Then my computer gave up the ghost. I switched over to Iain’s machine, but I COULD NOT find the stupid bug. Much later, after he got home, we figured out there was no bug in my program. The problem was that Windows Explorer was hiding file extensions, so I couldn’t see that the file name had an extra “.txt”.

The timing on the dead computer is about right. Iain has just ordered a new machine for Nell. I can use his machine until it arrives, and then I’ll use Nell’s old machine. We’ll probably replace mine this summer.

Guess which side the cavities were on.