Conference noted::bicycle

Chip--

>    gawd i'm hating my trainer and my basement right now!

You get to ride indoors?!?!?   I am in the garage a couple nights a week.
(At least I havent ridden into the trash cans yet  ;)

--Roger

    Hey, get out of the psychological basement/garage !  
    
    Seriously, if you wear proper (just experiment) layered clothing, you can 
    ride in some formerly nasty conditions.  My new low is -15F on snowpacked 
    trails and I work up a healthy sweat.  It's amazing how much more effort 
    is necessary to negotiate slippery surfaces.  
    
    Anyway, consider getting outside and tasting some adventure...

    i haven't been out in -15f weather, but some pretty cold stuff.
    
    something about getting bunged up in snow isn't appealing to me. :-)

>     ride in some formerly nasty conditions.  My new low is -15F on snowpacked 

I have been commuting to work (LKG) every day for the past couple weeks.  I
dont know what the temerature was on Mon/Tue around 6AM, but it was a bit
nippier than usual......

-r

RE: <<< Note 3045.4 by EDSCLU::NICHOLS >>>

>I have been commuting to work (LKG) every day for the past couple weeks.  I
>dont know what the temerature was on Mon/Tue around 6AM, but it was a bit
>nippier than usual......

Good for you! It must have been pretty cold (like around 0F).

I've been riding during lunch lately (from ZKO in New Hampshire). Since I'm not
up for commuting home by bike in the dark, I'm looking forward to another
month or so when I'll be able to begin commuting for 1996.
						-- Tom

    When I lived 6km from work I rode all winter long. The coldest night I
    rode home was -32C. Whe I got home there was a 2-inch long icicle
    hanging from my belaclava! The thin skin of frost that covered my outer
    layer of clothing was a little frightening. The coldest part of the
    ride was unlocking the bike.
    
    Unfortunately I had a couple of pretty damaging (to myself) accidents
    turned me off riding in the winter. But I do remember a couple of
    satisfying moments riding along in the clear crisp winter air that
    unfortunately only occurs during winter.
    
    I was surprised that my rapid fire shifters worked at those extreme
    teperatures, a little sluggish but they worked. Winter riding was
    demanding from a maintainance point of view also, with all the salt and
    crap on the road. I ended up coating the whole bottom half of my bike
    in vaseline which is a little messy but it protects the bike well.
    
    Chip, if you dont like the basement any more you should try your local
    swimming pool. Try using a flutter board to do some 'kicking'. There
    must be some other exercises that you can do in the water that apply to
    biking? If you are affiliated with a university in your area use their
    pool. Or maybe you dont even like swimming, I dont know, what I do know
    is that swimming is very aerobic and its nice to get away from the
    effects of gravity once and a while and just float around, very
    peaceful and relaxing.
    
    chris
    

        Last year I bought a HealthRider for the family, hoping that my wife
    and kids would use it to get in shape. I didn't need it because I
    worked out and rode bike.  Was I wrong.
    It found muscles that were not being used very much.  And I thought I
    was fit until the third day of doing it for 30 minutes each day.  After 
    using it for a few weeks and getting my endurance back up a little more 
    I found biking was not as demanding as before.
    And since the HealthRider is very quiet I can use it in the Living room
    and not bother anyone.  And not freeze.
     BTW, I cut back to 15 minutes a day at the lowest setting so I could
    continue to be able to walk.

    And I can vary positions to work different muscle groups too.
    Needless to say I am very glad I bought it for the "family".
    Oh, and they do use it too.

    rich

    well Chris, i'm just whining is all. i swam competitively in h/s and
    am really not into the water all that much. swimming, aside from the
    cardio-vascular benefits, is not compatible as far as muscle mechanics
    go.
    
    i'll just continue to train and whine until i get out. don't mind me...
    
    :-)

re .6?

I am trying to get a heated lock ;)  Definitely the coldest part.
And the warmest part is the first step in the door.  I have to take off my
helmet, hat, mask, open my coat or I start dripping at about step 2.  (Plus
the security guards are less suspicous if they can see my face.)

--r

    I want to ride my bike. I want to ride my bike. I want to ride my bike.
    I have to wait at least another month and a half, I can barely stand
    it. Got the February blues and there is nuthin I can doos I got the
    February blues and there is nuthin I can doos.
    :(...

    yeah, i can dig it. i'll heap a little more abuse on myself this
    Friday when i pick up my road bike from its tune-up trip to the
    shop. 
    
    i'll have to put it in an obscure corner of the basement and cover it
    with something.

    Yesterday's winds here in Colorado Springs made me wish I were in the
    basement.  A tremendous tailwind turned into a crosswind in the CXO2
    parking lot and almost pushed me into parked cars.  I had to lean my
    bike farther then ever before and hope that the gust did not quit
    abruptly !  Never a dull moment riding in the winter...

    Oh yeah. Well at least you're outside. :-)

    Yeee haaa !!!
    
    it's dry, it's not windy and it's light enough to ride safely without
    lights at 7.   First commute of the year this morning, and along a new
    route thanks to a new freeway decongesting another major road.
    
    (sorry chip, but it's so nice to be outside again)
    	/r
    

    Sure, sure, sure... rub it in my face :-)
    
    Chip

RE: <<< Note 3045.14 by MOVIES::WIDDOWSON "Brought to you from an F64 disk" >>>

>    First commute of the year this morning....

Great feeling, eh? I was able to ride to work Monday for the first time this
year, and despite 20-30MPH winds it felt great.
						-- Tom

re: .14

I leave for work about 615, and its plenty light out then.  And I leave before
5, so I have no problems.   Dont catch the traffic either.

--Roger

Rob and I were out by the seaside yesterday, there was a sad lack of topless 
sunbathers around the Cap but never mind ...  Today it was 13C and sunny with 
a strong breeze from the Esterel - still a 2-thermal + 1 jersey day though. 
Too cold for shorts so far this year.

    10F, snow everywhere, and a nice 45 minute ride on trails kept me out
    of the basement - except to briefly look at my road bike parked down
    there.  I am fixing it up for summer rides.
    
    Multiple wipeouts in the snow when wearing all those clothes and
    landing in that fluffy white stuff proved to be fun.  Still trying to 
    find a way to climb steep trails that have lots of erosion and loose rock
    which of course is hidden by all that snow.  The back wheel slides down
    every hidden pitch which gets the entire bike sliding.  Maybe I'll try
    staying out of the saddle but keeping my weight back for traction.

    >I leave for work about 615, and its plenty light out then.
    
    We're a bit North of the US up here (try `slightly south of Chruchill')
    so its still 7 til 6.  Give us a few months and it will be 4 till
    past midnight.

> (try `slightly south of Chruchill')

Hudson Bay/Northwest Territories CHurchill??
That would be fairly far North from me.......

--Roger
(sorry for being a bit latitudanally restrictive ;)

Chip (and any other MA locals...)--

Are you still riding on the rollers??  Been nice weather recently.  Last night
I got home later than usual, and was on rollers again.  Had to fight a new
nuisance: mosquitos!!  (I ride in my garage.) Killed 3-4 of the blood sucking
louts.  If the weather holds, guess I get in a bit earlier so I can ride for
real after work.  Theres still too much snow for a night mtn ride (at least
where I am.)  Maybe that will be an option (again) in the next week or two.

--Roger

    yup Roger, i'm still in the basement. mosquitos? where do you live?
    
    the weather has been great, but the roads are in terrible shape and
    there is a lot of run-off, sand, and snow left in my neck of the woods.
    
    if this keeps up, however, i'll start doing some road rides with my
    mtb.
    
    signed,
    
            dying to get out...

Tim Lucia and I had a nice ride during lunch yesterday from Spitbrook. Just
gotta get used to water and muck spraying you and the bike.
						-- Tom

    That's what I've been doing: commuting on sand... er, roads with the
    mtn bike.  Careful tho: drivers aren't looking for cyclists this time
    of year.  K

re: .24

Tom,

>Tim Lucia and I had a nice ride during lunch yesterday from Spitbrook. Just
>gotta get used to water and muck spraying you and the bike.

I've been dying to get out, too, but the sand, roadside snow, and puddles with
hidden potholes have kept me in the basement on my trainer.  I'm also in
Spitbrook.  Were you guys out on your road bikes or MTBs?

-Buddy

re -.??

I work in LKG, live in Westford, MA.  The roads are quite sandy still, but
the snow is gone from the edges.

I saw someone else had ridden to work earlier this week (Wed?) when I went
to lunch.  And when I came back, someone else was leaving the parking lot
for a lunch ride.

--Roger

RE: <<< Note 3045.26 by HYLNDR::OUELLETTE "Buddy Ouellette" >>>

We were on road bikes.

For me there are a few environmental things which keep me off the road in the
winter (here in MA and NH): 

     o	Darkness -- When I was a teenager I used to ride at night a lot, with
	various little lights, and I don't recall worrying about visibility too
	much. Today I worry about it more, and don't feel like spending $200
	and up to get a nice lighting system. Darkness keeps me from commuting
	to work from about November through February; I try to ride during
	lunch in this period.

     o	Ice on the road -- I'll ride over short stretches of ice or slush, but
	for a few days after most snowfalls the roads are too slippery for my
	taste.

     o	Cold -- I don't have clothing to deal with temperatures below about
	10F.

     o	Rain -- I dislike riding in the rain. Poor visibility, cold, and you
	end up with a lot of wet clothes & shoes. For the past couple of years,
	I've gotten more chancy about riding to work with a forecast of
	possible showers later in the day (or when it's just finishing
	sprinkling in the morning). I get caught in the rain more than I used
	to, I suppose, but I also ride more (in the dry) than I used to.

I deal with sand on the roads by going slowly through suspect corners. Up until
last December I had never fallen/crashed while riding. Then in the ZKO parking
lot E, due to a number of circumstances (er, excuses) I fell and rolled at
about 5 MPH on the sand. I banged my elbow somewhat painfully, but there wasn't
any significant damage to me, bike, or clothing. I've been a little more
careful than usual since then.

I've lost the aversion which I used to have about getting my bike dirty.
Perhaps that was easy for me because my bike is about ten years old and only
cost about $300 new in 1986. But the bike was made to be ridden, so I'm gonna
ride it if I can. I feel a little embarrased at times riding a grit-covered
bike, but I'd rather do that than look at it, clean, in the garage.
						-- Tom

    Re: 'I feel a little embarrased at times riding a grit-covered bike'
    
    When my bicycle sits in the rack at work it looks real nice, at least
    to me, with mud-coated tires and an ice & snow encrusted frame.  Of course, 
    grit in the mouth and mud splattered clothing are part of the fun.  Such 
    a sight means that someone is having a blast.
    
    Every day I pass a house that has a rack of clean bicycles hanging in 
    the garage.  The owner only gets his Titanium road and mtb machines 
    out on nice days. I suppose this fair weather mentality can be found 
    in any outdoor sport.

    hmm nice thread.
    
    Tom, you say that you don't mind temps down to 10 (that's cold for me),
    but don't like rain.  I feel *just* like that (which is why my miles go
    down in the winter - I did 50 on saturday in mild wind (15mph) and 
    warm (34), but the wet just cuts all the way through you).
    
    > 'I feel a little embarrased at times riding a grit-covered bike'
    
    Absolutely, if, when I put it to bed, my bike isn't clean, lubed and in a 
    state that I could pick it up and do 100 miles with no thought, I 
    feel as guilty as hell.  And guess what, when I'm cold and wet and
    miserable I don't feel like doing that, and by the time I'm dry and
    clean it is out of sight and mind.  So my bike lurks, in a filthy state
    throughout the winter, I feel an aversion to getting it dirtier, and no
    desire to make it clean since the next outing will trash it again.

RE: <<< Note 3045.30 by MOVIES::WIDDOWSON "Brought to you from an F64 disk" >>>

>    ...no desire to make it clean since the next outing will trash it again.

Yes! If I knew that a clean bike would stay that way for a while, I might clean
it more often. I love riding a newly-cleaned bike, but since I know that it
will get cruddy after a few rides, I too am less inclined to bother.
						-- Tom

I've been giving it the quick sponge bath and water-bottle hosing off after
riding.  I want the salt off.  The frame I'm not so worried about.  Quick spray
of WD40 on the rustable parts and I'm ready to go again.  I'll clean it for real
come April.  FWIW, I've done 173 miles over 6 of the last 8 days.  Got rained on
a little bit twice.  Rode in shorts last Friday, as it was 63 degrees! (and a
long-sleeve jersey.)

Tim

I'm out of the basement!
Yahooo!

I took my road bike off the trainer yesterday and went for my first ride of the
season.  It must have been about 50 degrees and the wind was pretty strong, but
it felt great to be out.  The roads were mostly dry with some sand here and
there along the shoulder.

I also just came back from my first lunchtime ride from ZKO.  The roads were
sandy here and there, with a few puddles and the occassional snow bank, but
mostly they were in great shape.  Temp was a sunny 60 degrees with a warm,
Southerly breeze.  Too bad it won't stay this way...

-Buddy

    Finally got out Sunday! I'm in heaven!
    
    Chip

    and I was feeling bad because I had only been out three times so far
    this year.  I had thoughts of riding at least 6 times a week, and
    logging 150-200 miles a week.  But I am starting to rethink that 
    thought.  I figure I'll be lucky to do 50/week come about June.  I'm
    just not motivated anymore.

    rich

    
    	Yesterday:
    
    	Took my bike out of the garage, brought it up on the deck at
    	the back of the house and swapped my bar ends with a pair of
    	Profile Vario bar ends, and took a ride.
    
    	1/4 mile.
    
    	Gotta start out slow, you know.  8^)
    

    -1 Someone check his pulse! :-)

    Shawn, you probably could have gone 100% farther if you would have
    taken the kickstand off like you said you were going to.
    
    Bob

    
    	Actually, Bob, the reason I got that far was that I'd already
    	taken the kickstand off.
    

    Well then take the cell phone out of your pocket.

    
    	Yeah, right ... then how will I call for pizza, or request a
    	song from the local radio station?
    

    Well, if you leave the radio at home, you won't need to worry about
    requesting any songs, and you can ride to the pizza joint.

You guys are all behind.  I got 350 miles in this March...

Tim

    I commuted the entire last week of February + 11 times (x37 miles
    each) in March; plus all of April so far ;-)  The bikes should have
    the usual 1000 miles in by the marathon.  Thanks God for Goretex
    on mornings like this...
    Kratz 

    re .43
    
    570 miles in March.
    
    Alright, most of it was while I was on vacation in TX for a week, but I
    did commute to work 5 times (20 miles round trip), and there were a few
    other short rides.
    
    Rich

I'll say straight off that this note is not to poke fun at you guys under 10' 
of snow and sweating in the basements -

I thought you might just like this account of how tough life is on the Cote 
..

Marseille - Nice 13th April 1996
================================

A confusing brevet, this one - both in terms of the date and also in terms of 
the route!

Originally the CC Antibes decided that they would do it on Saturday 13th 
April, they said they had chosen a Saturday specifically because I had shown 
interest.  This date was perfect for me, coming at the end of two weeks 
holiday, but later I received a call saying it was put back to the 20th.  
This was still OK, just, because I could attend Angela's birthday lunch the 
following day looking like a zombie.  It was then changed again to the 21st, 
which was definitely out, but they finally went back to the original date of 
Saturday 13th April.  Like I always say, the French love to have a little 
drama in everything.

As for the route, it was supposed to be Marseille to Nice, which meant 
leaving Antibes on the train in the early hours and riding back from the 
Phocean capital.  This changed also and I was told that it was now Nice to 
Marseille and we would have following cars which would bring us back in the 
evening.  Later I was told we had special permission to start in Antibes 
rather than trek off to Nice, and therefore we would go straight to Grasse to 
pick up the normal route which goes to Draguignan.  On the morning, I was 
very surprised to start off in the direction of Nice, but I was told that 
going via Villeneuve-Loubet to Grasse was an easier start.  Oh well, there I 
was at 6:30 a.m. starting Nice-Marseille or whatever ...

Getting to Grasse is OK, a bit uphill, but reasonably surfaced and a nice 
warm-up, but we were rudely awakened by the Hell of Grasse (very apt seeing 
it was the day before Paris-Roubaix), where the 8 from Antibes met up with 
two more who had ridden up from Cannes, making a peloton of 10.  Immediately 
we were on to the uncomfortable stretch to Draguignan, which has no flat and 
is badly surfaced for more than 50% of the 50 km from Grasse.

Things improved after Draguignan when we got onto the smaller roads in the 
central Var and rode through the vineyards which showed very little signs of 
life thanks to the cold winter and the very late spring.  The distinctive 
Peugeots which were painted in the CCA colours of blue and white, passed 
occasionally, bristling with roof attachments designed to carry many bikes 
and wheels - real classic bikerace stuff.  We passed through Lorgues and 
Carces uneventfully and noted with some dismay that the mistral was getting 
up now and was hard into our faces.

There was a certain amount of disconnection about the place for the lunch 
stop and we all had some 140 km on our compteurs when we finally caught the 
cars up in Besse-sur-Issole but spirits were quickly revived with some food 
and the odd glass of rouge as we sat in the sunshine by the old lavoir at the 
exit of the village.  We all took the opportunity to change into shorts and 
lighter jersies at the same time, the sun was nice but the temperature left a 
bit to be desired for me anyway.

A carefree bunch rolled away from the lunchstop and immediately took a wrong 
turning which meant 12 km out of our way to get back on the correct route.  
My companions explained that normally they came in the opposite direction and 
were confused.  Not grave, but we lost contact with the cars here somewhere, 
which had more serious repercussions later on.  The wind got stronger and the 
bunch was strung out in a line struggling to maintain 25 kph, but most of the 
slopes were not too severe.  We lost one of the party at this point and 
wasted some time discussing whether he was in front or behind, we waited a 
bit and then carried on.  It turned out he was behind and didn't catch up 
until about an hour later.

There was a steady climb up to the Paul Ricard circuit at Le Castellet, 
tree-lined at first and then open and into the teeth of the wind again, but 
we knew we only had a couple of ramps before dropping to the sea at La 
Ciotat.  We passed the military camp and went through some scrubby garrigues 
on some fairly average roads, and crossed with a few others who shouted that 
the road ahead was closed and we should turn round.  It is a feature of the 
French that they have to see and touch things for themselves, they are not 
much into hearsay.  So, true to form we went all the way to the roadblock 
despite meeting more people who told us, yes it was definitely blocked, and 
vehicles which had already passed us coming back towards us again.  There it 
was, well and truly blocked with a couple of flics who said it was for a car 
rally and it would be open at 10 p.m. - they were unimpressed when told we 
had ridden all the way from Antibes and could not be persuaded to let us 
across the road.

We were rewarded with another 10 km detour which upset Jean-Pierre who was 
feeling a little fragile, but worse than this, it was evident that the cars 
had got through before the closure and were on the other side, probably 
waiting for us at La Ciotat in complete oblivion.  I must say at this point 
that the warning panels for the closure were done in miniature and were 
hidden behind a tree for good measure, so my mates were not completely at 
fault, and there was also a bonus when we rediscovered Yves who turned out to 
have been off the back and not the front after all.  We returned to Le Camp 
where there was a bit of a rebellion as some of the saggy ones were ready to 
wait for the cars and get a lift.  Reason prevailed especially as no-one knew 
where the cars were, and a slightly disgruntled group started back towards 
Aubagne to try to loop round to Cassis and complete the route.

Aubagne is not worth the visit.  However we were soon out again on the Cassis 
road where we climbed up over the coastal range "just to drop down and go up 
the last obstacle of the day, the col de la Gineste", as Jean said.  The 
Gineste is a bit evil at first with a few 10% stretches which had me on the 
30 ring for the first time, but after that it's a 40 x 21 flog against the 
mistral.  At the top, we rediscovered the cars with a certain amount of 
relief and then dropped down to the outskirts of Marseille where we changed 
and loaded up for the return.  I had 248 km on the compteur and felt 
reasonable apart from  some saddle soreness thanks to the Var surfaces.

We had an uneventful drive back along the autoroute arriving back in Antibes 
around 9 p.m., most of the discussions centred around the outcome of the 
Auxerre - OM match and whether or not they would get back in time to see the 
second half ...

As for me, I was happy to be at 90% of my Carte Verte, which is awarded by 
the local UFOLEP to those who complete 10 different brevets on their list.  
Hopefully I should manage it this year - it has taken 3 years in comparison 
to my mates who feel duty bound to complete 10 every year, but then most of 
them are retired or "resting between jobs".


Robin Hemmings 14 April 1996