Road ID

Watch this....

[Road ID News Story]

Between commuting over 100 miles a week by bike, and running close to 30 miles a week while training for my first marathon, I've no doubt dramatically increased my chances of being struck by a moving vehicle or having some sort of other injury happen to me while out on the trails and roads. So, I invested in a little piece of mind.

What I got is a bracelet called a Road ID that I now wear whenever I head out riding or running. Truthfully it's something I should've gotten a long time ago, but I kept forgetting to order. Fortunately I've escaped any incidents thus far, and haven't been in a situation where emergency medical and contact information may be needed. However, you never know what can happen out there, and at least I'm now more prepared to get the right info to any emergency medical responders if something were to happen. Hopefully my Road ID won't ever have to be used, but just in case, I now have one and would certainly recommend anyone else who runs/walks/bikes/rollerblades/somersaults/etc on the trails and roads to get one as well.

You can choose from a number of different colors, and get up to 6 engraved lines to convey the info you need someone else to know. When ordering, the website helps make recommendations about what info you should put on each line. The blurred out area has where I live, my date of birth, and then two different contacts' phone numbers. My blood type is then listed, along with the fact that I don't have any known allergies, or drug allergies. The last line is a lyric from a Coheed And Cambria song that I used to sing to myself while swimming in college to get me through the really hard workouts. The full line is "Pain is only a pulse, if you just stop feeling it", but I didn't have room for the second half of the line. When my legs are on fire from climbing a hill, or pounding the pavement and I dont have any energy left, all I have to do is look down to get that simple reminder that pain, is indeed only a pulse if you just stop feeling it, and then I press onwards.

Road ID

You're welcome friends and loves ones!

Bike Commuting, 2.5 Weeks

Aside from my mishap on day 1 of commuting, the rest has been great. It does stink to get out of bed even earlier than I already do, and it's pretty chilly out in the early morning to be riding a bike instead of in your car with the heat on, but once you get past those first 2 miles or so, you start to warm up pretty nicely.

Recently it's been a challenge to wear and pack the correct riding apparel, this is because of the crazy range in weather we're currently experiencing. It will be about 32-34 degrees in the morning when I set off on my ride into work, but in the mid 60's by the time it's time to head on home. What this means is that I have to try and cram and pack all the cold weather accessories and apparel that aren't needed for the warm weather ride home into my bag, so I have them available again for the next morning. It's a tight squeeze but I'm making due. It's also hard to say it'll be nicer when it's cold 24/7 because the current rides home in the afternoon are perfect right now.

I do find that I am much more tired in the evening on days that I ride, and I'm usually asleep before my head even hits the pillow, which is good. Also, I don't feel at all bad when I get a cheeseburger and fries for lunch, because I've already burned it off on my morning commute, and [by my logic] I'm going to need that fuel to burn off once again on my ride home! Also, in only 6 commuting days so far, I can already feel my legs getting stronger and I'm able to climb hills faster, or at least in a higher [harder] gear. I'll have to do a post soon on all my various pieces of apparel so you can see how I've braved the chilly temps thus far. In the meantime, here's a snapshot summary of my 6 riding days so far, and a workout summary from yesterday's ride, which was also my fastest round trip thus far. Go by bike!

[Click to enlarge]

Commuting, Day 1

Well, it's been an interesting first day of commuting! The weather was pretty cool, but not cold, there are leaves on the ground....oh and it rained last night. See where I'm going with this? The ride in was great this morning except for a minor hiccup when turning onto a wooden path covered in wet leaves. I made my turn, and the next thing I knew I was sliding along the ground. Fortunately though, none of my brand new riding gear ripped, and the rack on the back of my bike acted as a frame slider, so there wasn't even a scratch on the bike itself. It wasn't until I got to work and took off my knee warmer that I discovered I had scraped myself up good! [Check out the damage below!] Anyways, this mornings incident definitely served as a reminder that wet leaves provide zero traction when cornering, and hopefully I'll avoid crashing from here on out. In fact, I can't even remember the last bike crash I had [other than mountain biking, because crashing happens all the time then]! I'm all bandaged up now though, and ready for the ride home this afternoon, upper 60 degree temps!

I think my knees have perpetually looked like this

since I was 5 or 6 years old!

New Bike....Again!

Ever since I figured out the paths and trails to take to get me into work via bicycle, I've seriously considered commuting by bike full time. The wheels in my head started spinning this past summer, but it wasn't until recently when I put my plan into action. Part of that delay was because the bike model I had my eyes on was discontinued, so I needed to find something similar to use. Eventually I ended up deciding on the Trek Ion CX Pro. 

The CX stands for cyclocross, a form of bike racing usually held in the winter months, and on bikes that very closely resemble road bikes, except they're built for more abuse and off-road usage. I wanted a bike that I could still go really fast on if I wanted to, but it also needed to be able to stand up to the abuse of commuting, have spots for a rack and bag, and fenders. Last week, when the time was right, I placed my order for the bike and to my surprise the bike shipped really fast and arrived at the shop the other day. So after work yesterday, I headed over to the bike shop to build up my bike and outfit it with a couple accessories for commuting. 

My goal is to commute a minimum of 3 days per week....in all weather conditions...year round. If I stick to that goal, it'll be over 100 miles per week that I'm outside riding my bike vs. sitting in rush hour traffic. Can't beat that! I ordered a bunch of cold weather riding gear too, so the upcoming freezing temperatures won't derail my plan. I'm sure I'll have some interesting updates on how that goes in the coming months. I'm very much looking forward to this challenge, and come spring time I know I'll be in fantastic riding shape, and ready to put in a solid season of races. On with the pics!

Trek Ion CX Pro [with added rack]

With the bag for commuting added on.

Mmmm, carbon fiber

Stock tires which I plan on swapping out to an all weather road tire

The Bike Lane, best shop in all the land!

National Bike To Work Day

Success! I biked to work today! Not that I really doubted I could or would do it, but still, participating on the official day makes the ride feel more legit. My alarm went off at 5:00am this morning, about 20 minutes earlier than normal. After hitting snooze once or twice, I geared up, put the bike on the car, and left my driveway about 5:35. I parked at the commuter lot near the trail, and was riding by 6:00am. About 6:55 I rolled up to my place of work and enjoyed the free breakfast that was provided to us outside the building. 

At 7:30, all the folks who rode in got together and had a little convoy from our building over towards the White House to Freedom Plaza where the big Bike To Work Day rally was, we even had a 2 star admiral ride with us. We stayed over there for about 45 minutes, listened to the Admiral address the crowd, grabbed a lot of free goodies, bagels, and other foods, and headed back to our building. 

The group stopped along 4th street right on the mall and took a nice group picture which I'll hopefully get to see soon, and we even concluded the ride with about a 1/2 mile sprint/race back down the last street to our building. I had a pretty solid lead, before sitting up, coasting, and letting the Admiral get the win. I figured it probably wasn't the best idea to steal his thunder! Anyway, it's been a great day so far and I'm really looking forward to getting back out there again in a couple hours for the return trip home. Below are some pictures I took with the group at the rally. Enjoy!

Leaving USCG Headquarters for the rally. Admiral on the left.

The group at a stoplight.

Bike To Work Day rally at Freedom Plaza.

Admiral addressing the crowd, but the breeze was blowing the water from the fountain inwards, so no one wanted to get too close. But, SWEET RAINBOW!!!

Bikes.

Yours truly, rocking my Team Bam Bam jersey!