Choose2Bike Mary

Very chilly on the way to work this morning. I passed by the geodesic domes on Oak Street and discovered that the “mother” dome had disappeared. It must have been moved recently, because the grass and weeds had not yet begun to grow in the scarred earth where the dome had stood:

Where's my mama?

So — there’s one question answered. The dome collection is ever-shifting; the baby dome is used to house equipment used to construct the larger domes, which are then dismantled and moved after completion. Now that the leaves have fallen off the trees, I was able to see that one of the former mother domes (the “grandma” dome?) has been finished off and moved to the lot next door, where it appears to be inhabited. Very cool; I’d love to see what the inside looks like.

It wasn’t as cold on the way home, but it was pretty dark. I’m always careful to use my flashing lights now that DST is over and it’s getting dark so early. Only a few more weeks until the days start getting longer, so there’s that to look forward to…

Total Mileage: 7.70 miles

It’s pretty chilly in the mornings now when I head out to work. Biking isn’t as much fun as it was when it was warmer. I thought about this on my way to the office, and decided that my expectations are skewed. On some level, I’m still thinking of riding a bike as a primarily recreational activity and feeling disappointed when it isn’t “fun.” I’m trying to shift my perspective towards regarding biking as simply a mode of transportation, at least during the cold part of the year. Driving a car to work was never particularly fun, and I never expected it to be; the purpose of driving was simply to get to work. I’m trying to think of cycling the same way. It doesn’t have to be a bundle of laughs, it just has to get me where I need to be.

I still need to make some clothing adjustments for the cooler weather. The air leaks into my sleeves at my wrists, making my arms cold and uncomfortable. Maybe wearing scrunchies or something similar around my wrists would help? The thing that bothers me most is the wind in my face. I tear up whenever the temperature drops below 45% or so, and I’m going through Kleenex like there’s no tomorrow.

Total Mileage: 6.01 miles

Looking like winter...

A bike ride wasn’t an attractive prospect this morning, to put it mildly. It was chilly and grey, without a soul on the streets. Frankly, all I felt like doing was curling up in front of the TV with some old movies. Because I’d been in St Louis all week, I had a lot of work to catch up on. That’s what finally got me out the door — if I stayed home, I’d feel obligated to get a head start on the piled-up email.

I dressed for the weather: over-large purple long johns under baggy jeans and a Captain Midnight sweatshirt, topped off by a scruffy fleece vest, multicolored gloves and an unraveling hat of the type sold in head shops as knitted by a self-supporting collective of lepers in Timbuktu. If I hadn’t been on the bike, kind-hearted people would have offered me money for bus fare and lunch.

As expected, the ride was unpleasant. The cold wind leaked in around my wrists and neck, and my eyes started tearing up immediately. After a mile or so, though, I didn’t notice the discomfort any more. I’m not really sure if it really warmed up that quickly or if I just got accustomed to the ambient temperature, but everything was fine and I started to enjoy the ride more.

The hardest part of cycling in the cooler weather, it seems, is psychological. Getting on the bike when it’s chilly and dark isn’t very appealing. In warm, sunny weather the rewards of riding are self-evident. In late fall and winter, the rewards are not so immediate but no less important. I’m still saving gas and money, reducing my personal carbon footprint, and getting exercise.

Total Mileage: 7.95 miles

Sorry, a really nasty cold followed by a business trip to St Louis means no biking until next week. No biking means no blogging, ‘cos no one really wants to hear about life in the craptacular Airport Inn with its fitness center (treadmill in a broomcloset!) and all you can eat buffet (of popcorn!)

One my friends at work comes from Hyderabad, where the average daily temperature runs from the 80’s in December to over 110 in midsummer. He’s been in this country for under two years, and yet I’ve never seen him wear a coat, even on the coldest winter days. His explanation for his fast adaptation to Kansas City’s colder climate is interesting.

In the US, most people use heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. We go from climate-controlled house to climate-controlled car to climate-controlled office. As a result, the temperature range that people feel comfortable in has narrowed considerably since our grandparents’ day: if average Americans’ houses get warmer than 80° inside, they feel hot; if the temperature drops into the 50’s, they feel chilly. That’s only a 20° range of comfort.

In regions of the world where people don’t live all their days in climate-controlled boxes, folks are naturally exposed to a wider range of temperatures. People who are accustomed to carrying out their daily activities in whatever weather comes their way feel much more comfortable in 90° weather or 45° weather than the average American because their bodies have learned to adapt to wider variations in temperature.

That’s Bhanu’s theory, anyhow. Does it make scientific sense? I dunno; I’m not a physiologist. It sounds plausible to me, though.

So (here’s the bike connection!) if you bike all year, summer and winter alike, it’s possible that you, too, may gain the benefits of regular exposure to a wider range in temperature. Maybe you’ll find yourself perfectly comfortable with a fan in the summer, instead of wanting to fire up the A/C as soon as the temperature hits 80°. Maybe you’ll put on a sweater instead of turning on the heat, come November. Heck, maybe you won’t even need the sweater.

Total Mileage: a measly 6.51 miles.

The only times I’ve been driving to work are days when I have to go to Hospital Hill, but today I decided to give the shuttle bus a shot. The bus stop locations are very convenient to my office and the bus itself is clean and comfortable (and virtually empty.) The main drawback is the lack of flexibility. I had to dash out the door when the session ended at 3 PM to make it to the bus stop by 3:06; otherwise, I’d have needed to wait for over an hour for the next bus. Still, the positives outweigh the negatives and I’ll be taking the shuttle from now on.

Total Mileage: 5.88 miles

I took a lunchtime bike ride and discovered this tumbledown wreck of a fitness circuit right at the gateway to UMKC campus. I’d noticed it before, but hadn’t gotten close enough to truly appreciate how brokedown and busted it actually is. Astoundingly, there were two groups of people actually attempting to use the equipment. I’d be scared to death to even try; if you’re lucky, all you’d get is a butt full of splinters, but it looks more likely that the rotten equipment would collapse under you.

In case you are an adventurous soul looking for a place for a lunchtime workout, let’s take a brief tour.

First, we have the leg press station:

Watch for splinters!

Next, perhaps, some hamstring stretches? Oh, sorry — looks like you can’t stretch your hamstrings today.

Out of order

Shoulder stretches? You’re out of luck there, too.

Maybe if you stretch r-e-e-e-al low to the ground...

Dips are out of the question…

Mmmmm... dip.

… as are leg lifts.

You can lift the right leg, but not the left.

But wait! Here’s something that actually looks sort of functional. If you want to, you can do a sit up or two… as long as you aren’t put off by the thought of clunking headfirst onto the concrete when the seat inevitably collapses.

I'm sure this will hold if you work out gently...

Don’t get your hopes up that you might get a real workout, though. Here’s the pull-ups station.

Can you reach the branch?

I think that’s enough pictures to make my point. How on earth this scary deathtrap of an exercise circuit continues to exist in these litigious days, quietly rotting into a pile of flesh-spearing splinters, absolutely mystifies me. You’d think that fear of a lawsuit would make UMKC or Menorah fix this thing up, if not the sheer embarrassment of having their names associated with this mess right at the gateway of campus.

The weather was looking ominous on the ride home, so I took the shortest route possible. It started raining about halfway home, but stopped after five minutes. Very windy, though — looks like a cold front coming through. We’ve been lucky to make it to November in shorts and t-shirts. I’m afraid it’ll be time to break out the jackets again soon.

Total Mileage: 6.36 miles

Election day

I rode my bike to University Academy to vote this morning. There were around 300 people in line when I got there at 7:15. Only two other bikes in the bike rack, though, and I think one belonged to a poll worker because it was still there when I left an hour or so later. They took people by last name and there weren’t many A-D folks, so I cruised in and out pretty quickly and made it to work by 8:15.

I don’t think this gorgeous autumn weather is going to last much longer, so I’m enjoying every minute of it!

Total Mileage: 6.34 miles

Another gorgeous day! Bought some Thin Mints from an entrepreneurial Brownie who set up a cookie stand on the Trolley Trail. Mmmmm…. Thin Mints!

Interesting Neighborhood Site du Jour:

This adorable hardware hedgehog lives on one of the north-south streets between Holmes and Oak, but I forget which one. Charlotte, maybe? Or Kenwood? In any case, he’s very cool and makes a nice change from painted bicycle yard art.

Tin Tiggywinkle!

Total Mileage: 8.10 miles

Saturday morning, 10 AM

Saturday’s soupy fog was eerily localized. In my neighborhood, it stuck around until noon, but a few blocks away it had completely vanished hours before. I saw several groups of intrepid cyclists while I was out and about running errands (not on a bike, too much to carry.) Very few of them were using their lights. It really brought home to me the importance of bike lights as a visibility aid to drivers. There was a group of three cyclists on Holmes, only one of whom was using a headlight. I noticed him at least three times the distance from the point where I saw his two companions.

I didn’t ride on Saturday, but I did get out for a bit on Sunday morning. It was a beautiful day — I biked down to Loose Park and then came back through Brookside, where I stopped for coffee at the Roasterie. In the afternoon, I went to the “Art in the Age of Steam” exhibit at the Nelson-Atkins. Very cool.

I’m sad to report that my pumpkin is coming to an ignominious end. Every time I pass, there is either a squirrel perched on top of him, chowing down on his face, or a squirrel inside him, nibbling its way out.

Chomp!

Total Mileage: 8.17 miles