Choose2Bike Mary

Since I left my bike at the office yesterday, I had to hoof it to work. By the time I left in the evening, it was nearly dark and 24 °F. Oddly, though, it wasn’t such a bad night to ride. There wasn’t any wind, so it felt far warmer than it was, and I took it slowly. I also remembered to take my stash of gloves home with me, so I’ll be good to go tomorrow. I wish we’d get a good heavy snowfall soon!

Biked to work today. It was unfun. The wind-tears running down my face froze my eyelashes together and my upper legs were numb with cold by the time I arrived. When my sister called to offer me a ride home this afternoon, I was waiting at her car before she’d even had a chance to hang up the phone. Unfortunately, I left my gloves at work, which means digging out another pair in the morning. I now have three pairs of gloves sitting on my desk at work. I’m going to have to start pinning the things to my coat sleeves like the little ‘uns do.

Paddy O'Snowman

I’m a weather wimp, so I’ve been walking or riding the bus to work for the last couple of weeks. It’s been so chilly that I haven’t been able to ride my bike without turning into a teary-eyed, runny-nosed mess. Since the theme of the blog is biking to work, that leaves me with very little material to work with. I haven’t given up biking; I’m just taking a little break until I can identify some better cold-weather clothing options

I had the day off, so I biked down to my vet’s office this morning to pick up some animal chow, then to the convenience store for some half-and-half, and finally over to the house of a professor I’m kitten-sitting for. I’ll have to take her word that the kittens exist, because I never actually saw one. She had instructed me to make a loud, high-pitched bleating noise when I arrived at her house. Allegedly, this would make the kittens come running. In fact, all it did was make me feel extremely silly, especially when I noticed the bemused neighbors watching me.

I rode home on the Trolley Trail, freezing my hands off and marveling at the number of joggers wearing shorts. Maybe they’re a tool for increasing jogging speed — if I were stuck outside in shorts in 35° weather, I know I’d be running for home as fast as I could.

My rear brake still feels kind of squirrelly. I need to get out the manual again and see what else I can adjust.

Total Mileage: 7.15 miles

I’ve been in a walking mood this week, so no bike news. I’ve missed walking to work, and now that the weather’s cooling off, I’ve temporarily gone back to my pedestrian ways. I still love my bike, but it’s been so chilly and gloomy that I wasn’t riding enough extra miles the past few weeks and I was really feeling the lack of exercise.

Never fear — Buster will return soon! I just need to hit on the right combination of clothing to make leisurely morning rides in 20-something degree weather a little more appealing.

It was nice this morning, so I walked to work and decided I’d take the bus home later. Now, I’ve never taken the bus in Kansas City before — in fact, I haven’t taken ANY bus since the traumatic “The Old Man and the Pee” episode ten years ago — so I wasn’t altogether sure of the basics. I asked around at work, hoping to find an experienced bus rider who could fill me in on details like cost, frequency, best routes, etc., but had no luck. One person admitted to having ridden the bus “once, the first week I moved here,” but the rest — including some lifelong Kansas City residents — had never set foot on a KCATA bus. “I’ve heard they’re kind of gross,” one offered, “and lots of crazy people ride them.”

So — still clueless — I dug out a couple of bucks’ worth of quarters and hiked over to Brookside Boulevard, where I’d seen lots of buses. I found myself a nice bus stop and sat down to wait. And wait. I eventually called my sister, who checked the KCATA website and determined that the #57 bus should be arriving shortly, and that it would let me off on Oak Street, three blocks from my house. So I waited some more. Five minutes after #57 should have been there, a “MAX” bus appeared. I hopped aboard, preferring the bus in the hand.

For the record, the bus costs $1.25 and it’s not full of scary people. As a lifelong magnet for the mentally-unsettled, I would definitely have known if it had been. In the main, it appeared to be full of Brookside and Waldo people coming home from jobs in the downtown. It was very clean, reasonably comfortable, and had plenty of empty seats. I do have to admit that it smelled pretty bad, but the aroma was entirely due to the unpleasant faux-cherry-flavored air freshener, which was strongly reminiscent of music festival Port-o-potties.

I got off on Wornall and had about a mile-long walk home from the bus stop. So — I’m no longer a bus virgin! Now, if I could just figure out how those bike rack things on the front work…

I think Friday was the coldest morning so far. I dressed for the weather and stayed reasonably warm — except for my upper legs, which were fairly numb by the time I got to work. Next week I’ll try wearing tights under my pants.

The bike path was almost deserted on my ride home. I only passed one or two dog/baby walkers. It’s strange how birds’ songs seem much louder and more distinct at this time of year. Maybe because there aren’t so many competing noises?

Had to adjust the brakes again on Saturday. I wish they’d just stay working!

Total Mileage: 5.83 miles

Insert profound metaphor about the death of summer here

Yesterday I biked to work, but today I felt like walking, just for the change. I really enjoyed the walk, but it takes too long for this time of year — by the time I got home, it was pitch dark. So,  guess it’s going to be the bike or the bus, at least until the days start getting longer again.

Interesting neighborhood site du jour:

The garden wall is decorated with shovels, spades, trowels and other gardening implements. If you’ve been wondering what to do with all those extra shovels, let this be your inspiration. And remember, you don’t have to stick to garden walls. Shovels make great paling fences or creative door-knockers.

Insert stupid pun about really "digging" the wall

Total Mileage*: 7.47 miles

* Biking day only

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