Ready for some down time, and some tropical temps

I must admit, I had it easy last month. My schedule at the store made it so that I rarely worked more than three days in a row and really didn't have a lot of extra stuff to worry about. This month, my men's cold weather shop has taken off, I had to do pre-orders for the bikes we'll get in January-May (which historically has been a November thing rather than a week before Christmas thing) and I've had to work a normal schedule. Tomorrow will be my first day off since last Wednesday when I spent three hours at the store working on the bike program.

Fortunately, things fall somwhat in my favor over the next few days with Wednesday/Thursday off (heading to Yankton), work on Friday before heading to Mom and Dad's, and home again Saturday night with Sunday service at Mercy and the rest of the day off. After that, it's back to the normal schedule with the advantage that I will go back to having to work only one Sunday a month. They don't let me do that during the holidays which is not an issue for me.

I've talked to a few people going on trips to warm places over the next few weeks and will have to patiently wait for our trip to Jamaica in March. I won the trip through the store by making my "trip goal" in sales. My bike shop also qualified me for a trip, but I get a bonus in lieu of a second trip which means we'll have enough cash to pick up some t-shirts for the kids and maybe go on a few excursions while we're there.

Jamaica seems like a dream with as cold as it's been. Between fresh snow and blowing snow, I have been outside with the shovel every morning for the last week clearing something and the temps have been anywhere from 14 degrees to -15 with a -49 wind chill factor. It's not been pleasant, but what do you expect in South Dakota. Every day the weather gives me an excuse to day dream about all inclusive, tropical bliss with my baby poolside. Less than three months to go.

Mitchell Christmas

Seems we cannot have a normal Christmas outing. We were just a few miles from Mitchell when Maia started throwing up. Amy pulled over on the interstate and we did the best we could to help her throw up in the trash can and not all over herself, her seat and her clothes. We did the best we could to get her cleaned up, but needed to stop at Kmart to pick her up some new pajamas that she could wear.

We arrived at Casey and Heidi's 15 minutes late, but luckily we didn't have to suffer through any more sickness. We had snacks, gifts and conversation in a too brief evening. It was good to see everybody, but we weren't able to leave until I was done with work and had to get back in time to put the kids down, so we were definitely a bit tight with the schedule. Maia got her first Hannah Montana Barbie from Rylie, Xander got a Bionicle from Chase and we each received the gift of green from Dave and Marie. Thanks to all!

We arrived home safely and Maia seems to be on the mend, so hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for her.

Hoping to be a bit more communicative

I had coffee with Aaron this morning and he mentioned that he hadn't checked out my blog in awhile. I told him that I hadn't posted anything in awhile and that I thought it might be awhile before I actually have much time to do it. I finally decided to look into mobile posting options and should be able to text stuff to my account which might prove to be a better time killer than the video games that I've got on the phone now. I could have written a couple of posts while waiting for the car to be serviced this morning or while waiting to pick up Maia from pre-school.

Now that I have this option, we'll see how much I actually use it.

Trek's belt driven commuter bikes on CNN.com

I came across this story yesterday which talks about a few of Trek's products going "chainless." Instead of having a chain drive the system, it is belt driven which is a lot quieter, easier to maintain and potentially less messy. The bikes are geared toward the commuter crowd and have a pretty high cool factor.

I had a chance to see the District in August at Trek World and it would be my personal "If I could buy one bike this year just for fun" bike. It's got a great look to it and suits my evolving "lifecyclist" approach to bikes quite well. If only I had an extra $850, room in the garage and a valid reason to buy one other than the fact that it's cool.

Choice Day

I had a chance to go to Xander's school and do a "choice day" activity about bikes. Choice Day is an opportunity for kids to sign up for different activities that are led by ACE (All City Elementary) parents. Each activity is open to 2 kids from each class and they have to commit to it a few weeks in advance.

The challenge for me was that my activity involved me brining both of my bikes, Xander's bike (We the People Bold 18"), my work stand, snacks and swag. I was hoping to get in a few minutes before the activity to get set up, but the classroom was still full of kids, so I brought it in and set it in the hall. I think it took me four trips to get everything. Once the kids were released to their activities, I finally had a chance to set up with the kids already there.

I started out with a presentation on issues facing our world like obesity, pollution and access to clean water and talked about how the bike is a simple solution to these complex problems. I took my cue from John Burke (President of Trek Bikes) for this section and added a few things of my own. The hard part was making it applicable to kids from kindergarten to fifth grade.

After that, we talked about how we can have different kinds of fun on different kinds of bikes. We talked about the differences in the three bikes that I brought with (BMX, single speed mountain and road) and how each bike can be ridden. We talked a little about safety and I showed them how to properly size a road/mountain helmet and a BMX helmet. We talked a little about maintenance in regards to tire pressure (how to check and fill) and chain care. The kids were able to get a little hands on with the pressure gauges and bike pumps and asked a lot of good questions.

We then broke for snacks and I handed out swag that had been provided by Trek Bikes (socks, buttons, stickers, pencil bags made of recycled inner tubes) and Scheels (water bottles and MirraCo promo posters). I was fairly happy with how it went and know a few things that I would do different if I were to do it again. I think the fact that we ended with snacks and a lot of free stuff for the kids to take home made it a hit with them.

For more info on bike advocacy and how the bike addresses problems from obesity to global warming, visit Trek's advocacy site www.1world2wheels.org.

Sport Rant Follow Up

After not getting to watch Broncos or Vikings for a few weeks, yesterday brought on the other difficult scenerio of having both on at the same time. I spent the entirety of the early NFL schedule flipping between Atlanta where the Broncos played a close game and won and Tampa (City of, not the Bay because it's hard to play football underwater) where the Vikings played a close game and lost (congrats Tim).

Interestingly enough, the Colts (my third fav) were playing at the same time as these early games which meant I was totally invested in early games but not in the late ones except where division and wild card standings are concerned. I did get to watch the last few plays of the Colts win when CBS cut to the game, but would have loved for one of the three to be televised in the later time slot. Oh well. The Steelers/Chargers matchup was a hard fought, entertaining substitute and I enjoyed watching the Chargers fall to two games behind the Broncos.

First "Winter" Commute

Okay, it's not officially winter for awhile yet, but riding in the snow and wind to work yesterday sure seemed like it. I don't mind winter riding too much because with the right bike, tires and clothing, you can still enjoy it and know that almost everybody else is stuck inside spinning in one place bored out of their minds. Granted, I'll do a fair amount of that myself soon, but would like to continue to commute whenever the schedule allows.

Yesterday when I got up, I was very much on the fence as to whether I would ride or not. Temps were hovering around 30 which is no big deal and it was still fairly wet from the previous night's snow. We got just enough snow to cover things up and give the impression of winter, but I didn't have to scoop the drive which is always a blessing. Again, the right gear and even the wet conditions wouldn't be unthinkable to ride in.

The thing that gave me pause was the wind. Every once in awhile it would gust, howl and whistle in any window or door that gave the slightest hint at not being completely sealed in a way that was reminiscent of storms from the depths of winters past. The prospect of riding directly into such an adversary was not a pleasant one.

I spent most of the morning in a state of limbo where the ride was concerned. I did have a little work to do on the bike installing a new stem and I decided to spend a little time working on a presentation I'll do for a few kids at Xander's school next week about the bike being a solution to many life issues like obesity, pollution, access to clean water in third world countries and access to markets for poor farmers in remote areas of the world.

As I revisited so many of the thoughts that others have had on the topic and looked at studies of obesity rates and automobile pollution, the idea of riding to work took on fresh meaning and sticking my nose into the wind became an act of rebellion against my own culture of comfort and against a society that thinks that just because gas prices have dropped a bit means that giving thought to bike commuting is no longer a necessity.

So, resolve renewed, I got dressed, packed up the back pack and headed out. I opened the garage door and big flakes of snow were just beginning to fall again. In the wind protected cul de sac where we live it was an idyllic scene that carried a romantic association from some of my winter rides from last year.

The one advantage of the wind is that many of the streets and areas of the bike path that I ride were fairly dry with only minor drifting. I had opted to keep the standard knobby tires on my Gary Fisher Rig (single speed mountain bike with 29" tires instead of the more standard 26" tires that you usually see). I do have a set of studded tires that are a little thinner that I will break out once drifts harden and ice becomes more of an issue.

Things were plugging along well as I rode the bike path along the southeast part of town. The trees took the brunt of the wind and I actually found myself a bit too warm. Once I got off the path, the wind had a clean shot at me and I began to pay for my efforts. To add insult to injury, the beautiful falling snow transformed into sleet that was driven into my face as I methodically pushed on. By the time I got to the store I was greeted by the incredulous nature of my coworkers as they greeted me with what could only be described as varying degrees of pity and admiration.

I seriously had to towel down when I hit the rest room to change. This was one of those occasions where if we had a shower at the store, I would have used it. I had purposely dressed a little warmer than I originally thought I should believing that I needed a little more time to allow my body's conditioning to the cold to develop. After all, I did ride 30 miles in my summer kit (short sleeve jersey and shorts) less than two weeks ago. What I didn't factor in was how much harder I was going to have to work against the wind and how much heat I would personally generate. I was a sweaty, gooey mess. It didn't take me too long to get myself presentable again and I set about the day's tasks.

I was quite pleased to see that when I left the store at 9:30, the wind was still out of the northwest, still blowing hard and knew I'd have an easier time of it on the trip home. I had forgotten how different it is riding at night with snow on the ground. Areas where my little 12 lumen commuter lamp barely outline the path and obstacles during the summer were quite well defined due to the luminescence of the city reflected off of clouds above and snow below. It was really an enjoyable ride home only lacking the soft snowfall which would have put me in winter commuter bliss.

So, the first test passed, my goal will continue to be to ride to work whenever the schedule and my personal safety will permit it. The payoff is always better than the cost on days like yesterday and I hope to see a lot more winter riding this year.