Commute Report — 2-12-10

As I look forward to the day after the Oscar telecast much as an accountant looks forward to April 16, I am taking advantage of the President's Day holiday to make an attempt to catch up somewhat with my blogging responsibilities. I owe it to both of my readers to try and keep this thing up to date.

Last week, once again we had a couple days of rain. Though I did commute on wet roads, I managed to avoid riding in the actual rain.

Something about the rain seems to bring more honkers out on the road. Although I simply ignore most honking, most of the time I do not know if they are actually honking at me or if they are the type of people who seem to drive along laying on the horn every 15-20 seconds for no other reason than to make themselves feel important by tooting their little horn.

One thing about riding on wet pavement, one must be extra vigilant looking out for steel grates and manhole covers, as well as the painted lines on the road. Some riders don't realize how slick these items can be in the wet weather until they find out the hard way. I have experienced slipping wheels on the painted lines, but have thus far avoided actually going down. Feeling your wheel slide and then suddenly catch again can be somewhat disconcerting and act as a wakeup call to be a little more careful in the future.

There was one time I wasn't so lucky, when I found out that rounding a corner at about 20 MPH through a bed of moist pine needles was not such a good idea. My wheels slid out from under me, causing me to continue my journey by sliding down the road on my right side. I ended up having to replace my handlebars and brake levers. My bike frame, however was unharmed, what with me having the quick thinking to protect my bicycle with my body. Although the money that I spent on gauze and Unguantine probably could have easily covered the cost of repairing a few scratches on my steel bike frame.

As I have mentioned before, this winter has been a bit more wintry, at least by SoCal standards. I think it has already rained more this winter than the last couple winters combined. I am still trying to get used to riding no matter what the weather. If people who live a little further up the coast avoided riding every time it rained, they might as well sell their bikes. As I have mentioned before, the lack of rain around here seems to instill a fear of precipitation in most people, much as growing up in the flat midwest caused my fear of mountains that I am still trying to overcome.

Just to rub it in the faces of those on the east coast who are currently going through the worst snow storms in quite some time, even though we have been experiencing more rain the usual this year, for the last three days we have had clear blue skies with temps in the mid-70s F.

I think the good weather is supposed to continue at least through this week.

Next week, I need to be prepared to report for jury duty. As it stands now, I plan on going by bicycle, though I am going to go by the courthouse this coming weekend to see what kind of bike locking facilities are available. Thinking about it, I realize I have never had to leave any of my bikes locked outside for a full day. Two or three hours fairly often, but never for an entire day. I guess this is the reason that some people have a "beater" bike, though that would not work well for me. I would end up looking at such a bike and think, "Hmmm... It needs a new bottom bracket and crank. And I should probably replace the brake levers, saddle and bar tape while I am at it. Oh, and the wheels need replacing." And once I got the new components on there, I would notice how shabby the frame looked and would be forced to get a new paint job.

This workweek will only consist of three commuting days, as I am off today and am taking Thursday off for some Dr. appointments.

I believe that is enough rambling for now, and I will report again next week, time permitting, of course.