Commuting When I Shouldn't

Less than a day after pontificating my so-called "wisdom" on commuting I went and made a mildly bad decision this morning. I always check the weather first thing when I wake up on mornings I plan to commute. I just want to be sure no freak overnight storm or polar vortex blew in before I bother getting out of bed at 5am. This morning the rain chances and temps looked ok, it was warmer than it had been the last couple of mornings, but there was a "Dense Fog Advisory" in effect. Usually this would be an immediate reason to roll back over and get an extra hour in bed, but this morning I wasn't having it. I'd been set all week on commuting 3 days, even though NONE of the days were ideal for doing so as I had places to be at 6pm. This meant rushing home, showering and changing, and then pretty much right back out the door. I also knew that commuting was about the only way I was going to get any miles this week, hence being set on it. After seeing the Fog Advisory I decided I'd at least check it out, so I looked out the window. It didn't look too bad so I decided to go for it. "If it gets too bad I'll just turn around and at least have gotten a little spin this morning" I told myself. Of course I didn't do that. I rode through some pretty thick soup, my bike and I were pretty damp when I got to work. Luckily I didn't encounter any traffic on the worst sections. I think I would have been seen well enough with my bright light, but still the conditions were much less than ideal. When you're riding on the road, in the dark, super early in the morning, it's probably not the best idea to do so in conditions any less than ideal; dry and good visibility. I got away with it this morning with no close calls, but I probably won't try these circumstances again.

Thankfully I didn't encounter any bridges like in the background on this foggy morning.

Bike Commuting

Over the last year or so I've started regularly commuting to work. I say regularly in the sense that I do it periodically; I was surprised to find I only commuted 36 days last year when I actually went back and counted. That probably accounts for about 75 of my training hours though, which is nearly 20% of my 403 total hours for 2014. When I put it in that perspective it is definitely a contributor to my fitness.

I thought I'd share a little bit of information on commuting that might help somebody get started on this great habit.

My typical car drive to work is about 8 miles straight down a 7 lane highway, so that's obviously not the best way to ride my bike in. I always say "just because you can, doesn't mean you should." On the bike I use a combination of neighborhoods and park paths for a pretty safe 20 mile route, sometimes I will shorten that to about 17 miles with a little bit of dam top gravel road. Luckily my commute is in a direction I ride a lot anyway, so I was already familiar with the area and able to easily piece together a good route. If you need to figure out a route to work, there are some good tools available. One is Google Maps; they have a biking tool that shows dedicated bike lanes, bike friendly roads and bike paths. Another good tool is Strava. You can view segments on the Segment Explore map to see where the popular roads are to ride. Their global heatmap is another great tool to see where people do and don't ride.

Generally speaking this would represent a map of the cycling population density of TX. Interesting that the MS-150 route between Houston and Austin is so apparent.

The most important bike commuting tool is, of course, the bike. I use a Specialized Crux Disc. This is billed as a cyclocross bike, but is super versatile and makes for a great commuter. It doesn't have fender mounts, which would probably disqualify it for some people, but I can't see myself riding with fenders or really commuting in weather that would require them so it's not a problem for me. I'm just not interested in arriving to work soaking wet with a nasty bike. I keep my bike inside at my desk so that would present a problem in itself.

The Crux super commuter, resting up for the ride home.

Plenty roadworthy, we had some great rides at RMNP last summer.

Most bike components are left to preference (SRAM vs. Shimano, disc vs. rim brakes, gearing, etc.) but one thing that does make a great commuter is tire choice. I use Continental Gatorskin 700x32's. These are high volume tires that make for a very comfortable ride over the rough side streets and bumpy, cracked walking paths I ride. They are also very flat resistant so that's one less thing to worry about while riding to work in the dark. Being so big they probably aren't the fastest tires, but comfort and versatility trump that for me. I can take them on gravel if I feel like taking a different route, and if I want to get even more adventurous I can really take them off-road. I've even ridden singletrack for fun! Of course it's not ideal at 50+ psi and with no tread, but it's doable and fun for some variety. It's by my own design that my cyclocross bike affords me plenty of tire clearance to use the 32's, but some people may be forced or prefer to use a smaller tire; I'm sure the 28 and 25 sizes of these tires are great, too. Some may say they would be a little faster in certain circumstances, but I won't get into the tire size vs. speed debate here. I used to ride Schwalbe 28s and those were pretty comfortable too so that's probably a good size choice.

Fun for doing some dirt surfing every once in a while.

A critical aspect of bike commuting for me is having lights. I work 7am to 4pm, so I leave at 5:30am in the dark year round and in the shortest days of winter I get home just before sunset. For a headlight I use a NiteRider MiNewt Mini 350 USB. It offers plenty of light for me even on its lowest setting, and has enough run time to commute all week on the low or medium settings. The light head mounts to the bar easily with a rubber grommet, and the battery goes on my toptube behind the stem with a velcro strap. The attachment has proven solid and trouble free. One definite advantage of this light for commuting is that it charges via USB. If I need to, I can just plug it in to my computer when I get to work for a charge before riding home. There are lots of light choices out there, and some much cheaper such as the MagicShine variety, but this is another place where I didn't want to risk being stranded in the dark at 6am. I feel that this is a full quality light that will give me years of good service at still a pretty good price.

NiteRider Minewt 350 Mini USB

Just as important as your headlight is the taillight. You want something to catch drivers' attention when approaching you from behind to see you from a good long way off. I use a Cygolite Hotshot 2W. This is a nice, bright light at a good price. It has several flashing modes with adjustable speeds so you can choose exactly which pattern you think will make you most visible or choose to have more battery life. I don't really use the flash speed adjustment, but I'll not complain about having more options. A very nice feature of this light is the rechargeable battery. Instead of worrying about when the AAA's in your blinky are going to die and leave you invisible in the dark, you can charge the battery regularly and put your mind at ease. I can commute and ride for several weeks before I get the indication that the battery is low, but I usually charge it once a week. This light is also USB chargeable so I can charge it at work if I need to. It's small and secure enough that it pretty much stays on my bike all the time unless I'm doing a 'cross race.

Cygolite Hotshot

The last thing (or maybe first thing depending on how you look at it) to consider is the work at either end to make the actual commute happen. The most common question concerns showering when I get to work. Yes, I am fortunate that my office has a nice locker room with a shower, so I can get all cleaned up and changed when I get there. Of course I have to have clothes to change into, this takes a little bit of preparation. I always drive on Monday, so I usually bring shoes, a towel, and 2 or 3 days of clothes to work in a bag that morning for the week. I also always drive on Friday, so I'll take the clothes home to wash and replenish for the next week. I leave soap/shampoo and deodorant in my desk. I also leave a jacket at work, the AC is usually too cold for me.

There are a few issues to solve from time to time, but you can usually figure out a way around them. For instance, if there's a 35° temperature change from your morning to afternoon commute, your clothing needs are going to be quite different. Since I don't ride with panniers or a backpack, getting the warm clothes home to use the next morning can be a bit of a challenge. The 2 options are to wear as little as you can in the morning and stuff all the extra in your jersey pocket for the afternoon, or just leave stuff at work every day. You have to have enough stuff to get through the week, or drive a day between rides to shuttle stuff back home, but you make it work.

Maybe your commute is really too long to be practical to keep the length of your day reasonable? One solution if you can get away without your car for an evening is to drive to work, ride home, ride in the next day, and then drive home. You get 2 long rides in and save 2 car trips, but you can limit the extra time spent each day.

Since I use my commute as training time, I try to be purposeful with my time on the bike. The morning commute is usually pretty easy, since it's dark and my body isn't usually ready for any efforts. This can be a recovery ride. In the afternoon I will try to do some intervals or go longer for base miles. There is a nice park on the way home I can do intervals in, if that's my plan I'll take the shortest route to allow me to spend some time there doing work.

Naturally, if you commute by bike an hour each way you will be hungry! I usually go by the grocery store on my way to work on Monday, so I'll grab a couple of frozen lunches if we don't have enough leftovers from the weekend for all the days I commute. I try not to eat out for lunch to save money, but I have to every once in a while and when you have your bike, it's nice to take a spin at lunch on a beautiful day.

Lunch ride.

GHORBA Bigger Ring Challenge Double Lake Marathon Race Report

Last weekend was my first race of the 2015 season, the GHORBA Bigger Ring Challenge at Double Lake. The was was 3 17 mile laps for 51 miles total that I anticipated would take a little under 4 hours. I went into this race with good confidence after my good results in the TX Cup series last year, but uncertain where my fitness would be as I haven't gotten too many long rides lately and I've just started moving out of working on base fitness. I knew though that this was a good course for me and I wanted to have a good race. I lined up near the front, but got swarmed a little bit on the start. I was rolling somewhere in the top 15-20 on the 1.5 mile road section to the singletrack. As we neared the singletrack entrance, a gap opened right behind the leader. I instinctively jumped in it and made a perfect move to go in 2nd place. The leader was none other than Nathan Winkelmann, one of the best riders in TX, multi-time Pro/cat. 1 race winner and a threat to win any race any day. I felt good and followed him most of the first lap, until he slowed and waved me around. I led for a couple of miles until we hit a long gravel road at the end of the lap, then I fell back into the paceline of the front group.

Leading the race ahead of Winkelmann.

We had made a selection of about 6 riders at that point, and I was surprising myself being there and feeling comfortable! Through the second lap I rode 3rd or 4th wheel as we swapped places a few times, but mostly stayed together while dropping a couple of riders out of our group. At the end of the second lap the lead group was whittled down to myself, Winkelmann, Scott Henry and Scott Minard. The Scotts are also super fast guys who race Pro/1 and can win any race at any time. Henry has multiple Pro race wins to his credit, finished 2nd in the 2014 State Championship series and has won it a few times before as well. He used to race for Trek/VW! Minard has been top 5 several years running in the Pro/1 overall as well.

Lead group coming through to start lap 3.

About halfway through the 3rd and final lap I was riding in 4th, feeling good and trying to think through how this race would end and how I could take a shot for the win. I didn't figure I could outsprint Minard or Henry, as they're both very strong guys. I thought I might could get a gap on them in the singletrack, but getting to the front and staying there on the long gravel road at the end would be tricky. There was a good section of singletrack between there and the finish line; that would be my best bet. About this time I was riding behind Nathan and he started slowing way down. The Scotts were riding away, and eventually he confessed that he was getting a flat tire. He asked if I had any air, I did but it was zipped in my pouch. He kept going but would not let me by, so the Scotts got a good gap on us. Eventually Nathan ran off trail in a corner trying not to roll his tire. I rode past but dropped him my pouch with CO2 in it. After this I struggled to get back up to speed though. I knew the Scotts were gone and there was a threat that Nathan would ride back up to me, but I just couldn't get going again. Sure enough with about 5 miles to go Nathan passed me on a short gravel road section and I couldn't respond. I rolled it in to the finish line to finish a few minutes behind the Scotts and less than a minute behind Nathan.

I finished first in my category of 30-39, and ended up 4th overall! This was a great result and will be a big confidence boost going into the State Championship series. Huge thanks as always to Skratch Labs, I truly could not be racing at this level without their product. I tried for many years but always had stomach issues that held me back. I also have to thank Sugar Cycles. They've been supporting me for many years and it's exciting to (finally) be putting up some good results for them. My BMC was super fast and smooth and I know it is the perfect bike to be competitive in all my races. I'm looking forward to the rest of the year!