We’re nearing the time of the year when I gave up bike commuting for the season last year. It wasn’t intentional, I just… sorta… stopped. The last ride that I wrote about was November 6 last fall.

I think it all happened around the time change. I definitely have issues this time of year getting motivated as it gets darker. I probably have that SAD thing to some degree. Who knows… but maybe I’m just saying that. Maybe that’s just my excuse.

For some reason I get creeped out riding alone in the dark at the end of the day, though it doesn’t bother me at all in the morning. Maybe it’s just quieter in the morning. I feel like I’m alone in the morning. In the evening I feel like just can’t see what’s out there. I don’t like taking the shortcuts through the woods or riding on the canal path in the dark. I feel safer taking my chance with the cars.

Am I afraid of the dark? What kind of a giant wimp am I?

I don’t want to quit riding for the season… I want to keep going through the winter. I guess I just need to find new routes that I’m comfortable with and maybe some bike mounted weaponry.

I used to take a martial arts class… maybe I could just ride around with a bokken strapped across my back to make me look crazy. Maybe I could just wave it around insanely when I’m taking a sketchy shortcut. It is my personal believe that looking crazy is a good form of self defense.

Richard already mentioned this earlier this month, but I wanted to remind our Rochester readers that RIT Center for Student Innovation is holding a Rochester Cycling Summit this Saturday October 24th. The group ride starts downtown at the Central Library at 11am!

I arrived at work this morning & on checking my email discovered the following:

Hi Jody –

XXXXXX confirmed that the kitty-litter panniers are yours ….. could we have a bake sale to raise funds for new panniers for you? LOL!

Best,
XXXXXX

I’ll grant you that they’re not beautiful, but they are very functional. They are waterproof and made from recycled materials. I was kind of proud of my kitty litter panniers. And they were VERY cheap. I think they cost less than $10 in materials. I think they’re going to be great for the crappy weather, once there’s salt and grime on the road. I can just hose these off occasionally. They are also very high visibility, esp with the big reflectors on there.

I confess that I am a huge fan of bike hacks, which is where I got the idea. I love crazy MacGyvered solutions. I figure the panniers also make my bike less appealing to bike thieves, not that it’s worth much anyway. Probably in my perfect world my bike would look like something out of a Mad Max movie. (I know bright yellow and red doesn’t really shout Mad Max… more like McDonalds.)

I’m never one to turn down free bike stuff though. So I may give a thumbs up to the bake sale idea. In case I want to go to a classy event instead of just getting from place to place.

It’s probably true that I have no sense of style. :) But you gotta work with the senses you have.

Erie Canal Bike Path from Macedon to Palmyra

A couple weeks ago on my commute home I decided to take part of the canal path that’s a little out of my way. I had a little extra time and it was a beautiful day. I even remembered to strap my camera to the handlebars and take a little video.

The ride was really about 20 minutes long but I speeded it up and compressed it into 5. If you want to take 20 minutes you should just drive out there and ride it yourself.

Dear People Who Care,

I know it’s because you care about me that every time a friend of a friend of a friend is in a bad cycling accident you feel that you need to come tell me about it. I know it’s because you’re concerned that I’m doing something so dangerous by riding my bike to work, to the store, or around the block, and that you think it’s only a matter of time before I break my neck or my hip or my collar bone. Usually you don’t even know the person, it’s someone you saw on the news.

If I went around to all my friends and family every time I heard about a nasty car accident to share the cautionary tale and warn them to be extra careful, I’m pretty sure that is all I would be doing with my life. “Hey, be careful on Outlet Rd. I’ve seen at least 3 memorial crosses along that road. And I wouldn’t drive on 104 either. That road is just crosses from end to end. In fact, maybe you just shouldn’t drive. It seems pretty dangerous. I just worry about you.”

I do know it is because you care which is why I just reassure you with my prepared talking points that I am careful, that cycling is probably less dangerous than driving, and that hopefully people in cars will remember that they are surrounded by a giant crusty exoskeleton and that not everyone on the road is.

I know it is because you care that you run in to my office to tell me that they sky looks cloudy and ask how I will get home if it rains. The wind is picking up and, is there someone who can come pick me up if the weather takes a turn for the worse?

And on days that I don’t bike for some reason, I kind of wish that you wouldn’t say, “It’s a good thing you didn’t bike today. I think it’s supposed to rain later.” I don’t really ever feel like it’s a good thing that I didn’t bike, and I like the rain. If I overslept and had to drive I generally feel like I’m missing out on something fun.

I know you will continue to care about me so I don’t expect you to stop rushing into my office with weather updates and gore reports, but I hope you won’t be too offended if I keep riding my bike.

Two Team RocBike members – Jack Spula and me – are holding a bike commuting panel/workshop/war story session this Sunday the 27th at the Rochester Abundance Cooperative Market Annual Meeting. I think we’ve been invited more for the strangeness of our bikes than for our friendly demeanor. The event starts at 3:30 at Tay House Lodge in Cobb’s Hill Park, right up a hill near the water treatment plant. Another familiar face at Abundance, Jessica Rodriguez, will be showing off her weird bike as well:

3:30 – 4 – Bike Commuters Show and Tell 
Jessica Rodriguez, Adam Durand, and Jack Spula talk about car-free commuting and demonstrate their two – (or three – ) wheeled wonders.

I should give The Chicken Avenger a hose-down this week. There are a bunch of other workshops, including a session on urban chickens and another on vegan gluten-free baking, and it’s completely free and open to the public. Here’s the schedule. This event is right up my alley.

Introducing the Hopworksfiets: Beer, pizza, music, and true Portland spirit, all on one bike
from BikePortland.org

The downside of bananas as a cycling snack is not knowing what to do with the peel when you’re on the go with no garbage can in site. The up side is that you can easily bungee them to your bike rack. You could never to that with an apple.

I know I’m deranged but for some reason yesterday I started thinking about the seasons changing and instead of focusing on the fall my mind jumped straight to winter. I bike commuted last year up until sometime in November. I had intentions of going all year but somehow started having trouble getting motivated in the mornings. I really think it was more about gear than anything else.

My feet were getting too cold. I couldn’t find any combo of shoes and socks that worked for me (out of the pile of shoes and socks that I already owned.) And there’s something weird about being on a long ride and not being sure if you can’t feel your toes because you’ve been in the wrong position too long or because your toes are frostbitten and dead.

I rode 30 miles home from Rochester in sleet one evening and somewhere around mile 22 I started worrying that my toes were dead, that I would pull off my boot and to find something horrible like what I have seen on shows about Mt. Everest trips gone horribly wrong or Arctic expeditions where no one made it out alive. My mind wanders funny places when I’m riding a long time.

I really do want to ride year ’round but I think I need to find the right gear combination for me. I just use regular platform pedals so I don’t have to find something that will wrap around cycling shoes but I have to find something that is unstoppably warm.

I thought back to when I was a kid and spent hours in the snow. My feet didn’t fall off then. Mostly it was many layers of socks, plus bread bags over the socks stuffed into boots that were too big for me. Did other people’s parents send them outside like that or is my family crazy?

I never did try the bread bag thing last year though I probably should have. I think it was more the cold wind cutting through my damp shoes that did me in.

Anyone have any recommendations or thoughts on good footwear for biking in winter? I know it’s early, but it’s on my mind at the moment.

I really enjoyed this post over at Let’s Go Ride a Bike.

Mind the Gender Gap

It’s an interesting criticism of the way many articles address the topic of women on bikes. Their focus is usually narrowed to fashion and safety. I love the bit where she summarizes the attitude of the articles as men are more likely to ride bikes than women because “men are just much less self-absorbed and a million times braver”.