Weather Out There

Today is the first day of spring! (I’ll put a “winter” tag on this post because it pertains to yesterday, though). Fair weather bikers, rejoice!

Weather

Yesterday was truly spring-like: it felt like 70 during the day, but by 7 pm it was already quite cool. That meant that you really needed to layer or expect to be very uncomfortable at some point.

Temperature: 70 / 50

Road condition: Dry

Clothing: Long sleeve T-shirt, Jeans, loafers (w/o socks)

Comfort: I was very much on the warm side during the day, and borderline on the cold side by the evening. I’d say, I need to take my own advice.

So as you may recall, the blog is in transition right now. My last day at the old job (downtown Boston) was Friday, and I start working at Hub Bicycle Company on Wednesday. That means no commuting, although I’ll get out today for some errand-running. I’ll update this post a little later with the weather/comfort. It’s much warmer, so there will be no jacket, but the question is whether long sleeves and jeans are too much.

Sorry for the lack of substance here. I’m actually pretty swamped here at work as my last day is Friday. I will, however, be starting my job at Hub starting Wednesday, so you can find me there most weekdays after that (and Sundays once the shop opens 7-days-a-week).

I’d like to write a “tale of two commutes” comparing my bike ride in (Inman Square to Government Center by way of the Longfellow Bridge and Cambridge Street) to my fiancee’s by car (same starting point, also the Longfellow Bridge, but then Charles Street, Boylston and ultimately to Chinatown). We often leave the house a few minutes apart and leapfrog one another until we part ways at Charles Circle.

Weather

Temperature: 40 degrees

Road condition: Dry

Clothing: Light spring jacket, EVO Drone gloves, loafers

Comfort: Again, on the cold side starting out, but comfortable within a few minutes. Yesterday evening, I was downright cold until much later in the ride.

The warm weather gave me the opportunity to ride with my fiancee for the first time in a while. Yesterday, we rode Somerville Ave, Elm Street, and Mass. Ave to around Alewife Station and back again. The traffic on Mass Ave going out (around 6:45) was  generally light, however it tends to pile up at lights, followed by long stretches without any traffic. On the way back (around 8:15), the traffic was so light that we were comfortable riding side-by-side for most of the route. This brings me back to my (safety-ignorant) days of riding on Hampshire Street in Cambridge side-by-side, both of us completely in the door zone. Yesterday, needless to say, we took the lane, and there were few cars to object.

Weather

Temperature: 47

Road condition: Dry

Clothing: Light spring jacket, Rockport shoes.

Comfort: Excellent. I didn’t wear gloves, and started out a little chilly, but, as usual, warmed up.

I am pleased to announce that I am now a syndicated bike blogger: I have a guest post on Josh Zisson’s site, Bike Safe Boston. I think that makes me syndicated, anyway. Head over to check out my post entitled “One Simple Principle for Comfort on the Road”.

In other news, I used my new front (left) gigantic pannier with a bulky load for the first time. Unfortunately, because the load was pretty small, it didn’t force the bag into a solid shape, and one of the clips jumped off while I was climbing the Longfellow Bridge. That was unpleasant. I may have to retrofit with some velcro loops. On the other hand, the bag performed admirably with groceries and folded laundry. It also stayed nice and dry today (which my electronics appreciated).

Weather

Temperature: 54 degrees

Road condition: Wet

Clothing: My normal office attire with waterproof shell and hood on top, light Pearl Izumi gloves, rain pants, Rockport (I am embarrassed to say I’ve been calling them Timberland) shoes.

Comfort: Excellent! I stayed totally dry, didn’t feel hot the whole ride.

Everyone seems to have stayed off the road today: it was as empty as the middle of winter (this mild winter, that is). Plenty of car traffic and double parking, though.

Weather

I didn’t wear a jacket today! Although still on the cool side, it was a day in which you step outside and say “yep, it’s spring”.

Temperature: 47

Road condition: Dry

Clothing: Long shirtsleeves, loafers. No gloves, no jacket.

Comfort: Good! My hands started out cold, but as usual, the braking and shifting kept them moving, and general body heat warmed them up.

I attended the Hub Bicycle Basic Maintenance/Flat Fix Clinic on Wednesday (as employee training?), and I was really surprised by the format. I guess knowing Emily, I shouldn’t be, but the clinic was rather expansive in what it covered. There was a very thorough demo on changing a flat (I learned some things!), chain lubing, basic maintenance things to look out for, bike cleaning (hint: not this) and a general discussion of bikes and bike components. As one attendee remarked, “I wish I had known this five months ago,” which was a sentiment I can relate to.

I rode my mountain bike into work so I can pack it in the car for my trip to NYC this weekend. I also wore my clipless shoes (I have touring pedals on both my mountain and my commuter/touring bike), which made me feel really fast. It’s great riding a variety of bikes: they all behave so differently, it’s a totally different experience – this one has lower pressure tires, disc brakes, and a slightly more relaxed geometry than my other bikes. I was really tempted to ride down the stairs at City Hall Plaza, but I didn’t want to start my work day with torn up clothes, dirt, and cuts. As an aside, does anyone else feel a little miffed that the city rents out the plaza for months at a time, making it very inconvenient to cross?

Weather

Temperature: 41

Road condition: A few puddles, but otherwise dry

Clothing: Light spring jacket, clipless bike shoes.

Comfort: I started off the ride cold: for no particular reason, I rode without gloves, and then also remembered that the bike shoes are super permeable to air. Those things didn’t bother me after a little riding – it also helped my morale to keep leapfrogging my fiancee, who was driving most of the same route as I.

Although today is a springlike day, I thought I would reflect on the EVO Drone gloves I’ve been wearing. The exact product name escapes me (and google is no use), so I’ll have to fill that in later. They’re made of thin Nylon fabric, which is pretty good about not sucking up rain. They have the “hunter” thumbs and index fingers, which are good for checking your phone without taking the gloves off. What makes them truly useful is the attached outer mitten – I’ve found this allows you to stay warm and extra 10-15 degrees of outside temperature by defeating the wind and holding in heat. It’s an air impermeable synthetic that is sewn into the wrist of the glove and folds into the top when you’re not using them. (If you’re neat, they don’t look bulbous, either!) Although the seam on these covers has a bad habit of ripping under normal use, this hasn’t compromised the performance of the glove. You can see in the attached picture how I can get a few fingers through that cover after a few months of riding. They’re not too expensive (around $30?), and Hub Bicycle Company in Cambridge carries them. Of course, now that it’s just about spring, you’ll have no occasion to use them…

The gloves do a great job of keeping your hands warm, despite the covering sprouting some holes.

I suppose now that I’m overtly recommending products, I should announce that I’m moving from my current, non-bike related job to start working at Hub Bicycle Company. I’ve been going there as a customer since a few months after the shop opened two years ago, and as I became disenchanted work in the soul-stealing financial industry, I also discovered that I’m cuckoo for bikes. I can safely say – as a customer – that it’s an awesome bike shop, but don’t believe me, believe Yelp. I’m going to be working there full time starting later this month, which means I’ll be reporting more second hand on bike commuting (on customer attire, as the shop is walking distance), but there will still be plenty of errand running and general transportation riding.

Weather

Temperature: 57 degrees

Road condition: Dry

Clothing: Light spring jacket, timberland shoes, light Pearl Izumi gloves, messenger bag

Comfort: I was definitely too warm. Every time the weather changes I relearn the lesson: slow down, wear less. Today would have been OK without a jacket.

It was windy today, and should be more so later, according to the forecast. There were tons of bikers out, and I expect many, many more next week.

I left my house this morning to feel a lot of squishiness in the tires; although tires don’t need a lot of inflation in the winter once a month seems to be the outer limit. Since I was already around the corner, I just rolled over to the gas station and pulled out one of these handy dandy adapters (no pump on me!) and put some free air in there. (Free as in beer, not as in speech.)

Shrader, Presta Adapter: helpful to have for using non-bike shop compressed air.

The most adventuresome three-season bikers were out today on their thoroughly rusted bikes. It was a very slow march down Hampshire Street, with many winter coats in attendance, and very satisfying (for me, anyway) passing as I flew over the Longfellow Bridge. While there was generally good behavior, namely stopping at lights and not “shoaling” to cut to the front of the line, there were a few serial offenders who kept leap-frogging. To quote some other Boston Biker blogs, “don’t cut in line,” and “I want to mount a bottle of triflow on my handlebars.”

Weather

Temperature:  45 degrees

Road condition: Dry

Clothing: Light fall jacket (with a long sleeved shirt), Pearl Izumi gloves, Timberland shoes, messenger bag.

Comfort: Lovely! I was glad for having sleeves, as the jacket I have tends to expose my wrists (the humanity!) and send air up my arms. I ditched the gloves once I was in Boston.

Good news, everyone! I got access to my camera phone pictures again! Although I ordered a USB bluetooth receiver for my computer, it was shipped from China (see the screenshot below), and estimated to take a full month to arrive. However, now it appears it will be here imminently (unless the package has to be de-contaminated for a full month). Not bad for a $2.50 part with free shipping!

From Huangzhou, China to Somerville, MA in only 8 days!

A few days ago, I saw a guy riding on Cambridge Street downtown who had lights in his shoe covers! They flashed with about a 2 second period (1 second on, one second off). They weren’t especially bright, but it’s a pretty cool idea. You can see the lights on his ankle in the picture.

This man had shoes that flashed!

Also, Hubway is definitely landing! There are now (empty) stations at Government Center and Charles Circle. The media reports that Somerville, Cambridge, and Brookline will all be getting stations this summer, which is very exciting! I’m going to bet, however, that given the winter precipitation (“snow”) last week, the system manager will be waiting a few weeks to put in the bikes.

Weather

It seems we’re back to winter today, with a temperature of 22 in the morning. I wore the Nutcase helmet, which kept my head warm. I had on Polypro Pearl Izumi gloves, which left my hands a little cold. (Still haven’t found my other warm glove.) Otherwise, a fine commute. Last night was windy: one should always know in Boston that lots of wind means either a thunderstorm (in the summer) or serious cold (in the winter).

Temperature: 22 degrees

Road condition: Dry

Clothing: Heavy winter coat, light Pearl Izumi gloves, Timberland shoes.

Comfort: Warm everywhere except perhaps my chin and hands. The riding kept me warm.