Brrrrrrr!

It was supposed to rain today according to Yahoo weather, but not a raindrop appeared.  In fact, the sky was largely clear today with high, gusty winds.

I wasn't sure if I was going to ride to work or drive due to the winds, but the winds had calmed some  by midday, so I put on my arm warmers, packed a warm hoodie in the pannier, and off I went.  When I got to the intersection of Wilshire/Gale, the wind that was channeling down Wilshire Blvd nearly knocked me off my bike. 

I knew the temp was supposed to drop tonight as we're in a cold snap (cold for Los Angeles), and the windchill factor plus riding the bike made it absolutely icy, it seemed.  I started out with just the arm warmers but within a couple of blocks pulled over and pulled out the hoodie.  It was much much MUCH too cold for only arm warmers.... well, they might have been okay if my short sleeves had been longer, but they are short short sleeves.  I didn't put on my head band that covers my ears and that was a mistake because by the time I got home, my hears were practically frozen, as were my cheeks.  Plus the headwind was withering, and when I got back to the Wilshire/Gale intersection, I was nearly blown over from the east and then the west.  I had to slow to 8 mph just to keep the bike steady because I was really fighting for balance.

Tomorrow night for sure I am putting on the headband and suiting up properly before I step out the door.

I am wondering what Lance Armstrong revealed to Oprah tonight.

Honking

Yesterday on my ride I got honked at - not the annoying honk but more of a scolding honk, and when the lady drove by me, she yelled something that I couldn't understand.  I'm sure, however, that she didn't like me controlling the lane on the suburban street.  There was plenty of room to pass me, but I was NOT going to move into the door zone of the cars parked on the street.  So, whatever.

Crazy riding today

Today on the bike I went back and forth to work twice, which was about 12 miles total, but then when I got home in the evening I decided I needed a little bit of food, specifically bananas.  I'm eating two bananas per day now in efforts to overall boost my potassium intake.

I'm getting pretty good at locking the bike.  I wish it went a little faster.  Even though I'm locking it to a bike rack in a well lit area of the parking lot by Pavillions, I am constantly looking over my shoulder.  I solidly locked the wheels to the frame with cables and the seat was locked down with a cable that was threaded through the U-lock.  All the cable ends were threaded through the U-Lock, and then the U-Lock and the frame were locked to the bike rack.  It all went very smoothly.  If I'd wanted to lock down the handlebars, I would have needed my third cable, but honestly, if someone were to steal the handlebars, they'd have to cut the brakes and the damage would be substantial.  The good thing is that I have enough bananas now to last me for five days, so I don't have to shop for more until Saturday. I also indulged and got my favorite cheese bagels and some cream cheese. They are definitely NOT on the high potassium diet, but I have to ease myself into a more vegetarian lifestyle and ultimately a vegan lifestyle (although both possibilities were hammered over the weekend when I made fried chicken nuggets.  Oh well!).

It's okay to lie - if you fess up.... what????

So here's the think about Lance Armstrong and doping.  I wanted so hard to believe he didn't do it, but I suspect the evidence that he was part of a huge cover-up is too over-whelming.  So his titles got stripped from him and he was banned.  Now there are rumors that he wants to confess so that he can be allowed in the sport again.  Well, how many parents of a punished child who confesses to a crime will say, "Okay, thanks for confessing, punishment is over."  No.  Good parents don't do that.  Confession or not, the ban needs to be in place, perhaps one year per Tour de France win, so at least seven years.  And during those seven years, pro cycling needs to do some major house cleaning and set new standards that it religiously inforces.  Otherwise it's all just a joke.

No bike today... too many cookies to carry

Today I had to drive to work because a cookie client was meeting me there to pick up his order.  It was all in a box far too big to put onto the bike.  Perhaps tomorrow I'll take an 18 mile ride to go visit Gloria's cake and Candy supply.  I don't need to go that far to go get some of my supplies, but it's a good ride, and I certainly don't care to take the car which is nearly empty anyhow.  That reminds me, though, that I need to wash out my water bottles.

Issues with my dog being lonely

Why am I writing about my sweet little dog when this is a cycling blog?  Well, because my neighbors have been complaining some about her barking for hours.  So I've been having to ride to and from home twice a day to give her a few minutes of attention, let her out to do some business, and general nonsense, then pedal back to work - a totally frenetic way to work.  Double mileage on the bike isn't all bad, but this isn't exactly how I want to rack up miles

Tomorrow I am taking her for a super long walk before I go to work to see if I can't just get her so exhausted that she'll sleep all afternoon.  Otherwise I will speak to my vet about some doggie valium.  Poor little poppet misses me something fiece.  Truly attached at the hip.

First bike ride of 2013

I'm on the bike for the first riding of 2013.  I put a new battery in my Cateye odometer, and it's reset to ZERO, which feels rather deflating after 2300 miles last year.  This year I'd like to go for 3000 miles.

The only thing about the reset is that there's something about the tire size, and it's defaulted to 210.  I don't know what it's supposed to be, but when I did a normal route this morning, it came up about 1/10 of a mile shorter than normal... which adds up in the long run.  So I will talk to my guys at I. Martin asap and see what it is supposed to be.