bug goes crunch: February 2007

bug goes crunch

Thursday, February 15, 2007

the people will tell you you're miles from your home


today was a cold ride in, a cold ride in. i should still lament the missing balaclava, but in fact i have been adjusting to it; today, to be sure, i wore a scarf and the ski goggles. but after tuesday's ride home, into that 30-mile-an-hour headwind with the snow falling and the air temperature low enough to begin with, i suppose i can handle just about anything. that ride was not altogether difficult, with the exception of the winds by the airport (which, to tell the truth, were probably the hardest thing i have ever dealt with on a bicycle). packed snow in the bike lanes on state got a little squishy, leading to the random-steering effect, which is unsettling. along packard i resorted to riding on the sidewalk rather than trying to cross the endless stream of crawling outbound traffic, and you know how much i hate riding on sidewalks. then i opted out of going up miller, again because of traffic, and insterad followed ashley down into the hollow and came up felch. there is a steep portion where i was standing up, mashing as hard as i could against my 44:17 gear, and the rear wheel began to slip a bit. this was potentially troublesome, but i did not go down. then riding up brooks, up the hill and into the wind and on top of scrunchy snow, also a test of endurance. but i prevailed.

last week i had an interesting trip to pittsburgh for a conference, where i presented a poster and waited in the wings, so to speak, as an alternate for a podium presentation. i wanted to write about this at the time but i had a jankity internet connection and chose to spend my spare time riding a stationary bicycle, or sleeping. but i did ride the duquesne incline with some other attendees, and enjoyed the view from the top. perhaps i will find a way to upload the poster, if i can get it in pdf form.