The club ride last night was in 26 mph sustained winds gusting to over 40, so a slog at single digit speeds going into the wind and uphill west and an easy 20-30 mph coming back. I burned over 1500 calories.

Today, I'm resting my legs and eBike commuting. We have 20+ mph winds again today, but 30° colder.

It's Turntable Tuesday tonight at a favorite local brewpub, I'll go there right from work with a couple of records in my backpack. (Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Statler Bros. - Today) That'll add up to about 12 miles.

We are on spring break at the university so there is no direct need to go to campus. But I received a small scholarship called New York City Men Teach, and the financial awards are small. The only one I received is a monthly Metrocard for unlimited rides on mass transit. I don't use mass transit much, but I use it a little, so thank you, I'll take it. If I were to buy a monthly unlimited ride Metrocard, it would cost $132. The amount this card saves me is much less than that because it's $2.90 per ride, but I probably take between 2 and 8 rides a month. (That's just a guess.) The silly thing is, this month, the only times to pick it up are today and tomorrow, during vacation. That's OK, I got to ride my bike, and I can sit and do my reading on campus.

The ride up offered me a very strong tailwind. There was at least one point when I was coasting and it was slightly uphill. Don't you just love that? Going home may not be too bad, and if it gets annoying, I can take an inland route.

Is this to support/promote men entering the teaching workforce? I don't see very many men here (SE England) in nurseries/infant schools, which is a shame as it's good to have at several genders/identities represented. There was one man at nursery out of 20 staff or so and only one man in the infant school, which has 5.4 FTE. So, good on you and nice to see some public support for it.

Had a lazy weekend last weekend and didn't ride much, so I'm extending my daily commutes this week by about 10km (from 45km to 55km) to take advantage of some glorious spring weather (sunny and mid-upper 20s, perfect riding weather) and make up for the laziness a bit.

Score!

Yesterday:

• 2 mile eBike commute in the morning
• 7.8 mile eBike commute to the brewpub and back home in the evening. I was glad to be on the eBike, as it was damned windy again and I was recovering from Monday night's club ride.

Today:

• 2 mile commute on the folding bike this morning. Checked the tires; they were at ~40psi, which explains why the ride was so nice. Inflated them to 60 psi (max. is 65) and could feel the commensurate increase in ride stiffness and decrease in rolling resistance.
• 2.3 miles home this afternoon. I think I'll find a recipe and stop for ingredients on the way home. Maybe one of those "one pot meals" for the Instant Pot, or maybe pork chops for the Crock Pot.

Chemo kid got a make-a-wish trip this week so we are in Orlando!

excellent

I'm very happy for your whole family!

Yes, that's the idea. Originally, it was men of color. A white classmate of mine told me he got the scholarship and that it's now open to everyone. There are women in it. Changing the name would require forming the organization all over again, which, if you ask me, is really stupid. They are not reaching as many white men or women of any stripe because of the name. Oh well.

My career change story has received some interest from many people. There are people who change their careers to education but not many who do it at my age. I'm about to finish my MS in Special Education (grades 7-12). I'll start teaching full time this fall. I'm 64 years old, and I have not yet met anyone who started teaching full time at such a late age. I hope my health and energy hold up for a few years, because I really want to do this. I want to be the help I should have had when I was a kid.

All these years of cycling should have helped.

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 2103:

Last night after our performance I put all my gear on to ride home from the theater. I didn't bother checking the temperature first. I wheeled my bike out of the stage door and thought, "Wow! It's actually warm outside!" I had dressed way too warm. By the time I got home I was a sweaty mess. That's when I looked at our thermometer and saw it was 65°F. Well no wonder I was warm as I rode!

What a glorious morning it was on the ride to work! The overnight temp had only dropped to 53°F, and the cross wind was blowing at about 11 mph. Today was the first day this year that I wore shorts during the morning ride. I also didn't pack a jacket, and just put a sweatshirt on.

Today's temp is again supposed to get up into the 70s. When I ride across town at noon I won't need the sweatshirt. It will be really nice not having to cram all my cold weather gear into my backpack. Google said a 20% chance of rain today, but I decided to risk it and take the road bike. My round-trip distance is scheduled to be 22 miles and I wanted to ride it on a faster bike than my hybrid with fenders.

We have another performance tonight. Curtain is at 7, which means call time is 5 PM. Thankfully my afternoon client is located just a couple blocks from the theater, so I can hop on the bike and be there in less than 10 minutes.

I'm running on very little sleep, which is normal when I'm in the middle of a theater production. The show runs until about 9:30 PM. Then once I mingle in the crowd for a bit, get changed out of my costume and commute, it's usually 10:30-10:45 before I'm back home. Then I eat a late supper and catch up on all the home stuff I need to do. It's usually after midnight before I crawl in bed. Then my alarm goes off at 5:30 AM so I can get up and prepare for work. Wash, rinse, repeat. But the feeling of being on stage is totally worth the three weeks of sleep deprivation so I'm not complaining.

Boring commute this morning, as I took the cage. I need to leave directly from work and arrive to pick up my daughter 20 miles away. I fantasize about going on a cargo bike and picking her up, or even having her ride her own bike around town with me, but her mom is over-protective and wouldn't allow it. Their town doesn't have bike lanes at ALL, and has a lot of busy streets, but they have sidewalks in nice condition that the town encourages cyclists to use. She wouldn't do it either, as she's under her mom's narrow-minded spell.

I wound up getting 13 miles in yesterday on the folder, including this nice lunchtime excursion:
ZiZZO Forte Review

noglider Tom, I admire what you're doing there, but I plan on having been retired for 4 years by that age. Then, I can volunteer if I want, without all the hassle. My mother in-law is a retired special ed teacher. Had chairs thrown at her, which is terrifying, as she's a tiny thing. She volunteers as a substitute teacher now. All the regular teachers love her; she gets some recognition that she never got in a whole career of teaching special ed.
Have you thought any more about a folder? I'm looking for a bolted seatpost clamp for mine now, so I have the option of leaving it locked up in the city without having to take the seat with me.

Tundra_Man : My wife is a theatre major. Her two best friends from college are too. They both are theatre professors now, but my wife realized at the beginning of senior year she didn't want to act or teach theatre, so it was a big mistake. She puts her skills acquired through theatre, plus her usual women's empathy to good use as a sales lady, these days. She tells me often that there's not much time for sleep or family during a production and she doesn't miss that. I'm glad you enjoy it though!

If for some reason, I'm done with my daughter early, I'll get on the bike for trivia night here at Public Craft Brewing Co. (I sure do love their Belgian Dubbel...)

I need the paid work for a few years. I'm happy for the many who can retire when they're younger than I am. My situation is slightly unfortunate, but there are upsides. Learning a lot of new stuff in a field very different from my previous ones is heavy brain exercise, and that might help keep me young. So might doing something that feels like a mission. I realize something could happen that would make me run away, such as being a victim of violence. It's a risk I take knowingly.

I've been thinking about a folding bike for quite a while. It's not time to decide. I'm impressed that you're so happy with your new one that was so inexpensive.


My first major in college was music. I got to be a fairly good singer but decided against it as a career. But I never stopped singing, and I'm in at least three concerts a year. The next one is on May 4. I have come to believe that participating in the arts is nourishing and enriches, and I recommend it to everyone. I think too many people think that to be an artist is to make your entire living from it. That's extremely difficult and unrealistic. The joys of being an amateur artist are largely unknown and also immense. Does your wife participate in any acting or other arts? I hope so. There are amateurs at many levels. I'm good enough that I get paid occasionally which is great for the ego but insignificant for the bank account.

Due to travel and other circumstances I have been off the bike for 12 days which is the longest break in a couple of years. I have been on the stationary recumbent a few times, including two one-hour sessions this weekend, but it's not as satisfying as biking to work. Have to drive today, but plan on riding tomorrow...

Although I have 5 other bikes to ride, I'm still bummed out that my main commuter is still outta commission with a irreparable brifter, and I haven't had a chance to check the co-op for a used set. If they don't have a decent unit I will spend the $55-75 for a new replacement set. This just puts the drop-bar conversion of my 26" MTB further down the calendar.

Bummer about the out-of-commission commuter. On the bright side, maybe that will allow you to give some love to the other four that they wouldn't ordinarily get?

As for it pushing back the MTB conversion, it's worth it, since that bike pays for itself.

****************

It's another super-windy day here; 24 mph gusting to 40+. Wanting to save my legs for the club ride tonight, I took the gravel eBike for commuting duty.

• 2 miles to work
• 5 miles to run an errand and go home for lunch just now
• 2 miles back home later
• 28-35 miles tonight for our club's Moderate Monday ride (15-17 mph avg pace)

Tomorrow will certainly be a rest day commuting by eBike again. Or maybe even scooter.


My lunchtime errand was to pick up some nice sporty prescription sunglasses that are suitable for riding; they're Maui Jims.

It's actually 5 other bikes, but after obsessing over my rebuilt, hot-rodded 1989 16" Dahon Getaway V last summer it took out a restraining order against me.

Rode today. First day back to reality after a huge 6-day-7-night theme park trip, where the nearest I got to cycling was the motorcycle seating on the Avatar Pandora dragon ride

Give Kids The World Village is located near Kissimmee, FL. I did see people out on bikes, mostly adults using them for basic local transportation. This was in spite of road design that were overall indifferent or hostile to bikes on the arteries. It wouldn't be true to say there's no bike lanes or etc. Huntsville is worse, for example. But I think a good guess would be a tenth of what we have here, and there were plenty of arteries with hard curbs and no sidewalk either. In a way it felt more normal - this is the kind of environment I grew up riding in, and what we have here in Folsom is luxury

split the Easter break between camping in the New Forest and traipsing in The Cotswolds. good family fun with some of the German side in attendance.

snuck in nice Easter Sunday Roast.

back on the bike takin the kiddos to school and me to the office today (back to the grind for all of us!)

Drove to work yesterday and my wife picked me up after work to drive to an event together. We drove home in her car so this morning I broke my 12 day non- biking streak and rode the 16 inch folder to work. I put it in the trunk of my car and will drive home. Turns out it fits in the back folded without having to lower the steering mast which on the old dahon is a little inconvenient especially with my DIY latch.

With spring upon us, you might use that Metrocard more than you think, due to rainy weather.

Most rain doesn't bother me. If it's raining heavily when I'm headed out, I might not ride, but if it's likely to rain on my return trip, I'll take the chance. Sometimes I even bring clothes to change into. But yes, I use my Metrocard sometimes, and weather is sometimes the reason.

I rode in to class this afternoon. It's warm out, and I forgot that I decided in the past that it's OK to drop my standards for dress when attending class. I dress kinda fancy when working, but I'm not currently working. So I wore dress trousers, a t-shirt, and a dress shirt. And it's hot. I have a way of slowing down so I don't sweat too much, but I should have worn shorts and short sleeve shirts. Ah well, no big deal.

My bag is heavy today, and as usual, I dropped it in my basket which is on my rear rack. My frame is lightweight steel, and I really noticed the shimmying, especially when I had only one hand on the bars. I wasn't even going fast. My tires are a little soft, so I might see if that is a factor.

I lock my bike in a tiny private park that requires a college ID to get into, so I shouldn't be too shocked when I see a bike locked poorly. But today I saw a bike with a cheap cable lock around the handebars (easily removed) and around the rack. Maybe the owner doesn't even know the combination to her lock and figures it's good enough. And maybe it's good enough. For her sake, I hope so.

Rode today. Went home early to deal with some paperwork problems