built for comfort, not for speed

Woke up this morning jonesing for a ride, but the road bike is in the shop, so I took the commuter bike down the Terry Hershey Trail. It was a bit like taking a Ford F-150 pickup round the Nurburgring. She was OK on the straights, a bit shaky on the faster corners but evil on the climbs. Terry Hershey is pretty flat but there are a few short climbs that I barely notice on the road bike. Very different on the commuter - I was out of the saddle practically every time, and worked up quite a sweat, despite the low 40's temperature.

no user-serviceable parts inside

I went to the bike shop this morning to see how my lovely Euro roadie was coming along. The clank from the bottom bracket was solved by some tightening and adjustments, but the mechanic wants to do an overhaul, since brakes, gears and headset all need work. He likes the bike, though, so hopefully he'll be gentle with her. Should be ready by Wednesday, which means no rides until next weekend, but she should be right for the season after that.

post-Xmas slump

At least in my mileage, due to a worrying, expensive-sounding clank from my bottom bracket during the last ride with Dale. The bike is in the shop right now - fingers crossed it will be back before the weekend.

In other news, I got playing with Google Earth and plotted out my routes a bit more accurately than I could with Google maps. Check it out...

Bambi and Pumbaa's revenge

A good ride with Dale today. He was just back from four day hunting trip in South Texas and didn't feel like an early start so we rode at 11.00. We were delayed for a bit while he looked for his cold weather gear (mid-40's but very sunny). He couldn't find it and settled for some purple sweat pants and woolly mittens, a Glamour don't if ever I saw one.

Dale bagged two good-sized deer and two wild boar on his trip, so I was in the mood to exact some revenge on behalf of the animal kingdom. First off, I left him for dead on Eldridge as we slogged north into a pretty strong wind (that's for Bambi!). We stayed together on the trail from Bear Creek to West Houston airport, and then on Barker-Cypress and Fry, but when we hit the west end of Terry Hershey I kicked it up a notch and got his heart pumping a lot faster than Pumbaa's is now. We finished off back at Dale's with a glass of red wine, where Robert, his oldest, told me I looked good in tights. Love these unsolicited testimonials -

the Brickell family gets its Xmas on!

Yes, we finally got festive and trimmed our tree! Looks pretty nice, huh?

wet,wet,wet

Woke up to the sound of thunder this morning, as a pretty good storm cell blew through the area. A quick look at the radar showed that the front had moved off to the east, so I leapt onto the bike (amidst protests from Susan - "Don't blame me if you get pneumonia") and pedalled off through wet streets. The new bike held up well - my feet are dry and I don't have the usual tiger stripe up my back.

Only two work days left and then I'm off until the new Year. The evening ride home has been difficult lately, because I have to negotiate a lot of traffic around the Town and COuntry Village shopping area. It takes about 15 minutes to pass two traffic lights less than 1/4 mile apart!

Ho, ho, ho

On Sunday evening Mary-Claire and I rode the Durham street Jingle Bell ride, a charity ride through the mean streets of River Oaks, Houston's ritziest section. The ride starts at dusk, so by the time we get to where the rich folks live it's dark and we can ooh-aah at their elaborate but tasteful Christmas lights. We dressed up our bikes with battery-operated flashing fairy lights, and I had M-C's Xmas ghetto-blasting mix (a little heavy on Bing Crosby for my taste) pumping out of my portable iPod player, until the batteries died, that is. The ride is about 8 miles and ends at Mission Burritos, where they lay on a mexican buffet. Great fun but a bit chilly. Here's a shot of M-C pre-ride:

Surely not another weather post?

Well, yes, but not really - a great comment from my colleague and buddy Fluteman John. He was listening to NPR on his way home yesterday and heard the following:

"Not as cool as yesterday, high in the 60's"

He wasn't sure if it was the weather or a comment on his life!

about time, too -

The long-awaited, much-anticipated cold front finally rolled through the area yesterday morning, bringing an end to record high temperatures and disgusting humidity. It also brought a dramatic sky, a little rain and a 25 degree drop in temperature. Yesterday we woke up with the AC on and went to bed with the heating on - just another December day in Houston, I suppose.

Great biking weather this morning - not quite cold enough for the full monty (tights, jacket etc) but chilly enough to be uncomfortable for the first few miles.

ridin' in the rain

A soggy ride in this morning, with a couple of showers on the way. At last a chance to see how my commuter bike performs in the rain!

Weather update: Houston 61 degress and hzay, West Lafayette 34 degrees and overcast. Come home James, all is forgiven!

West Lafayette weather report

Current temperatures: Houston 71 degrees, West Lafayette 26 degrees

if it isn't one thing, it's another

Up early for a ride today. Dale had a golf game so I was a lone wolf, apart from about 5,000 runners, of course. I had to deal with the usual foot traffic in Terry Hershey, but it generally clears west of the dam. But not today! There was an organised run going on and I spent the next three miles threading my way through them. Everyone was very polite and made room but it's hard to maintain a decent pace with that much traffic. I finally got to Barker-Clodine where the runners turned round, while I headed on into George Bush Park. Half a mile down the road I had to turn back because the trail was flooded out. This happens occasionally - the park is on the edge of the Addicks dam, after all, but with no way through I was faced with another three mile slog in heavy traffic back to Terry Hershey. I rode up to I-10 instead, to see if there was a decent shoulder that I could use. There wasn't, but there was a sidewalk, so I took that instead. That went quite well, apart from a short cyclocross section where the sidewalk was overgrown and I had to dismount and carry the bike. Eventually I made it back to the relative safety of Memorial, and cranked it up a bit. I had a pretty good head wind all the way back so I got my exercise. Back in my neighbourhood and the fun wasn't over - the construction workers had the road blocked with a big digger, so I had to detour round.

brass monkeys again

Another cold morning, but a bit warmer than yesterday. Ho-hum. Is this the most boring post on this blog so far?

on the road again

back in the saddle after Thanksgiving, on the coldest morning of the Fall so far - 42 degrees! In my full cold weather gear (screaming yellow jacket, black tights) I was an absolute vision as I flew down the road, turning heads all the way. If it gets any colder I'll have to break out my balaclava. Susan says it makes me look like a terrorist but how many Jihadis ride bikes as they go about their nefarious business?

In other news, I hopped on the scales with some foreboding this morning, only to discover that my net weight gain after all that turkey, roast potatoes, pecan pie etc was minus one pound. My weight is now the lowest it has been since I started tracking it in October. I suppose that's good but how will I lose weight when I really want to?

Boiler up!

A Texas-sized "Howdy, y'all" to James and his gang of wingnuts and others up there in West Lafayette. Keep warm, guys, and good luck with finals.

Happy Turkey Day to all our readers!

.. if there are any today. A front came through last night and the temperature dropped 20 degrees, so today it's cool (50's), clear and just beautiful. We have a houseful for our Thanksgiving meal, with friends coming later for dessert.

Yesterday I managed a quick ride down to the local bird sanctuary. Not much happening but I saw a and a blue jay. Call it 2 miles.

lazy Saturday afternoon

no ride to work yesterday or Thursday, too busy today and it's going to be stormy tomorrow, so I'm slacking a bit. On holiday next week so if weather permits I'll probably ride the Terry Hershey trail a few times.

Rollin' with the Homies

Yesterday there was a BHP team ride at Terry Hershey. The group consisted of Dave the Driller, Pat the Navigator, Bernardo from Accounting and me, the whole being lead fearlessly by our fearless leaderene Jennifer, who brought her daughter too. We got rolling to the strains of Dire Straits, the soundtrack being supplied by Pat who has his iPod rigged up on his bike with speakers. The group broke up as we proceeded, but regrouped after about six miles when Pat had a puncture in his rear tyre. A new tube was installed, charged with CO2 (wow - those things are the business) and off we went. Once we cleared Terry Hershey and the foot traffic died down, Dave began to lead the charge at a pretty hot pace. I jumped on his wheel and kept with him, at a much higher pace than I usually like, but I hung in there. We got to the north end of George Bush park and decided to wait for Pat (Jennifer and daughter had done their miles and were headed for home). When he didn't appear we rode back and found him repairing another puncture in his rear wheel. We got going again but only made one mile before Pat had another rear wheel flat. He was out of tubes so I gave him mine. This time we went over his wheel with a fine-tooth comb but didn't find any sharp objects. Onwards into the park and Dave set a blistering pace again. We turned around at Fry road and tried to keep in a group as much as possible, in case of further flats, but the third tube made it all the way back. On this leg the soundtrack featured Jimmy Buffet. I bailed out at Wilcrest and headed home feeling pretty tired. This morning I'm a bit stiff, but it was a good ride.

And whatever happened to Bernardo?

Fore!

No ride today - a golf day at Blackhorse Country Club. Beautiful weather (if a bit warm) and a beautiful course too. Sadly my golf fouled things up a bit.

Twofer Saturday

Two rides today - first with Dale at the crack of dawn (too dark to ride the trail so we rode down Memorial), on the new route we "discovered" last week, then a spin down the trail to the "It's a Grind" coffee house on Eldridge with MC. Both were fun in their own way.

Halloween candy Express

I wore my new, birthday cycling gloves today - thanks James! I also schlepped in a pound or two of left-over Halloween candy in my rack trunk - and didn't get to eat any! Cruel and unusual punishment if you ask me.

the Peter Pan of petrophysics

Today is the first anniversary of my age being the last prime number before 50. Sigh.... but as my father-in-law Bill says, consider the alternatives. Mary-Claire told me I'm not old, I'm seasoned. Anyway, a brisk ride in today with the weather remaining beautiful.

Santa, I really need a GPS for my bike

This morning Dale and I set off for the usual weekend hammer session around Bear Creek. Halfway through we got bored so Dale suggested a different route home that was a little longer. We set off on a quiet, wooded trail, a really nice ride through the countryside, but before too long we were lost in the wilds of west Houston. After some aimless riding around we fired up Dale's Blackberry and looked at a map. We weren't too far off course and pretty quickly got back onto the trail through George Bush park. The wind was out of the north and pretty fierce when it was funnelled through the trees, but we survived. We were out for nearly three hours and probably went 45 miles.

50 degrees???

in Houston, in October?? So much for global warming.

It's about time for the clocks to go back - I had my lights on all the way in today. Two more weeks to go, though.

brrrr....

a bit chilly this morning - I needed my jacket and gloves. The bike is back from the shop and running well.

the morning after

No ride today - the commuter bike is in the shop for tune up/repairs. Just as well - it's cold and wet and I'm a little stiff after yesterday's ride. Hopefully back in the saddle again tomorrow.

Sunday, Sunday

Yesterday South Africa beat England 15-6 in the Rugby World Cup final. England played well but South Africa earned and deserved their win. Oh well, today is another day, and another beautiful morning, so I hit the trail. Unfortunately it turned out to be a beautiful morning for a 10K run, too, so after battling runners for five miles I decided to keep on going and went through George Bush park to the east side of Cinco Ranch. On the way home I skipped the trail and rode down Memorial. Let's call it 35 miles - more than I intended but I managed OK.

TGIF

A beautiful morning and my Friday off - what else can I do but ride the Bayou trail? A lot of foot traffic to contend with but a wonderful ride regardless.

more of the same stuff

it was too good to last. A few days of cool temperatures and now back to high 80's, high humidity, highly tedious. Oh well.

first post!

Beautiful morning for a ride - 61F when I started, clear and sunny. Could this actually be Fall in Houston?