31 May 2009

2009 YTD GPS map


Just for kicks, here is an image of the 2009 GPS data overlaid onto the map of the greater Pittsburgh area in GoogleEarth. Cycling routes are in yellow, running in red, hiking in green, and canoeing in blue. The icons sort of overlap when coincident, so frequently traveled areas come out sort of jumbled.

There are runs, rides, and hikes in West Virginia, New York, Indiana, Nevada, and other parts of Pennsylvania that are not shown. It is pretty addictive to get to track where you've been with the GPS. When I miss logging an event due to a variety of reasons, I always curse myself because it feels like the ride/run/etc wasn't really validated without the GPS data. I know, it sounds like I need to get a life.

2009 mileage through the end of May

Ok, I haven't posted in forever. Much has happened. I'll try to catch up. In the meantime, I was working on this tonight, so I figured I'd share. Here are my mileage totals (measured by GPS) for each month for several activities.


January February March April May
Cycling 0 70.0 136.0 231.4 252.6
Running 0 27.0 26.6 49.8 60.1
Canoeing 0 3.4 9.4 3.2 4.7
Hiking 4.4 14.3 8.9 3.1 15.1

Training is going well. Running has been really, really good for me...physically and mentally. I like the time on the bike, but running clears my head so much more, and I have less likelihood of negativity resulting from intolerant drivers on the roads. Plus, in general, when you're running and smile or say 'hi' to someone, they respond positively. That's much less common on the bike. Mostly because on the road, you're in you own little bubble of reality and nobody seems to like to be yanked out from behind the veil of anonymity that being in a car gives you (and by extrapolation, all other vehicle types).

My general overall leg strength is much more balanced now that I have a significant running component to my training. My knees hurt less from the bike and running is no longer feeling like I'm killing myself through joint pain every time I go out. I think all the time on the bike has made some muscles too strong for their own good in relation to the other leg and joint connective muscles that aren't being exercised on the bike. That's just my unscientific hypothesis, though... Don't go reporting it as truth just because you read it on some blog.

My May mileage on the bike would have been more, but my bike is disintegrating under me. As my friend, Dave, mentioned, the Shimano engineers did a killer job on value engineering the drivetrain parts. Two months after the 2-year warranty on all of the Shimano parts ran out, the damn thing fell apart. I replaced the cassette early in the month (and the chain). Now, the bottom bracket bearings are failing rapidly. I'm looking to buy tools to tear it apart, so I can overhaul the bottom bracket with the parts from the bike I got hit on (with about 50 miles on it). Like I've mentioned before, I'm not convinced that a 10-speed rear cassette and associated skinny parts are worth it. My mountain bike with 7-speed system (3 front x 7 rear, 21 total gear ratios) rode through rain, snow, and whatnot for 10 years before I got the fancy idea to make it a single speed bike.

08 May 2009

Crush the Commonwealth

This morning, twenty-some riders took off on the annual, no-prize, Crush the Commonwealth race. It's a self-supported race between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Odd years, it starts in Pittsburgh (as it did this year), and even years in Philly. My friend, Kevin, and I got out early to see them off on their 5AM start.



01 May 2009

Running in the rain


Bethany met up with Becky to do yoga on the South Side. Silas and I went for a pleasant 5 mile run on the trails and streets. The city is always pretty at night. And we also stopped so Silas could watch choreographed fountain at Station Square.


Then we all went to the Library for dinner. Here was Silas sharing an inside joke with Becky. Maybe he was just hitting on her. He is pretty suave at times...

Mourning dove turns into morning doves

The mourning dove's nest is getting a bit crowded. The picture above was taken today by Bethany. The one below was from the morning of 27 April, four days ago. They seem much bigger in such a short time. An earlier post was this one: Mourning dove family.

Thomas Edison bike tricks

The father of the light bulb and other inventions was also into film and perhaps an admirer of bicycles. He filmed a friend doing freestyle bike tricks. The landing at the end wasn't particularly elegant... Despite the comments, it looks like Edison did the filming, not the riding. Alas.