Clearly the next type-in has to be in Olympia. Start scouting locations. I'd help you plan it but I don't want to jinx it into a failure. I'd be happy to help set up and I have several machines I want to give away.
I'd come to a type-in in olympia, I have never really been there *shame*
Hear you on the out of shape thing, I was just beating myself up about this today...
And gosh, the type in was a long drive for you, no way I would have made it if I lived that far. Don't sweat it, it was just fun to see you at the first one (which was a heroic distance to go in my opinion). One up side, I actually won the speed typing contest without you to compete with today ;-)
When I feel out of shape, I just remind myself that "round" IS a shape. Your description of the nearby trail(s) sounds lovely; a shame not to enjoy them more.
Of course, this is "Ride to Work Week" and my bike is safely mounted on the exercise stand. It would be a forty-mile round trip for me, and I can identify with the bother of having to change clothes at work. Sweating isn't the issue, though, since it was in the fifties, this morning.
It'd be nice to have a type-in here in Olympia, but I do worry about taking on the organizing of such a thing--see the overwhelmed notes in my post. And yes, I realize some of you have way, way, way more going on in your lives and still pull such things off, but I'm a wimp. It's what I do.
Maybe a less formal one, come fall? As Ryan points out, there are a number of interesting coffee places and bookstores down town. Orca strikes me as one of the better options, though it might be a little crowded. At the very least, they'd be a good place to give flyers to if we had such things as flyers...
It was only about a week and a half ago when I finally took my bike off the indoor trainer and swapped out the rear tire (on the trainer I use a cheap sacrificial tire to avoid shredding my good outdoor tire). Sad that it's taken me so long, but it was good getting out there this weekend. Now to ride to work again! My commute is only eight miles each way, and nothing too strenuous. It's also almost entirely on the bike trail (save for crossing one busy road), so I don't have to deal with cars or they with me. The only real challenge is that the trail can get busy in certain sections, especially on the afternoons.
Took the dog for a walk/jog this morning, so I didn't ride (and incidentally, it is highly demoralizing to be huffing and puffing as I attempt to jog while he stays at a leisurely walking pace...), but hopefully tomorrow will be my first commute. It's been so rainy...and until this week, it was often only in the thirties in the mornings: chilly, especially when wet. I'm fortunate in that we have a shower at work--just one, but few enough of us use it that I usually don't have to wait--so I can rinse off and warm up/cool down if need be, but...wet clothes (and carrying extras) are a nuisance.
The mild climate here enables us to bike almost every week. My wife rode nearly every day in January. So we don't really understand about riding indoors but I do understand about "different strokes" so to speak. Her favorite expression is "There's no bad weather, only inappropriate clothing" which we immediately contradict saying hot weather is indeed bad all around. How's that for an incoherent ramble?
oh hey a typewriter collector from Olympia came to my type-in and gave me his card. I will hit him up for help setting up the Olympia fete.
The biggest thing with winter riding is that I really don't feel comfortable with riding in the dark, especially alone. And it's pitch dark out there on the trail before and after work by late fall or so. It might be different if I lived in town or had more daytime free time, really good (i.e. expensive) lights and a riding buddy. As it is, it's the indoor trainer or nothing. Or the indoor trainer *and* nothing, as the case ended up for much of the winter.
But feel free to kick me while I'm down....
Not to mention winter bike clothes can get super spendy, even when compared with the cost of a trainer. We have an REI in town now (yay!), so I'm hoping to pick up a few pieces now and again when they have really good sales, and at least extend my *weekend* riding a bit come fall. But there's still that dark thing on week days.
i hear that about the clothing, we haven't spent on it yet either, and you notice the one who rode the most does not work dark to dark as you say. But we still made it out on weekends. one day we got the one clear hour between rainstorms. that was lucky.
9 comments:
Clearly the next type-in has to be in Olympia. Start scouting locations. I'd help you plan it but I don't want to jinx it into a failure. I'd be happy to help set up and I have several machines I want to give away.
Yay drawing coffee cup.
I'd come to a type-in in olympia, I have never really been there *shame*
Hear you on the out of shape thing, I was just beating myself up about this today...
And gosh, the type in was a long drive for you, no way I would have made it if I lived that far. Don't sweat it, it was just fun to see you at the first one (which was a heroic distance to go in my opinion). One up side, I actually won the speed typing contest without you to compete with today ;-)
There is no time for ANYTHING? RIGHT? Argh!
Olympia type-in locations: Burial Grounds, Sizizis, Orcas Books..........
When I feel out of shape, I just remind myself that "round" IS a shape. Your description of the nearby trail(s) sounds lovely; a shame not to enjoy them more.
Of course, this is "Ride to Work Week" and my bike is safely mounted on the exercise stand. It would be a forty-mile round trip for me, and I can identify with the bother of having to change clothes at work. Sweating isn't the issue, though, since it was in the fifties, this morning.
It'd be nice to have a type-in here in Olympia, but I do worry about taking on the organizing of such a thing--see the overwhelmed notes in my post. And yes, I realize some of you have way, way, way more going on in your lives and still pull such things off, but I'm a wimp. It's what I do.
Maybe a less formal one, come fall? As Ryan points out, there are a number of interesting coffee places and bookstores down town. Orca strikes me as one of the better options, though it might be a little crowded. At the very least, they'd be a good place to give flyers to if we had such things as flyers...
It was only about a week and a half ago when I finally took my bike off the indoor trainer and swapped out the rear tire (on the trainer I use a cheap sacrificial tire to avoid shredding my good outdoor tire). Sad that it's taken me so long, but it was good getting out there this weekend. Now to ride to work again! My commute is only eight miles each way, and nothing too strenuous. It's also almost entirely on the bike trail (save for crossing one busy road), so I don't have to deal with cars or they with me. The only real challenge is that the trail can get busy in certain sections, especially on the afternoons.
Took the dog for a walk/jog this morning, so I didn't ride (and incidentally, it is highly demoralizing to be huffing and puffing as I attempt to jog while he stays at a leisurely walking pace...), but hopefully tomorrow will be my first commute. It's been so rainy...and until this week, it was often only in the thirties in the mornings: chilly, especially when wet. I'm fortunate in that we have a shower at work--just one, but few enough of us use it that I usually don't have to wait--so I can rinse off and warm up/cool down if need be, but...wet clothes (and carrying extras) are a nuisance.
The mild climate here enables us to bike almost every week. My wife rode nearly every day in January. So we don't really understand about riding indoors but I do understand about "different strokes" so to speak. Her favorite expression is "There's no bad weather, only inappropriate clothing" which we immediately contradict saying hot weather is indeed bad all around.
How's that for an incoherent ramble?
oh hey a typewriter collector from Olympia came to my type-in and gave me his card. I will hit him up for help setting up the Olympia fete.
The biggest thing with winter riding is that I really don't feel comfortable with riding in the dark, especially alone. And it's pitch dark out there on the trail before and after work by late fall or so. It might be different if I lived in town or had more daytime free time, really good (i.e. expensive) lights and a riding buddy. As it is, it's the indoor trainer or nothing. Or the indoor trainer *and* nothing, as the case ended up for much of the winter.
But feel free to kick me while I'm down....
Not to mention winter bike clothes can get super spendy, even when compared with the cost of a trainer. We have an REI in town now (yay!), so I'm hoping to pick up a few pieces now and again when they have really good sales, and at least extend my *weekend* riding a bit come fall. But there's still that dark thing on week days.
i hear that about the clothing, we haven't spent on it yet either, and you notice the one who rode the most does not work dark to dark as you say. But we still made it out on weekends. one day we got the one clear hour between rainstorms. that was lucky.
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