The nose...

I realize that my topic may make some squeamish. That's not my goal. If reading about perfectly normal bodily functions bothers you, please turn away now.

I have mentioned many times that this is my first winter where I am riding consistently. One weird thing I have noticed is that my nose runs almost non-stop while I am out in the cold.

It's been bothering me. I know it is normal, but I wanted to know why it did that. So, I headed to the google to check it out.

It turns out that the nose tries to warm up the cold air before it enters the lungs. To do this, the blood vessels in the nose get wider. Wider blood vessels produce more mucus. That mucus has to go somewhere.

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle...

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Whodunnit?

A while back, the moon walking bear was all over the internet. It made a great point about missing the obvious. The folks that brought us that have brought us another installment.



I wonder if more people would pass this test if hi-vis yellow and Planet Bike's Superflashes were used.

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Update - 300 miles in 30 days

Early last month, I wrote about the 300 miles in 30 days challenge. I planned on riding 300 miles during the month of September. Then, I thought about it. My commute to school is about 25 miles each day. If I commute four days a week, I have 100 miles under my belt. Three-hundred miles would be a piece of cake.

Not so fast...

The first two weeks started of just fine. In fact, by the end of the second week, I had about 185 miles under my belt. Then, Columbus got hit by a hurricane. I was off from school for three days. I did a little bit of riding around, but nothing near the ten miles a day required to hit 300 miles. I rode to school one day that week.

By the end of the third week, I had about 225 miles. Still, I wasn't worried. I had more than a week of riding to get to the magic 300 number. Then, I put a nasty gash in my foot while playing around in my garden. I rode one day that week. End of week three... 250 miles.

I rode to school the last two days of September and edged myself over the 300 mile mark. I think I ended up with 307 miles for the month.

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Obama/Palin is your new bicycle

This was sent to me from a good friend. He agrees that it is fun, but kind of silly. I'm sure someone out there knows what this is about. For maximum enjoyment, refresh the screen for a new comment.

For my Democratic friends...

Barack Obama is your new bicycle

For my Republican friends...

Sarah Palin is your new bicycle

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From the useless stats department...

I like to use Bike Journal to keep track of my biking miles. At the start of the year, the miles were a rough estimate. This spring, I won a GPS off eBay and the miles got much more precise. Although I still loathe the speed function, I have grown addicted to the estimated time of arrival function.

Earlier this year, I was in the top 1000 on Bike Journal. It lasted until mid-February. I know that I have no chance in getting back into the top 1000. (Right now #1000 has ridden 1333 miles more than me.) But it is my goal to get back into the top 2000. Slowly, I am getting there. Today, for a few hours at least, I slid under 2100. I don't know why I care. It is just a fun way to keep myself motivated.

Speaking of ways to keep myself motivated, I have currently ridden 80 miles five days into the 300 miles in 30 day challenge.

While we are talking numbers, how about these:

Money not spent on gas: $346.50
CO2 not released into the atmosphere: 1960.29 pounds

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300 miles in 30 days

I saw that Zach's Bicycle Commuting Blog mentions Map My Ride's 300 miles in 30 days challenge. I'm game. 300 miles in September. It will be done.

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100 KM; The Metric Century

I am always amazing when I find people who think what I write is interesting enough to link to. My profile says that I am just some guy on a bike. I really believe that. There are many others out there who are doing much more than me to promote bicycling. I just get out and ride and try to set a good example.

I received an email from a friend letting me know that 100 KM; the Metric Century listed me in their 50 States - 100 Bike Blogs post.

Now, I just hope that Ohio was not one of the states that he found difficult to find two good blogs.

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What's that on my car?

What's that on my car? Dust! The thing has sat around for so long, it was covered in a thin layer of dust.

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Bicycle Jigsaw Puzzle

Just for fun... A bicycle jigsaw puzzle. Click on the picture to complete it.



Enjoy!

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Bike tattoos

This is probably old hat by now, but I thought I would share the awesomeness of bike tattoos.

See them here.

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Panasonic Regenerative Electric Bicycle

I have never tried a bike with an electronic assist. So far, I have not run out of gears on a bike. Nonetheless, it is an interesting idea. Read more here.

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Happy Birthday Lindsay!

Today was Lindsay's fifth birthday. She moved up from the trailer to the Trail-A-Bike. I surprised her by telling her that we were going to the grocery store. You can see her spontaneous reaction to the bike below. This got a better reaction than all of the Tinkerbell and Ariel toys.














Here is a picture of us getting ready to go.














And we're off!















And this is my favorite picture of the afternoon. Why? Neither of us knew that picture was being taken. Take a look at Lindsay. That is one huge smile. She is already talking about going out for milkshakes on the rig.

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Cycling and calories - Part two

A while back, I posted about cycling and calories.  It was just a little tongue in cheek piece about how many calories I have burned.  

The Palm Beach Bike Tours blog has a great write-up  about calories and pulling a trailer.  It is an interesting read.  Go take a look.  

As far as my numbers go...

Me at 15 mph:  0.049 *180 is 8.82 calories per minute

Me with the trailer at 15 mph:  0.049*200 is 9.8 calories per minute

Me with Lindsay in the trailer at 15 mph: 0.049*245 is 12 calories per minute

Me with Lindsay and Emily in the trailer at 15 mph: 0.049*270 is 13.23 calories per minute

Of course, none of this really matters as long as I get to have fun with the kids.

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Pedicabs in Columbus

The Dispatch had a good article about pedicabs yesterday. It leaves me with only one question, how do I apply?

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Rainy Saturday mornings

Sometimes I just feel like writing. Like today. The problem is that nothing has really happened that is writing worthy. That's when Google News comes to the rescue.

I typed in bicycling and sifted through countless articles about bicycle commuting is more popular now because of gas prices. There were also a bunch of articles blasting Obama for looking like a dork while wearing a bicycle helmet. (I don't mean for this blog to get political, but if you are voting based on which candidate does not look like a dork, please stay home in November.)

First up: Man with fake mustache robs surprise bank, flees on bicycle

This was the first thing that popped into my head when I read that.

Then I thought... if only there was some way he could disguise himself and his fake 'stache...
Up next: Crazy two person bicycle


I guess this is supposed to be used as a trust building gizmo. If both people decide to pedal, they will crash. If both decide to steer, they will crash. I am just imagining how much stronger a marriage will be after both people spend the weekend in the emergency room followed by weeks of recovery.

Finally: Cycling: Bad for the economy?

At last, someone is willing to expose the downside of cycling.

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World Record Bike Parade Attempt

A Father's Day trip back to Lorain County is the perfect front to participate in the World Record Bike Parade attempt in Wellington.

From the kind people at the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure:

Join the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure (GOBA), a world-class bicycle tour, in celebrating its 20th annual event by attempting to break the Guinness World Record TM for the Largest Parade of Bicycles. On Saturday evening, June 14, 2008, the inaugural event of this year's week-long tour will be the GOBA traditional bicycle parade, held in Wellington, Ohio, in Lorain County. The current world record stands at 1,901 bicycles and was set by Volvic in Taiwan, July 21, 2007.

More information here.

I have been on several GOBAs and have found them to be a wonderful trips. (Well, except for the thunderstorm that blew rain up and under my rain fly. ) I have met the people that put these together and they are incredibly dedicated people. If you are looking for a fun trip in June, this is it.

If you are in the area, look for me. I'll be on the Trek with two kids in the trailer.

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Bike to Work Week -- part three

Two of my students had the opportunity to meet Lance Armstrong. According to the parent, the conversation went like this:

Lance: "Hi, how are you?"
Student: "Good. My teacher rides his bike to school everyday. Do you know him?"
Lance: "Ummm... no."

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Arrows

Does anyone else ride over the arrows painted on the road and pretend you are in some sort of video game?  You know the kind... where you get hyperspeed when you hit the arrows.

No?  Really?  Carry on then.

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Optical Illusion

I never should have posted an optical illusion without the solution.  If you read the Situation Awareness post, you saw the picture to the left.  It also had the question, "Which square is darker, A or B?"  I never gave the solution.

Scroll down for the solution.

Here is the solution.  Both A and B are the same color.  Even after seeing this solution, I still did not believe it.  I ended up putting this picture into photoshop and deleting everything except the two squares.  I still did not believe it.  I used the eyedropper.  Still the same.

If you are freaked out about this, check out some other optical illusions that were done by the same guy.  

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Do you want to be my friend?

I found this during some random googling last night.

65%

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