Rains of biblical proportions hit Champaign County last week. Champaign county is very flat and the water doesn’t really go anywhere, so there was a lot of flooding. I spend a lot of time bicycling through the country side and I have seen standing water in just about every field. Several roads were under a foot of water. The flooding was even more apparent when viewed from above, as I was flying out of Champaign last Sunday morning on my way to San Francisco.
Just a week or two ago we had low temperatures in the 30s and now we have highs in the 80s. It’s like we skipped Spring this year and went directly from Winter to Summer. My May bike mileage was slightly up from March & April, but still not quite as high as that of 2006.
May 2008
| Bike | Distance | # Rides | Avg per Ride |
| Bianchi | 36.14 Mile | 6 | 6.02333 Mile |
| Big Red | 8.95 Mile | 1 | 8.95 Mile |
| Bike Friday | 23.03 Mile | 1 | 23.03 Mile |
| Dahon | 46.43 Mile | 6 | 7.73833 Mile |
| Litespeed | 20.23 Mile | 3 | 6.74333 Mile |
| Thundercougarfalconbird | 530.28 Mile | 19 | 27.9095 Mile |
| Total | 665.06 Mile | 36 | 18.4739 Mile |
Jan – May 2008
| Bike | Distance | # Rides | Avg per Ride |
| Bianchi | 328.77 Mile | 53 | 6.20321 Mile |
| Big Red | 31.09 Mile | 4 | 7.7725 Mile |
| Bike Friday | 23.03 Mile | 1 | 23.03 Mile |
| Dahon | 158.13 Mile | 28 | 5.6475 Mile |
| Litespeed | 73.33 Mile | 5 | 14.666 Mile |
| Thundercougarfalconbird | 1715.81 Mile | 53 | 32.3738 Mile |
| Total | 2330.16 Mile | 144 | 16.1817 Mile |
…is National Bike Month, so get out and ride a bike. The temperature will be in the 70’s today.
Here’s a well written piece by a C-U resident:
http://environmentalalmanac.blogspot.com/2008/04/why-not-bike.html
Just as I finished complaining about the ridiculous April headwinds, the leaders of tonight’s ride decided to head mainly East in a strong southerly wind. Spending part of the time on the correct side of the double echelon helped a little, but the rest was pretty brutal. Well April is over, and I can only assume the wind will die down tomorrow. Right?
Speaking of the end of April, I just did a quick tally and my ride mileage was just shy of 600 for the month (down from 831 miles in April 2006). I wonder how much of this I can blame on the horrible winter we’ve had…
Here’s what I’ve been doing this year.
January 2008
| Bike | Distance | # Rides | Avg per Ride |
| Bianchi | 83.6 Mile | 13 | 6.43077 Mile |
| Big Red | 3. Mile | 1 | 3. Mile |
| Dahon | 32.6 Mile | 6 | 5.43333 Mile |
| Thundercougarfalconbird | 17.52 Mile | 1 | 17.52 Mile |
| Total | 136.72 Mile | 21 | 6.51048 Mile |
February 2008
| Bike | Distance | # Rides | Avg per Ride |
| Bianchi | 138.23 Mile | 20 | 6.9115 Mile |
| Dahon | 20.8 Mile | 3 | 6.93333 Mile |
| Litespeed | 16. Mile | 1 | 16. Mile |
| Thundercougarfalconbird | 165.12 Mile | 5 | 33.024 Mile |
| Total | 340.15 Mile | 29 | 11.7293 Mile |
March 2008
| Bike | Distance | # Rides | Avg per Ride |
| Bianchi | 67.2 Mile | 13 | 5.16923 Mile |
| Dahon | 6.5 Mile | 1 | 6.5 Mile |
| Thundercougarfalconbird | 516.63 Mile | 15 | 34.442 Mile |
| Total | 590.33 Mile | 29 | 20.3562 Mile |
April 2008
| Bike | Distance | # Rides | Avg per Ride |
| Bianchi | 3.6 Mile | 1 | 3.6 Mile |
| Big Red | 19.14 Mile | 2 | 9.57 Mile |
| Dahon | 51.8 Mile | 12 | 4.31667 Mile |
| Litespeed | 37.1 Mile | 1 | 37.1 Mile |
| Thundercougarfalconbird | 486.26 Mile | 13 | 37.4046 Mile |
| Total | 597.9 Mile | 29 | 20.6172 Mile |
January – April 2008
| Bike | Distance | # Rides | Avg per Ride |
| Bianchi | 292.63 Mile | 47 | 6.22617 Mile |
| Big Red | 22.14 Mile | 3 | 7.38 Mile |
| Dahon | 111.7 Mile | 22 | 5.07727 Mile |
| Litespeed | 53.1 Mile | 2 | 26.55 Mile |
| Thundercougarfalconbird | 1185.53 Mile | 34 | 34.8685 Mile |
| Total | 1665.1 Mile | 108 | 15.4176 Mile |
April in central Illinois is a bitch. Other months are windy, but April is always the worst. This makes for some challenging bike rides.
Clearly it’s very nice when you have a tailwind, but you can’t do an entire ride with the wind at your back if you have any intention of ending up back where you started. The strong crosswinds are just downright dangerous in that there are times that you really think you’re going to be blown right over. You really want to minimize the amount of time you’re in a crosswind like this.
Then there’s the headwind. Oh, the headwind. It’s demoralizing to see a group of 20 strong bicyclists struggling to maintain 13 mph riding directly into a 25 mph (gusting to 40 mph) headwind. Sadly, this has been the situation on the last 10 or so long rides I’ve done this April.
And then there was this weekend. Somehow I (along with two others) showed up at the wrong time for the Saturday ride, so the three of us headed out to Monitcello (50 mile round trip) straight into a powerful west wind. The first few miles seemed to go on for an eternity.
On Sunday the situation was slightly better in that there were four of us total, but it was slightly worse in that two of those riders were really fast and made the ride even more difficult. I’m not sure how much more I can take.
On the bright side I set a new speed record two weeks ago on the way back from Pesotum when I hit 39.8 mph on flat land. I’ve definitely ridden faster down steep hills, but never on the flat. Amazingly, the guy I was riding with at the time was going over 40 mph and he pulled away from me. Speed records aside, I’m ready for April to end.
Today was probably the coldest weather in which I have ever bicycled, though not the coldest I have ever felt while bicycling. There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes. It was -2˚ Fahrenheit when I left this morning for physical therapy (right shoulder) on the other side of town.
I am the proud owner what could possibly be the greatest invention of all time, Gore-Tex socks. When I wear these things over my regular socks my feet never get cold, no matter how cold or windy it is, and they stay very dry unless I happen to be wading in water for a significant duration of time. I was very sad when I discovered a couple of weeks ago that I misplaced one of my treasured Gore-Tex socks. Since that time I’ve had to get by simply wearing multiple layers of regular socks.
Today was a 3 sock pair day. My shoes would barely fit me and it didn’t even work. My toes were frozen by the time I arrived at my destination. It was then that I resolved to do whatever it took to find my missing Gore-Tex sock. When I got home I looked through all my drawers, behind the washer & dryer, under the bed, all to no avail. Finally, out of desperation, I searched the garage and I found the missing sock in the trunk of Iris (our car). It was still dirty from whenever I last wore it.
At one point during the day Melissa mentioned to me that the UIUC weather page listed the current weather conditions as “bitterly cold.” I could not have agreed more.
And apparently I’m not the only one. On the coldest of winter days, generally when the wind is blowing from the west, I’m joined at my east-facing office window by several small black and brown birds. They fly up to the 5th floor of my building and take shelter from the harsh winds. I don’t think they can see clearly through the tinted windows, though they are startled by sudden motion. If I approach very slowly I can often come within inches of them without them noticing my presence. I managed to snap a few pictures today.
I checked the weather forecast before we left for Rockford this weekend to celebrate little Logan’s 1st birthday. All Saturday night there was a 30-60% chance of “snow showers.” I decided at the last minute to pack my cross country skis into Iris (our car).
I gambled.
I lost.
It didn’t snow more than a few flurries. There was zero accumulation. There was no chance to ski. I did take some grief for this from Melissa’s family, though it was all in good fun. I can only assume it would have snowed inches upon inches had I left the skis at home. Better to be prepared, I guess.