Bike-to-Work Week

Today begins Bike-to-Work Week. Make a point of readying your clothes and cycling gear the night before and head to the office or school on your bike.

The Internet is full of information regarding bicycle commuting and cleanliness at work. Since the days are cooler in my area, I don't break much of a sweat on my ride. I shower before I head out and tie my hair back. When I get to work, I change into my work clothes, wet my hair if it needs help, and let it air dry before I do a final brushing. It's probably simpler than that for the guys.

My commuter isn't really a commuter. It's a cyclocross bike that I really do use for cyclocross and road riding as well. I carry a backpack when I commute. I put clean clothes, regular shoes, lunch, and whatever else I may need in it.

As a person who usually runs late, I have learned that packing my bag and laying out my clothes the night before helps me quite a bit. The less I have to do in the morning, the easier it is for me to get going and be on time. I am actually thinking about making a checklist so I don't have to deal with that nagging feeling I've forgotten something.

I have only one day of work this week. I will have to get up at 5 AM. on Tuesday morning and slowly come to life and breakfast so I can ride my bike to work. One day of work...and I will celebrate Bike-to-Work Week by doing just that - biking to work.

Try Something New

I'm having a lot of fun with National Bike Month. Not only am I packing on the mileage and packing in the hours, but I'm using this month to reset my bicycle clock and get me back into the swing of things.

Last fall, I tried something new. I joined an impromptu cyclocross team call "The Red Jackets." I was very nervous about trying the unexpected. The thought of mounting and dismounting throughout a race and actually having to learn the proper technique for doing so plucked away at my confidence. After a fun cyclocross season, I realized that I learned skills and techniques that could translate into my mountain biking to make for faster races. I will continue to practice cyclocross throughout the summer to enhance my mountain biking skills and to prepare for the new cross season.

National Bike Month idea of the day: try something new today, like cyclocross.

Spring Cyclocross?

What do you do if it's not road season or mountain biking season, but ski season? What do you do if you want to ride? Well, ride!

Today, my friend, Pat, and I took our cyclocross bikes out for a road ride. We stopped off at McLain State Park and road some snow and enjoyed the view.


Di riding with her Kona Jake the Snake and Pat's Redline cross bikes. Lake Superior is covered with snow in the background with deep blue waters in the greater depths.

After a brief stint at McLain, we headed up Calumet Water Works Road for a much needed spring climb. It is a two mile gradual climb with some varying grades and no descents. Pat and I made it to the top in good form. This is a great road to ride down on a hot day. There is usually a breeze coming off of Lake Superior, and the view is absolutely spectacular!


The road to the right is Calumet Water Works and M-203 is to the left. You can see Lake Superior on the horizon of both roads. Pat is riding up M-203.

We returned to McLain State Park via M-203, a nice, rolling ride. I drafted Pat and had a nice ride all the way down as Pat broke the wind for me. Once we got to McClain, he veered off the road onto the trail that is packed with ski tracks. "What are you doing? You're crazy!" I said as I pondered turning my bike around to follow him.

"What? It's rideable. Come on." I directed my bike off the pavement and onto the snow trail. Ever hear of crust skiing? It's when skate skiers enjoy the crusty, springtime snow and can skate in fields rather than rolled trails without sinking. Well, this was crust cycling.


Pat riding the McLain State Park trail. We were riding on a trail packed with about one to two feet of snow. Still, it's easier than riding through the sandy cyclocross courses in the UP.

We hit the pavement again and headed for Waasa Road. The special thing about Waasa is the super steep hill where it meets M-203. It's one hell of a climb. I tackled it in my uncle gear - that's what I call the easiest gear on my cross bike that isn't nearly as easy as the granny gear on my mountain bike. It was an incredible challenge for me. I've made it up once before. I huffed and puffed and pulled back on the handlebars with each pedal stroke using my whole body to muscle up the hill. As I was huffing and puffing and at my max and using all the brainpower I could to get to the top of that hill, I was watching Pat bunny hopping, trackstanding, and doing wheelies as he slowly climbed with me.

"That wasn't so bad," Pat said as we reached the top of the hill.

"Ya, sure," I said. "I'm huffing and puffing and giving it all I've got and you're bunny hopping up the hill!" Pat let out a jovial laugh. He loves laughing at my pain. I wish you could've seen it.

After that climb, we geared down and took an easy ride back to my house. Twenty-six and a half miles in just under three hours. The weather was wonderful in the heat-strokish 30s Fahrenheit and we were in our glory as the sun beat down on us. It was just another day in the Keweenaw.

I Was Only Gonna Do One Race

My goal for 2007 was to do the Copper Harbor Fat Tire race and look like I belonged there. My goal was quite a contrast to my performance in 2006.

The people I ride with all race. They race and they’re good at it. The Keweenaw Chain Drive was the first race of the season, and I was often asked if I was going to do it. “No, I’m not.”

“Why not? You should do it!”

“No, I don’t want to do a lot of racing. I’m just doing Copper Harbor because I couldn’t ride it last year. I did a hike-a-bike, more hike than bike.”

“The Chain Drive is right here, though. You should do it. Come on, you’ll have fun!”

I succumbed to peer pressure once again.

The same scenario occurred for Ore to Shore and The Great Deer Chase. In a nutshell, I did all the races and did very well in them. I raced in the 30-39 age group, Female division and had the following finishes (all age-group finishes):
• Keweenaw Chain Drive: 2nd
• Ore to Shore: 7th
• The Great Deer Chase: 1st
• Copper Harbor Fat Tire Festival: 3rd


Di on the podium for second place (right) at the Keweenaw Chain Drive.

In late September, I was invited to join a team that was thrown together for cyclocross: the Red Jackets. We traveled to Marquette to compete in the UP Cyclocross Series. My cyclocross skills certainly aren’t like my mountain bike skills. I found cyclocross to be the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. Due to my dedication - my willingness to show up to multiple races - I earned enough points to take second place overall in the season.


The Red Jacket cyclocross team. Di is #23.

Helping the Homeless

I rode well through November, and was jealous to find that others did a December ride up in Copper Harbor. Not only did they have dry, frozen ground to ride on, but they were riding the very trails that squashed my confidence and brought my inexperience to the forefront. However, winter truly did come. It came in January after they made snow at Mt. Ripley and trucked it to the Tech Trails in time for the National Ski Championship races that were being held in Houghton. The citizens of Houghton County had to strongly encourage it, but winter did come. Winter lasted through January and February and waned in March. With the exception of the traditional spring snow storm bringing several feet of snow, March was pretty much the end.

Yes, spring had arrived quite early in the Upper Peninsula in 2007. I did my first road ride on the back roads of Negaunee Township on March 27th. The mountain biking season had resumed by April 21st!

Fortunately for me, I fell in love with a beautiful cyclocross bike on the MMBA web site. I think it’s safe to say that cyclists get turned on by bikes. Unless you’re that guy in the UK on an excursion with his bike who got caught in his hotel room literally with his pants down, most of us don’t think of our bikes sexually. However, there is a switch that gets flipped on as we ponder the possibilities of our latest discovery. This bike flipped that switch. I was turned on.

It was a cold February day when I was bike sick. I sauntered into the bike shop and explained that I needed a bike that offered a bit of versatility. I wanted something I could ride on the road, but would also serve as a backup to my mountain bike so I could ride the more gentle trails if my mountain bike was in need of repair.

It just so happened that there was a homeless Kona Jake the Snake sitting in the shop desperately seeking a home. It didn’t take much prodding. I agreed to take it. I took Jake home a few weeks later, just in time for my first road ride in March.