hardcore bike commuter

he lives in maine and rides during the winter. need i say more?

Off the bike

Today's installment of "Off the bike" profiles the ever-hilarious Joe McCloskey! We met Joe while on a summertime charity ride. He was working the sag van for his cycling club, which sponsored the event.

Q&A With Joe:

OTB: Tell us about this photo...

JM: My daughter got married in Hawaii, to a native fellow. Very nice native fellow. I have trouble pronouncing his name...I'm working on it. Anyway, I am a big party animal and my daughter knows that so she put me in charge of the rehearsal dinner. This was a photo from the shindig. I think it went really, really well. My son-in-law's family was so surprised, let me tell you!

OTB: Favorite post-ride meal?

JM: Anything that's not tacked down. (Laughs.)

OTB: Favorite music?

JM: Since it's holiday time, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra comes to mind. I like to get the whole family together and just splurge on tickets on a nice dinner beforehand. It really puts me in the holiday mood.

OTB: Best bike gift?

JM: Well, I really want the new Madone. I mean, I'm a bit overweight but I think that having such a nice bike would really inspire me to get back to fighting weight. I've mentioned it to the wife. We'll see what happens under the tree this year.

OTB: Name one of your non-bike hobbies

JM: Tell you what? I'll tell you about two of them. The first is collecting 8-tracks. Now I know it sounds weird, but you know, I started this in the 70's and just haven't stopped. It's fun to go to garage sales. I usually take my bike and wear a backpack so I can store any 8-tracks I pick up.

Thanks for your time, Jim.

Way cool site for un-tall female cyclists!!!!!!

How cool is this?

At 5 feet, 1/2 an inch, I'm often the shortest cyclist around. Sometimes it seems like there are no resources for short cyclists.

Then you find Kerry's site...The sun comes out. Birds sing. Little puppies hop through green grass fields. That nice choral aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah sound comes from the sky...

Kerry has lots of info on short people cycling - specifically 'cross - and there's even a blog! Niiiice.

Well aren't you just the life of the party?

Say you're rolling a party, and you want to make a good impression.

Why not use your wheels with the flowery spokes?

Here's a link to a how-to guide.

Tales from the car

I've stopped bike commuting, for now. I feel fine and with the pregnancy at 4+ months, I'm not even really showing - I can still wear my regular jeans. However, the pressure from family and friends was huge so I stopped.

Today was tough. I was feeling nostalgic and in the mood to ride.

The morning was crisp and chilly, but not windy or snowy. I have a great balaclava and winter tights - the tights are getting tight though. I even have a big set of bike gloves that I can wear stretchy mittens under. Damn, I miss the bike commuting - even the winter commutes. I am feeling extremely selfish.

The car commuting thing is pretty easy to do but I feel kind of angry when I get to work. I don't exercise most mornings now - I intend to fix that - and I have pent up energy when I get to work.

p.s. File this under "now I've seen it all"...I saw a UNICYCLE COMMUTER today. To make things even more strange, husband was in the car and he said that there must be two of them - a woman and a man. So there you have it, unconfirmed report of MULTIPLE UNICYCLE COMMUTERS.