Arleigh Jenkins

Resolute #2

2. Pack lunches more often, atleast 4 times a week.
I carried a lunch my whole grade school life. In elementary school I attended a Catholic school which a boxed lunch was required, there were no lunch ladies, the only thing you got was milk. Chocolate or white. I mostly opted for white as the chocolate tasted too chalky. Once I got to middle and high school I don't remember bringing lunch ever again. The $1.10 for chicken tenders, meatloaf, tatter tots and a drink was worth it. Maybe this is where my idiot ways of packing lunch came about. I'm horrible at it. I'm horrible at packing left overs, eating my lunch before lunch time and snacking way too much. I'm doing my best to turn over a new leaf on this one. Snacking, especially on M&M's, Dorittos and such, is BAD! The other issue is commuting with a box lunch it all ends up rather mixed up, smushed and flattened. The need for more tupperwear, a better carrying device and planning is my going to be the choice attack method. On my list of things I must acquire. The super duper Ergon BC-3 backpack. Ergonomic, tons of room, storage, separation and wait- it's comfortable I hear. My hope of gaining Ergon as a sponsor for 2009 means this pimp-tastic commuter bag will be in my mail box one day. Plastic, drop proof Tupperwear. Do you think they would be interested in sponsoring a dubious commuter in her goal of better health and a greener way of life? A new pint glass. How much better would my FRS drink for lunch taste in a frosty Twin Six pint glass?

Resolute #1

1. Commute to by bike to work atleast 80% of the time.

Since the move and new family I haven't been commuting much. About once a week and normally on Sunday's when I work only from 12-6. This was due to many reasons. 1. Getting out of bed when a really cute girl is cuddled up warm next to you is really hard to do. 2. Getting out of bed when it's cold or dark out also is hard to do. 3. As I posted a few days ago, there is a "death" section to my commute 4. I've wanted to spend more time when possible with the family 5. Yes, I've become a pussy, or should I say dried up wimp. Enough excuses. Last night I changed out knobs on the cyclocross bike to Bontrager 700x32 slick hard case tires. Packed my bag and I'm off. I think with some grunt work I have worked out a bus schedule. The getting home is tricky as I have a decent way to go in a limited time to make the bus. Hopefully with some help with wind and gained speed I can make it to the bus stop in time to catch it! We shall try tonight to see how long it takes me to get there. Keep your fingers crossed that I don't end up running behind it yelling to stop. Running

Rolling Back on the Wagon

We all know the craziness that has been happening in the dubious life I live. Now that most of the holidays are out of the way and the shop (see photo) has gone into the slow season I will have time to run and catch up to that wagon I fell off of. Making a pact with myself for a New Years resolution I've decided to start a day early and utilize Monday to start off all of my resolutions. 1. Commute to by bike to work atleast 80% of the time. 2. Pack lunches more often, atleast 4 times a week. 3. Eat healthier, aka less fried and processed foods. 4. Try 365 days of photos again. 5. Learn how to pimp myself and talk trash on my blog daily. Wish me luck.

The Newest Blog of Them All

Last night I bit the bullet and upgraded to the newest Wordpress platform of them all, or at least as of this week it is the newest. Version 2.7 seems to be eye pleasing on the back end. If you are an experienced Word Press user you will know that a few versions ago, 2.6 I believe, the platform and looks changed dramatically. 2.7 is completely, fully, different. On to talk that isn't geeked out..... My mom was in the local news up in Annapolis, MD. She has been working with a really cool program called Project Linus which gathers hand made blankets and gives them to those in need. It is something she has been working on pretty hard for the past few months so I am very excited to see her hard work paying off in the news. If you know how to knit or crotchet and would be interested in helping the project drop me a comment! To keep it holiday oriented - check out my tall boy socks that kept me cozy on my ride into work this past Sunday.

New Commute Woes

Orginally posted over at Commute by Bike this past weekend.

Recently I moved to a new location outside of Charlotte, NC. My original commute was 25 miles of a bi-modal commute, utilizing the bus for 19 miles and my bike for 6. The commute normally took 45 minutes to an hour and was a wonderful ride on my bike through Davidson, NC. On the weekends the bus didn’t run so I would ride my bike the total length of the commute. Recently my shop opened a second location in Charlotte and, personally, I moved 17 miles north of the shop to rural Mooresville. Here’s the down fall, the bus runs but not when I need it to. I often work until 7-8pm and the bus to Mooresville does not run that late. Riding down a rather busy 2 lane road through Huntersville, NC is a death wish. There are no cut thrus, bi passes or beaten paths to find for safety. This has run me into many issues. Currently we are a one car household, with two children and a spouse I would rather be riding to leave the car for them and my commute is often my hour or two to myself during the day. What are your recommendations? I’ve found that I will be able to ride in to work as the roads are not that busy, but to get home I’m going to catch a ride with friends or coworkers that live near me. This isn’t my preference and I hope to figure something else out that means riding more. ___________________________________________________________ So far the responses have been strong over at Commute By Bike. The thing that hasn't been touched upon is I am a very experienced cycling commuter. I'm still stumped on the answer to this commuter woe. Sure I could of picked a house in a better commute friendly location, but schools and price were more important on my list of priorities.

6 Responses to “New Commute Woes”

Randy Says: December 19th, 2008 at 11:05 pm Would it be possible for your spouse to meet you half way, past the danger zone, on days when the bus isn’t running and you have no other ride set up? I understand your problem. I live on the southern end of Louisville, but work in Jeffersonville IN. Only 15 miles as the crow flies, but I would have to ride on urban roadways, past the airport, Ford plant, then thru downtown at rush hour and cross the Ohio river on the 2nd St bridge, which scares the hell out of me. (There are little roadside “shrines” set up where cyclists have been killed…).I ride sometimes, but only on weekends, and I cross the bridge pedestrian style, not in the traffic lanes).
Dave Says: December 20th, 2008 at 8:42 am I’m not familiar with the area, but am with the Piedmont (train). Bikes on this train are a breeze. It would get you out of Charlotte and over to Kannapolis, but you’d have to change your schedule significantly.
IR Baboon Says: December 20th, 2008 at 11:40 am I completely understand your hesitance to ride on the two laner. I have my own fears of the same, especially here in the winter. I used to think US31 was a deathwish too. The 3 feet of snow on the shoulders/side of the road has forced me onto the roads. I won’t give up, and I have been pleasantly surprised by how accommodating many drivers can be. Keep yourself well lit, take the lane when necessary, and use eye contact. Best of luck to you in your new commute!
Ghost Rider Says: December 20th, 2008 at 12:54 pm One of the tips that Chris Balish offers in his book How To Live Well Without Owning a Car is that careful choosing of where to live is one of the crucial components to living car-lite or car-free. Obviously, this doesn’t work for everyone — I mean, if you’ve already got an established household, it sucks to pack up and move. But if you can, it might be worth considering relocating to a more commute-friendly area. Otherwise, light yourself up and take the lane. I recommend Down Low Glow and Monkeylectric lights for sheer overwhelming conspicuity…motorists WILL give you a wide berth as they try to figure out just what in the hell you are!
Ben Says: December 20th, 2008 at 11:18 pm First off, great site! Just found it and it is very informative and usefull…even added you to my blogroll! Anywho, I think the best thing to do would be to find others to commute with. Sort of a critical mass ride idea. Obviously the more of you there are the better cars will see you and the more aware they will be of cyclists, also they may be more inclined to riding themselves. My two cents.
jason (sd) Says: December 22nd, 2008 at 6:47 pm I don’t know what you’re traffic levels are like, but I would say ride your shortest route. I live in a relatively small town, but big enough to have a rush hour. I ride on the busiest road in town, in the traffic lane, even when there is a nice wide paved shoulder. I have learned over the years that I am safer riding in the lane of traffic. If I give them enough room to squeeze by, that is exactly what they do. If I take up enough room to force them over the center line then they have to pay attention to what they are doing. This does take some nerve as more motorists will let you know how they feel about bicycles on the road. If you are worried about safety from traffic behind you just remember: That every road in this country was designed so a vehicle could avoid a stationary object in the road way. If they can’t avoid you they were either: speeding by more than your speed, not paying attention to their driving, or over driving the conditions. I know of no bicyclists that have the super human powers of invisibility. However a lot of people ride to make themselves invisible to the average motorist. If you ride in the traffic lane, where they expect traffic to be, they have no excuse that they can’t see you.

Who.is

It's interesting what blogs bring out of people. This was left on my post about getting caught up with life and things like that. It seems that folks like to read personal blogs and use the comment section vent their personal thoughts.

Sees right through you dude dude@dudemail.com | 166.82.57.229 I’m sorry, you strike me as a self-absorbed narcissist who hasn’t made much last in either your personal or professional life. If you are not in some form of recovery or therapy please get on with the task of what is less superficial. You know what is wrong and just seem to be avoiding the obvious. Don’t force people to publicly out your inadequacies by having to read such drival.

So.. who ever in Concord,NC has something against me.. sorry but email me if you really have issues. Until then you aren't any better in what you commented/bitched about.

OrgTechHandle: WINDS-ARIN OrgTechName: Windstream Communications Inc OrgTechPhone: +1-800-990-4449 OrgTechEmail:

CustName: Private Customer - CT Communications Address: Private Residence City: Concord StateProv: NC PostalCode: 28025 Country: US RegDate: 2007-03-12 Updated: 2007-03-12 NetRange: 166.82.57.0 - 166.82.57.255 CIDR: 166.82.57.0/24 NetName: 57-82-166-ATM-DSL NetHandle: NET-166-82-57-0-1 Parent: NET-166-82-0-0-1 NetType: Reassigned Comment: Dynamic DSL customers RegDate: 2007-03-12 Updated: 2007-03-12

Bottom of the List.

There's a long list of bike parts, tech geek gizmos, and furniture that I would like to own. The bike parts range from wheels, to brakes, to small ti bits and complte bikes. The tech geek side of me lust over many game systems, a faster computer, surround sound, and a handy wireless keyboard/mouse for my computer hooked up to the flat screen tv. As for furniture, I do wish I was rich and could try my hand in interior design.

Here's something to add to my list of wants, but I question when I would ever really need a checkerboard fixie wheel. Maybe if it was reflective and the wheels would keep cars from running me over at night. That wheel is on the very bottom of my list, there are many things higher up, but it still is damn cool.

Shop-ism

With a little more than a week left before Christmas it seems like folks are finally in crunch time. Buying gifts for the loved ones, stocking stuffers, quick trips for gift cards while their significant other is over at Best Buy and simply happy folks feeling the holiday spirit finally. Here's a few shameless plugs for the shop I help run, Trek Bicycle Store | Charlotte: We have Cycleops trainers and accessories on sale. Unfortunately I think that soon I'll be spending a decent amount of time on my trainer either in the garage or infront of the TV with Kimber. Cool Breeze Cyclery still has some 2008 Cervelo bikes on sale, so check that out as well. Thursday night, if weather wants to work with us, the Trek Store will be having our first mountain night ride at the White Water park. The first night we will take it easy and skip a couple of the loops, unless more and more advanced riders come about. Since I'm fat and out of shape I'll be taking it easy, I have to take it easy. Finally, I'm on BikeBiz short list of bike industry twitter users. Follow me @arsbars

Wheels are Rolling

Finally got on my XO (cross bike) and rode into work Friday morning. The morning was gorgeous, even had to take off a couple layers and to throw them in the 30 lb back pack. Carrying a laptop, clothes, lunch and papers really suck on your back. Maybe its time to reinstall the rack/panniers on the XO. The ride home at 7:30pm was bitter cold, windy and Google maps lied to me on directions so a street turned into a lawn. Which lead me to call for a bail out. Sucked, I was bummed and unfortunately in my frozen state requested Burger King which was not good as I regretted it the rest of the night. Burger King reminds me of another thing. The weight I've gained over the past few months. I have excuses rolling out my mouth and I'm doing my best right now to bite my tongue. Really, I have other things at higher priorty and I'm working on getting my ass on the bike. Now, I can plan on what I'm going to do. I've had coaches, I've been trained. I suck at having training plans, holding to it. For now I'll have myself, bike, trainer and TrainingPeaks.com. Working on getting on the bike, weekly rides, weekly commuting and just not allowing myself the excuses. Holiday Work Party tonight... sexy lady on my arm too!

Moment-ary Bliss

No bike rides. A few more days have passed and still no new bike rides to report. I have a goal of riding into work tomorrow. Will it happen? There is roughly a 75% chance it will. Pump up the tires on the Casseroll and ride on down the road to work. Not being the opening manager means I don't have to be there till 11am, which gives me more time to make excuses why I should get a ride into work. Routine. For now I'm happy trying to catch on to this routine of 6am wake up calls to get kids dressed, fed and at the bus stop by 6:45. There's still tons of clothes to be put away, stuff to find homes and all that. They are last concerns right now. I'm really enjoying dinner time, night time reading with kids and then some alone time with the one I love. The craziness of the day makes the 3 hours we get alone at night mean so much more. Bike Build. Tomorrow night I'm building the Surly 1x1 back up to start my weekly night ride at the USNWC. More to report on that later.

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