Total distance (May): 100.92 miles
Total distance (Cumulative): 502.71 miles
Total time (Cumulative): 42 hours, 57 minutes

Ouch, that is really bad. 101 miles and 8 hours? I am ashamed. Oh well, I’m making it up: I’ve ridden 58.87 miles in the first six days of June. May was busy, I didn’t ride on any weekends, at all. Wait, wait, I’m sure I can come up with more excuses… Oh yeah, my bike is too heavy and there was a head wind. Here is a break down: 39.5 miles commuting, plus 11.5 miles on the M2 (one ride) and 50 miles on the Gunnar.

In a related story, the drivers side window regulator broke on my Acura, so I’ve only driven it once this month. The new regulator came today, but the dealer sent the regulator for the passenger window. Oh well, at least it does not rain in my garage. Rant: Why can’t anyone make a decent power window regulator? My old Jetta had four crappy regulators, three of which had been replaced at least once, all of which made scary noises when I sold it (yeah, I told the new owner). I thought Honda was supposed to make nice (boring) reliable (boring) cars, guess not. Even when Honda regulators are working they sound like they are not quite up to lifting the windows, and even then progress at glacial speeds. I’ve noticed this on several Honda and Acura cars, it is not limited to my five foot long Acura windows. This leads me to my next complaint: Why do these car manufactures insist on gluing/taping the door linings to the doors? As much as I like to break things, cutting a $50 door liner is not my idea of fun. How about some bolts and foam seal? Maybe some of those crappy plastic plugs? VW figured it out on the late A4 Golf/Jettas. The A4s came with bolt-in metal/plastic inner panels, most likely due to the frequent access required for the ridiculously unreliable regulators they came equipped with. My A3 VR6 Jetta was not so equipped and went under the knife numerous times. I actually used blue-bags in doors on my old A2 GTI 16v. Whatever, I should just buy a beige Camry.

Here is some good news:

It is the 19.2 mile gravel/road route again!

Date: 2006.06.06
Time: 7:30 pm
Conditions: 85° F, very nice
Mileage: 19.2
Time: 1:02
Average Speed: 18.6 MPH

I am very happy with this result. I’ve improved my average speed by over one mph and improved my time by four minutes. I was at just under 31 minutes and 19.0 mph average speed at the half-way point, so I am fairly consistent throughout the ride. Hmm, I suppose those daily commute rides are paying off (my commute is only three miles). I also brought one of those caffeine laced GU packs from REI. It probably deserves the credit, perhaps two GU packets will get me under an hour, and three will make my heart explode?

My old yellow Giro helmet was in sad shape: the Roc-Loc was held together with a wire tie, the foam pads were falling apart, the visor was attached with electrical tape, and the straps had stretched enough to put the buckle somewhere between my jaw and left ear.

I prefer to have a brightly colored helmet, mostly for visibility and safety. REI and I don’t see eye to eye on the subject as they only had helmets in black, white, black with crappy graphics, and white with crappy graphics.

I bought a Bell Influx because the GPS seems to work better than the current incarnation of Roc-Loc, and it was pretty comfortable. Unfortunately, REI only had the Influx in black with crappy graphics or in white with crappy graphics. I was not deterred. I purchased the helmet, and can of Pactra RC car Lexan paint from the local hobby shop.

I chose a mild “fluorescent green” shade to enhance visibility and offend the eyes of onlookers. This is truly a hideous shade of green, and goes well with the red helmet pads.

After a couple hours, a few thousand feet of painters tape, and two coats of paint, the helmet was done. The result speaks for itself. The photo does not do the helmet justice, it is far more revolting in person. The combination of flat fluorescent green, gloss black, and red is outstanding; much better than I could ever find at REI, or anywhere else.

After a long, long, long weekend of weddings and broken window regulators I went for a ride. I managed to get in a short ride on Monday afternoon, in the rain. Eric and I rode about an hour or so through 90°, 100% humidity, and over-grown thorn bushes. After the rain the temperature dropped, but the standing water was a little rough on the drivetrain. It looks like I’ll have to sacrifice the M2 for my commute tomorrow; the Gunnar does not like sitting outside in thunderstorms.

Anyway, I’ll post progress on the single speed soon, as well as my custom DIY painted helmet.