Pumpkin Time

A friend and I rode the 22 mile route of the Pumpkin Vine Bike Ride yesterday. It was a beautiful morning for a ride with clear skies after a rain in the pre-dawn hours. Mist hung in the air as we rode to the starting point in Abshire Park. The night before, I stripped down the X to it's bare frame, leaving looking a bit like a vintage motorcycle. That lopped off several extra pounds and made the ride astoundingly easy for me. Maybe next year I'll try the 42 mile route, but I'm also thinking about helping my son train for the 22 mile route. He's really taken to his "new" Giant MTX 225 (w/rigid fork) and can easily keep up with Carol and I at a moderate pace. If I can find a set of slicks for it, he'll really fly along.

Rude Awakening

I biked to work today in the early morning rain. It was a light rain and the air temp was about 67. I consciously worked at enjoying the experience and had prepared for it by wearing light, quick drying clothes and closed toe sandals.

An aside, I've recently realized a nice transition of driving/riding awareness: I sometimes forget I'm in a car and want to go park where I'd normally park my bike. I sometimes forget I'm on my bike and forget I'm exposed to the elements. This last experience leads me to what happened today.

My ride was going very well this morning. I was enjoying the rain, staying safe, and making good time. As I got close to work, I crossed into the left lane on the state route that passes the grounds of my workplace, Oaklawn Hospital. I'd checked behind me and there were no cars coming. I looked ahead and waited for traffic to pass before turning left into the drive. As I waited, a semi-tractor trailer appeared in the oncoming traffic. Remember the rain? I was completely caught off-guard as I caught the full spray from the truck as it passed me by. The spray felt like a blanket of fine water drops drenching the entire front of my body. Luckily, I had my old Oakley Factory Pilots protecting my eyes. I stayed upright and could make the turn safely.

What a rude awakening! I was suddenly shocked by the reminder of just how vulnerable I am to the weather and to cars/trucks. While I can laugh at it now, I will remember this experience for a long time and be better prepared the next time.

Two for one or One for Two?

I picked up a used Giant MT 225 for Benjamin yesterday from our local bike shop. It was 1/3 the price of a new bike. We checked out a new bike last Saturday and he absolutely fell in love with it. However, I balked at the price when I found out that a cleaned up and freshly tuned up used bike was available and was actually a better fit for him. So, I made the frugal choice and waited three days for the work to be done. Benjamin loves it and want to go out riding. It's wonderful to see him able to keep up with me at a decent pace. Hooray! We can go riding together!

Rode only 3 miles yesterday and only about 1.5 today. Hope to commute tomorrow.

good night!

Cycling for Everyone

Just got a chance to view a few minutes of this wonderful video. I plan to make time to watch the whole thing:

Cycling for Everyone: Lessons for Vancouver from the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany
John Pucher, professor of planning and public policy, Rutgers University
May 15, 2008, Vancouver

http://www.sfu.ca/city/city_pgm_video020.htm

This is long, but may be very useful for bike advocacy. Notice this is by a professor of planning and public policy.

Not just for kids

Saw this on the Surly blog and found it amusing and wise.

Rode about 3 miles yesterday with Benjamin on the X. We spent time at our local bike shop and though we could've spent $300 on a new Trek for him, chose to spend about $90 for a used Giant MTX 225 for him. The shop will tweak it a bit and get it ready for safe riding (new brake cable and new shifter). Looking forward to him being able to keep up with us and ride much longer distances than he has in the past on his much smaller single speed.

Worth it and more

I was riding across town this evening and got stopped by a young man riding a nicely set-up road bike. He mentioned seeing my ride by on my X a few nights ago and was inspired. He's been thinking about buying an X for his mtn bike and hadn't realized there was anyone in our small city that owned one (there are actually three of us). He asked about it and I told about and he salivated about it... and now he's going to buy one. That will make four Xs in our city of 30k that I know of. :-)

Late this afternoon I participated in an organizing meeting to re-energize our nascent bike advocacy/action group. I'm excited! We'll hold at least one more "organizing meeting" before holding more advocacy/action (and socializing) meeting.

Riding home this evening, I kicked into high gear on the major downhill portion of my commute. I managed to hit 33.1 mph. Whew!

Rode about 9.5 total miles today.

Busy

I'm finally commuting by bike this week. Will go in this morning. Have done lots of errands by bike and not been accounting for most of them. Used the car Tues and Weds due to chaotic schedules. Picked up the kids by bike both days. Did a big grocery run on Monday. No clue on the mileage - haven't been tracking. Avon broke her knee Thursday and we've been very busy running errands for her. Michael comes today to stay for a few days - that will be wonderful in many ways!