Sometimes you'll find that riding a bike reveals certain things about your body that need attention. With the change in my riding habits over the last year, that has become very evident. I now know that some minor aches and pains were due to my riding. Minor stuff. On the other hand, riding less has had it's consequences too and I much prefer the minor aches; now that I'm aware of them, I can adjust technique or equipment to deal with it.
What I may not be able to deal with is my brain. The last few weeks I've developed a strange Pavlovian need to check my cell phone due to ...
WIND CHIMES!!!
I'll be riding through the neighborhood and every block or two will faintly hear something that makes me reach for my cell phone. Here's the problem, there are no ring tones on the phone that sound,remotely like wind chimes. I don't get it. And where have all these wind chimes come from? I've never seen or heard this many in my life.
I used to love the sound of wind chimes. My parents had wind chimes hanging on the back porch that lulled me to sleep in my childhood. Now I react and then cringe when I hear them.
So, here's a public service announcement that you'll most likely not come across anywhere else: Say no to wind chimes. Think of the cyclists.
This year started out to be a low-mileage, utility biking year. During yesterday's ride to the library and grocery store I decided I really needed to get back out on the Indian Creek Trail for a recreational ride. 54° F and sunny today. Everyone else in my family was off doing their own thing, so I decided to go for my first just-for-the-fun-of-it ride of the year.
As the ride started I had plenty of company; a few cyclists, several joggers, and families out walking. But after I passed Roe Park I seemed to have the trail to myself.
As I hit this open stretch my MP3 player randomly shuffled to "Hallelujah Trail" by Elmer Bernstein. It turned out to be the perfect piece of music for my mood and as it ended I couldn't help saying "Awesome." The only thing that could have made the ride better was if the foliage was a bit more green.
For now I'll just have to imagine the forthcoming Spring.
What's the deal with every morning having the same 18° F (-8° C) temperature? Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying getting out in it, but some variety would be nice.
This morning I actually had two goals in mind when I set out on my bike:
Take one of the boy's forgotten-in-the-rush backpack to school.
Coffee -- NEED COFFEE (trip to grocery store)
A half mile into the ride (right in front of the frozen fountain) I noticed that my head felt colder than it should. I'd forgotten to put the wrap-around ear muffs on over the balaclava. Still, it wasn't terribly uncomfortable. As I walked into the school and, later, into the store I got a couple questioning looks but no one said anything about it being too cold to be out on a bike. Perhaps the people in the school office are just used to seeing me this way. Perhaps no one in the store wanted to talk to someone who was peeling off layers to let out some of the heat trapped within. Perhaps winter cyclists are becoming so common that no one gives them a second thought anymore. Naaaaahh.
I got home and swapped biking layers with dog walking layers and headed out for another morning walk wherein I show my dog that I'm the pack leader and that animals are in subjection to humans.
Here she waits patiently while I bag her waste. Wait. What!?!
This morning I was musing on how 28° F at 7:30 to 8:00 a.m. seems to be the ideal setting for maximum squirrel activity when I rounded a corner in Founders Park and saw her. A beautiful doe standing right next to the trail. We eyed each other cautiously as I coasted past and I thought to myself -- it's great to be back on the path.
I've gone through a lot of phases with my bike riding. Bike Commuter, Recreational Cyclist, Utility Cyclist. It's no secret that the end of my commuting put a damper on biking and blogging; and that is fine, we all go through that kind of ebb and flow in various aspects of our lives.
This last year my interest in cycling waned. There were lots of excuses: I'm working from home now, walking the dog in the morning, working on the house and yard, the apprehension that came after a couple of friends had been hit by cars, and, to be honest, the thrill was simply gone.
For some reason I turned the mental corner a few days back. Perhaps it is just because this is my favorite time of year for riding. Yes, it is getting cold, but cold weather riding is not uncomfortable if you're wearing the proper clothing. It also means I'm a bit more visible with my highly reflective and hi-vis jacket. Also, the air is "crisp" and I like that.
Now, as a case in point, I needed to make a quick run to the bank this morning which would be 3.5 miles round trip. I knew it would be cold so I dug out my balaclava and quickly checked the temperature: 28°. I checked my list of what clothes to wear based on the temperature and hit the road. (I do need to adjust the list again now that I've discovered the miracle of wool socks.)
When I got home I realized that the joy of riding that has been missing for months is back. I also feel energized; I don't know how else to put it. Maggie and I will still get our daily walks in, but I'm going to make time to get out on the trail early in the morning so I can have this feeling throughout the day. So, when you see cyclists out in the cold, don't feel sorry for us -- we're having a blast.
In all the articles I've poured over concerning reasons to ride bikes I always see items along the lines of riding being good for the environment, good for the body, good for traffic calming, and FUN! I hardly ever see anyone else mention Rock Star Parking, although Noah has been kind enough in the past to mention it.
So, Saturday I spent part of the day replacing a faucet and when I found myself needing a couple of faucet connectors I knew it meant a trip to Home Depot. I almost drove but since the round trip would be less than a mile and a half and the weather being nice, albeit windy, I hopped on the bike and grabbed a parking spot right in front of the door. I just wish they had a proper bike rack.
As I was unlocking the bike, a guy who lives down the street was headed to his car and came up to say hi. He said "I'd never thought of riding my bike." I told him I just wanted to get in and out and this made it quick.
Something our pastor mentioned in his sermon yesterday reminded me of this headstone. I've driven or ridden past this for almost three decades, always meaning to take a picture. Since it had still been on my mind this morning, I decided a lunchtime ride would be in order. A quick check on the weather revealed sunny skies with temperatures in the mid 50's and no wind.
Does the angle of the sun make my shadow look fat?
The first half of the ride was primarily residential side streets and as quiet as can be. I rode the Mendota and the lack of a bike computer resulted in a leisurely pace.
The second half of the ride was in moderate traffic.
While I waited at the Metcalf light, you could tell that the cars that pulled up behind me weren't used to sharing the road. I'll leave it at that because the rest of the ride was wonderful.
I started walking my dogs pretty regularly around 6 months ago. Before that time I hate to admit it was rare due to one being rather old and the other being such a challenge to walk. 4 months ago I finally made it a daily habit; I knew we didn't have many months left with Belle and wanted her to enjoy her final days. I could still get in several bike rides a week but dog walking was becoming my daily thing. Belle's gone now but I still get out with Maggie every morning. I'd mentioned before that bike rides have also taken a back seat to painting the house, so there just hasn't been any spare time to go riding.
When I weighed myself at the gym yesterday morning I came to a sudden realization: walking my dog is making me fat. Granted, I've only gained 3 pounds in the last couple of weeks, but if I do the math it seems that if I don't get back on the bike soon I'm really going to pack on the pounds.
I walk the dog for 30 minutes in the morning before work. This used to be the time that I'd go out for a 40 minute bike ride.
30 minutes a day walking the dog burns 142 calories.
40 minutes a day riding my bike burns 612 calories.
That's a difference of 470 calories per day or 14100 calories or 4.7 pounds gained per month.
That must account for the gain in weight, I'm sure it has nothing to do with the jalapeno/artichoke dip with chips and/or the milk and Oreos I've been snacking on lately...
So, walking the dog must be the reason I'm gaining weight. Realizing this, I decided to take a ride during lunch and got 10 rather windy miles in. In celebration, I had a bowl of ice cream.
I've been spending way too much of my spare time painting the house the last month and a half or so. My lunch hour, an hour or so after work, weekends, pretty much any sunlit hours available have been spent scraping, priming and painting. This hasn't left much time to go out and spend an hour or so riding my bike for the shear joy of it.
Truth be told, since I work from home now, cabin fever has crept in and it was supposed to be a beautiful weekend and I wanted to go out and ride. The problem was that it was going to be a beautiful weekend and I'm close to finishing the house. I promised myself that I'd put in a full day on Saturday and didn't care what was left on Sunday ... I needed to get away from the house and was going on a bike ride.
Since the boards under the kitchen and dining room windows had suffered some wood rot, they had to be replaced. Since they had to be replaced, the brick moulding had to be replaced. Time to break out the mitre saw.
With that done, it was time to paint the shutters a lovely K-State purple. This, my friend, is time consuming.
The front windows were done, but after church I looked at the area around the garage door and decided it could use a coat of paint before I took my ride. This led to painting some other trim around the front door. At 5:45 the daylight was running out and I'd yet to hop on the bike. I was happy with what I'd accomplished, but rather than pack it in for the day I hopped on the bike and took off for a 30 minute ride before the sun went down completely.
I felt a little bad that the ride had taken a back seat once again and was tossed in at the end of the day just because I'd promised myself that I'd do it. Turned out to be a nice, relaxing ride anyway. All in all, it was a good weekend.
In season 3, Jim briefly commuted to the Stamford branch of Dunder Mifflin. Last night's episode opened with Oscar showing off his new "Lance Armstrong bike."
Oscar: "I love cycling. Andy, I feel like a tourist in my own city. I literally can't wait to wake up in the morning."
I know what he means.
Then, of course, there's Dwight: "Can't beat a horse. A horse is a bike that pedals itself."
It is refreshing seeing bike commuting presented without a negative stigma. You can check it out on Hulu.
Looks like it is a bit of a slow news day. I'll add a couple items to spice things up.
Local Cyclists Ignore Signs, Face Decision. This group of bikers must have failed to notice the huge signs blocking the road two times within a half mile stating that the road was closed ahead. This attempt to stare at the torn up bridge long enough that it fixed itself failed and they instead chose to wade through the creek rather than back track.
Area Man Pauses to Watch Paint Dry. Yeah, I've been spending way too much time painting lately...
Note to the local TV stations, feel free to use my two stories if yours have gotten a bit stale.
I took the afternoon off thinking that I'd ride my bike to Sears to pay a bill and then continue painting the house. I've spent most of my spare sunlit hours painting during the last three weeks. After dropping the check off I headed home and decided to make the 3 mile errand ride into a 10 mile recreational ride.
Somewhere along the way my 10 mile ride turned into a 23 mile ride. And why not? No one else was home, the dogs had been walked, the dishwasher had been cleared and it was a beautiful 72° (22° C) day.
Like I'd said, almost every spare sunlit hour I've been painting. I could stand on a laddar for an extra couple hours or I could just enjoy some of the day.
12 miles in I was met with a little surprise.
They didn't say the park was closed, so a little off road cycling and I reached the other side of the closure.
Seen this morning while walking the dog. Yes, I know, it should be spelled "Caterpillars make chrysalises." I like it the way it is (especially with the heart).
I took this one day before they shut down 99th street at Marty (just one block west of Metcalf). Proof that there are more bikes out on the road this year than I've ever seen before. If you can't make it out, there was a bike stopped at the red light heading west, a bike on the path heading north and I was on my bike waiting on the light heading east. I had to get photographic evidence...
There are a couple of you who read my blog that occasionally use 99th. It is going to be out of commission here for another month, adding 2 miles to any of my rides to the east. Alternate routes for bikes are 91st, 101st or 103rd (to the bike path). Not really very convenient. For the time being, I'm riding north, south and west.
A few weeks back we packed the family up and headed to South Dakota for a wedding and then to Colorado for some rest and relaxation. Having heard about the bike friendliness of Fort Collins, I searched for bike rentals in the area and came up with a couple options. One company gave me the run around for several weeks, so I called New World Sports and explained that we wanted to ride the local trails and needed a variety of bikes for 7 people. Joe delivered in a big way. Curtis wanted to try a road bike, Trevor and I opted for cruisers (mine with the high handlebars I remembered from my childhood), Peter grabbed a mountain bike and Katie, Jon and my wife rode hybrids.
We knew we wanted to ride the Spring Creek and Poudre trails and hoped to make a stop at the New Belgium Brewery. Joe had us grab a copy of the FCBikes map (12 meg PDF available HERE) and gave us a couple different route options. He checked and adjusted all the bikes, gave us water bottles filled with ice water, equipped us with a pump, tools and extra tubes (just in case), made sure we could get in touch with him if something happened that we couldn't take care of and off we went.
We started on some very bike friendly side streets.
Riding with a view of mountains was a treat.
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I've got to admit, riding the Monkey Bike brought back a lot of memories.
The bikes were wonderful. The trails were smooth and riding a cruiser didn't pose any problem. If you're ever going to be in the Fort Collins area and want to ride the trails, mountain bike or participate in the Tour de Fat and need a bike, contact Joe. Reasonable prices and great service. Thanks for some great memories Joe.
Joe of www.NewWorldSportsLLC.com
Note: I wasn't compensated for the review in any way. I was just truly impressed with the guy and wanted to pass the information along.
