Dehydration or Mental?

Yesterday my day job had me out walking in the heat of the afternoon for a couple of hours.  I did not take water with me.  Consequently, as I headed down to the locker room to change and prepare for my ride home I was sluggish and tired.  I was not motivated in any fashion to go fast.  I blamed dehydration for the lack of energy.

This morning however, I was terribly slow to wake up and get moving.  There was something else nagging at me as to why I might be feeling this way.  I historically have been affected by the change from awaking in daylight to awaking in darkness.  So, was it that, or was I still just dehydrated?

Bicycle Infrastructure

Early Sunday morning a man riding a bicycle was hit by a car in a parking lot and was seriously injured.  The driver did not stick around to take responsibility for what he had done.  This was apparently a road-rage incident.  As it turns out, the driver did eventually turn himself in to authorities and admitted what he had done. 

What blew my mind was that when the story hit the Twitter Boards, someone commented that it was a sad illustration of why we need better infrastructure!  Better infrastructure!?  As if a bicycle lane or sharrow would have prevented this. 

No, this is not infrastructure...it's responsibility.  I think it's sad that people are so inundated with fictional stories from television that they instinctively feel like they can run someone down with their car and then drive away.  Even if they didn't intentionally run someone down, driving away from an accident is just as irresponsible. 

For the record, I am not against bicycle infrastructure.  I don't believe it is terribly effective, but I'm not against it. 

Assisted

This morning I caught a rabbit in my sights, but quickly determined by the weaving nature that it must be more of a turtle.  Sure enough, it was a fat-tired bicycle, but there was something else about it that seemed strange as I got closer.  The bike had a pannier rack with small hard cases attached.  I passed this man up my last hill, and discovered that he was on an electric-assist bike.  The hard cases must have been battery packs.  I hollered "Good morning!" over the whir of his electric motor as I left him in the dust.

At the next light I had to wait for just a moment...long enough to watch a mountain bike equipped with a 2-stroke motor buzz by with the cross-traffic.  I turned onto the cross street, and for a block had the pleasure of inhaling the exhaust of that noisy little motor.

I suppose if I HAD to, I'd go with the electric.  Just because I wouldn't stink when I arrived at work.

Encroaching Darkness

I've recently been waking up in the dark.  This morning even felt a little cool.  Summer is beginning to wane, and the days are unfortunately getting shorter again.  While I LOVE the long summer days in Spokane, I sometimes struggle to enjoy the long nights of winter.  During the ride into work this morning I began thinking through what I will need to do to get ready for riding in the dark. 

There are basically two options:
1.  Swap my headlight and blinky over to my road bike.
2.  Repair my commuter bike which currently has lights and fenders mounted.

Really I like both options.  I do love riding the road bike, although not so much when I expect wet roads.  The commuter has been down for a while, and I'm really looking forward to riding it again.  Unfortunately I've been accumulating a repair list for that bike that could easily exceed $200.  Although...I could get by on about $100.

The most likely scenario will include some of both options.  While saving money for the commuter I'll switch the lighting over, and then as soon as the weather turns south I'll scramble to get the commuter repaired.