Wimp, but Not Total Wimp

I rode my bike home from work yesterday.  It was hard.  I am not in shape.  I did not face Nemisis Hill.  I didn't even look at it.  Just turned off on the earliest convenient road to Easy Street.  Wimped right out...but not totally...I mean, I was out there!

Then this morning my bed was so warm and I had no desire to get up after a later evening prior.  So I wimped out completely and drove in to work...late. 

So I'm not only a wimp, I'm a compulsive 'wimp of the moment'.  Hmmmm... gonna have to work on that.

Geared Up

I'm about 75% committed to riding home from work today.  25% of me wants to be lazy and warm and ride the bus.  The rest of me says get out there and skip away from that bus schedule.

I geared up this morning for my bus ride in to work.  I brought in clothes for tomorrow, clothes for the ride home, shoes for the ride home, the key to my bike lock and an air pump.  I keep a bike at work generally whether I'm commuting or not.  It's handy to ride it for various errands.  It's been long enough since I last rode it that both tires were basically flat.  They are properly tuned to 90 psi now (did this before work so it wouldn't become an excuse at the end of the day).

So here's to a great commute home this evening!  Wish me luck.  It's cold, snowy, and...cold.

A New Season

I'm not a Resolutionist.  To be fair, I've been contemplating getting back on the horse for a while now.  Then today I found that this blog hit the Bicycle Alliance Blog List.  What does that mean to me?  That this little piece of blogosphere still has a flickering light...and that I may just need to give it a nice whack to make it burn strong again.

Truth is, I spent the last few years running like crazy.  I put the blog aside and I largely put cycling aside. 

My abscence was due to a long courtship with the elusive and wiley marathon.  Each year I put more time into it in attempt to meet my original goal: 4 hours.  In 2012 I did it.  So I'm done.  I've run less than 10 times since.  I still like running, and I'll still run.  But no more marathons.  It's not my thing. 

Similarly, I have realized I'm not a bicycle advocate.  I'm no longer a daily cycling commuter, but I am still a commuter.  I like cycling, and I like talking about it, but I'm not here to make statements.  Just to rant now and again and hopefully inspire others to share. 

I've got a few ideas about some rides and such that I want to accomplish this year.  With my weekends back from that darn marathon, I'll have plenty of time to ride.  Maybe even race.  We'll see.

Now where's that bike pump...

Seconds are Hours

Between heavy rain storms, I'm attempting to ride once in a while. 

This morning I headed down my normal route, and as I approached one of the early traffic lights, it turned red.  I could hear a vehicle behind me, and I went into decision mode.  Do I: 1.  Stay mid-lane and frustrate the vehicle behind me if...(looking back and confirming) ...that plans to turn right, or 2.  Pull over and give room to that huge truck by carrying my bike up onto the sidewalk?

The implications here are always a battle in my mind.  As a cyclist on the road I have the right and responsibility to act as a car.  By so doing I will be most predictable, and often most annoying...because to drivers, seconds are hours.  I've experienced Frustrated Driver Syndrome (FDS) in two basic situations:  Either I'm going too slow or I'm blocking a right-turn lane.  Which brings me to the other side of my internal battle.  If I were in a car at a red light, planning to drive straight, and happened to be blocking the right-turner behind me, that driver would hardly bat an eye.  But in the same situation on a bicycle I have been honked at, revved at, and driven around.  Because seconds are hours.

This morning, because the light had only just turned red; I lifted my bike up over the curb and waved two cars up to the line before resuming my position in the street.  (I have often chosen not to do this for the express reason that my position in the street would be forfeited to a long line of cars.)

Later in my commute I found myself in the other FDS-inducing situation.  Entering an S-curve that is a single lane wide and bounded by curbs on both sides, I could hear a couple of vehicles behind me.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one car enter a left turn pocket out of the lane.  Then the second car, despite being seconds away from a two-lane section, revved his little pickup and passed within 6 inches of me.  I really appreciate being able to allow him to save those precious seconds...

The Coldest Part

This morning I was a little set back by the fact that I could not find my fleece cap to put on under my helmet.  I hadn't looked out the window, but I figured it would be chilly.  When I walked out the door I was a little surprised to hear rain on the tin awning.  It wasn't pouring, though, so out I went despite my wife's encouragement that I was still early enough to catch the bus.

In fact, the rain was just a little off and on sprinkling.  The ride turned out to be quite pleasant!  There was not even enough wet to make a stream off my fenders.

Nope, the worst part of today's commute was the shower.  Today it did not warm up.  At all.  I don't like cold showers.  At all.