You own a bicycle. You ride and maintain it yourself for fourteen years. One day you ride to work and discover a problem. You put a band-aid on it and let it go at that. A week later you find another problem and you apply another band-aid. This goes on for two months, and you finally decide that you just don’t want to deal with it all yourself right now. You take your bike to the shop for…
Imagine a Friday afternoon. A young man is leaving his place of work on the last day of the work week. He is in a bit of a rush to get home because he is leaving an hour later than he would have liked. If he were honest, he would admit that he really wanted to put an end to the work day about eleven hours earlier – before the day really began. Anyway, he climbed onto the narrow saddle of his…
It’s strange. Many times I’ve told others, and others have told me, that you should listen to your body. If you’re hungry, eat. If you’re craving a certain kind of food, go find it. If you’re tired, sleep. Last night, and again this morning, I was extremely tired. You may have read the entry I made. It’s amazing how bad things can seem when you’re tired.
At the risk of having to give up my key to the men’s room, I have something to admit. It turns out I didn’t have a friggin’ clue where I really was. It all started innocently enough. I was looking to improve on my last bicycle ride in New Orleans, which now holds the title “least scenic ride of my life.” I was also looking to ride a route I hadn’t taken before.
I was waiting in the lobby of my office building, waiting for the elevator after riding into the office one cold Florida morning, when a complete stranger walked up to me and asked if I really rode my bike into work that morning. My nose is red, my eyes are watering, I’m wearing tights, bicycling gloves and a helmet, and oh yeah… I’m holding a bicycle.
“Why yes I did. I am…
“John, you didn’t ride your bike today.”
“No. There’s supposed to be a 70 percent chance of rain this afternoon. I don’t mind riding when it’s cold and I don’t mind riding when it’s wet, but cold and wet is a problem.”
You know where this story is going. It doesn’t have any rain or cold air. More importantly, it doesn’t…
to ride on a nice day. I rode into the office this morning, exhausted. It was cold (for Florida) and the chilly morning ride sapped my reserves. Much later, quitting time came and I got back on my bike for the return ride home. By the afternoon the weather turned perfect. By the time I reached the entrance to the office parking lot I was invigorated. The sun was shinning, a gentle breeze was…
I’ve been riding my bike to work for about two weeks now. Most trips back and forth to work have been episode free. It’s one of the primary reasons why I’ve had so little to write about lately. The daily commute has been a treasure trove of material, and when that well runs dry what’s left? Well wait no more. Another drive time anecdote is coming your way!
It was a cool…
Bonk. v. To exercise to the point of exhaustion. To go until your body won’t go anymore.
I was riding over the crest of a hill. Yes, I was in Florida. Three quarters of a mile – up to a mile away, I notice a traffic signal going from yellow to red. This is a signal known to be rather long. I resolve to make the next light. I do some quick math in my head… at twenty miles an hour…
Here’s a hypothetical… a popular a.m. radio show DJ goes on a rant about pesky bicyclists on the road. The DJ talks about being fed up with the inconvenience of having to go around bicycles on the road, which he believes should be on the sidewalk anyway. One thing leads to another, and the DJ starts advocating violence. O.K., you caught me. I’m not talking about a hypothetical…