Bike @ MindSay

In addition to felines, I've recently acquired another dangerous item:  a bicycle.

Why?  Well, I'm not sure, honestly.  I mean, it's not like I have a very long walk to work.  It's only eight blocks.  Of course, eight blocks in triple digit temperatures can still feel like eight miles.  I figure eight blocks in triple digits in a quarter of the time, and a breeze, might be more tolerable.

So I got a bike.  It's a "cruiser" style.  Black with red rims.  Single speed and a coaster brake.  (That's the kind we had as kids, remember... where you just "backpedaled" to slow down.)  It's really a sweet ride, I have to say.  It's comfortable, easy to pedal, and rides really smoothly.

Lorelei and I had purchased bikes, several years ago, but never really rode them much.  They were cheapies, purchased at Target, and nowhere near as nice as this one, even though they were (if I recall correctly) 5-speed machines.

But this one... I'm really enjoying riding it.  It's like it was to ride a bike as a kid... relaxed and fun.  There's just something about tooling around the neighborhood, enjoying the wind on your face, doing casual swoops left and right...  It's like a time machine to ten, y'know?

Of course, bicycles can be dangerous, and accidents do happen.  I should know.  I had nasty accidents on almost every bike I've ever owned.  To say I'm no Lance Armstrong is a ridiculous understatement.  Take yesterday, for example.

At five o'clock, I leave the office and retrieve the bike.  I hop on and begin a leisurely spin out to 13th Street to head home.  Except that there are cars coming, and more pedestrians than usual.  Now, the simple thing to do, of course, is brake to a stop until the road or sidewalk is clear.  And that's what my brain told me to do.

What my brain forgot to do, however, was remind me that this bike has a coaster brake.  And in the split second between realizing I had no hand brakes to squeeze, and remembering about the foot brake, I avoided pedestrian and vehicular traffic by another method.  I rammed into a large, decorative, concrete ball near the road.  This stopped the bike much quicker than any other braking method. 

It did not, however, slow down my body, which sailed over the handlebars, over the sphere, and onto the sidewalk. 

Here's where my brain redeemed itself a little.  Somehow, I was able to do a shoulder tuck roll when I landed, thus sparing myself any actual physical harm.  I was, as you can imagine, deeply embarrassed, though.  I was up and back on that bike and pedaling away in about five seconds flat.

I've got some muscle soreness today from the incident, but no bruises, and way less aches and pains than I had any right to expect.  The embarrassment has passed, as well.  Obviously.  No way I'd have posted about this, yesterday.

Many of you may have noticed that I usually go outside to take photos.  Most of what I shoot has something to do with nature or the outdoors.  A couple nights this week, I just stayed in and did a little shooting.  A different method, slightly different style for me, but I like how they turned out.

 

Oh, and before you ask, no, I don't play guitar... I've tried, but this is the most action the guitar has seen in quite some time.

 

 

 

Just a couple pics from the race.  Unfortunately for you guys, most of what I took were of people I know that were riding, and I'm not going to post those here.  But, these were a couple of my favorites.

 

 

And, it was a 24-hour race, so there was night riding.  Not sure I'd want to navigate between trees and over rocks with just a little headlamp to light my way.  Nah, who am I kidding, it would be awesome!

 

So the last two days my brain have been on over drive about what bike I am going to buy. I have started to really stress myself out even with all the thinking. Anyways that is all done now. I am stopping these thoughts for a good amount tell I get home. I went and talked to the Exchange guy here on base and found one bike that seemed ok and everythign but after searching around I noticed that well.. it was NOT that big of a deal. As in I could go back home and buy the same bike with out a deal put on to for cheaper and the HD Shop near my town has a Military Deal which put on top of it already being cheaper.. yeah.. pretty much said screw that one bike now. I will go back tomorrow and cancel out the $100 down. I feel bad because the guy I was talking to kicked ass. He is Irish. I have yet to meet an Irishman I did not think kicked Ass. O well that is the way life works in sales though. I feel much more relaxed about it all too.  Going home to make this purchase and having the bike right in front of me where I can sit on it and make sure it fits me.. well.. i just really like that a lot more then buying a bunch of words and pictures and just hoping that when I get the real thing I like it..

 

Well that is all I can think about at the moment so I will ttyaLater

~Bob

In a dual attempt to be outside more and be more healthy, last night I went on my first bike ride in almost 10 years.  Don't laugh at me; I've been busy.  The ride was a complete success, despite a less-than-smart decision on my part.

But let's focus on a good decision first.  A smart decision that I made was choosing to take a shorter ride.  I only rode for about 20 or 25 minutes.  Despite some flirtations with a stationary bike in my basement, I haven't done much riding at all in the last 10 years.  I'm not necessarily out of shape, but I'm not in shape, either.  It would have been terrible for me to be out on the road and then realize that I had used all of the strength I had in me.  That situation would have made for a challenging walk home.

Bad decisions, however, are more exciting and drama-filled.  Even though I chose to take a short ride in regards to time, I still managed to take a long ride in regards to distance.  Remember how I said I hadn't ridden my bike in almost 10 years?  That means my bike has been in storage for 10 years.  There could have been many things wrong with my bike.  After I pulled it down from it's hanging perch in my garage, I filled the tires, checked that the brakes worked, and immediately took off with a goal to explore.  The smart decision would have been to stay in my subdivision, but I know what my subdivision looks like.  I wanted to see the new subdivision across the access street and the older subdivision that was beyond that subdivision.  After a 10 year hibernation, there was a very good chance that I could have blown a tire, had the brakes fail, or even had the chain come flying off.  I rode away from my house for about 10 minutes before turning around.  Yes, it was only 10 minutes, but you can cover a lot of ground in 10 minutes when you are cruising along on a bike.

The good news is that there were no incidents and my bike is mostly in tip-top condition.  In addition, I'm in fairly tip-top condition.  My muscles aren't sore and I'm not extra tired from my encounter with physical activity yesterday.  Actually, the fact that my muscles aren't sore just goes to show that I didn't ride long enough.  My muscles should have been a little sore today to show that I had worked them a bit.  Maybe tonight I'll ride a little further to the subdivision beyond the old subdivision.  Or to the candy store.  Mmmm... candy.