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I can only dream of speeds like that - and only then if I were going downhill. But since I'm a 'fraidy-cat about being that out-of-control, I'll never be the rider scolded by the NYPD. I think it would be fun to cycle Central Park though.
![]() About a month ago, the New York Daily News took a radar gun to Central Park to measure the speed of bicycles. They found 16 cyclists breaking the park’s 25-mph speed limit in a mere 35 minutes on Aug. 8. The fastest was going 30 mph. I can only dream of speeds like that - and only then if I were going downhill. But since I'm a 'fraidy-cat about being that out-of-control, I'll never be the rider scolded by the NYPD. I think it would be fun to cycle Central Park though.
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![]() This is the conclusion of a Harvard Medical School ophthalmologist as reported in an absolutely fascinating book called "Why We Make Mistakes" (page 21). It came to mind today as I navigated home through Rutgers University campus in a rainstorm. Probably like most colleges, RU is a scary navigation even in good weather. Kids don't pay any attention to cars, what with their noses in their books...er, um... I mean smartphones. I sometimes find myself holding my breath till I get a few blocks past campus, sure there is a jaywalker about to pop out in front of me from in-between cars. And bikes pop faster than walkers. A few weeks ago I nearly hit one who zipped out blind to me, against a light, after I had already started my turn. Do you join in the shock and outrage promoted by the media when they report how there was another security breach at the airport...that someone (gasp) got a Samurai sword into the secure area? Read Why We Make Mistakes and see if you don't have a little more compassion for TSA screeners. It seems that our brains are far more accurate seeing things we expect to see. But if you don't expect to see it (a gun in a carry-on bag is a hugely remote possibility given the millions of bags screened every day), you are more likely to miss one that is there! So it's no surprise that the error rate among baggage screeners is pretty high. It has less to do with TSA training and more to do with biology. What does this have to do with bikers? Well, in most places, bikers on the road are the exception, not the rule. I think car drivers are conditioned to primarily look for cars, so that's what they see. They might not even see a biker in high-visibility clothing. But as a biker, you have to increase your chance of being seen, with clothing, reflectors and lights. One biker even recommends riding somewhat erratically to call attention to yourself and make car drivers be more wary that you don't know what you're doing. I also found a laser device that projects a high visibility bike symbol a distance ahead of you on the road so that vehicles you are riding up on will see that, even if they don't see you first. I have some hi-vis clothing for the street riding, but really, can't we all just get along and share the road? I suppose not. OK, bike defensively out there; you will always lose in a bike:car confrontation. ![]() Labor Day weekend has always been significant to me -- the sad end to summer and the exciting start to a new school year. The happy end of August heat/humidity, the onset of another hopeful football season. And for me, it was both the weekend I met my husband-to-be and the weekend 14 years later that the gave me The Speech ("I love you but I'm not in love with you."). Anyone who has experienced grief knows that it has a mind of its own. You think you're doing great and unexpectedly, from out of nowhere, you find yourself brooding and preoccupied. Only after some thought do you realize why. Such was my weekend. No wonder then that I lost a biking glove and misplaced my sunglasses this weekend too. But biking is free therapy and it's available on holidays. So bike I did. And nature rewarded my effort...while riding the Columbia Trail in the drizzle, cruising along at about 15 mph, I came around a corner and there was a black bear crossing the trail! The photo shows the hill on both sides of the trail; he was no more than 20 feet ahead of me. I braked hard as soon as I saw him, skidding out the back tire. In the split second I had the thought to grab my camera, he was already up the other side and long gone. And I saw him all by myself - no-one else was around. God's special little gift to me. According to some Native American lore, the bear represents strength and the ability to look inward for answers. God speaks to us all the time. We have only to listen. I'm glad I went biking in the drizzle. The rest of my weekend was not quite as cloudy. ![]() You know that classic movie scene where someone leaves a purse, a coffee cup, a baby in car seat, a [fill in the blank] on the roof of a car, hops in and drives off without remembering it? It's much less dramatic, but I did the same thing with my riding gloves on my bike rack. I had taken a timeout at the Delaware River Bridge at the midpoint of my ride to enjoy the breezes and watch the world go by, putting my helmet in a pannier and setting my gloves on the rack. Apparently I got too mellow because when I decided to grab a slice of pizza before getting back on the trail, I rode across the parking lot, evidently bouncing one of them off the rack. I bought the gloves when I bought the bike, at the recommendation of the bike store that I use them. To be honest, I felt a little pretentious with them...they made me look more serious than I felt. But I used them from the first ride and as they were comfortable and 'gave good grip', I never thought about not wearing them. I back-tracked after the slice of pizza to find the glove, sure it would be on the ground, but no sign of it! So I rode 20 miles 'back to base' without gloves, discovering along the way why biking gloves are good to have. The gel pads really do absorb a lot of trail shock. And even without bumps, your hands are under near constant pressure while riding. Needless to say, I went out and replaced them before the very next ride. Being a sustainability professional, this made me think about sustainability in the gloves industry. We lose one glove and have to buy two -- throwing the last remaining glove away, even though it still had value...i.e., it was still a working, good glove. Maybe manufacturers of specialty gloves like this should sell them as singles...buy a right or a left or both. There are many factors that keep this from happening. I suppose, for example, that glove technology and design keeps changing. And they may believe the market for single replacement gloves is too small. Let's face it...consumers are part of the problem because we don't want one old, dirty glove and one new one either. If I worked for a glove manufacturer, it would be an interesting thing to do some market research on. But for now, I have two shiny new gloves. ![]() A great rest stop on a 90 degree day Bike to B&B to Brews to Bed.... repeat 12 times. That's a summary of the planned bike tour. Twelve rides...the longest is 45 miles, the shortest, 17. Friends and family have the itinerary. I'm spending some time with Google Maps now, really looking in close at the trail "off ramps". And I continue to discover the online journals of other riders who have done this trip. They are very useful. No-one writes about having a terrible time. They may experience some challenges along the way (weather most common) but all recommend it. Also, I've been interested at the type of bikes people are doing the trip with... pretty much everything from road bikes to mountain bikes to comfort bikes. I think my bike/tires will be perfect from what I've read. I'm going to continue training rides this week at my regular pace and then slack off the week before I leave. I won't lose any conditioning and it will give me fresh legs and an eagerness to ride when it's time to go! There's not much left to do now. I even pulled some weeds today to prove it. Ha. Just a few things I've learned this summer:
Keep your eyes on open pathway. If there is something on the path -- like a stick or rock -- and you look at it, your bike will want to go there. Your brain is telling you to keep an eye on it so you can avoid it. This doesn't work. Little kids don't know their left from their right. Don't waste your time yelling out, "On your left!!" to a kid. Better to yell, "Move over please" or "Hey" and then be prepared to go whatever direction they don't. The more commercial advertising on a rider's bike clothes, the less likely the biker is to be friendly. He/she is required to go fast, look at the ground and scowl, even on a beautiful Saturday morning. They aren't there for fun. The first mile on a trail will be your slowest. Walkers and dog-walkers rarely go more than a mile though. A ride advertised as flat never is. It's just flatter than some other rides they could have picked out. You are not safe just because you're following the rules of the road. Good for you, but there are many rule-breakers out there and you are in their way. Your bike is more interesting than you are. So you took up bike riding to meet people? Hope you got a good bike because nobody is looking at you; they're comparing their bike to yours. ![]() Chilling out at Panera's mid-ride [Thank you Shakespeare for that quote.] Before exams in college I would always study the hard stuff first, and then when time was short, gloss over the things I thought I knew pretty well. I've been "practicing" riding for 5 months and today I practiced being on vacation. On this beautiful pre-fall day, I rode an easy 10 miles out to a Panera's for brunch. I lingered leisurely on their patio, much longer than a Serious Bike Rider would, thinking, 'this is what vacation will be like'... all the time in the world because there's no deadline to be anywhere. I didn't much feel like even riding this morning. And then I got on my bike and on one of the beautiful paths and I smiled, happy that I made the effort. Yes, the riding is about getting somewhere, and getting exercise...but the part I like most, I believe, is being in nature. It just makes me so happy. Ever read the book Last Child In the Woods? The author discusses the growing body of research indicating that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development and for the physical and emotional health of both children and adults. I don't need a book to tell me how healing nature is. As I have recovered from divorce, it's been my go-to drug of choice. Last Child In the Woods describes how people today are aware of global threats to the environment like climate change —but their physical contact, their intimacy with nature, is fading. That's exactly the opposite of how it was when I was a kid. My Dad loved nature and he passed that along to me. I have memories of catching crawdads from under rocks at Mine Brook and squatting beside a water-filled ditch building dams and catching tadpoles -- all within blocks from home. We were allowed to roam and explore. As I ride along these canals and rivers, I still feel drawn to go throw rocks, wade, build dams and search the muck for creatures. It's a fabulous place to waste time as Shakespeare would say. Being an optimist, I have probably over-romanticized this bike trip – easy pedals, legs that don’t get sore, beautiful weather, no flats, lovely B&B’s, lunch on the trail overlooking great vistas… All the same, I made preparations for things that could go wrong – a Road ID tag, an iPhone with bike repair apps, bike tools…. But the other day, Annette came across a blog in the NY Times about how to write stories and of all things to use as an example, the author told a story about a woman who got badly hurt on the C&O Canal when her wheels lost traction on a wet trail. With a broken shoulder and facial lacerations, she and a friend had to leave their bikes on the trail and trudge back through the 1-mile long Paw Paw Tunnel to get to a hospital. (Any lessons on writing were lost on me as I instead focused on ohm.)
It was a sobering wake-up call. A real injury. Hhmmm. It’s OK to have some realistic fears, but I also think denial keeps you from preparing sufficiently. I came home, held my breath, and started googling terms like, “C&O bike crashes”. I only found two other stories. The first was about a guy who hit an uneven surface at one of the aqueducts and even with a helmet, got a bad concussion and other scrapes. Three days in the hospital and a leg clot later, he was advocating helmets no matter how good you think the trails are. The other was a fatality. (I confess I had googled, “C&O, bike, death” to see if anybody was dying on the trails.) A tree fell on a biker during a bad storm. Now that’s just bad luck. I was feeling a bit more apprehensive about the trip after reading these things. And then I found somebody’s photo journal of his GAP/C&O ride. It was all sunny pictures on nice looking trails and great vistas. That returned my trip excitement and subjugated trip fears to the background again. Courage is not the absence of fear; it’s acting in spite of fear. I’m still going on my trip! ![]() A wrist the size of a fluorescent tube Student athletes are sought-after candidates; they are often both bright and disciplined. They manage time well. They take direction well. They don't give up easily. If they play a team sport, they learn to get along with all types of people. They are generally not oversensitive to criticism. They can take pressure and still perform well. These traits carry into the workplace and many employers get that. The United States Military Academy has long sought out high school student athletes, especially team captains, believing them to already possess a strong foundation for leadership. But what about working adult athletes? What about the person who has the self-discipline to make time before/after work to get in shape and stay in shape, or to compete in team sports still, or compete for a new personal best? These adults have a high desire to win and they give everything of themselves, even when the prize is, well, not even a prize... maybe just a feeling of self-satisfaction. Am I an athlete? By a dictionary definition, yes. I've been working out consistently for 31 years...OK, maybe that's 'just' exercise? But I did play basketball and tennis along the way, and I still run the occasional 5K race... so competition is part of the equation. The word athlete, I learned, derives from the Latin "athlein" meaning to contest for a prize and the Greek "athlos" meaning a contest. I don't look like an athlete necessarily (see picture), but I've set a goal, I've been working towards it for 5 months, and I'm competing against my own doubts and fears. I've dedicated myself to learning about this new sport and sought training from many experienced people, joining two bike clubs in the process. Shortly, I hope to be invited to interview for a new job at work. I'm ready to be challenged in a new environment and I hope some of the new-found zen that's come from all this riding serves me well. But right now I'm Donkey in the DVD menu of Shrek, jumping up and down, going, "pick me! pick me!" Coincidence. A while back I gave a shout-out to the people who maintain the Columbia Trail so well. Turns out the guy who cuts my lawn is one of them! He works for the Hunterdon County Parks Department.
Grit. The new hard case tires are working out OK. But I can't tell when they need air by just a thumb press; they're too hard! The wider tires also throw up quite a bit more trail grit too. I need to take a rag to swipe off my water bottle before a swig. Ray the Trail Groupie. Stopped and said a brief hello to him again last night. I asked him what they do when the weather turns cold...they sit inside the truck and drink beer! Dusk. I feel like I'm riding in the Hansel and Gretel forest now. Last week the canopy closed in by 7:30p. Last night it was pretty dark by 7:15p. My boss gave me permission to flex my hours a couple days a week - leaving by 3pm so I can get longer rides in. Fish ladders in Easton. I have it on good authority from a lifelong Eastonite...the ladders do work! |
DorkyBikeShortsFour months from now I intend to ride 334 miles in 10 days -- from Pittsburgh to Washington DC -- by myself. This blog will document the journey. Archives
October 2012
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