Ok, so I'll start listing excuses for why I didn't ride in today ...
My legs are still aching. From like, last week.
Three days I rode in this week! Three! I did that last week. That ain't bad.
Tired.
Short day at work today, so I want to get home quickly.
I have to go to the post office after work to mail something.
Yeah, they're all pretty lame. Thus, I need to make up for today and mayhaps the July 4th as well. That's 60 miles. Screw that. I'll make up for today. And then some. So that's a 2.5 hour ride for the weekend, sometime. I wanted to ride last weekend Saturday a.m., but of course I lazied my way out of that, too. I have some time now, so maybe I'll go find at least a route.
Went driving again for a short trip with Maria at the wheel last night. Things went well. She's getting better at navigating the roundabouts. It's amazing how big of a difference hand positioning on the steering wheel makes. In on position, you need to do hand-over-hand. In the other, just big sweeping swings back and forth.
I feel that we should just keep on working on the fundamentals. That is, speed, braking, lane-changing and turning. When it comes to parking, I just tell her to put it into a spot. Sometimes it happens, sometimes not. But basically it's just like turning onto a very narrow, very specifically-located street. Which, as you can see above, is one of the fundamentals.
Friday, July 6
Tuesday, July 3
Finding new ways
Well, the bicycle commuting is certainly not a passing fad for me. I'm starting to feel bad for the Jetta, actually. I managed three days last week and am on pace for four this week (July 4th holiday). I'd like to think that I'm actually getting stronger. My speeds are slowly creeping up, and I can spin like crazy for a good chunk of the ride.
I have also been experimenting here and there with the route south of Broad Ripple. The trail south of there as I've said before is somewhat annoying -- many cross streets and the need to slow down and really pay attention for traffic. So the parallel roads offer some relief, although their quality is hit-or-miss. Today I tried Center instead of College, and while it was good south of 54, just north of that it was total crap. Quiet roads, no traffic, but really pad paving. That slows things down a lot (I noticed 14 and under) which annoys me.
I am having to make a strong effort to relax my shoulders, arms and hands during the ride. I find after a while that they've got this tense deathgrip on the bars. That doesn't help. Usually when I can relax more I can put down more energy pedaling which is good. I'm not sure if the deathgrip has to do with the bike's setup. I'm going to put down a few hundred more miles before I pass judgement on that.
Speaking of which, I've surpassed 300 total riding miles. The commuting miles are just trailing that slightly. It's really amazing to me how quickly they add up.
I guess once I'm out in Omaha I'll have to go without a bike. Unless I can find one to rent there or something. Maybe I can buy a singlespeed and pay someone to house it. Or buy a singlespeed and pack it in my suitcase. That might not be too bad.
Maria's driving is getting better and better. We're still working on basic car control, turns, which lane to be in and why and major destinations. I realize now that all those years of driving a lawnmower at my parents house really gave me a good sense of vehicle control. Maybe if we could find a lawnmower somewhere. ... Or a go-kart track ...
I have also been experimenting here and there with the route south of Broad Ripple. The trail south of there as I've said before is somewhat annoying -- many cross streets and the need to slow down and really pay attention for traffic. So the parallel roads offer some relief, although their quality is hit-or-miss. Today I tried Center instead of College, and while it was good south of 54, just north of that it was total crap. Quiet roads, no traffic, but really pad paving. That slows things down a lot (I noticed 14 and under) which annoys me.
I am having to make a strong effort to relax my shoulders, arms and hands during the ride. I find after a while that they've got this tense deathgrip on the bars. That doesn't help. Usually when I can relax more I can put down more energy pedaling which is good. I'm not sure if the deathgrip has to do with the bike's setup. I'm going to put down a few hundred more miles before I pass judgement on that.
Speaking of which, I've surpassed 300 total riding miles. The commuting miles are just trailing that slightly. It's really amazing to me how quickly they add up.
I guess once I'm out in Omaha I'll have to go without a bike. Unless I can find one to rent there or something. Maybe I can buy a singlespeed and pay someone to house it. Or buy a singlespeed and pack it in my suitcase. That might not be too bad.
Maria's driving is getting better and better. We're still working on basic car control, turns, which lane to be in and why and major destinations. I realize now that all those years of driving a lawnmower at my parents house really gave me a good sense of vehicle control. Maybe if we could find a lawnmower somewhere. ... Or a go-kart track ...
Sunday, July 1
Achin' quads
Well, managed three days of bike commuting this past week without killing myself. Almost got hit on what, Friday morning? Yeah. Almost.
I found a new way to get to work that's more direct (read: one less mile). So now we're down to like, 14.5 or something. I'm not sure that's such a great thing, but at least it'll take less time. Turns out there's a two-lane-each-way most of the way from where we live ... all the way into town. Very nice. However, some bits are one lane each way, and those bits have no shoulder and total crap for edges. That is, the edges are broken up and annoying to ride on. Thus, I think the ideal blend will be to start on the trail, go to Broad Ripple, then pick up College Ave the rest of the way into town. The traffic on College is 45 or less, and there's a little space between the parked cars and the adjacent lane.
For whatever reason, my quads are achin' quite a bit today (Saturday) so no ride. I'm happy to see however that I'm at 271 total miles in June, 217 of which are commuting.
Today we chilled quite a bit, CostCo, mall, blah, blah. Maria did drive to those places though. Not as much screaming from me! Either I'm getting more patient or she's getting better. I'm hoping it's the latter. No, really, things are going pretty well, and I think once she gets the hang of where we are and where things are, the driving business will be simplified.
Oh! I will be going to Omaha in about a week and a half for work. It's only a Tue-Thur kind of thing. I'm somewhat excited only because I've never been there before. I will have to travel to the 'Ha at least once a month over the next year for work. But they'll all be small trips like this, the most could be a week. The only thing that will bother me is not being able to ride the bike!
Asim is still doing well, too. He's getting better at being in the back of the car alone while Maria drives. He used to cry all the time. Now he plays or sleeps. Very nice. (This all despite the screaming (me)and somewhat erratic braking(her)).
I found a new way to get to work that's more direct (read: one less mile). So now we're down to like, 14.5 or something. I'm not sure that's such a great thing, but at least it'll take less time. Turns out there's a two-lane-each-way most of the way from where we live ... all the way into town. Very nice. However, some bits are one lane each way, and those bits have no shoulder and total crap for edges. That is, the edges are broken up and annoying to ride on. Thus, I think the ideal blend will be to start on the trail, go to Broad Ripple, then pick up College Ave the rest of the way into town. The traffic on College is 45 or less, and there's a little space between the parked cars and the adjacent lane.
For whatever reason, my quads are achin' quite a bit today (Saturday) so no ride. I'm happy to see however that I'm at 271 total miles in June, 217 of which are commuting.
Today we chilled quite a bit, CostCo, mall, blah, blah. Maria did drive to those places though. Not as much screaming from me! Either I'm getting more patient or she's getting better. I'm hoping it's the latter. No, really, things are going pretty well, and I think once she gets the hang of where we are and where things are, the driving business will be simplified.
Oh! I will be going to Omaha in about a week and a half for work. It's only a Tue-Thur kind of thing. I'm somewhat excited only because I've never been there before. I will have to travel to the 'Ha at least once a month over the next year for work. But they'll all be small trips like this, the most could be a week. The only thing that will bother me is not being able to ride the bike!
Asim is still doing well, too. He's getting better at being in the back of the car alone while Maria drives. He used to cry all the time. Now he plays or sleeps. Very nice. (This all despite the screaming (me)and somewhat erratic braking(her)).
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