March – 290
Year – 630
March has been a great month for riding around on the bike. I’ve had a great group ride, 2 lunchtime epics, and a host of regular lunch rides. I have been able to get out on 14 of the 24 days so far. The weather has ranged from bundled up in wool to shorts and a t-shirt. I have all but abandoned my gloves for the year as I have decided I much prefer riding with bare hands. There is something about the visceral feel of the hands on the grips that I find very appealing.
One upgrade I made this month was to switch to clipless pedals. I limped into this position slowly moving towards it by first buying shoes on ebay and then a few weeks later finally buying the pedals. I went with Crank Brothers Candy C pedals. My research indicated they should be a good one to learn on. I have found them easy to clip into and they have enough base to use without proper shoes or if clipping in is not going so hot. I don’t know if it is the pedals or just a continued increase in fitness/form but my average times have really climbed in March. I finished at around 17 MPH average yesterday which is up from around 15-15.5. It is a palpable change and it pleases me in my pursuit of 1 hour lunchtime rides. My weight has also continued to fall. When I got around to weighing myself last weekend I found myself down around 175 – the lowest weight I can recall in my adult life. I am very fortunate to have a metabolism that can be activated with exercise. I am simply in love with riding a bike. It’s interesting to watch friends and family reacting to by desire to ride as much as possible. I also started riding over to our sister plant at work instead of driving when I can. It pads my mileage and makes for a nice break. I will probably curtail it as the weather heats up as it can put a stink on you pretty quick.
There is an emerging group of frustrated folks who are dedicated to using bicycles as much as possible to get around town. Louisville is a nice city but can present many challenges and obstructions to those who wish to do as above. It is especially hard on those living on the outside of the 264 interstate ring around the city. They are promoting cycling using a great slogan “We are not blocking traffic, We are traffic”. I really like that. I had two good examples of how it can all work a few weeks ago. The first was at this intersection of Randolph and Indiana 62:
This is a tricky light that doesn’t like to change for bike riders. I need to go straight to head towards the river. I position myself to the right of the turn left/go straight lane and usually have to wait for a car. It is not advisable to go anyway because people haul ass and the right side approach is blind. My position can block people how simply want to turn right and it can be the cause of impatient stares and sometimes honking. As I waited a car engaged the light changing mechanism to my left and a lady calmly waited for it to turn so I could clear the intersection and she could go on, it cost her 20 seconds.
Thirty minutes later I was returning to work and got behing a truck coming up 4th street in New Albany. As we crossed the last street before Culbertson it became clear the he needed to back into a loading dock. I stopped and waited, not trying to squeak by in the small space in front of his truck, just as I would of had to do if in a car. He noticed my simple gesture, and gave me the ubiquitous head-nod. With that I went on my way. It cost me 20 seconds.
I really don’t think it should take that much for us to all co-exist. Maybe a little peace, love, and understanding? Probably just a little patience…
