I suppose I used to be obsessive about bicycles and riding. Not any more, but I have the remnants of those days. A Marinoni road bike, a Raleigh mountain bike and a KHS Tandemania aluminum-frame tandem which has been collecting dust in the basement for a couple of years.
My wife was walking our daughter to a birthday party on Saturday. It was really hot and sunny and I figured my wife, who is quite fair, would burn if she had to walk back. I thought I'd do something unique and pick her up on the tandem. It took a few minutes to drag the frame upstairs, attach and pump up the tires, but I managed to do it fast enough to pick her up en route home from the party.
That same day, my son had a mishap at a party he was at, and came home with a really sore jaw. The party was for his best friend's birthday, so he really wanted to go back, despite the pain. I suggested that we try and see if he'd fit on the tandem. The grin went ear to ear as he realized what I was talking about and he gladly got on and off to test whether he was big enough to ride. He was and the kids thought the bike was really cool.
We had a couple of tandem rides over the weekend, and I've expanded this now to picking the kids up on the tandem - Paul on the back and Emily in the trailer. She's too big for the trailer, really, but without a trail-a-bike or something like that, it'll have to do for now. Besides, at least we have a "trunk" to put school bags into.
So yesterday, we had an almost car-less afternoon. Picked up the kids from after-school care on the tandem, drove them to piano, drove home to get the tandem & trailer. Then I picked them up from piano on the bike and did the soccer evening all on the bike.
Going home from the soccer field was a bit of a challenge. 8:15 pm - everyone's in a hurry to get somewhere. Being on a tandem with another 150 lbs of kids and trailer in tow is a good workout. Especially when you go over the bridge on Richmond St. over Hwy. 58. Anyway, my quads felt it when I got home, so that was something I'll probably repeat.
My bike computer for the tandem appears to have bitten the dust, so I have no idea how many km were ridden yesterday. I estimate it was at least 15, so there's 83 notched for the year. Considering I was planning to do at least 100 km per week, I think I have some catching up to do...
200 km in one day in August. It's only three months off at this point...time to hustle.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Dropped off the face of the blogosphere
I feel burned out, so I'll get back to my blog...yeah - that makes NO sense...
...but I did manage another ride a couple of weeks ago that I never got around to talking about.
A night ride - through the Thorold Tunnel to Niagara Falls for a standing Wednesday night meeting. Always interesting what you see when you ride at night.
For starters, there's the bit about going through the Thorold Tunnel.
You can't take the road, and there's only a pedestrian entrance on one side. However, once you've navigated down the relatively steep approach (and through a couple of steel gates that will test your balance and manoeuverability), the tunnel itself isn't much to worry about. The worst thing I think is the fear of meeting a cyclist or pedestrian while zipping along the sidewalk at 35 km/h.
Anyway, I took Thorold Stone Road from Thorold to Niagara Falls, then down a bit of Stanley to get to my destination. Some people get really freaked out when I tell them I rode Thorold Stone Road. They freak out even more when I tell them I rode it at night.
Considering I cut my teeth cycling in Toronto traffic, Thorold Stone Road or any other road in Niagara's pretty tame by my standards.
You also have to remember that in the country, you get a flurry of cars going by, then a few moments of still and silence before the next flurry of cars catches up. You get to see really neat things if you pay attention.
The thing that caught my attention that night was the turtle trying to cross the road. I didn't stop to see what kind of turtle it was - but it was heading across the road, trying to get from one wet ditch to another. Why? Who knows. I didn't see it when I came back, either alive or as roadkill, so I'm assuming it either gave up on the idea or actually made it across.
I used to have a set of Nightsun lights. I still do, but the battery for them croaked so I made do with an old light I used to ride with in Japan. Now I remember why I used to ride with two of those lights - one wasn't enough. Great spot lighting, but not enough floodlighting to see the potholes in front of me. My suggestion - get a good set of lights if you plan to do any serious night riding. If they cost a few hundred dollars and that seems extravagant to you, consider what would happen if you rode with inferior lighting and had an accident you could have avoided if only you had seen that pothole better...
I ran out of batteries ONCE when I first moved to Niagara. It turns out I was at Vansickle Rd. & Pelham Rd., but I didn't know that. At the time it was pitch black (no suburbs built there yet) and I could barely see the road by the moon and starlight. Freakiest cycling experience at night in the "city" ever. Moral of the story: get good lights.
This ride turned out to be 34 km round trip, so I'm somewhere around 68 recorded km for the year - by May 23rd. What day's today? June 4th. Lots of work yet to do to get ready...
...but I did manage another ride a couple of weeks ago that I never got around to talking about.
A night ride - through the Thorold Tunnel to Niagara Falls for a standing Wednesday night meeting. Always interesting what you see when you ride at night.
For starters, there's the bit about going through the Thorold Tunnel.
You can't take the road, and there's only a pedestrian entrance on one side. However, once you've navigated down the relatively steep approach (and through a couple of steel gates that will test your balance and manoeuverability), the tunnel itself isn't much to worry about. The worst thing I think is the fear of meeting a cyclist or pedestrian while zipping along the sidewalk at 35 km/h.
Anyway, I took Thorold Stone Road from Thorold to Niagara Falls, then down a bit of Stanley to get to my destination. Some people get really freaked out when I tell them I rode Thorold Stone Road. They freak out even more when I tell them I rode it at night.
Considering I cut my teeth cycling in Toronto traffic, Thorold Stone Road or any other road in Niagara's pretty tame by my standards.
You also have to remember that in the country, you get a flurry of cars going by, then a few moments of still and silence before the next flurry of cars catches up. You get to see really neat things if you pay attention.
The thing that caught my attention that night was the turtle trying to cross the road. I didn't stop to see what kind of turtle it was - but it was heading across the road, trying to get from one wet ditch to another. Why? Who knows. I didn't see it when I came back, either alive or as roadkill, so I'm assuming it either gave up on the idea or actually made it across.
I used to have a set of Nightsun lights. I still do, but the battery for them croaked so I made do with an old light I used to ride with in Japan. Now I remember why I used to ride with two of those lights - one wasn't enough. Great spot lighting, but not enough floodlighting to see the potholes in front of me. My suggestion - get a good set of lights if you plan to do any serious night riding. If they cost a few hundred dollars and that seems extravagant to you, consider what would happen if you rode with inferior lighting and had an accident you could have avoided if only you had seen that pothole better...
I ran out of batteries ONCE when I first moved to Niagara. It turns out I was at Vansickle Rd. & Pelham Rd., but I didn't know that. At the time it was pitch black (no suburbs built there yet) and I could barely see the road by the moon and starlight. Freakiest cycling experience at night in the "city" ever. Moral of the story: get good lights.
This ride turned out to be 34 km round trip, so I'm somewhere around 68 recorded km for the year - by May 23rd. What day's today? June 4th. Lots of work yet to do to get ready...
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