Just because you have a bicycle hanging off the back of your car does not give you enough street cred to run me over as I ride down the street.
End of lesson.
Showing posts with label thinking out loud. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thinking out loud. Show all posts
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
Going Somewhere
From the corner of my eye
you flash by
before I can tell you
I love you.
So I whisper it
to the ghost wind
you leave behind.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
The Moment Is Now
You know that moment when you are riding along and suddenly, no matter what the surroundings, everything is perfect? Somehow the cadence is just right and the amount of effort is perfect and your balance is effortless. Moving feels so natural you just want to keep going because there is no doubt that this is what your body was meant to do. The wind touches your skin in just that way that turns your mind on to how amazing this moment is and you heart chimes in with "Yes!".
Today that moment occurred on Valencia between 24th and 25th streets. Where were you when that moment came to you?
Today that moment occurred on Valencia between 24th and 25th streets. Where were you when that moment came to you?
Monday, May 30, 2011
The Road Not Yet Travelled
Are you like me? Do you have wander lust that rarely gets relieved? There has yet to be a trip proposed to me that I would say no to. Going somewhere is something I have always loved. Usually, I have to content myself with wondering where other people are headed.
I used to watch airplanes and wonder where they were off to, now I watch bicycle tourists. How far is the ride? Where did it start? What is in the panniers? Are the roads better here or there? What have they seen and what is ahead?
One day. Someone will watch me and ask themselves the same questions. I will smile because I will have the answers.
I used to watch airplanes and wonder where they were off to, now I watch bicycle tourists. How far is the ride? Where did it start? What is in the panniers? Are the roads better here or there? What have they seen and what is ahead?
One day. Someone will watch me and ask themselves the same questions. I will smile because I will have the answers.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Observation
Should I ever be hit by a car I am fairly certain it will be either-
a) A car share car. The people who use them do not drive enough to be good at it and always seem to be on their cell phones because they are lost.
b) The Department of Public Works. They know they will never be fired for anything and think they own everything.
c) A taxi. Click on the picture for the back story.
This isn't to say I couldn't be hit by a bus or minivan or street sweeper, only that in my observation of vehicles that nearly hit me, these are the three types that stick out.
a) A car share car. The people who use them do not drive enough to be good at it and always seem to be on their cell phones because they are lost.
b) The Department of Public Works. They know they will never be fired for anything and think they own everything.
c) A taxi. Click on the picture for the back story.
This isn't to say I couldn't be hit by a bus or minivan or street sweeper, only that in my observation of vehicles that nearly hit me, these are the three types that stick out.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
A Little More Thinking Out Loud
We are all aware of the less than optimally well behaved bicyclist. Most know them by the term, a term I loath, "the Scofflaw". We see them, or perhaps you see me, failing to stop at every sign or riding on a sidewalk or taking the wrong way on a one way street... and we instantly assume that that rider thinks they are "entitled", another word I loath for its inappropriate overuse. For the most part, very few of us out here in the world look at those riders and think "if this street were better designed there would be no need to run that light/ride on that sidewalk/go the wrong way..."
Just as all of us feel stressed out, harried and late the second we hit the freeway in our cars, we also feel vulnerable, threatened and squeezed when we take to the poor excuse for public space we call the streets and roads of the United States on our bicycles. While there are many people out there who feel that the law is in place to keep us "safe", it is my opinion that, for the most part, the law is there to prevent us from behaving in our own best interests in environments that have developed in a way that prevents us from acting normally. So much of what we see is the result of adapted behavior to sub-optimal environments that all of us, regardless of transportation choice, are forced to survive in.
These thoughts came to me as I listened to the talk David Byrne gave at the 2010 TED conference on the influence of architecture on the development of music over the centuries. His feeling is the music developed as a result of the environment it was created in as opposed to humans first adapting the environment to our musical needs. As I listened it made me think of all the things in life that we do that are a result of our adaptation to the already built environment of the cities we live in. An example of this would be a city like San Francisco that has such a strong history of small, fully contained neighborhoods where you could walk to everything you needed- if the hills around you make it very difficult to walk or ride a horse/bike then you will make sure that your neighborhood has a market and a cobbler and a seamstress and a school... because it is just too hard to keep schlepping over the hill for every little thing. Our modern times have tried to superimpose a suburban, car based drive-through model on San Francisco since the 1950's and by just about every measure this has been a failure which we now all live with and have adapted to- up to, and including, the sub-optimal behavior of many bicyclists.
If Gregorian chanting came about in part due to the echoing nature of sound in grand cathedrals, then it isn't a stretch to say that people do seemingly odd things on bicycles because they can not pretend to be 40MPH delivery trucks racing to get across town. If we want those who ride bicycles to "behave" better than we have to give them an environment that encourages that behavior by making it easier and more convenient and a great deal safer to do so. Just as the Gregorian chant loses something when performed in an open air amphitheater, the urban cyclist loses something when they are forced to "share the road" with 30 ton buses and cab drivers who only know that time is money.
If I have not lost you to this point, perhaps you would like to hear the thoughts of Mr. Byrne yourself. Perhaps you will find some parallels of your own.
Just as all of us feel stressed out, harried and late the second we hit the freeway in our cars, we also feel vulnerable, threatened and squeezed when we take to the poor excuse for public space we call the streets and roads of the United States on our bicycles. While there are many people out there who feel that the law is in place to keep us "safe", it is my opinion that, for the most part, the law is there to prevent us from behaving in our own best interests in environments that have developed in a way that prevents us from acting normally. So much of what we see is the result of adapted behavior to sub-optimal environments that all of us, regardless of transportation choice, are forced to survive in.
These thoughts came to me as I listened to the talk David Byrne gave at the 2010 TED conference on the influence of architecture on the development of music over the centuries. His feeling is the music developed as a result of the environment it was created in as opposed to humans first adapting the environment to our musical needs. As I listened it made me think of all the things in life that we do that are a result of our adaptation to the already built environment of the cities we live in. An example of this would be a city like San Francisco that has such a strong history of small, fully contained neighborhoods where you could walk to everything you needed- if the hills around you make it very difficult to walk or ride a horse/bike then you will make sure that your neighborhood has a market and a cobbler and a seamstress and a school... because it is just too hard to keep schlepping over the hill for every little thing. Our modern times have tried to superimpose a suburban, car based drive-through model on San Francisco since the 1950's and by just about every measure this has been a failure which we now all live with and have adapted to- up to, and including, the sub-optimal behavior of many bicyclists.
If Gregorian chanting came about in part due to the echoing nature of sound in grand cathedrals, then it isn't a stretch to say that people do seemingly odd things on bicycles because they can not pretend to be 40MPH delivery trucks racing to get across town. If we want those who ride bicycles to "behave" better than we have to give them an environment that encourages that behavior by making it easier and more convenient and a great deal safer to do so. Just as the Gregorian chant loses something when performed in an open air amphitheater, the urban cyclist loses something when they are forced to "share the road" with 30 ton buses and cab drivers who only know that time is money.
If I have not lost you to this point, perhaps you would like to hear the thoughts of Mr. Byrne yourself. Perhaps you will find some parallels of your own.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Take The Lane Or Make A Better One?
In many cities across North America, bicycles are making a comeback. This is an amazing thing, in my book. For the first time since the 1960's people in the United States, Canada and Mexico are truly making an effort to live life less destructively. Unlike the Hippie movement, today's crop of social experimenters look like everyone else (there is most certainly a lot less patchouli, thank goodness) and choose to work from within the system instead of dropping out to create a new one.
The public hallmark of the resurgence of the bicycle is the bike lane. We lust for them, we beg for them, we cheer them when they are finally painted along the side of the road.
As much as I love seeing them, I have to admit that my feelings about most bicycle lanes are mixed. While many of the newest lanes in SF are well placed and very much needed to get people on the street on their bicycles, much of what we have is substandard by any measure out there. The above lane is fantastic for showing all road users where they should be to move in certain directions and has made this stretch of bicycle route a whole bunch better to ride on. In spite of this improvement, the lane is still either squeezed to the right of, or smack dab in the middle of, 30 mph traffic. No measure of traffic calming was employed here, no reduction in traffic speed, no physical separation of bicycles and cars (there is a buffer zone on the straightaways, but that can feel a bit flimsy when there is delivery truck straddling it). During rush hour, when this stretch is packed with people in cars who are late-late-late, you have to be pretty centered with a healthy dose of trust in the ability of others to drive in a straight line.
This next picture is of Valencia Street. The three most prominent bicycle routes in San Francisco are The Wiggle, Market Street and Valencia. Of these, Valencia St. has experienced the greatest change recently with huge traffic calming and reduction planning, removal of parking and turning lanes, widening of sidewalks and conversion of unused bus stops into bike corrals. These measures have helped to increase the number of cyclists greatly in the last few months and every time I ride there I see more and more people cruising along to get where they are going. Every inch of bike lane on Valencia Street is planted firmly in the door zone and while it is a showcase of new bicycle infrastructure for SF it is also some of the most popular double parking and cell phone space in the City. Having a large police station and many parking enforcement officers to monitor the meters makes no difference either as no one ever issues any tickets.
This lane is on Cabrillo Street and is one of the oldest lanes in SF. It is a fantastic lane as it is firmly established outside the door zone and is striped on both sides to clearly show this to riders and parkers alike. There are many out there, like myself, who wonder why the new lanes are not planned as well as this. We also wonder what will come of this in the long run.
New riders who do not have a great deal of experience on the road frequently see bicycle lanes as a promise of safety from traffic. They don't have the experience to recognize the door zone or the reflexes to dodge doors while not getting hit by passing traffic. Or better yet, be comfortable enough to be able to recognize the cars with the potential to have a door open into them. New riders think they have to stay in the lane to be safe and then become targets for the dreaded right hook. They frequently do not know how to get out of the lane to either get around right turning vehicles or to merge with traffic to make left turns themselves. Many people feel uncomfortable taking the lane because they feel they are getting in the way (not a problem I have) and will not come out of the bicycle lane even when they recognize it at as substandard.
A lot of energy goes into discussions of how bicyclists should behave. There is a lot of discussion about the need to stop at signs and not ride on sidewalks and be polite... and while I agree that riding predictably and with the needs of others recognized makes for a much more pleasant experience for all, unless we address the true problem, total lack of infrastructure that makes it impossible to ride in something other than survival mode, we will always have unpredictable riders.
If delivery trucks and people checking their GPS systems insist on doing so in the bike lane then we will have to resign ourselves to cyclists darting into traffic to get around them.
If bike lanes are placed in the door zone then we will have to resign ourselves to more aggressive riders because they can not safely use the space that has been allotted to them. Want to see a really frustrated driver? Then watch them get upset when they get stuck behind a cyclist who has to take the lane instead of using the substandard bike lane that has been given them. Who will get blamed in that situation? It won't be the institutions that put in the badly planned lane, it will be the cyclist who is trying to keep from getting doored.
If the only standard of street planning is moving the most cars as fast as possible then we can not complain when some cyclists behave in what feels like aggressive or erratic manners. The lack of infrastructure is the cause, the cyclists are just the symptom. If you maintain a road system that encourages drivers and cyclists alike to behave like the Running of the Bulls then you can not get angry at the users for doing so. There will be those who take the part of "the bull" and those who take the part of "let me get the hell out of the way".
The public hallmark of the resurgence of the bicycle is the bike lane. We lust for them, we beg for them, we cheer them when they are finally painted along the side of the road.
As much as I love seeing them, I have to admit that my feelings about most bicycle lanes are mixed. While many of the newest lanes in SF are well placed and very much needed to get people on the street on their bicycles, much of what we have is substandard by any measure out there. The above lane is fantastic for showing all road users where they should be to move in certain directions and has made this stretch of bicycle route a whole bunch better to ride on. In spite of this improvement, the lane is still either squeezed to the right of, or smack dab in the middle of, 30 mph traffic. No measure of traffic calming was employed here, no reduction in traffic speed, no physical separation of bicycles and cars (there is a buffer zone on the straightaways, but that can feel a bit flimsy when there is delivery truck straddling it). During rush hour, when this stretch is packed with people in cars who are late-late-late, you have to be pretty centered with a healthy dose of trust in the ability of others to drive in a straight line.
This next picture is of Valencia Street. The three most prominent bicycle routes in San Francisco are The Wiggle, Market Street and Valencia. Of these, Valencia St. has experienced the greatest change recently with huge traffic calming and reduction planning, removal of parking and turning lanes, widening of sidewalks and conversion of unused bus stops into bike corrals. These measures have helped to increase the number of cyclists greatly in the last few months and every time I ride there I see more and more people cruising along to get where they are going. Every inch of bike lane on Valencia Street is planted firmly in the door zone and while it is a showcase of new bicycle infrastructure for SF it is also some of the most popular double parking and cell phone space in the City. Having a large police station and many parking enforcement officers to monitor the meters makes no difference either as no one ever issues any tickets.
This lane is on Cabrillo Street and is one of the oldest lanes in SF. It is a fantastic lane as it is firmly established outside the door zone and is striped on both sides to clearly show this to riders and parkers alike. There are many out there, like myself, who wonder why the new lanes are not planned as well as this. We also wonder what will come of this in the long run.
New riders who do not have a great deal of experience on the road frequently see bicycle lanes as a promise of safety from traffic. They don't have the experience to recognize the door zone or the reflexes to dodge doors while not getting hit by passing traffic. Or better yet, be comfortable enough to be able to recognize the cars with the potential to have a door open into them. New riders think they have to stay in the lane to be safe and then become targets for the dreaded right hook. They frequently do not know how to get out of the lane to either get around right turning vehicles or to merge with traffic to make left turns themselves. Many people feel uncomfortable taking the lane because they feel they are getting in the way (not a problem I have) and will not come out of the bicycle lane even when they recognize it at as substandard.
A lot of energy goes into discussions of how bicyclists should behave. There is a lot of discussion about the need to stop at signs and not ride on sidewalks and be polite... and while I agree that riding predictably and with the needs of others recognized makes for a much more pleasant experience for all, unless we address the true problem, total lack of infrastructure that makes it impossible to ride in something other than survival mode, we will always have unpredictable riders.
Between doors and pedestrians in the bike lane, even pedicabs have to take the lane.
If delivery trucks and people checking their GPS systems insist on doing so in the bike lane then we will have to resign ourselves to cyclists darting into traffic to get around them.
If bike lanes are placed in the door zone then we will have to resign ourselves to more aggressive riders because they can not safely use the space that has been allotted to them. Want to see a really frustrated driver? Then watch them get upset when they get stuck behind a cyclist who has to take the lane instead of using the substandard bike lane that has been given them. Who will get blamed in that situation? It won't be the institutions that put in the badly planned lane, it will be the cyclist who is trying to keep from getting doored.
If the only standard of street planning is moving the most cars as fast as possible then we can not complain when some cyclists behave in what feels like aggressive or erratic manners. The lack of infrastructure is the cause, the cyclists are just the symptom. If you maintain a road system that encourages drivers and cyclists alike to behave like the Running of the Bulls then you can not get angry at the users for doing so. There will be those who take the part of "the bull" and those who take the part of "let me get the hell out of the way".
When bike lanes work, people are happy.
If we want to stop the "bad behavior" we need to start building like Portland. If we want new cyclists to join the ranks then the need for articles like this or today's article at Streetsblog need to be eliminated by building better bicycle accommodations.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
More Random Thoughts
I never circle for parking, anymore. There are few times when I wait in traffic, and then never more than a single change of the light. When I am riding every moment of my journey is spent moving toward my goal, nothing wasted waiting in lines or searching for places to stop. Even when it takes longer to get there, the whole time is spent getting there. I feel so purposeful.
Every time I ride along my usual paths I find something new. There is something about the side streets that never calls when I am driving. New additions to the murals on that restaurant I noticed for the first time last week. The people in the house down the street are finally fixing the damage to the attic from the fire they had five years ago. The trees on my street have started to bloom because they are so confused. They won't drop their leaves until January. My mailman is finally wearing pants.
I apologize to the home dwellers of the east side of Dolores St. between 29th and 30th streets. Your sidewalk is so beautiful and wide and on hot days the sun comes through the trees to make such lovely dappled shade that feels like a nice long rest. I frequently am unable to resist your beautiful sidewalk's call to me- "I am so much better than that crowded, loud, busy street. Come ride on me.". I promise to ride slowly and always keep my eyes open for your little purse dogs that run off leash.
The only part of my bicycle that is flimsy is the paint. Look at it and it flakes. Think about using the lock on it, the paint flakes. Try to seal the chips and they flake. At this rate, in another couple of years I will have an all silver bicycle. Batavus, are you listening? Your paint jobs leave much to be desired.
What is that pain in my right knee this week? Why does it hurt when I first take off? What is causing it? Oooooohhhhh, my TFL is very tight. Why didn't I recognize that before? Fix it myself or go to yoga up the street? Ignore it until it is really bad and then complain about it on the blog! Done.
Every time I ride along my usual paths I find something new. There is something about the side streets that never calls when I am driving. New additions to the murals on that restaurant I noticed for the first time last week. The people in the house down the street are finally fixing the damage to the attic from the fire they had five years ago. The trees on my street have started to bloom because they are so confused. They won't drop their leaves until January. My mailman is finally wearing pants.
I apologize to the home dwellers of the east side of Dolores St. between 29th and 30th streets. Your sidewalk is so beautiful and wide and on hot days the sun comes through the trees to make such lovely dappled shade that feels like a nice long rest. I frequently am unable to resist your beautiful sidewalk's call to me- "I am so much better than that crowded, loud, busy street. Come ride on me.". I promise to ride slowly and always keep my eyes open for your little purse dogs that run off leash.
The only part of my bicycle that is flimsy is the paint. Look at it and it flakes. Think about using the lock on it, the paint flakes. Try to seal the chips and they flake. At this rate, in another couple of years I will have an all silver bicycle. Batavus, are you listening? Your paint jobs leave much to be desired.
What is that pain in my right knee this week? Why does it hurt when I first take off? What is causing it? Oooooohhhhh, my TFL is very tight. Why didn't I recognize that before? Fix it myself or go to yoga up the street? Ignore it until it is really bad and then complain about it on the blog! Done.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Happy World Carfree Day!
On this first day of fall, September 22, 2010 is World Carfree Day. If you are reading this blog, chances are riding around on a bike has some how impacted how you live your life and perhaps you have thought about your influence in your immediate community. It seems that there's a similar desire for contemplation regarding the implementation of this day.
Please fill in your own thoughts on World Carfree Day 2010. Do you think we're getting there? Do you think after the oil spill (pick your favorite one!) people will rethink how they use for transportation purposes? For those of you who are car-lite, can this be one of the days you don't use the car? For those of you who are neither car(e)free nor car-lite, is it feasible for you to think about and reexamine how you use your car daily? If you are car free, maybe one can think about how food gets to the table, and ways to describe that to that one person you know who is always drinking soda with a straw out of a plastic bottle.
Let us know in the comments.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Processing Portland
Because it was a swirl, I am only aware of clapboard & bricks & vines & trees & wheels. Which way is south & how far is east?
Portland is a place of lines & the bones of a working class, industrial past that ends a little more everyday.
The stores are full of other people's stories- plaid & nylon & mothballs. Industry is a creaking rocking chair, economy of antique scales. Coffee comes with it all. Beer to follow.
- small thoughts on a late plane back to SFO. More coherent writing to follow.
Portland is a place of lines & the bones of a working class, industrial past that ends a little more everyday.
The stores are full of other people's stories- plaid & nylon & mothballs. Industry is a creaking rocking chair, economy of antique scales. Coffee comes with it all. Beer to follow.
- small thoughts on a late plane back to SFO. More coherent writing to follow.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
start 'em young
as seen in a storefront during this year's mass exodus of SF. i guess it helps to have new parents into biking as well.
hopefully this little bib and the trendiness it currently holds will convert itself and become a positive sign for the future of more people using bikes as a daily and viable transportation option.
hopefully this little bib and the trendiness it currently holds will convert itself and become a positive sign for the future of more people using bikes as a daily and viable transportation option.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Lens Free Riding
What you carry with you over the course of the day can really change the way you look at things. I usually have a camera with me whenever I leave the house. The few times I have left home empty handed, I have continued to see the things around me through a lens and have regretted my lack of equipment. Not today, though.
My Mom picked up the kids and took them to LA for a couple of weeks. This leaves me with time on my hands, and a bicycle without extra kid weight : ) I decided that all extra weight was unwelcome while riding today. My camera was left at home. Making the deliberate decision to not shoot gave me the chance to just watch the world as it presented its self to me today.
What I saw was a whole lotta people on bicycles! They are all over the place in San Francisco. Some streets I saw dozens of them at a time, some just one or two, but all of the places I saw people getting where they were going to on bicycles are places that saw almost no two wheeled conveyances just three years ago. It wasn't just young people, either. I saw people of all ages riding everything from recumbents to homemade long johns. Almost everyone on bicycles looked the same as the people walking down the streets. The bicycle parking was full everywhere I went!
I will take out my camera to document it all another day. Today, I was happy to just be a part of the flow. Just another San Franciscan on a bicycle.
Ride on!
My Mom picked up the kids and took them to LA for a couple of weeks. This leaves me with time on my hands, and a bicycle without extra kid weight : ) I decided that all extra weight was unwelcome while riding today. My camera was left at home. Making the deliberate decision to not shoot gave me the chance to just watch the world as it presented its self to me today.
What I saw was a whole lotta people on bicycles! They are all over the place in San Francisco. Some streets I saw dozens of them at a time, some just one or two, but all of the places I saw people getting where they were going to on bicycles are places that saw almost no two wheeled conveyances just three years ago. It wasn't just young people, either. I saw people of all ages riding everything from recumbents to homemade long johns. Almost everyone on bicycles looked the same as the people walking down the streets. The bicycle parking was full everywhere I went!
I will take out my camera to document it all another day. Today, I was happy to just be a part of the flow. Just another San Franciscan on a bicycle.
Ride on!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Thinking Out Loud
I was asked, not too long ago, why I ride my bicycle. My answer was simple- riding a bicycle is the only way I have found to get around that makes me feel better about myself. This is not to say that riding my bicycle makes me feel superior to any, only that when I ride I feel better in myself. It is an interesting phenomenon that I am quite sure that most people feel to one extent or another when they ride their bicycles.
Physical activity of the purposeful sort seems to make most people feel better. A good run, a challenging yoga class, an hour on the rock wall are all capable of making you feel good, but there is something about being out and about on a bicycle that adds to it. What that "it" is probably varies a bit from person to person. For myself, it comes down to something quite simple and, really, quite silly.
The only time I ever feel attractive is when I ride my bicycle.
There is something about moving through space, under my own power, viewing the space around me and how everything flows that makes me more attractive to myself than anything else I do. The time I am most content with being with me is when I ride and being able to combine that with getting somewhere is undeniably powerful.
Does that make sense to you?
Physical activity of the purposeful sort seems to make most people feel better. A good run, a challenging yoga class, an hour on the rock wall are all capable of making you feel good, but there is something about being out and about on a bicycle that adds to it. What that "it" is probably varies a bit from person to person. For myself, it comes down to something quite simple and, really, quite silly.
The only time I ever feel attractive is when I ride my bicycle.
There is something about moving through space, under my own power, viewing the space around me and how everything flows that makes me more attractive to myself than anything else I do. The time I am most content with being with me is when I ride and being able to combine that with getting somewhere is undeniably powerful.
Does that make sense to you?
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Sticking Together
We have talked about it before, the Wednesday Night Butter Lap. It can be a pretty strenuous ride if you are not ready for it, and a lot of people show up for it thinking it is strictly a social ride. It is social, but the comradery is based quite a bit in the challenge of the hills. Not everyone loves the freedom of a long, steep, fast fly down the side of a mountain in questionable light (my favorite part!). That said, if you do come out for the ride, and you can appreciate the challenges, Butter Lap is a blast.
This is Leah.
Leah just moved here from Austin, TX and this was her first Butter Lap. One of the first things she said to me was "Austin is flat". I know how she feels. The first few times I did this ride I had to work super hard to finish.
Sometimes all you need is a little encouragement and someone who knows the way to stick with you. Most of the time, that is all you need. I wasn't in a hurry so I decided to stick with Leah so she wouldn't get lost and she would know how much farther there was on each hill (it helps so much just knowing how far you have to go and I almost quit after being left behind in the past). We had a great talk and I was super happy to see her get to the end of the line. I hope we see her on the ride again!
Then there was Amanda. I didn't get a good shot of her face.
This is Leah.
Leah just moved here from Austin, TX and this was her first Butter Lap. One of the first things she said to me was "Austin is flat". I know how she feels. The first few times I did this ride I had to work super hard to finish.
Sometimes all you need is a little encouragement and someone who knows the way to stick with you. Most of the time, that is all you need. I wasn't in a hurry so I decided to stick with Leah so she wouldn't get lost and she would know how much farther there was on each hill (it helps so much just knowing how far you have to go and I almost quit after being left behind in the past). We had a great talk and I was super happy to see her get to the end of the line. I hope we see her on the ride again!
Then there was Amanda. I didn't get a good shot of her face.
Her bicycle was in terrible shape, and wasn't shifting at all. James (yay, Hubby the Bikeman!) took a look at it and was able to get her a few gears. Despite the fact that she wasn't used to the hills, her bike was stubborn and she kept dropping her chain, James stayed with her. Amanda declared him to be her new "Bicycle BFF", which he is to everyone and is why I love him. James likes to jam up the hills and is very competitive with me about who gets down them faster (me, BTW), but he stayed with her the whole ride to make sure she didn't get left behind and she made it all the way to the end. It took some work, too, but she didn't give up and I was really proud of her for sticking in!
Group rides can be a whole lot of fun, but if one of the riders struggles or is slower, group riding can be frustrating. Never being able to catch up, not knowing the route and not knowing how to pace yourself can wear a rider out way faster than any hill or headwind. Just having someone stick with you, or ride back to check on you from time to time can be the difference between being happy to be challenged or quitting and never coming back. It is so easy to get caught up in the ride, but if we all remember the riders, the ride gets so much better!
Do you like group rides? Have you been too intimidated to try one?
Group rides can be a whole lot of fun, but if one of the riders struggles or is slower, group riding can be frustrating. Never being able to catch up, not knowing the route and not knowing how to pace yourself can wear a rider out way faster than any hill or headwind. Just having someone stick with you, or ride back to check on you from time to time can be the difference between being happy to be challenged or quitting and never coming back. It is so easy to get caught up in the ride, but if we all remember the riders, the ride gets so much better!
Do you like group rides? Have you been too intimidated to try one?
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Transplant
"Human nature will not flourish, anymore than a potato, if it be planted and replanted, for too long a series of generations in the same worn out soil. My children have had other birthplaces, and, so far as their fortunes may be within my control, shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth."
This is a quote from "The Custom House" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. On reading it today I was struck by its truth and then instantly by its easy application to so many things. If you think of the "unaccustomed earth" as our daily thinking, the possibilities start to roll out ahead of you like a red carpet of opportunity.
This is a quote from "The Custom House" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. On reading it today I was struck by its truth and then instantly by its easy application to so many things. If you think of the "unaccustomed earth" as our daily thinking, the possibilities start to roll out ahead of you like a red carpet of opportunity.
photo by gregraisman
For many people out there, from suburban moms to major metropolitan urban planners to beer truck drivers to politicians, choosing to ride a bicycle is the "unaccustomed earth"- not so much an actual danger to body as it is a danger to the status quo of their everyday thinking, the "worn out soil" of their minds.
For many people out there, from suburban moms to major metropolitan urban planners to beer truck drivers to politicians, choosing to ride a bicycle is the "unaccustomed earth"- not so much an actual danger to body as it is a danger to the status quo of their everyday thinking, the "worn out soil" of their minds.
go see the story by Mark Stosberg that goes with this picture
We like to think that the only people who need some new dirt are those who do not ride, but it equally applies to those of us who ride everyday. How do we think of ourselves and what we do? Could we think about it differently? Can we apply the ability to challenge ourselves about how we transport ourselves and apply that to other parts of our lives?
Can we see how we eat differently?
Can we see our homes differently?
Can we see our jobs differently?
For now, maybe our bicycles can be our personal Ellis Island. A ride to work can be the beginning of finding a new land for our thoughts to take root in. In these times we need to grow as much as we can and reach farther than ever before with the creativity and determination that being an immigrant, even when the "unaccustomed earth" is in our minds, requires us to be.
Can we see how we eat differently?
Can we see our homes differently?
Can we see our jobs differently?
For now, maybe our bicycles can be our personal Ellis Island. A ride to work can be the beginning of finding a new land for our thoughts to take root in. In these times we need to grow as much as we can and reach farther than ever before with the creativity and determination that being an immigrant, even when the "unaccustomed earth" is in our minds, requires us to be.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
