Posts in category “Cycling”

Young, Foolish & Drunk

So I'm about a quarter of my way into my ride this morning when I turned onto Bear Ridge Road and began a small climb.  As I sat down and looked up, there he was…somebody on a mountain bike swinging off my side of the road to get out of my way.  As I've mentioned previously I often see a variety of fauna in the morning, including the occasional humanoid.  But today was the first time I've been flagged down for help.

As I passed this guy, he yells something at me.  I looked back and asked "What?".  His reply was "I need help".  Alright, so it's about 5am, still fairly dark and somebody weaving down the road towards you is asking for help…hmmm.  Initial thought: "I hope he's not covered in blood from killing somebody!".  So I pull over, stop and wait for him to get closer.  As he's coming towards me he tells me he's lost and is trying to get to North Tonawanda.  At this point I can see he's an obviously drunk young man who was a bit panicked.  So now I'm a bit amused at his predicament and give him the directions he need…several times being his comprehension was not real good after an obviously long night. I'm assuming he's alright as I sent him down to my return route and I didn't run into him again.  Ah, to be young and foolish again!

Old, Fat & Slow

So this morning I got up at 4:15am, got dressed and went riding outside before work for the first time this season.  I did get out and ride on both Saturday and Sunday in addition to my bonus early season ride, so I guess this is marks the start of another outdoor cycling season for me.

I've been hoping that I might be able to log more miles this year than I have in the past few years now that my little ones are out of the fussy at night baby age.  I even got started again after the holidays sooner that I ever have.  But this morning proved what I already knew; I'm old, fat and slow.  Actually there are four parts to the cause of this morning not going well.

  1. The battery pack for my lighting system needs to be replaced again.  I knew as soon as I unplugged it this morning that there was likely a problem as the batteries were not warm and the charger was fairly hot.  This was the same symtoms of the batteries failing a couple 2-3 years back.  And when I started using it, it just wasn't putting out a lot of light.  That's a big problem when you are riding on bad roads in the dark.  Later in the seasons it's less of a problem as you start to learn where the really bad potholes are, but right now that's somewhat of a mystery.  This naturally slows you down because you can't see as well.



  1. I also forgot my water bottle this morning!  I really can't remember the last time I did that, but without water that also slows you down after a while.



  1. I'm carrying too much dead weight as excess fat.  I'm 4 pound heavier today than I was at this time last year.  I always expect to be a bit heavy at that start of the season, but this year is worse than ever before.  Hopefully with some discipline and hard work I will be able to shed it or convert it to muscle mass in a reasonably short period of time.  Being at about 152 right now would be good, although my target weight is actually 148.  This of course sends my wife into a tizzy as she thinks that's too thin.  I'd be happier with more weight, but only if it is muscle mass.  It's been several years since I was that light, but I also did some of my best riding then.



  1. The other reality is I'm getting older.  It's harder to get out of bed, I hurt more and it takes longer to recover.  Getting back into shape and maintaining a fairly constant weight and working out year round would go a long way towards making all of this easier.



Must be disciplined and mentally strong!

Finally!

Well, I've finally gotten back on my bike after nearly a three month layoff.  This year was an unmitigated disaster for me when it comes to cycling.  I took no long rides and had very little time on the weekends to ride.  Then in September I got sick.  Then I got busy.  Then I got sick again.  Then I was on vacation.  Then I got sick —again!  And all the while laziness settled in and the house started getting cold in the morning…a sure recipe for failure.   Now with less than two weeks left in the year, I've suddenly found some motivation.  This means very little for this year, but could be a good springboard into 2005.  I now just need to stay motivated and overcome the cold floors and general lethargy in the mornings to maintain it.  Must think strong.

Night Critters

I recently past 20,000 miles in my modern cycling career.  Because of work and family commitments, most of my riding for the past several years has been (and continues to be) done in the wee morning hours.  Nothing like being blasted out by the alarm clock at 4:15am to hit the road.  One of the good and bad things about that is the various critters that you get to share your ride with.  What follows is a rundown of what I generally see, the hazards the represent and some amusing encounters with them.

—-

I felt compelled to update this after this morning's ride added horses to the critter list!  …more