Life is better on a bike!

Category: why we ride (Page 1 of 3)

Early Morning Ride

I head out early. Hazy rays of sunlight shimmer, just clearing the trees and catching the fields of tall grasses along Chagrin River Road, making it luminous.

There is a layer of fog in the distance where I know the river is. It is beautifully quiet. I hear birdsong – my tires and the hum of my gears – and nothing else.

Magical in every sense of the word, I am spellbound, not quite believing my good fortune. I promise myself I will get out early tomorrow too – and I do.

To my right as I take a curve is a deer. In the middle of the field of tall grass. A single solitary deer looking at me, me looking at her. All I see is the deer’s eyes and pointy ears, everything else is immersed in the grass which is nearly as tall.

The sun’s rays illuminate the tips of the grass and the deer. It is an amazing sight. A moment so perfect I only capture it in my mind’s eye. I wasn’t about to disturb the moment or the deer by stopping and taking a picture. That’s saying something for the woman with 33,595 photos on her iPhone presently.

Some bike rides are like that, actually many have beautiful moments, but today’s was extraordinary.

I’ll be out there early again tomorrow hoping to catch that sparkling light again and maybe another solitary soul in a field of grass.

From another encounter, I have a thing for deer

Why We Still Ride

I broke my right leg on a bike just like the one below when I was 10 years old. My friend, Debbie Smith’s bike. I was pedaling she was riding on the handlebars… we flipped and I landed on my knees. Crazy kids.

This is a great post by Brent Cohrs from his Easy as Riding a Bike blog.

Is 2012 the Year You Rediscover Bicycling?

Is 2012 the Year You Rediscover Bicycling?  By Brent Cohrs

Not my photo, but this was my first two-wheeler, a Sears Spyder. Image courtesy of oldroads.com

Think back.

Way back. Back to a time when the toughest decision you needed to make during any given day was which color popsicle you would eat first. Life was as simple as hopping on your bike and pedaling from one adventure to the next.

As long as I was back in time for dinner, I could pretty much go wherever my bike would take me. Down the block to a friend’s house. Over to the neighborhood White Hen Pantry. Up to the public swimming pool. Off to playgrounds near and far.

Sometimes the adventure didn’t involve any destination in particular. My bike was simply the vehicle that put my imagination into action. Sometimes it was a motorcycle. Other times it was a fighter jet, a horse, a police car, or any other conveyance needed to complete the fantasy. I didn’t require a game console and a big screen TV to simulate an experience – I just utilized my brain and my bike.

It’s been over forty years since that first solo trip around the block, yet I remember it as if it were yesterday.

I was on my older brother’s Stingray-like bike which was clearly too big for me to ride. I hovered over the top tube, pedaling sporadically to keep from toppling over. Each time I attempted to scoot up onto the seat I would lose momentum and the bike would start to wobble. Rather than risk crashing – which I’m sure I had done dozens of times before I finally attained that right combination of forward motion and side-to-side balance – I continued to stand up on the pedals until I had circumnavigated the entire block.

The five year-old version of me hopped on that bike determined to master an elusive motor skill and returned not merely satisfied with an achievement, but addicted to a new sensation. I still grin like a five year-old each time I throw a leg over my bike.

Every bike ride is an adventure.

Whether zipping over to the library or exploring a regional rail trail, tooling around the forest preserve or riding 150 miles to raise money for MS research, each outing has the potential to relax your mind while activating your imagination. Every trip can stimulate your senses while simulating your childhood memories.

Bicycling will help you reclaim your health while you relive your youth.

There is no better time than right now to rediscover bicycling. You never forget how to ride a bike – it’s been scientifically proven, by the way. Enjoying our unseasonably warm weather and getting back in shape is as easy as riding a bike.

Follow this blog for a series of posts on how you can rediscover bicycling. From slowly riding yourself back into shape to evaluating that bike hanging in the garage, I’m here to offer advice and encouragement. I’ll provide you with insider’s tips for buying accessories and offer reviews of fun and safe places to ride.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get ready to take my bike out on some local sales calls today. I love an early spring!

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Keep riding and be safe!

Leap Day

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Today was the type of ride I should take more often. Slow and easy. Riding along with my bud side by side on country roads where we saw way more cows and horses than we did cars and trucks. Just talking and enjoying the spectacular weather.

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We rode a little over 21 miles but it was almost effortless. We usually ride the same speed or at least with the same effort: putting our heads down (most of the ride) and pedaling hard.

I know it’s best to vary your effort to get stronger and faster but I tend to forget that when I’m doing a training ride. And if I am on certain routes (east and west training routes) I only know one speed.

But this time of year is all about base miles so I even have a reason to ride slower.

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When I ride around town on Condor, my commuter, I never put my head down and go, it is always more about getting somewhere or just enjoying the ride. But put me on my road bike and I get locked in to riding hard. 


I’m glad we had this kind of ride today, it served as a good reminder to slow down and just ride.
What about you, do you tend to ride all out when you’re on a training ride?

Sunday Ride

Yesterday afternoon we headed out on our thirty mile route to the east because the wind was to switch to east-southeast and we always like to have the wind at our backs on the way back.

It was another nice day, winter beats summer in these parts by a long shot, at least this winter (and last summer).

We had a rider join us, Fred, he is a truck driver who rides a bike every chance he gets. In his case 4-5 times a week.

He has even modified his truck to make room for his bike. When it is  raining he sets up the trainer in his truck and rides while he watches reruns of the Tour de France. 

In other words Fred is one of us. He loves his bikes and loves riding and makes time for it whenever and however he can.

Fred was a nice guy and we enjoyed talking to him and riding with him for the two hours we were out there. Interestingly he doesn’t have a bike computer so has no idea how far he rides. I like that. I don’t do it myself, but I like that he cares more about the experience than he does the miles – and that appeals to me.

It was good to be reminded that it is the riding and not the miles that count.

Day 51

Mark and Fred ahead of me on Westminster Rd.

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