For the Love of Bikes

Life is better on a bike!

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Santa Brings Socks

December 14, 2010 /

I won 10 pairs of socks!!  Ten pairs of Coolmax socks – which I found out are made almost entirely from ground up plastic bottles.   So they are not only good for my feet, but good for the environment too.  I like to do my part.

I’m a fan of Adventure Cycling Association on Facebook, last week they posted a question asking readers how we feed our cycling bug during the winter months.  To enter, you just had to post a comment.   So I did, and lucky for me, I won.

 

 

As far as I’m concerned, you can’t have too many socks.  Between the closet and dryer trolls, and my own toughness on socks (seriously hard on socks) I always need socks.  Especially the kind of socks that I wear biking or running.  And thanks to Adventure Cycling, I don’t think I will run out any time soon.

Now, if they just make me want to train indoors I will have it made.

Who me?

Ride While You Can

November 29, 2010 /

This time of year, on most days, the weather is not conducive for riding.  It’s windy or cold, or worse – both.  Fewer hours of daylight doesn’t help either.

My fitness level is high this time of year, but the opportunities to take advantage of it, and build on it, are quickly diminishing.  Sigh.

It doesn’t seem fair, but that’s the way it is.  As the year comes to a close, so does regular riding – at least for most of us.  So when you have a day, where there is hardly a breeze, the sun is out and the temperature is around 60 – you ride.

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That’s exactly what we did this past Saturday.  We ended up riding 42 miles, on a hilly route, and put Mark within 12 miles of reaching his goal for the year of 2,000 miles.

It felt good to ride off some of the Thanksgiving "excess" and also see that the fitness is still there.

I am determined to keep up with off-season training.  We recently bought a couple of books to help, plus we ordered a spinner!  We will still get some rides in outside over the winter, but the majority of training will be indoors, on the treadmill, elliptical and soon, the spinner.

Trying to take away all excuses for not training!  How do you train over the winter?

Snail

Educating Motorists

November 27, 2010 /

Let’s be honest. It would be nice if as cyclists, we could just ride our bikes in peace and not have to concern ourselves with whether or not any given motorist is aware of our needs and rights on the road.

It would be nice, but it would be naive, and even risky to assume.  It behooves all of us who ride bikes on roadways to care about what every motorist’s level of understanding of our right to also be there is .

An article from bicyclinginfo.org, reminded me that most of the time, when drivers act in a manner that is questionable, it is out of ignorance rather than malice – an important distinction to make.

"Whether they deserve it or not, motorists tend to get a bad rap among cyclists. But poor behavior on the part of motorists is often simply a response to misbehavior by cyclists or an ignorance of cyclists’ needs. When educating motorists about cycling, one should approach them with respect. Respecting motorists is the first step in awakening them to the need to safely share the road with cyclists and pedestrians."

“The more motorists know about cycling safety, the safer streets will be for everyone on them.”

Read the entire article here.

Traveling by Bike

November 17, 2010 /

There is a theory that the slower you travel, the more you see. Traveling by bike is proof of that theory.

To travel by bike is to not only see what surrounds you, but to also be embraced by it. A good example of this is riding the Katy Trail in Missouri.

The Missouri Katy Trail starts in Clinton and ends in St. Charles. The Katy is an off-the-road trail made up of crushed limestone that travels 225 miles across Missouri. Much of the trail follows Lewis and Clark’s path along the Missouri River. Katy Trail is part of the Rails to Trails Conservancy which is an organization devoted to building a nationwide network of trails utilizing former rail lines.

Other than bicyclists you will not encounter too many other travelers, a few hikers, maybe a person or two on horseback – horses are allowed on parts of the trail, but aren’t a nuisance. You will however encounter a lot of birds, mainly Eastern Bluebirds and Indigo Buntings. At times it seems as if the birds are guiding you down the trail as they fly just ahead of you leading the way.

One of the best parts about riding the Katy and the rails to trails system in general, is that it allows you to ride on an off-the-road trail and not have to compete with cars for your share of the road. Bike touring doesn’t get any better than that. No cars, just miles and miles of tree covered trail, your bike and you.

Nothing compares to traveling by bike.

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