Friday, April 17, 2009

Not just harbingers

These are not just harbingers anymore, these are celebrations of spring.

I rode my nice bike today. This means I went from about 22 pounds to about 18, I went from tires with 75 psi to 120 psi, I went from a big ring of 48 to 52 and from a small ring of 36 to 39. I went from riding pretty often in the small ring to riding almost exclusively in the big ring. I gained about 2mph in average speed. I felt strong, I felt fast.

This is not a harbinger, this is cultivation.It is minimum tillage but it is the first step towards corn.

Two hour bicycle rides are saving my life. But two hours on this bicycle means about 4 more miles than on the other one. The extra miles got me all the way to Summit and Snelling to turn around. There is a ghost bike there to mark the spot where a bicyclist was killed last summer. This one seems particularly egregious as the truck had to run a stop sign to get her. The city has responded by installing some new traffic furniture.I am on the Summit Avenue service road to take this picture. The bicyclist was coming up the hill from the left in a marked bike lane on the main route of Summit. The driver had turned right off Snelling onto the service road. At the point of conflict she had the right of way, he had a STOP sign. He said he didn't see her. The new traffic furniture forces motor vehicles to turn more fully towards the path on which bicyclists will be approaching.

When I got home TOPWLH was paying the pizza guy so I got her to come out and take a picture. First day on the LOOK, actually second day of shorts, but definitely first day of short sleeves.Some of you may have noticed that I like orange. Whatya think of my new sunglasses?It is true, I have forsaken my allegiance to George Hincapie and Ram Air Surge Ports although I love those sunglasses and will no doubt wear them again. But Fabian Cancellara has been sporting these in the spring classics. Some of you may have noticed that I like orange.

5 comments:

gfr said...

Okay -- my first comment vanished into the ether, apparently.

Nice story telling, I said. I like the bike geek parts, of course. Riding in the big ring makes a big difference.

The story about the death of another bicyclist makes me reflect on where and how I ride. Drivers killing bicyclists is just too common a story. "I didn't see her" is just not an adequate explanation.

Nice glasses.

Anonymous said...

And I mentioned that I've been in that church in your photo. ~ SS

Anonymous said...

You are a vision in orange. Do you like orange? (ha ha)
Very eclectic (or what is the perfect word for a variety of different kinds of interests?).
BB

Emily said...

Having seen those glasses in person, I can say with authority that they are totally awesome! Very, very orange. Too bad they don't have speed holes, though... :-)

Anonymous said...

Emily -- Surge Ports, not speed holes. ;-)

~ SS