Dan on Bike

Another great day – sunny, mid 50s, WNW wind at 10-15 MPH – I jumped on the bike after the game.

I took the Montmorenci Route, and things went pretty well until…

The Terrier Attacked!

I didn’t notice the 8 pound dog coming up behind me until he was next to my left foot barking and yapping. My first instinct was to try to outrun this dangerous, ferocious beast. I kicked it up a notch and was able to outrun an animal not as big as my son was at birth. I’ve never felt so alive!

Keeping Up with the Stormcrowes

This is segment where I compare my stats with Tom. In a recent post he included the stats from a recent ride, including an average speed of 15.75 MPH. My average today was 12.2 MPH. Now, I’m sure that my lack of endurance and generally low level of physical fitness contribute to my performance, but I think part of it is that I just don’t pay attention. I have to really work to keep up a good pace. Otherwise, I tend to fall into a tourist cadence while lazily watching the scenery go by. I’ve met Tom a couple of times, and I’ve been reading his blog for a while. He seems to be a very driven, goal oriented person, so I’m guessing he doesn’t suffer from adult ADD. (Actually, I don’t know if I have ADD. I went to a website once that offered a survey that promised to rank me on various factors associated with the condition, but I never finished it.) It’s good to have a goal to work towards, so I’m hoping to increase this rate over the year.

Snow on Indian Hill
Miles Ridden: 16.4

There is an article in the Journal & Courier today about plans for two Lafayette thoroughfares. Teal Road has been the path for SR25 for many years, and it includes shopping centers, restaurants, businesses, and the county fairgrounds along its route. 350S was built around 10 years ago to be a bypass around the south side of the city, but is now a very crowded road hosting subdivisions, more restaurants, Wal-Mart, and many other businesses.

I remember when 350S first opened, I asked the county highway engineer why the speed limit was so low (45MPH) on such an empty road. She said that was because of expected growth, and that it would take too long and cost too much to change it later. Now, with all of the traffic coming in and out of the many driveways and cross streets it is dangerous at that speed.

I had just started my adult cycling hobby at the same time 350S opened. It was built with very wide paved shoulders that made nice bike lanes. I logged many early morning miles on that route. Now, the shoulders have become right turn lanes all along the route, and they are fairly useless for bike riding. I now take other routes across town.

This section of the article caught my attention:

Sherri Cozart says 350 South needs to be widened. She’s the business manager for the Foxfire at Valley Lakes apartment complex on 350 South.

“When I come in to work every morning, I’m petrified,” Cozart said. Waiting to turn left from 350 South into the complex, Cozart often thinks she will be rear-ended.

The road “is very, very heavily traveled and very dangerous,” Cozart said.

(Read the full article here)

It seems to me that if the city widens the road, more cars will use the road and they will travel even faster. Just look at Sagamore Parkway in Lafayette or any of the millions of miles of 4 lane ‘bypass’ routes in North America.

If we want the road to be safer, they should lower the speed limit (and enforce it), add more lights, install speed bumps – anything to slow traffic down. Or, take out all of the driveways and parking lot entrances and only allow turns at the lights.

We can’t use the same piece of pavement as both a through route and a business district. It’s too late to make 350S a limited access highway, so I say make it a city street.

Just one ride this month at 10.9 miles. Last year at this time I was able to get in 18.1 miles in two rides. The total for this year is 37.5 miles, with the 2006 YTD total at 114.

I’ve been playing with the stats tonight (apparently instead of riding), and based on the last two years, I’ve computed the percentage of the annual total achieved per month on average. Then I computed how much of my secret total miles goal I need to reach each month to match the average pace. Confusing? I think so.

Anyway, last January was an outstanding month, so that percentage is higher than most will be. Because of that, my January total for this year was pretty far off the mark, while this month’s miles are at the average. For the year, I’m down by 27 miles already.

(Next month, I’ll try to include averages for commuting, utility, and morning rides.)

March will be tough this year, since I’ll be out of town for two of the four weeks. However, I only need to get in around four rides to keep the pace going; two more if I want to catch up. It all depends on the weather.

I love bike mounted camera videos!

I finally got a ride in this month (24th month in a row). The neighbor and I went to Martell Forest and back. The roads are staying pretty wet as the snow melts, so I built up a pretty strong “Davis Stripe” on my back. My legs were a little wobbly at the beginning, but we got into the groove pretty quickly.

For some reason, we named sections of the route based on past roadkill sightings. We passed Lester’s corner, skunk kill hill, and severed raccoon head road. I guess we were a little loopy after work today.

Miles Ridden: 10.9

It’s a dark green Spiegel – presumably from the catalog. My parents picked it up at a garage sale. I remember this day well. The bike had been around with training wheels for a while, and I had been tooling up and down the 30 foot sidewalk in front of the house. I’m not sure why I decided it was time to take off the training wheels on the same day they had brought home a new puppy. On my first two wheeled ride, I proceeded to run over said puppy. He was fine; I was in tears.

What amazes me most about this shot is that it is over 40 years old!

(Check out the Ford Country Squire Wagon with the woodgrain trim! Barely visible in the background is a late-50s/early-60s Chevy.)

Bridge Over the Wabash at Independence – September 3, 2006

Here are some updates on recent posts:

I ordered the reflective vest from Alert Shirt as promised so that I can ride more in the mornings before work.

I told my sister I would ride with her in RAGBRAI this year. We’ll do at least two days – three or four if we’re in the mood. Now, I’m thinking about all the things I need to buy: sleeping bag, tent, pad, rack, panniers, what else? (I’ll probably over pack and leave half of it in my car before the ride!)

I’m not quite happy with the way the new domain is working. No changes just yet, but I am putting more research into it. (Thanks to Roger for the kind words. He promises a new look soon for his site.)

No riding yet this month because it is as cold as cold can be. Maybe after V-day.

That’s all for now.