Her Negligent Behavior Made My Morning

This happened a couple of weeks ago:

I was riding to work eastbound on Newman Road. A lady driving an SUV from the north on Sharon Chapel Road was turning left at the stop sign. As I approached, I noticed that she never once looked to her left – where I was – before turning. In slow motion, she crept out into my lane. When I realized she would eventually hit me if she continued, I summoned my “Dad Voice” and yelled “HEY!”

She looked up at me in terror, screamed so loud I heard her through the SUV’s closed windows, and slammed the brakes.

Her reaction of surprise and horror had me laughing the rest of the day.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Her Negligent Behavior Made My Morning

On The Mend

365 #128 - Percolated PandaI’ve been sidelined the past few weeks with a bum knee. Not sure what happened, but I had some serious pain whenever I put any weight or force on my left knee when it was bent.

After sitting on the sidelines for a while, I tried a quick ride last night to test things out, and it felt OK. The rides to work and back home today both went fine. Nothing special, but no pain either.

September looks to be a great month for bike commuting.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on On The Mend

Misty

Raindrops on the Brake LeverTook my first real recreational ride of the year. No destination, other than to go out and come back. The neighbor and I ended up crossing the Granville Bridge and heading south for a bit before turning around.

Miles Ridden: 11.5

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Perfect Conditions

You know, it doesn’t really matter why I haven’t been able ride much this year. That’s just the way it is. Still, I’m always looking for that rare day when weather, work, time, family, health, and mood all come together, and today was one of those days.

The ride into Greyhouse Coffee was nothing special, but I still found it relaxing. Campus is pretty empty on Saturdays in the summer, so the trip was low stress.

Coming home, I was reminded how out of shape I am during the climb up the small ridge on Newman Road.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take any pictures, so you’ll have to find the hundreds of other posts concerning this route to see what it was like. 🙂

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

What I Did

There weren’t too many votes this morning on yesterday’s poll, but the two that had responded agreed that I should ride everywhere – sweating be damned. So I did, and it was a great day!

365 #25 - Mid Work Day Panda

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

What To Do?

OK, so here’s the deal. Tomorrow looks to be a great day for a bike commute – cool in the AM, warm and sunny all day. However, I have a 9am meeting on the north side of town. It’s about 4 miles away, and the route includes a somewhat tough hill (at least for me). There’s no doubt that I will get pretty warm riding up to the meeting.

I don’t mind getting hot on a ride, but when I’m in my work clothes (business casual) and will be trapped in a small room with half a dozen people, I don’t want to offend. What should I do?

I’m putting this up on short notice, so please feel free to answer after the day in question. I’m mostly just curious what everyone thinks.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Cargo Bike

My local coffee shop is raising funds to provide cargo bikes to Rwandan coffee farmers. Apparently, coffee is the major small farm crop in the country.

Coffee Bike

I wonder if they will auction the bike at some point. Could be a nice ride in town.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

The Tires Were Flat

Since I started keep detailed ride records, back in March 2005, I’ve ridden at least one ride each month. That is, until last month. Because of all kinds of reasons, but mostly mood issues, I didn’t hop on the saddle once in October.

I’ve been fighting a lack of interest in riding since at least last fall, and it has been really strong this summer. I think my neighbor has given up on me and is once again riding alone. (Although, he did call this morning after I had left). Once last month, I was trying to talk myself into it, but the thought of actually riding a bike was repulsive.

WarpedEverything changed today when a rare intersection of good weather and good spirits saw me jump on the Trek 820 for my usual weekend visit to a coffee shop for hot chocolate and web surfing. The hill was a little tough for my out of shape legs, but overall the ride was good. I got warm enough to swap out the hot chocolate for a cold cream soda.

While I was online, my son sent an email wanting me to bring him food to his dorm room. I suggested a ride to the store, and he agreed. However, I could tell he thought I meant a ride in my truck, and not on bikes. He saw my cycling gloves as he came out of the front door and bolted back to his room.

Let's Go 4 Wheelin'!On the way home, I saw a Purdue University Police patrol car, parked in a bike lane – totally blocking it, as the officer watched traffic go by. I should have stopped for a photo, but I chickened out.

So now, my consecutive month total stands at one and counting.

Miles Ridden: 9.3

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Weekend Coffee Shop Rides

Laptop Transport

I like hitting a coffee shop on weekend mornings. I take my laptop, find a quiet table, and get some work done on personal projects.

This weekend I tried the Greyhouse in the village. Pretty nice place.

Saturday Miles Ridden: 8.2
Sunday Miles Ridden: 7.0

(This post was originally titled Weekend Coffee Runs)

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Month of May

Von's Books

I haven’t been writing much lately, because I haven’t been riding much lately. However, there have been a few rides this month:

365 #65

May 4: 9.0
May 4: 7.0
May 5: 6.5
May 11: 7.0
May 12: 7.0
May 29: 8.2

Skinny Horse

Total Miles Ridden: 44.7

365 #90

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Month of May