Century Ride 2008????

With 2008 fast approaching I find myself wondering about many things. Getting a new bike, biking a century, commuting by bike during these cold months ahead, biking to my wedding (maybe)...oh yeah and of course the wedding.

But the point of this entry is to talk about the possibility of me biking a from Windsor to Sarnia...or just 100 miles somewhere. I have been thinking about this for quite some time now. It all started last year when I was all set to go for my centruy ride. I didn't train that much. I only rode to work and that was only 6.1 miles one way. I would sneak in some short rides at lunch time sometimes just to get away from work. Then there were the nights that I would manage to take a few extra turns before I got home just to put in some extra miles.

Did I think I was ready for 100 miles?? I did know I loved to ride my bike...I was just worried about the mental challenge that I would face, would I Bonk out at the end of the ride. I figured I would be able to deal with any of the physical challenges I would face throughout the ride.

I had my ride all planned out, I was on http://www.blikely.com/ for quite some time the months before this journey. It came time for my ride. Tracy and I were heading home for Easter Weekend. I know Tracy and my mom were not thrilled with the idea of me riding that long distance. The plan was for me to leave early in the morning by Bike and Tracy would leave later on in the day and if there were any problems she would be able to pick me up on her way to Sarnia by Car.

I got a good nights rest and when I woke up I thought to just check the weather one last time before I left. To my surprise....SEVERE WEATHER WARNINGS for much of the area that I would be covering. I knew I didn't have the support of Tracy and my mom so I figured I would call the ride off and postpone it until further notice. I am told I am crazy enough for biking and didn't want to hear about it for biking out into a Severe Weather Warning. I was a little upset about the cancellation of my ride because on the drive to Sarnia, I didn't see any evidence of SEVERE WEATHER!! But hey maybe it was just a sign for me not to go that day.

With the new year upon us again I find myself thinking about this ride. Wondering if I can make any changes to my route. Thinking of all the possibilities that could go wrong. Wondering if this was something that I could actually do.

Bike City

Myself like many others have gotten hooked on FACEBOOK. I came across this small little application that lets you keep track of the distance you travel through out the year. I just recently started using this application. It gives me a reason to go on the computer. Something that I don't mind at all. I also think it is a good tool because it encourages the use of a bicycle. There aren't too many people that are using this application, but maybe when the warmer temps arrive those will start to ride and hey who knows just might want to keep track of all the good they are doing for the World.

Come Ride With Me

This next entry is about our friend Marvin. He is quite a character when it comes to riding a bike. Almost even a struggle. The previous year we got him on a bike with Training Wheels. We did have a few successes with him on that bike, to say the least many struggles as well. There were times when he absolutely didn't want to go on that bike. For a guy like me, this is something that I couldn't imagine. How could one not want to ride a bike!!! Tracy and I would try and try and try to get him on it. Sometimes he would go on and other times he just REFUSED!!

I would say at the end of that biking season we did make a lot of progress. Training wheels stayed on, but he was getting on with less and less of a struggle near the end.
So then winter came the bike went away and the seasons passed. When it came time again for the nice weather, we figured this will be easy...lets get him back on the bike. YEAH...seemed as though the previous year never happened and we were starting all over, WAY OVER. So we started the process again. Same thing happened again...it was a struggle.

Then one day at work. I saw a Tag a Long Bike. Something that I've planned on buying in the future. I know this one wasn't the best one out there.....it was $20....I figured lets try this with Marvin. We were lucky it had Marvin's Favourite color ORANGE on it. So we made the purchase and we let him know that we had A NEW BIKE FOR HIM!! He wasn't too excited about it. He for sure wasn't as excited as I was about this new adventure. So the day comes to get him on this new bike. AND OF COURSE....STRUGGLES. Tracy and I fought with him to get on the bike. He did but then would refuse to put his feet on the pedals. So there we rode with his feet in the air...screaming for me to stop. We continued the ride around the block, and then took a break. Next time on the bike, a struggle but progress feet are now on the pedals. THIS IS GREAT!! so there we are riding not screaming as much and he just might be enjoying this now. So we go again this time he is actually pedalling!! this is AWESOME. Now it is go faster CRAIG. At that point I think he FELL IN LOVE WITH BIKING.

For the rest of the season we would take rides all the time. He would always call to ask to go for a BIKE RIDE. It was great he really enjoyed the Tag a Long Bike. He did prefer to ride with me though. When asked why he would reply, "Craig goes Faster than Tracy" I didn't mind taking him on these rides. It was fun for both of us. We took the bikes out to a campground and he had just about anyone willing to take him for a ride take him around the campground. As long as he was on that bike he was Happy.

Tracy and I thought it would be a great idea to show his mom how well he was doing on his bike. So we brought the bikes over to his house and started to ride. To see the smile on his moms face was priceless. Marvin was so Proud to show his mom. Then Marvin and I rode around the neighbourhood. Of course there were kids already riding there bikes and here comes Marvin. Then the neighbourhood kids want to join in on the RIDE. I know there are a lot of times when Marvin has a hard time with playing with other kids because of difficulties of communicating. But this time all that had to be said was "Follow Me" Marvin was the leader people wanted to follow him, this made Marvin so Happy. I know it is the winter now and the tag a long has been put away for the season. But next season is going to be GREAT!!!

The Joys of Riding a Bike

So I know there are many people that ride bikes. But why do they choose to ride a bicycle??
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A Zen teacher saw five of his students returning from the market, riding their bicycles. When they arrived at the monastery and had dismounted, the teacher asked the students, "Why are you riding your bicycles?"

The first student replied, "The bicycle is carrying the sack of potatoes. I am glad that I do not have to carry them on my back!" The teacher praised the first student, "You are a smart boy! When you grow old, you will not walk hunched over like I do."

The second student replied, "I love to watch the trees and fields pass by as I roll down the path!" The teacher commended the second student, "Your eyes are open, and you see the world."

The third student replied, "When I ride my bicycle, I am content to chant nam myoho renge kyo." The teacher gave praise to the third student, "Your mind will roll with the ease of a newly trued wheel."

The fourth student replied, "Riding my bicycle, I live in harmony with all sentient beings." The teacher was pleased, and said to the fourth student, "You are riding on the golden path of non-harming."

The fifth student replied, "I ride my bicycle to ride my bicycle." The teacher sat at the feet of the fifth student and said, "Ahh.... I am your student!"
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I know when I am on my bike I am enjoying the air and just being out and about. I do most of my riding to work. I do have the option to walk to a bus stop and hop on a bus that seems to take an hour to get to the other side of town, plus the 15 minute walk to the bus stop. It just doesn't seem worth it...and to have to look for spare change for bus fare. It is just a lot easier to get up and ride on my bike. I do get asked a few times a month why I don't take the bus...I tell them that it is faster to bike for me. Also having to walk outside in the weather, why wouldn't I just bike. If I am going to get wet from walking it would make no difference.

But also when I am on my bike it does give me time to think about many things. I have that time to myself where I can get rid of a great deal of stress. I look forward to my ride into work, if I didn't have that ride...I don't think I would look forward to work.

But you sort of feel like a kid when you are on your bike. I know when I pass other bikers you can sort of see that smile as though they were riding a bike for the first time with no training wheels. There are days when I take Trails (my dog) for a walk and we find a bench down by the water and we watch everyone on there bikes and just seeing the joy that is being brought to them by this simple thing we call a bicycle. Comparing the faces of the younger kids to the older adults you can see a similarity in the expressions of their faces.

The bike makes you feel free. Free to explore the city you see the city from a different perspective on your bike.

Quite simply the reasons for riding a bike.....It's Fun, It's Healthy, It's Cheap, It Helps the Enviroment, etc. etc.

Also I guess growing up we were always told...Don't Play in the Traffic...Well riding your bike is one way to "Play in the Traffic" it is fun to do, but still have to think fast, because if something happens you know mom won't be to happy!

Pet Peeve

One of my pet peeves that I have about cycling in the city are THOSE CYCLIST WHO INSIST ON USING SIDEWALKS!!!!

Sidewalks are for pedestrians.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

pedestrian

noun
1.
a person who travels by foot

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.


Every time that I ride past a cyclist on the sidewalk, I always think to myself that they are making this hard for me to be on the road. Not all of the motorist are happy that they have to share the road with me. This just gives them motive to honk at me or curse at me or even throw things at me for being on the road.

As much as I like to see cyclists out there riding I just wish they would do it the right way. If everyone is doing it the right way and obeying the rules of the road we would begin to build strength by numbers. Out of all of the cyclists that I do past, majority of them are on the sidewalk so I do normally feel like the lone rider in the streets. But I still hold my ground and claim the part of the road that belongs to me.

I do understand why people prefer to ride on the sidewalk, they may feel it is safer. Which it might be for them. I know for myself that I feel safer on the road then on the sidewalk. Where ever you ride you quickly learn where the hidden dangers are and adapt to them. There was a period in my biking days when I would bike to school. I would bike on the sidewalk on the way to school. Many close calls on the way to school with drivers in a hurry to pull out of a parking lot of Tim Horton's. Then I would bike home with the traffic on the road and I never had a close call, I felt I was where I belonged.

But I do feel that if more people start to ride on the road where they should motorist will start to see that we belong and it isn't just the oddball who rides on the street. I know there are many commutes to work where I think of the WHAT IF all these cars on the road were BIKES.

That is what keeps me going WHAT IF........

Ten Commandments of Bicycle Commuters

Ten Commandments of Bicycle Commuters
by Jack Sweeney



Inspired by the recent post “Drivers’ Ten Commandments“, Moe and I came up with a set for bicycle commuters. Think of it as a revised, more irreverent version of the Cyclist’s 10 Commandments as published by the League of American Bicyclists:

1. Thou shall not ride on the sidewalk. The sidewalk is for amateurs.

2. Never ride the opposite way. You may crash against real bike commuters.

3. Obey all traffic laws when and where you can. It is really embarrassing to get a ticket on a bike.

4. Always carry a mini-pump. Calling your wife or walking the bike really sucks.

5. Thou shall wear a helmet. If you value anything contained between your ears, it’s the smart thing to do.

6. Thou shall carry repair tools. Even if you never break down, you might be able to help someone else in need.

7. Thou shall remain visible. Make your “Technicolor Dreamcoat” out of bright colors, lights, blinkies and reflectors.

8. Thou shall not stink! Keep a spare deodorant at work.

9. Avoid angry confrontations. A little calmness goes a long way towards changing a motorist’s mind.

10. Thou must smile. Remember, you’re on a bike, not stuck in traffic!!

What a Feeling

So this happened to me awhile ago...but it is something that I have yet to forget.

For those that know me, know that I bike to work year round, I do it because I can. This one day at the start of my commute one of the greatest feelings hit me. I didn't even leave my driveway yet, I make it to the end of the driveway and of course look both ways before merging on to the road. I live on a street that isn't busy at all, but today there's some traffic that I have to wait for. But today it was BIKE traffic. It made my day because usually you have to wait for cars and what not but today there were bikes now there was only 3 bikes that I had to wait for and it just made me think what if there were only bikes that we had to wait for and Bikes were the majority.

I Guess ONE DAY just maybe ONE DAY that will happen.

First Post

So this is my first blog.

There isn't going to be too much to this blog. Not really worth reading. But I think the goal of my blog will serve the purpose of keeping things near by when I want to find somethings that I have found on the Internet. I find myself aimlessly surfing on the web looking for what I don't always know, but I do always seem to find some interesting stuff. So I figure if I decide to blog about it than it will be right at my fingertips when I want to go back and quickly find those sites.

Majority of this Blog is going to be on BIKING, there may be a few other life experiences that I include and for those that decide to read it I hope not to bore you with my rambles, but if you enjoy them then read on.