Seen on My Ride, Part 2

The first time I ever noticed this sign I thought it was simply declaring the obvious: it's windy! I learned that this is a "whistle" sign for trains. (The bike path used to be a train track.)

How often do you notice town line signs when driving a vehicle?

I love the cafe ride. We usually stop here.

An early morning ride with a beautiful view.

Parked outside the cafe.

It's all his fault. He got me into cycling a few years back. (Well, Kevin shares in the blame, too.)

Seen on my ride, Part 1

I started posting some "on my ride" posts on Facebook...you know, "heard on my ride" or "seen on my ride," etc. It's not always feasible to stop and take a picture but I decided to snap a photo when I'm able too.  These aren't all "Seen on My Ride" pictures, but some bike related photos I've taken since March. (All photos taken with my phone...no attempts to be a "real" photographer.)

This photo was taken my first time ever riding this bike. The bike shop I purchased it from is located near my mother's house. I stopped by the house on my test ride and snapped the photo while in her garage. Less than an hour later, the bike was officially mine.

Taken on my first ride with the new bike.

Laying out the gear before a ride. (Looks like Ten Points on the table.)

That's a square of a Hershey bar on the ground. I resisted the temptation. 

An early season ride, just getting back on the bike regularly...needed some extra fuel to get home.

Like A Child

There are only two ways to live your life. One as though nothing is a miracle.

The other is as if everything is.

-Einstein

For a moment it was summer in Girona. The café was warm, almost a perfect temperature. Paul walked back to the table, stepping around a helmet and gloves left on the floor, and handed me a mug of hot coffee. Rod, Fro and the KOM were still waiting for their drinks. The five of us sat around the little table at the coffee shop in Girona.

The problem is, I've never been to Girona.  I've read of it in books though I can’t tell you in whose book I encountered it. (I suspect it was either David Millar’s, Tyler Hamilton’s or Floyd Landis’s…or some combination thereof.)  For a moment, though, I was at a café in Girona after a training ride with my team.

In reality, we were far from Girona, far from summer, far from a training ride and far from pros (me especially.) When I left my house that morning just after 6:30, it was 28 degrees Fahrenheit. I met up with the guys and we rode to the café. It could not have been an easier ride- physically anyway- hardly a training ride. And yet here I was, (however briefly) laughing with my pro-cycling team in a Girona café after a training ride.

They say that riding makes you feel like a kid again and children love to pretend. They make something out of nothing- a fort out of a refrigerator box, a racetrack out of tile patterns. One of my girls asked me recently if we could get more boxes. What was trash for me was a gift for her. As goofy as it may seem, I've climbed the Alpe d'Huez and sipped coffee in Girona, though I've never been to France or Spain. A bike will do that for you.

Thanks to Gary Walter for the Einstein quote.

Joy

I had never heard of Alison Tetrick until Bill Strickland tweeted a link to this blog on her webpage. Apparently, she's a professional cyclist. In a recent post she talks about her encounters with the "weekend warriors." She uses the phrase not as a term of derision, but rather as a descriptor of those who don't ride professionally and who catch rides as they are able. Usually, that ability is greatest on the weekends. Turns out, these weekend warriors remind her of how "fortunate" she is:

You are on your bike, and you are happy.  You are overjoyed.  You are free again.  You are a child again.  You are grinning ear to ear.  There isn’t grit, there is just happiness.  I like that joy.  I like Saturdays and Sundays because I see people on their bikes just happy to be out there. 

Click here to read her full post. 

Advent

The night before a morning ride involves a predictable routine. After prepping my bottles and tossing them in the fridge, I check the hourly weather report 2-3 times from 2-3 different sources. After settling on the predicted temperatures I run through what I wear in when I ride in the predicated temperatures. I also try to recall what I wore on last ride in this temperature range and if what I wore worked for that ride. After settling on what I’ll wear, I lay the gear out, usually on the floor outside my bedroom.

There’s a sense of excitement and anticipation that accompanies this process. I think about the ride that’s coming up and who (if anyone) I expect to be with me, the route we’ll take, how many miles we’ll cover. It’s not unusual to have a difficult time falling asleep due to the anticipation. I suppose that sounds stupid, after all, it’s just a bike ride- but I can’t help it, I always expect the ride to be a great one.

In the morning I wake up, drink some water and usually eat some cereal and a banana. I do  some stretching, I dress, grab my bottles and head to my bike. I give it a once over, check the tire pressure and then I’m ready to ride.