Biking

I realize that there has been one or two or six blogs already about biking but it is one of my favorite activities. I think we have become obsessed! Ems, zlionsfan and I are able to talk about it for hours on end several days a week. I am not sure anything ever really comes of our talks except that we like biking and all of the accessories associated with biking.

I went on a biking adventure last night after work. When biking with friends I usually don’t care where we bike or if there is a specific aim involved but when I go by myself I like there to be a destination. When I went riding last weekend I went to the grocery store to purchase items to bake brownies. BTW…they were horrible because I am not a good baker…but that is for another blog.

My monthly book club was scheduled for Thursday evening so earlier in the week I decided that I would like to bike there from my work. I had a friend look to make sure that there was a sidewalk the entire length of 82nd/86th Street. I also did a map on my phone and it told me that it was exactly 7.2 miles each way. I decided that it was a doable amount of biking, so I told my friends of my intentions which cemented the idea in my head.

Thursday’s weather was dry but a bit cold, so when I set out I had wished for a longer pair of pants and a jacket but I quickly got warmed up. As I was leaving the parking lot I got several waves, honks and positive comments about my dedication to biking. I also think there were a few head shakes. I proceeded down the road listening to “The Cat Empire” and enjoying my quiet time as I was looking forward to this ride all day. I encountered my first problem at the fashion mall. The sidewalk ended. I stood there for a few minutes contemplating what I should do. Should I turn around and go back to work, should I try to find an alternative root or should I forge ahead. I decided to act tough and ride on the road. I had to ride about a ½ mile on the side of 82nd Street in front of the section where you enter and exit Keystone Avenue. I turned off my music and increased my awareness of my surroundings and proceeded forward. I tried to make eye contact with drivers and I made it safely to the next section of the sidewalk.

I was ecstatic that I had made it. Hurray for me…no one tried to run me over. The rest of the ride was nice and there were a couple obstacles, trees so overgrown that I had to duck to get by and hedges encroaching on the sidewalk so I had to ride in the grass. The ride there was athletically tough as I think that it was a very slight grade uphill and the wind was blowing against me. I was breathing hard often. I was very excited when I arrived because my phone told me I was 7.2 miles from my destination and my bike odometer said exactly 7.2 when I arrived. This means that it was probable calibrated correctly.

The ride back to my car was uneventful and I was able to coast a good portion of the time. These are my stats:

Time 1:40
Distance: 14.5
Average Speed: 8.6 MPH
Max Speed: 17.7 MPH
Total Odometer Reading: 88 Miles

Ems, zlionsfan and I were planning some of our summer biking goals today and we decided we needed to do a bike marathon. We think that we are ready to bike 26 miles in a row and with my average speed of 8.5 mph it should take us about 3.5 hours to complete. I think that we will need to make specific plans for this soon.

Some of my other goals include riding up the hill at Crown Hill Cemetery without walking and getting my total bike odometer to read 500 miles.