It's been awhile since I've posted. Not that I haven't been riding. I have faithfully kept up with my once weekly bike commute. That's right. Not a typo. One whole time a week. Wow. I know.
Some semi-non-sequitur thoughts from today's bike commute:
We "officially" started the 2010 season of the Bike Commute Mileage Challenge. We being my alter ego "Obi-Juan Kenobi" and my challenger, known only as "Cyclo-Cross." In the pre-season that ran in the closing months of 2009 the results were pretty much a wash. Since getting my new bike I have rejuvenated my commitment to my commuting pursuit. My opponent, on the other hand, has been confronted with some obstacles that have hindered his ability (or is it willingness?) to make the ride in to work. Thus the tally currently stands at 18-4 in my favor. 18 "points" equals 9 rides for me. For my personal goal all told, I'm at bike commute #15.
I was fortunate to catch most of the traffic lights on my ride in to work. I set a new commute time PR.
Today I got a few waves from passing riders. I've noticed much more friendliness from other cyclists in the past few weeks. Very encouraging. I also caught up to another rider at a traffic light on the way home. We actually even chatted it up for a minute. The guy was really nice and he was also a part-time bike commuter.
If you read my last post, you know I took a bit of a spill several weeks ago. My helmet saved me from a good knock on my noggin and I walked away with only minor scrapes on my hand and knee. I thought my helmet came away relatively unscathed as well, but I just discovered that the shell does have a crack. Even though I've been riding with it for a few weeks now and have no plans on hitting my head again, it's better to be safe than sorry, so I've ordered a new helmet.
Showing posts with label manners. Show all posts
Showing posts with label manners. Show all posts
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
That's more like it
Thankfully the rain from last night had moved on by early morning, so the sky was dry and the roads were, too. I shuttled the kids off to school and scrambled to get my gear together.
I started off slow, befitting of the colder weather, and tried to ease into the ride. First bike I spotted was going the opposite way. I glanced over not sure if the guy saw me. Sure enough, he looked up and gave me a wave. I waved back. See now? That was nice. I immediately felt like this was going to be a good ride.
Half-way point and I could see someone in the distance ahead of me. I could tell I was going to catch them...in time. I could see this rider was in plain clothes, jeans and a coat, and he was wrestling with keeping his messenger bag in place on his back. As I approached, a few feet away now, I cupped one hand toward my mouth and yelled out, "On your left!" I then extended a "Good morning!" as I passed next to the other rider. He provided an appropriate response - I can't remember exactly what he said. After what happened last week, I told myself I should take no satisfaction in passing up that guy.
And it was good that I didn't because just a bit later, someone alerted me to their presence behind me. They also greeted me as they passed, so I couldn't be mad at that. And wouldn't you know, I think it was the same guy that I had first spotted earlier in my ride. He had turned around and passed me on the way back! He was riding a nice Cervélo bike that probably costs three or four times my bike, so I really shouldn't feel too bad.
On the way home, I passed the same gentleman that I saw last week. I greeted him again and went on with my ride. Overall, I'm happy with the commute today because of the brief interactions I shared.
I'll probably stop ranting about whether people say hi to me or not.
I started off slow, befitting of the colder weather, and tried to ease into the ride. First bike I spotted was going the opposite way. I glanced over not sure if the guy saw me. Sure enough, he looked up and gave me a wave. I waved back. See now? That was nice. I immediately felt like this was going to be a good ride.
Half-way point and I could see someone in the distance ahead of me. I could tell I was going to catch them...in time. I could see this rider was in plain clothes, jeans and a coat, and he was wrestling with keeping his messenger bag in place on his back. As I approached, a few feet away now, I cupped one hand toward my mouth and yelled out, "On your left!" I then extended a "Good morning!" as I passed next to the other rider. He provided an appropriate response - I can't remember exactly what he said. After what happened last week, I told myself I should take no satisfaction in passing up that guy.
And it was good that I didn't because just a bit later, someone alerted me to their presence behind me. They also greeted me as they passed, so I couldn't be mad at that. And wouldn't you know, I think it was the same guy that I had first spotted earlier in my ride. He had turned around and passed me on the way back! He was riding a nice Cervélo bike that probably costs three or four times my bike, so I really shouldn't feel too bad.
On the way home, I passed the same gentleman that I saw last week. I greeted him again and went on with my ride. Overall, I'm happy with the commute today because of the brief interactions I shared.
I'll probably stop ranting about whether people say hi to me or not.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Pass-Fail (Bike Commute #9, Part 2)
About 2 miles into my ride home last Wednesday I spotted another bicycle up ahead. I locked in with the mission of passing said bike. It was a guy just cruising along; he was making no effort to be in any hurry. From what I could tell this man was riding his bike out of necessity, not any particular passion for bikes or desire to reduce his carbon footprint. He probably didn't have a car. Of course, I'm purely speculating based on appearances. At any rate, I made sure not to pass too close, and there was plenty of room to do so. As I rode by I shouted a pleasantry and the man quickly responded in kind.
Now, I fully realized this man was in no rush, but I was so filled with elation that I finally was able to pass somebody. So many times have I been passed on my cycling travels and not once until this moment had I overtaken another bicycle. Settling into a comfortable cadence, I began to compose a blog post in my head, already recounting the achievement. Not a moment later, the cycling gods woke me from my daydream in the visage of another cyclist mashing away and leaving me in the dust, my small victory now but a fleeting memory.
I tried to make an attempt to chase but reached the red light at the intersection with my assailant nowhere to be seen. I soon began to see the irony of the situation (Isn't it ironic? Maybe not in the literary sense, but at least in the Alanis Morissette-sense) and find the humor in it. Clearly, it wasn't funny enough, yet.
I waited for the green light patiently. It was at least a minute or three that I stood there. As the signal changed I slowly remounted to cross the intersection. As I did so, another cyclist, who apparently was standing right behind me, sprinted to overtake me. So not cool!
Next was a short downhill section. I could see it was an older gentleman who had just dropped me. He coasted down the hill. I closed a bit, but didn't want to ride him, after all, this was not really a race (right!). Another red light appeared ahead. I braked a bit hoping to time the light change. The man was already standing at the light as I cruised to a stop and propped myself up against the curb. "Where the hell are your manners?!" I blurted out. No not really. That's what I should have said. I stood there for a moment, slightly at his flank, looking at the man. He failed to turn and acknowledge my presence. I said hello. He turned, responded (somewhat reluctantly I felt), and returned to his forward gaze.
I don't know what it is. I am not normally one to greet and strike up conversation with random strangers. I guess I am just looking for a little camaraderie from my fellow cyclists. It's not like there are that many of us out there in San Diego. Maybe I'm being delusional about this??
Now, I fully realized this man was in no rush, but I was so filled with elation that I finally was able to pass somebody. So many times have I been passed on my cycling travels and not once until this moment had I overtaken another bicycle. Settling into a comfortable cadence, I began to compose a blog post in my head, already recounting the achievement. Not a moment later, the cycling gods woke me from my daydream in the visage of another cyclist mashing away and leaving me in the dust, my small victory now but a fleeting memory.
I tried to make an attempt to chase but reached the red light at the intersection with my assailant nowhere to be seen. I soon began to see the irony of the situation (Isn't it ironic? Maybe not in the literary sense, but at least in the Alanis Morissette-sense) and find the humor in it. Clearly, it wasn't funny enough, yet.
I waited for the green light patiently. It was at least a minute or three that I stood there. As the signal changed I slowly remounted to cross the intersection. As I did so, another cyclist, who apparently was standing right behind me, sprinted to overtake me. So not cool!
Next was a short downhill section. I could see it was an older gentleman who had just dropped me. He coasted down the hill. I closed a bit, but didn't want to ride him, after all, this was not really a race (right!). Another red light appeared ahead. I braked a bit hoping to time the light change. The man was already standing at the light as I cruised to a stop and propped myself up against the curb. "Where the hell are your manners?!" I blurted out. No not really. That's what I should have said. I stood there for a moment, slightly at his flank, looking at the man. He failed to turn and acknowledge my presence. I said hello. He turned, responded (somewhat reluctantly I felt), and returned to his forward gaze.
I don't know what it is. I am not normally one to greet and strike up conversation with random strangers. I guess I am just looking for a little camaraderie from my fellow cyclists. It's not like there are that many of us out there in San Diego. Maybe I'm being delusional about this??
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Almost Doored, Almost Ignored (Commute #9, Part 1)
I came across a lot of bike commuters this Wednesday.
I left home in my car on the first half of my multi-modal bike commute. In a 2 to 3 mile stretch toward the freeway, I saw 3 people cycling uphill on Rancho Bernardo Road headed toward 4S Ranch, presumably destined for the offices nearby. I was quite encouraged to witness this as I was soon to be on my own bike.
I was perturbed to find that the park & ride lot was completely full. Fortunately I knew that there is an overflow park & ride lot roughly a quarter mile away, so I drove over posthaste and grabbed the closest open spot. The first parking lot is right on the corner of Black Mountain Road. I usually wait for the pedestrian crosswalk signal (red arrow below) and then once I'm across the street I get into the bike lane and head down the road. Since I started off further back I had room to ride up to the front of the left turn lane queue of cars and waited for the traffic signal (blue arrow below).
Then I had a semi-almost close call with a car door just as I was getting going. Since this is near Miramar College, there's a lot of people parking along the street. I've been anticipating a car door flinging open toward me since I began riding here, so I ride the left side of the bike lane, but it still startled me.
Approaching the next intersection I could already see another cyclist waiting at the red light. I pulled up against the curb and offered a "How's it going?" He had earbuds in and didn't hear me or see me, yet. Crap. Should've waited until he noticed me. I fidgeted a bit and then he finally noticed me and shot a greeting. I reciprocated, waved, but felt a little dumb. He probably thinks he said hello first and now I look like the unfriendly jerk. The light turned green and the guy does a full-on sprint to get away. Geez, I guess he's in a hurry. I scrambled to give chase in an attempt to fine tune my slowness gauge (you know, how slow I am compared to all the cyclists I encounter), but he's created quite a gap, crosses another signaled intersection and I catch the red light. Oh, well.
I don't recall much else from the rest of the ride in to work. I made it in pretty good time: 25:22 "door to door", about 22:30 cycle time. The return ride after work I will recount in my next post: Bike Commute #9, Part 2.
I left home in my car on the first half of my multi-modal bike commute. In a 2 to 3 mile stretch toward the freeway, I saw 3 people cycling uphill on Rancho Bernardo Road headed toward 4S Ranch, presumably destined for the offices nearby. I was quite encouraged to witness this as I was soon to be on my own bike.
I was perturbed to find that the park & ride lot was completely full. Fortunately I knew that there is an overflow park & ride lot roughly a quarter mile away, so I drove over posthaste and grabbed the closest open spot. The first parking lot is right on the corner of Black Mountain Road. I usually wait for the pedestrian crosswalk signal (red arrow below) and then once I'm across the street I get into the bike lane and head down the road. Since I started off further back I had room to ride up to the front of the left turn lane queue of cars and waited for the traffic signal (blue arrow below).
Then I had a semi-almost close call with a car door just as I was getting going. Since this is near Miramar College, there's a lot of people parking along the street. I've been anticipating a car door flinging open toward me since I began riding here, so I ride the left side of the bike lane, but it still startled me.
Approaching the next intersection I could already see another cyclist waiting at the red light. I pulled up against the curb and offered a "How's it going?" He had earbuds in and didn't hear me or see me, yet. Crap. Should've waited until he noticed me. I fidgeted a bit and then he finally noticed me and shot a greeting. I reciprocated, waved, but felt a little dumb. He probably thinks he said hello first and now I look like the unfriendly jerk. The light turned green and the guy does a full-on sprint to get away. Geez, I guess he's in a hurry. I scrambled to give chase in an attempt to fine tune my slowness gauge (you know, how slow I am compared to all the cyclists I encounter), but he's created quite a gap, crosses another signaled intersection and I catch the red light. Oh, well.
I don't recall much else from the rest of the ride in to work. I made it in pretty good time: 25:22 "door to door", about 22:30 cycle time. The return ride after work I will recount in my next post: Bike Commute #9, Part 2.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
First Bike Commute of 2010
January 6 I made my first bike commute of the New Year. I learned a couple things on this ride. Foremost is that I am not as fast as I thought on the new bike. Apparently this new cycling computer my brother & sister-in-law gave me for Christmas is smarter than me. Or I'm just a dumbass. The cycling computer will stop running the elapsed time when the bike is stopped for more than a few seconds. Makes sense. I didn't realize this when I used the computer's elapsed time to compare to my previous bike commutes timed with my wristwatch. Obviously the watch's stopwatch feature won't stop counting until I tell it to, so it is counting all the time I'm stopped waiting at stoplights.
I hadn't worn my watch on the first bike commute with the Masi. Since I remembered to wear my watch this time around, I figured I would run both clocks as a check. My elapsed time on the cycling computer was 23:15. My watch had me at 27:30. (I'm slightly rounding off the cycle computer time since it does still run as I'm walking the bike into the office since the front wheel continues to roll.) I still think this is a minute or so faster than I usually was on the mountain bike, so I'm still happy, just not as stoked as I was before. Aw, wait, a quick check back into my archives reveals I clocked in at 24 minutes for Bike Commute #4. I think I made all the lights that day, so little stopping. Hrrmm. At least the good news is that from now on I will know how much actual cycling time I am taking, and not counting the extended stops.
Another reminder of how slow I (still) am occurred on the ride home from work. As I'm struggling on the upside of a small valley section, an older guy on a skinny-tired bike blows right past me (I'm running the stock 700x35c 'cross tires - wide by most road bike standards). I do have one excuse: I was wearing a messenger bag, somewhat full of clothes, and it kept shifting on me during the ride home (on the way to work, it was fine). Still, I'm sure it was a pathetic sight, me sucking wind in nearly my lowest gear, and it's not even that steep a grade. Maybe I should have gotten a bike with a triple crank! I tried to blurt out "hey!" to the guy as he passed me, but he didn't give me so much as a sideways glance or nod. Why can't some people just say "hi" instead of being rude assholes?
I hadn't worn my watch on the first bike commute with the Masi. Since I remembered to wear my watch this time around, I figured I would run both clocks as a check. My elapsed time on the cycling computer was 23:15. My watch had me at 27:30. (I'm slightly rounding off the cycle computer time since it does still run as I'm walking the bike into the office since the front wheel continues to roll.) I still think this is a minute or so faster than I usually was on the mountain bike, so I'm still happy, just not as stoked as I was before. Aw, wait, a quick check back into my archives reveals I clocked in at 24 minutes for Bike Commute #4. I think I made all the lights that day, so little stopping. Hrrmm. At least the good news is that from now on I will know how much actual cycling time I am taking, and not counting the extended stops.
Another reminder of how slow I (still) am occurred on the ride home from work. As I'm struggling on the upside of a small valley section, an older guy on a skinny-tired bike blows right past me (I'm running the stock 700x35c 'cross tires - wide by most road bike standards). I do have one excuse: I was wearing a messenger bag, somewhat full of clothes, and it kept shifting on me during the ride home (on the way to work, it was fine). Still, I'm sure it was a pathetic sight, me sucking wind in nearly my lowest gear, and it's not even that steep a grade. Maybe I should have gotten a bike with a triple crank! I tried to blurt out "hey!" to the guy as he passed me, but he didn't give me so much as a sideways glance or nod. Why can't some people just say "hi" instead of being rude assholes?
Friday, October 9, 2009
Bike Commute #4 in the bag
Despite the usual hiccups and delays in my morning prep, I made it out of the house in relatively good time and headed out for my multi-modal (car/bike) commute. I decided to break down my bike instead of trying to load it road-ready into the back of my car. This mainly means taking off the panniers and front wheel. While I fit my bike in last time fully loaded, I scuffed up my headliner a bit with my handle bar grips as well as broke off an adjustment handle on my son’s car seat. Oops. Loading went much easier with the front wheel off (duh!) and I managed not to forget anything.
The official Bike21 commute bike (for now)
At the park & ride lot, I got my bike ready. I had a minor lapse in remembering how to put my panniers back on. I hung the first bag on the opposite side from which I had originally fitted it, meaning it was too far forward on my rack. I switched it over and mounted the other bag; Now both panniers were in their position as far back on the rack as possible. I turned on my head and tail lights and headed off.
It was an uneventful ride down Black Mountain and Kearny Villa. This is not a complaint. I always get a little stressed when crossing over right turn lanes and exit ramps from the bike lane to move over into the through lane. Car traffic seemed lighter today, being a Friday, so I had no issues. I only saw two cyclists on the ride in. I always see cyclists heading north bound on Kearny Villa while I rarely encounter others heading south. I am not sure if I am just later than other riders or what, because I always get people passing me on the northbound ride in the afternoon.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Have some manners!
After the sorry excuses presented in my last post, the stars aligned and I was able to get one ride in this week. Hooray! It was a bit of a game time decision to go for the bike commute since the morning preparations that day were moving along a bit ahead of schedule.
It wasn't all gravy, though. I lost a good 5 minutes on my drive time since I had missed a turn I should've and could've made to get to the park-and-ride lot where I leave my car. I also got a bit nervous when it appeared that the lot was nearly full. Thankfully I did find a space to park and started to unload my bike. I hadn't really prepped much for the ride, so I did a quick check of tire pressure. Sure enough, the tires were a little soft. There went another couple minutes lost as I aired up the tires. With that done, I was ready to go, and set off down the road.
The ride into work was pretty uneventful. I did see a few cyclists going in the opposite direction, though encountered no one riding the same way I was. A couple of the guys gave me a friendly head nod, as to say, "Hey there, fellow comrade in cycling, way to go!" I reciprocated by signaling with a thumbs-up to say, "Hi, brother. Ride on!"
It wasn't all gravy, though. I lost a good 5 minutes on my drive time since I had missed a turn I should've and could've made to get to the park-and-ride lot where I leave my car. I also got a bit nervous when it appeared that the lot was nearly full. Thankfully I did find a space to park and started to unload my bike. I hadn't really prepped much for the ride, so I did a quick check of tire pressure. Sure enough, the tires were a little soft. There went another couple minutes lost as I aired up the tires. With that done, I was ready to go, and set off down the road.
The ride into work was pretty uneventful. I did see a few cyclists going in the opposite direction, though encountered no one riding the same way I was. A couple of the guys gave me a friendly head nod, as to say, "Hey there, fellow comrade in cycling, way to go!" I reciprocated by signaling with a thumbs-up to say, "Hi, brother. Ride on!"
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