February 2008 Total

Grocery Trip
Just one ride this month, for 12.7 miles. I'm hoping for better weather in March.

Jealous!

Driving through a wet snowstorm yesterday to pick up my wife after work, all of the motorized traffic was moving at an excruciatingly slow pace, when a cyclist came flying up the middle of the street. The usual three lanes had been reduced to two, so he had plenty of room to ride. Even though I'm not a fan of riding in snow or in cold weather, part of me wanted to be out there.

The drive across town to her office and then back home took over 90 minutes. I could have biked it in the same time!

(To see the details, click the photo to bring up the Flickr page and choose a large size to view.)

What Was I Going to Write?

As I was riding today, I worked on this blog post in my head. However, when I got back I made dinner and then attended a concert/dance featuring my son's high school jazz band, followed by a trip to the grocery store. Now that I'm getting around to documenting, I've either forgotten what I was going to write, or I've lost the enthusiasm for the subjects.

I think that you, the reader, have been saved from another description of the same route I've ridden for past several rides, my thoughts on my tire pressure, and photos of partially flooded fields that I'm sure you don't care about. Hooray for you!

Anyway, here's a cool shot of a frozen creek.



Miles Ridden: 12.7

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

It's been a while since I've posted - mainly because I haven't ridden at all this month. The weather has been too cold for me, so I'm waiting impatiently for a little improvement.

In the meantime, I can report on my recent trip:

I spent the first half of the weekend in Naples, FL on business. I only had a couple of hours outside, so I spent some time looking at the cycling possibilities.

My hotel was located on a busy stretch of US41 a little north of downtown. This street sports two lanes in each direction plus a middle turn lane with a median strip, but no bike lanes. The nice, wide sidewalks have one parking lot entrance after another, but this didn't stop the few riders I saw from using them. I don't think I would ride on the street there, instead finding an alternate route. It's possible that some cyclists were doing just that.

One big group I noticed was the crowd gathered outside the car wash collecting their pay (in cash). Several had beater Wally World bikes that they used to speed down the sidewalks.

A later trip downtown found several night spots - coffee and sandwich shops - but no riders.

As usual, I'm basing my opinions on a short glance along one busy street, so I'm sure that things are better there than I saw. The best part, the temps were perfect!

Miles Ridden: ZERO

Biking the Back Nine

I saw this bike on the corner of Northwestern and Lindberg today. It seems to be chained to a tree on the Purdue north course. There are no houses here, and this is not anywhere near where a golfer would start a round. The other corners at this intersection host a dentist office, a liquor store, and a convenience store.

I can't figure out why it's here. (I also don't know what brand it is, but I can say that it's likely aluminum.)