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Sep. 7th, 2012
Well, that's not fair. I committed exercise yesterday, and did I wake up all muscly-bulgy and devoid of fat, as I clearly deserved? I did not!
So this morning I have added an extra loop to my neighbourhood training lap. Am still avoiding the main road until I learn not to want to ride in the middle of the street, which is probably sub-optimal.
Theresa and I took baby Morgan to the Stanford Art Museum yesterday, and the campus round about was all full of these young student-things zooming about on their bikes in utter confidence and power. I ... kind of remember that, but it was long ago. I am old and creaky. And wobbly yet. I shall do it more, and get better.
Right now, though, I am going to walk down to the bike shop, and price up gear. This is the sort of errand I should be doing on the bike, if I were fit for it. Ah, irony. But we must learn to walk before we can cycle: it is written.
So this morning I have added an extra loop to my neighbourhood training lap. Am still avoiding the main road until I learn not to want to ride in the middle of the street, which is probably sub-optimal.
Theresa and I took baby Morgan to the Stanford Art Museum yesterday, and the campus round about was all full of these young student-things zooming about on their bikes in utter confidence and power. I ... kind of remember that, but it was long ago. I am old and creaky. And wobbly yet. I shall do it more, and get better.
Right now, though, I am going to walk down to the bike shop, and price up gear. This is the sort of errand I should be doing on the bike, if I were fit for it. Ah, irony. But we must learn to walk before we can cycle: it is written.
Note to self: cycling =/= working
Sep. 7th, 2012 11:43 amBike rides do not an income make,
Nor tired legs a wage
- And neither, of course, do blog posts. I've always had this obsessional trait, with new toys or new activities; when I learned to play Go, I don't believe I thought or read or wrote about anything else for three months. That was, ooh. Thirty-five years ago. Mostly, I get obsessed for three months and then quit; I haven't played Go for, ooh, thirty-five years? There's a watershed moment, where I either have to get serious about it or else walk away, and mostly I just walk.
I am hoping that the bike won't be like that. Little and often, for practical uses and for fun: that's what I want. Right now I'm allowed to be a little bit obsessed - I just spent half an hour in the bike shop with Donnie*, talking through helmets and locks and so forth - but I really need it not to take over half my life. And not to spend the other half posting about it. Damnit, I have work to do...
*As I left, he asked my name and gave me his card. I shoulda given him mine, shouldn't I? In Taiwan, I'd have done that without thinking; over here, I just didn't think. Oh, how I suck at self-publicity...
Nor tired legs a wage
- And neither, of course, do blog posts. I've always had this obsessional trait, with new toys or new activities; when I learned to play Go, I don't believe I thought or read or wrote about anything else for three months. That was, ooh. Thirty-five years ago. Mostly, I get obsessed for three months and then quit; I haven't played Go for, ooh, thirty-five years? There's a watershed moment, where I either have to get serious about it or else walk away, and mostly I just walk.
I am hoping that the bike won't be like that. Little and often, for practical uses and for fun: that's what I want. Right now I'm allowed to be a little bit obsessed - I just spent half an hour in the bike shop with Donnie*, talking through helmets and locks and so forth - but I really need it not to take over half my life. And not to spend the other half posting about it. Damnit, I have work to do...
*As I left, he asked my name and gave me his card. I shoulda given him mine, shouldn't I? In Taiwan, I'd have done that without thinking; over here, I just didn't think. Oh, how I suck at self-publicity...
Possibly the last cycling post of the day
Sep. 7th, 2012 03:22 pm(...and it's only 3.30! *imposes moderation on self*)
Phew. I need to go around the corner to the grocery store. I was just getting ready to step out of the door when I thought, "I could go on the bike!"
And then, "Of course I should go on the bike! Any sensible person would!" and like that.
But I really didn't want to. Grocery store is on the big main road, and the more I spin around the neighbourhood the more glad I am that there's hardly any traffic. I gave way to another cyclist this morning, and was overtaken by a car, and didn't die on either occasion. Surely that's enough traffic for one day? And I suppose I could ride on the sidewalk - I did check, and it is legal in CA, except where mandated otherwise by the city - but I have spent decades hating adults who do that and I don't intend to change my stance, let alone become one of them; and I don't have a helmet, and, and, and...
I might've been losing that argument, before I remembered that I don't have a lock either yet. I don't even know if there's a bike rack outside Lucky's. I shall look! That's enough bike-related research for one day. And I'm certainly not leaving the lovely thing unlocked in that parking-lot. Or anywhere else, come to that. (Tho' I'm kind of reluctant to get into the mindset that detaches wheels and removes saddles and so forth. Everything has quick-release mechanisms, so that technically I could - but I really don't want to, and am just hoping that around here is all so low-crime that it isn't really needful. One serious cyclist at SETI this week had brought her wheel in with her as a matter of course, but I'm hopeful that she's simply over-anxious.)
In other related news, I have been around my little local lap three times today - that's three separate occasions, not one course of three laps - and it's starting to feel like not quite enough, as my legs loosen up and get used to this. But I am still spooked by the big bad roads. They have trucks and everything. And left turns! I've been practising one-handed for the purposes of signalling, and if I signal left-handed on the move apparently I veer to the right, which doesn't seem optimal. Is that normal...? (Hee. I told you: obsessional. But I've written three pages, that too. One page, one ride. I've always liked incentives. It has to end soon, though; apparently the drink-driving laws are the same for cyclists as for drivers*, and we're moving towards my drinking-window. One last ride, perhaps, before the first beer, and we'll call it quits for the day.)
*This could actually be a problem, if I wanted to use the bike to go visit friends. The notion of visiting friends and not drinking? Is not acceptable to me, much. Hmmph. I need to think this through...
Phew. I need to go around the corner to the grocery store. I was just getting ready to step out of the door when I thought, "I could go on the bike!"
And then, "Of course I should go on the bike! Any sensible person would!" and like that.
But I really didn't want to. Grocery store is on the big main road, and the more I spin around the neighbourhood the more glad I am that there's hardly any traffic. I gave way to another cyclist this morning, and was overtaken by a car, and didn't die on either occasion. Surely that's enough traffic for one day? And I suppose I could ride on the sidewalk - I did check, and it is legal in CA, except where mandated otherwise by the city - but I have spent decades hating adults who do that and I don't intend to change my stance, let alone become one of them; and I don't have a helmet, and, and, and...
I might've been losing that argument, before I remembered that I don't have a lock either yet. I don't even know if there's a bike rack outside Lucky's. I shall look! That's enough bike-related research for one day. And I'm certainly not leaving the lovely thing unlocked in that parking-lot. Or anywhere else, come to that. (Tho' I'm kind of reluctant to get into the mindset that detaches wheels and removes saddles and so forth. Everything has quick-release mechanisms, so that technically I could - but I really don't want to, and am just hoping that around here is all so low-crime that it isn't really needful. One serious cyclist at SETI this week had brought her wheel in with her as a matter of course, but I'm hopeful that she's simply over-anxious.)
In other related news, I have been around my little local lap three times today - that's three separate occasions, not one course of three laps - and it's starting to feel like not quite enough, as my legs loosen up and get used to this. But I am still spooked by the big bad roads. They have trucks and everything. And left turns! I've been practising one-handed for the purposes of signalling, and if I signal left-handed on the move apparently I veer to the right, which doesn't seem optimal. Is that normal...? (Hee. I told you: obsessional. But I've written three pages, that too. One page, one ride. I've always liked incentives. It has to end soon, though; apparently the drink-driving laws are the same for cyclists as for drivers*, and we're moving towards my drinking-window. One last ride, perhaps, before the first beer, and we'll call it quits for the day.)
*This could actually be a problem, if I wanted to use the bike to go visit friends. The notion of visiting friends and not drinking? Is not acceptable to me, much. Hmmph. I need to think this through...