32 miles of fun as the sun came up...
Jacque and I are attending a political meeting for a local candidate tonight, so she offered to pick me up after work if I wanted to ride the recumbent bike all the way to work again...... OH YEAH.. Sign me up.
Had to bundle up a bit, since it was 45 degrees at the house when I left. When I got down off the nasty bumpy rutted rock-strewn dirt road and up onto the pavement, I quickly became a bit overheated and had to remove the outer layers. These stayed off as I labored the next 3 miles up the long slow hill south towards Tijeras.
When I finally crested the dreaded Marco Polo Hill (so called after a pizzeria that used to live there) I stopped for a water and oxygen break and re-clothed myself with my felt skullcap and windbreaker for the several miles of downhill in the ebbing darkness, at speeds occasionally over 30 MPH.
Almost every time I ride this route there seems to be ONE vehicle that takes offense at my being in their private, reserved-for-high-speed-only vehicles, and I've never seen the same vehicle do it twice: Crowd me as though to scare me off the road and up into the curb or weeds. Today it wasn't the usual school bus or Hybrid Save-the-World Carrito: It was a large white 4WD pickup of the Ford or Chevrolet lineage. I am old enough to remember when it was easy to tell different brands of autos apart. Now they all seem bent on copying each other very closely, especially when it comes to lowly passenger cars. Anyway, to the thoughtful driver who deliberately crowded me this morning: May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your...... Nose. Enjoy the hundred or more bucks each tank of diesel costs you, and I'll continue to enjoy my methane powered bicycle.
As usual, when I got to work I was beat, but after a shower and a couple hours breathing normally I am feelling supercharged.
Awakening BG: 107 Post-Ride BG: 244 (forgot to pump for the extra carbs I ate this morning)
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.6 Ending Voltage: 12.4
Morning Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 31.8
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
14.1. Mph 15.4 mph 39.4 mph
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 45 mins 2 hrs 25 mins 20 mins 7 secs
Nice. I have a folding bike that I ride to work - it's an upright though, not a recumbant. Doesn't stop the cars from trying to crowd me off the road either, even though it's got full-size wheels, so it looks like a regular bike...maybe it's bikes in general that the drivers don't like? Haven't figured out how to get my dog in the front basket yet though...
ReplyDeleteYeah, we have the coolest pooch that puts up with almost any abuse or embarrassment just so long as she "goes for a ride" with us....
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of any driver caring about what kind of bike is blocking his exclusive pathway to wherever he/she's going... it's just the human response to anything that gets in our way or slows us down for even a moment.....