The week
It’s a good thing I got my ride in early on Monday. We ended up with a record high for the day, 92°F. Tuesday and Wednesday both got only to the upper 80s. It was good practice to see how cycling to work would fare in the coming months.
On both Tuesday and Wednesday, I packed work clothes and wore shorts and a t-shirt. This seemed to work just fine. I’ll have to figure something out for leaving the library on hot nights.
Tuesday was the last night of my boss’s tap dancing lessons, and she stays a few minutes to change, which gave me the same opportunity. Maybe I’ll break down and buy bike shorts, let them dry, then put them on under my pants during my break so I can just step out of the pants at closing time.
Anyway, I went slow on both days—cadence in the low 60s, about 10–12 mph, coasted a lot—and did just fine. Which is not to say I didn’t appreciate the A/C and dry clothes when I arrived. I did. But I wasn’t sweating buckets, wasn’t stinky, and didn’t feel sticky all day either. It looks quite doable.
Tuesday night on the way home, I had a run-in with a Hummer. A very black H2. Heading west on University Ave, I was actually enjoying the slow ride in the 88° mugginess. The headwinds I’ve cursed were light enough—and I was slow enough—that they were a welcome cooling breeze instead of a challenge. I was diggin’ it.
Said Hummer passes me slowly, then cuts right in front of me with the right blinker on. Right hook, I’m thinking, which is what it’s called when somone cuts you off to turn right in front of you.
No, not quite. The Hummer stopped dead in the lane right in front of me. No time to downshift before grabbing two handfuls of brakes.
I wait. And wait. My temper gets the best of me. “Jesus Christ,” I said, probably louder than I should have. “When are you going to turn that thing?”
He must have heard me because he stomped on the gas to turn into a parking lot. “Asshole!”, he shouted at me. “I was waiting for you to pass me.”
Yeah, right. Like I’m dumb enough to pass a Hummer (or any other vehicle) on the right when they have the right turn signal on. Especially after they’ve taken a special effort to place themselves there.
And I know that this particular Hummer lives on the opposite side of the street. (So why was he turning right?) Had a pile of dirt dumped in the driveway so no-one would take his parking spot. Parks the Hummer on top the the dirt pile.
Probably forgot to make a payment (or couldn’t afford to fill the tank) and needed the insurance money and thougt I’d be easy pickin’s.
If he gives me any more trouble he’ll find out how hard it is to wash off waterproof bicycle chain lube from his pristine black paintwork.
And I have to remember that on a bike, drivers can hear me cuss at them.
Thursday it was cooler and I was feeling real strong. Three days of heavy training followed by two days of very light commuting and I was set to take on the world. Traffic was light in the morning and all the stoplights were in my favor—something I hated just a few weeks ago when I need to rest every mile or two.
I just cranked along at a high cadence and kept upshifting as required. It just got easier the farther I rode. Rode most of the way above 20 mph, which seems to be a pretty good speed judging from other commuters. (Hell, on Park Ave, 20 mph in any vehicle is pretty fast.) And that I’m doing it on a relatively heavy hybrid, makes me feel real good.
Every day is different. I tried to ride the same way today, but I just didn’t have it in me to really spin the big gears. Even so, I was much faster than I was just two weeks ago, and less tired when I got to work. And when I got home.
My hill training really worked to my advantge today too. Heading to Main St, there’s that big-ass hill at the end of the street, with a stop light at the intersection of Main, right at the top. Traffic was backed-up halfway down the hill and I had to stop.
Not only was I able to get started again, but I kept up with traffic accellerating up the hill when the light changed. In training, I’d just done that for the hell of it, and here was a practical application I hadn’t thought about. No-one behind me was held up because of the stupid guy riding in traffic on a bicycle. That felt pretty good too.
Until a half-mile further on when not one, but two cars pulled out of the Volunteers of America parking lot, right in front of me. One turning left, the other turning right. A quick touch of the brakes, a downshift and a jog to the right and I never lost cadence as I cleared the rear bumper of the one turning left. I scared the bejesus out of the one that had turned right when I appeared in her rearview mirror just feet from her bumper.
She stepped on it to get out of my way. She caught all the lights up Main Street and I was there again at every green. Followed her like that all the way to the end of Main St.
It’s supposed to rain for much of the day tomorrow. I have no qualms about commuting in the rain, but a recreational/training ride may not happen. I’d like to work some more on my sprints and hills. We’ll see.
On Sunday, I may just boogie out to the wilds of Penfield to visit friends. It’s 10 or 12 miles each way which is a little short, but good enough for some distance work.
