It was far too nice to stay home and watch Scrubs all day (although I did some of that this morning), so I dusted off my bike and took it out for a spin. First time this year, so I had to do a little maintenance and put some air in the tires. Chain could still use some oil, but other than that, it’s in decent shape. Well … I need a new water bottle, lock and air pump. But other than THAT …
Nothing like a ride to clear your head and get your blood pumping. And it’s funny the things you notice at 10 miles per hour that aren’t quite so clear at 30 MPH.
I used a program on my phone called “Map My Ride.” There’s several different programs by the same company: Map My Run. Map My Walk. Map My Fitness. Map My Hamster … okay, I may have made that last one up. Anyway, I accidentally stopped it in the middle of my ride, so I have two maps (below) instead of just one. BUT if you combine them, I went 9.46 miles in just under 66 minutes. Not too shabby.
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Things I noticed:

  • If you smile at people, they smile back
  • Bikes are invisible to cars
  • Stop signs and red lights are merely recommendations
  • All the problems I had before my bike ride, I still have, but in that hour and a half I was out on my ride, my only concern was “Oh, dear God, don’t let me slide under that car”
  • When you’re going up a hill, it seems like you’ve been on that incline forever
  • The second you hit the peak and start going down hill, you forget you were ever sick of peddling up
  • The view on a bike ride is much better than the view while Gazelling
  • The flowers sure are blooming early (at right)
  • Cold Springs Cemetery is beautiful and would be a great place to go with Heather for photos
  • The path along the Erie Canal in Lockport takes some odd turns. They should rectify that. (More on that later)
  • They should fill the canal up. There’s no point in waiting
  • USUALLY water is an ingredient for me, but after a workout, I drink a gallon of it
  • I was smarter while I was on my ride
  • This list was longer in my head