How I Love September/October
The weather is so incredibly nice this time of the year. Usually for about three weeks in September and October, Georgia becomes a west coast style paradise with cool breezes and temperatures around 70F. This is prime riding weather =). Unfortunately because of life's obligations I have only been able to ride once in the past week. I would love to go every day. Riding is a great stress reliever, and it get's my mind off the mundane routine of my day-to-day. I am going to try to ride at least twice this week. I would like to take advantage of this weather while I can.
Long time.
Attention world: I am “that guy”
You know who I'm talking about. The insane person in tight, odd looking pants riding a bicycle on the road that you are tempted to get your friend to push over as you fly by them at insane speeds.
In the interest of personal fitness--and not to mention saving approximately 1 gallon of gas a week, I bought an Orbea Onix road bike last month. Unfortunately I haven't been able to ride it much with my recent sickness and flights to miscellaneous parts of the US for work. Nevertheless, I love my bike.
Before you slap your forehead while shaking your head vigorously and exclaiming, "He's going to kill himself the crazy fool!" let me explain that I have a helmet and I do not ride on busy roads that don't have a bike lane. This means that roughly 75% of my commute to work in the mornings is on sidewalks, which just so happens to be illegal in GA since bicycles are legally recognized as vehicles. If I am stopped by a bored cop I'll take the ticket, because there's no way I'm riding in the road on Brekinridge. I drive pretty crazy fast on that road and I get passed like I'm standing still.
So far, the ride to work is relatively fast--less than 10 minutes on a good day--as long as there is a car in front of me at red lights. Apparently I don't weigh enough to set off the sensors. The ride isn't terribly tough either. I spend most of my time in a low gear riding at about 15-25 mph on the main sections of road that I take. My bike is incredibly fast, even with a 200 lb. dood riding it.
In the interest of protecting myself and my cycling/motorbiking fellows, please do me a favor: watch out for cyclists. Don't worry. I'm no green crusading destroy all SUV's hippie, and I had the same disdain for "That Guy" as you before I became one of them, but as gas prices soar to over $4.00 a gallon I hope you realize that the mpg rating on my Onix is, well, infinity. Please do me a favor and curb your impatience, watch for hand signals, and don't honk at me. I already know I'm good looking.