D&F 5/22/23
Saturday I had a plan to ride to Sausalito to meet up with some folks who had just raced a gravel alleycat, but the USPS guy woke me up at 11:45am with a box of bike parts. Sometimes it’s a toss-up for me whether I love riding or wrenching more, but I did learn today I don’t love internally routing cables. After a late afternoon departure, I rode up a mountain and back home in about 6 hours of fun and grind. The views were perfect, and the Lays chips at a random Chevron after the climbing was exactly right.
There are a lot of efforts I’ve done on a bike that are ultimately a matter of fueling and continuing to pedal. Today was probably the wildest ride I’ve done outside of racing, and I am beat. When I got home, my feet didn’t want to walk up my stairs, and I had the dilemma of whether to eat first or shower first. Thankfully I had leftover bo ssam I could put in a burrito.
It was also neat today to see so many other cyclists out on the roads. Summertime brings a lot of new cyclists and a lot of questionable fashion choices, but honestly more participation is the best. While I rode I kept thinking about how much safer I felt on a mountain with cars passing than in the city with lights and stop signs. Mountain passes may have deer, but it’s much less likely someone runs a stop and t-bones you, so yea.
Finally, it’s a little funny to me that the Giro d’Italia is continuing but a car race had to be cancelled due to flooding. The flooding and destruction it caused isn’t funny at all, but it’s a bit of a “ah, yes, bicycling might just be a better sport” moment.
Links
- There’s a stoner meditative quality to Ultraromance putting a tire liner into his tire:
- Slow that food down, and keep things inside our means:
https://www.slowfood.com/reinventing-a-society-of-frugal-abundance/
- The book of a series on Apple TV is pretty great. I haven’t read a lot of men’s writing in a few years, but this has a strong female protagonist and some fun worldbuilding.
Closing
Today was a nice reminder that I can explore IRL and not just in the Zelda game that has eaten my week. It’s very fun, if you’re on the fence, and worth the cost, but if you enjoy it you might also find yourself a little sleep deprived. Unlike certain recent fathers, I don’t have a great reason to be up at 3, and yet. I can’t wait to celebrate that dad’s baby’s first birthday with a showing of Fast 11.
Well, I feel myself drifting off, so I’m headed to read and rest these weary legs. Enjoy the weather wherever you are, even if it’s just Hyrule, space cowgirls~