Took the old hex wrench to the bike Sunday night and raised the seat post about two inches. For a long time I had ridden with the seat very low. This is bad for a lot of reasons, but the main one being is that the most powerful part of your pedal stroke is when your leg is all the way extended with your toes a little bit pointed down, that when the “umph” kicks in. Previously I had not really cared, I just moved my legs faster if I wanted more power.

I have however found it to be to my advantage to have a little extra “umph” when it come to avoiding cars and huumans. That extra speed might save me from eating curb, or fender. So can I tell the difference, you bet I can. It makes a lot of difference. I can feel more juice going up hills, can feel more power when I accelerate, and overall I up higher so I get that much more visibility.

Now before you go home and start cranking up your seat post you should know a couple of things. One the higher up you are the higher your center of gravity is. If you are new to riding at the height you might feel a bit wobbly up higher. I would suggest you do it in stages, an inch here and inch there till you feel good. Also, because you are up higher it is a little more tricky to dismount. Your feet will just barely touch the ground when your but is on your seat, but you get used to it pretty quickly.

So the ride this morning was uneventful. There is one light when I can always be sure of having a couple cars lined up ready for me. This is my “race” light. I know that if I time it just right the cars and myself will both be entering the intersection at just the same time. This road is wide, and cars never park on it, so I have a lot of room on the right, and cars have a lot of room on the left. This is the time when I really stand up on it, burn them legs and pedal for all I am worth to see if I can outrace a car. It is simple fun, and most of the time the cars play along with the game. I usually win for the first half mile or so, then they take off, but I always catch up when they have to slow for the red at the end of the block.

It has gotten cooler, so I wasn’t even sweaty when I got to work. I did run into a huuman lady who informed me that she lives above me. She apparently recognized me from my helmet which she often sees leaving under her window to go ridding, hey that’s me! She was impressed that I ride “that far” every day. I was impressed by her skills at recognizing bike helmets. It wasn’t even weird that she watches me from her window. I wonder if she heard the porno sounds from the love scene in the movie I was watching last night.

It has looked like it might rain all day, but I don’t think it will. The ride home should be nice and cool. Might stop by the library first and pick up a book, I like books. Maybe some books about bike riding. Till then, happy pedaling.