The Ride Report

You get wet, thats what. Been pouring outside all day, will check back in when I get home. Should be fun 🙂

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.

It rained for about an hour Saturday night which thankfully removed a lot of the heat.  I went for a long slow ride today, exploring some roads I have not been down, and also picking up a smaller map to help me navigate downtown better.  I figure if I am going to try and get a job with a pedicab company I should at least know where things are.

The huumans were acting so strange today.  It was as if the sudden departure of the heat made their brains snap.  One rather rotund huuman was slapping a tree vigorously as if the tree had insulted his mother.  While others didn’t seem to know if they wanted to cross the street or stand in staring blankly at me as I rode past.  I  have never had so much trouble with the huumans before.  Usually it is the cars that try and get me.  Must have been that most cars were sleeping today, giving the huumans a lot of hiding spaces in between them.

I might need a different ride.  The one I have now has been so good to me for so long, but it has been pampered with smooth concrete, and level asphalt, two things Boston has little of.  My Giant Ocr3 has too many parts that rattle and creak when I hit bumps.  I am instead thinking of getting a strong steal framed fixed gear.  Or maybe because I am not so hot at fixy riding just yet, one with a flip/flop back hub so I can go single speed in a pinch.

I have been on my bike every day for several weeks now, and it has been great.  I yearn for the breeze in my hair, and the sound of my chain kissing the rings.   I wonder if Boston has a “bike culture” that I just haven’t found yet.  There just has to be some sort of group I haven’t tapped into yet.  When I find them, I hope they will like me.

Are you from Boston?  Do you know where the adventurers are? Do tell.

So I just moved to Boston, and being that I love to ride, I have started using my bike as my sole source of transportation. I go to work on my bike, get food on my bike, go out and have fun on my bike. I will be using this space to document my adventures in learning about Boston by bicycle.