Moving On

The original purpose behind The Fourteen Percent Ride has long since been fulfilled. So, I've decided that Mighty Proud will be the last posting. It just seems right.

But, don't worry. Or maybe you should. In any event, I plan to continue. I'll keep riding. And writing. Click here to come along in my new blog ~ The Long White Line. <-- check it out!

Thanks

As I've ridden for the last two years, I've picked up on the fact that Shirley, my darling wife, has been more worried about my safety than impressed with my "accomplishments." How do I know this? Well, when I'd come back and tell her, for example, that I'd hit 53.6 mph going down FO, she'd reply, "I don't want to hear it." Being the sensitive sort I figured out, after many such comments, that just maybe we were not on the same page here. But last week, she told me that she would "greatly reduce her focus on the 'fear for my safety' issue." We talked about the tour, looked at some maps, researched nutrition suggestions on the internet, and so on, just enjoying the idea of the ride. How nice is that? Thank you, Shirley!

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Breaking the Rules

There are a number of rules for biking safely and effectively. And I broke most of them on my ride tonight. Yep. Tonight. It was 8:30 p.m. and fully dark when I got on the bike. For an hour and a half I pedaled on with no lights. I don't even own a headlight and my flashing tail light rested then, as it does now, on my shop-on-wheels in the garage.

No lights. Not such a big deal when you consider I rode without a helmet*. I was also sans riding glasses and rear view mirror. If you are going to be reckless, you might as well do it up right. Just to round things out, I went without gloves and wore only shorts and a light weight jersey, in spite of the cool, damp weather.

Being unencumbered by what had previously been required equipment, I made really good time on the ride: 26.6 miles at almost 19 mph. I think I'm going to have to ride like this more often.

There is one more thing I might mention. Tonight was my first ride using the indoor trainer that was FedEx'ed in this morning. The Trek is securely mounted at the rear axle, the front wheel supported in the climbing block. It was a surprisingly taxing ride, given the fact that there was absolutely no wind with exactly zero elevation change.

One real ride and one fake one so far this year and I am 63.1 miles into my 2008 goal. More about that later!

* Disclaimer: this was a simulated ride carried out by trained professionals in a controlled environment. Never, ever get on an un-tethered bike without a helmet.

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