Ride Journal: 8/3/2008

There are probably as many reasons for biking as there are reasons for bikes. Just off the top of my head, you can use your bike for:

Exercise
Commuting
Work
Cruising with friends
Touring
Racing
Everyday transportation

I’m sure there are more. But that’s a good starting list. When I first decided to build myself a bike, I really had no idea what kind of biking I was going to do. I knew that I liked to bike around to local shops, and I figured that I could use the bike for some exercise, but I didn’t really have a concrete idea of what kind of biker I would be.

After about 3 weeks of semi-regular riding, I’m starting to find my ‘biking persona’ — what a terrible phrase. I’m not very excited about biking without a purpose; I rarely go out on directionless rides. I like riding as part of doing. So rides to the grocery store, as my wife and I did today, are perfect. Biking to a restaurant to meet up with friends is another great idea. Basically if I have a place that I need to go, or an errand that I need to run, I’d like to bike it if feasible.

Looking into the future, I can see myself getting into bicycle touring. I’m especially intrigued by sub-24-hour overnight rides (more at Rivendell Bikes). It seems like an awesome way to combine a long bike ride with a relaxing weekend. But until I invest a lot of money in camping equipment, any of my rides would have to be to towns with a nice bed & breakfast. Red Wing seems like a good option. Only 50-ish miles each way, and Red Wing is a great town to spend a weekend in.

Any serious touring, however, would probably require that I get a different bike. It’s hard to tour with only one gear, no fenders and limited storage options. Maybe that will be my project next summer, building myself a sweet touring bike.

Ride Journal: 8/3/2008

Route

I spent five days after the bike in order to give a pulled muscle some time to heal. By today I was itching for a ride, and it just happened to be time to pick up our weekly CSA delivery. Perfect.

I biked up the same hill I mentioned earlier and had a much easier — although not easy — time of it. I attribute this to three factors.

• Practice
• A higher saddle position
• Just sucking it up and pedaling

The saddle change is thanks to the excellent articles over at Rivendell Bicycle Works. Their unabashed Tolkein fanboy-ism aside, they look like an awesome crew of people.