Archive for the ‘Life’ Category

He won’t grow up to be a cowboy

Tuesday, May 15th, 2012

One thing I determined when I had children is that I would never pressure them into living out fantasies of my own childhood (or adulthood for that matter).  Of course, most fathers think that their children are going to end up liking what they like, so as they begin to grow we don’t think too much about it. That is until they reach an age when they have the capability to “like what we like.”

There are those sons and fathers who do have a shared love for a particular sport. I see it with some of my friends who ride. I see it in other sports as well. However, for some fathers and sons there isn’t a natural connection with an activity. So it is with me, the bicycle and my son.

Thing Two is now 12 years old, 5′ 8″ and weighs 120 pounds. He, like his dad at that age, is just bone and muscle. Though appearing skinny, he is deceptively strong.

Jonathan Jr. and Jonathan Sr.

Thing Two and I head out for a ride

He is built like a climber. I’d love to know his power-to-weight ratio! There is no doubt in my mind that he could fly on a bicycle. There is just one problem with that. He doesn’t like to fly on a bicycle.

Thing Two is careful. He does not like to take physical risks. I first took him riding when he was 8. Unfortunately, it is hard to ride around where we live without going up and down hills. Going up didn’t bother him that much. Going down was another matter. It was hard to get him back on the bicycle after those nervous excursions out on the road.

Age and the Swamp Rabbit Trail has helped, but still he carefully rides along without an once of aggression. He would much rather follow cautiously on my wheel than to ride beside me. I have no fear of him doing anything intentionally reckless. If he was sixteen, I would have no reservation handing him the keys to the car.

On Sunday, I saw him playing around with my old Garmin 705. He had used it on a couple of rides and now he was interested in it again. “Hey, Jonathan,” I said, “Why don’t you use the heart rate strap that goes with that and we can go for a ride and it will record your heart rate.” That got his attention! On Monday before I left for work, I handed over the strap and we paired it with the computer.

Later in the day I received a text from the Beautiful Redhead, “Jonathan is out walking up and down the road with the Garmin in his hand to measure his heart rate.” Here he was showing interest in things we both are attracted to… devices, data and experimentation. It would be interesting to see if that interest could be combined with the bicycle.

Once home, we got the cadence unit attached with all the necessary magnets to his Specialized Allez. He actually seemed excited about the opportunity to go out. I was excited that he was showing interest.

The hills he struggled with as an 8 year old were nothing for him as we made our way out of the neighborhood to the bicycle lane on East North Street. I was well aware that this would be a stretch for him. I instructed him to go ahead of me and stay in the lane while I followed along behind as a buffer.

He handled the clipless pedals (he is large enough to wear much of my old gear) like a pro at the few stops at lights along the way. However, the downhills were definitely approached gingerly. We made it to Cleveland Park and the Swamp Rabbit Trail without incident.

From there it was smooth sailing. I still wasn’t exactly sure what he was thinking. The other thing about my son is that he isn’t always very expressive. Sometimes you look at him and think he is upset, but find he is happy as a lark. At other times you inadvertently step on a land mind because you didn’t realize that he was actually perturbed at the moment. His face isn’t going to give it away!

The hints that he was enjoying himself came when I would see him looking down at the Garmin and switching between the screens to see the data. Then on the last climb of the day, I could see him really pushing it a bit. I heard him call back in a matter of fact tone, “I got my heart rate over 160.”

Getting home, I created a private Strava account so that he could see the data… and check out the Strava power calculation function. I could tell he was cautious about expressing his thoughts. He wasn’t about to commit to anything here! Still, I praised him for his solid ride and pointed out his 300+ watt climb near the end. I let it go at that.

Now it is time to help him with his baseball — a sport I never really got into, but one that interests him. It is a pleasure to watch him grow to be his own person. I’m thankful for the confidence he is showing as a catcher and pitcher. He is already playing the game better than I ever did in my Little League days.

He towers above his teammates, but he is a gentle giant. I wonder if there is a bit of my competitive fire in there somewhere. I believe it is, but he just needs to find that thing he is passionate about.

I’ve come to realize that competitive passion won’t be for the bicycle. I’m okay with that. The racing lifestyle isn’t really one I want him to follow. However, I do hope that the future will find father and son (sons — don’t forget Thing Three!) exploring together on the beautiful roads of our Upstate.

Still… I have to admit that I would love to see the data if he just up and uncorked a sprint!

Good morning, asphalt

Thursday, April 12th, 2012

The weather has been pretty close to perfect here in Greenville. A tad windy at times, but the temperatures are great for riding and the sunshine makes you smile. It gives me all the more reason to ride my bicycle to work — other than saving money for my coffee fund.

Beautiful morning in Greenville

A morning photo from just outside my office

I’ve been playing around with Strava.com a little bit lately (more on that later) and so I decided to use the iPhone app to measure my ride from home to the office. I was riding my Felt because I’ve found I arrive to work “glowing” a little less when I have easier gearing to work with. The fixie is fun, but work up a sweat when I’m climbing that 110 feet!

Screen shot of Strava app on iPhone

A nice little 6 minute commute

Of course, me being me, I couldn’t stop there. So the next time I rode to work I used the Garmin to record the power data from my Quarq Cinqo. It matched up pretty well with the Strava information, but gave me a little more detail.

Well, it isn’t going to prep me for any races! The ride earned me 2 TSS points and I burned 38 calories. I averaged 112 watts in power for the ride. No, I did not go so far as to strap on my heart monitor. I’m not THAT much of a nerd!

Another advantage of riding to work — and sometimes taking a break to ride at lunch or at some other point in the day — is that it is great for sharpening your mind. Riding in on the bike when the sun is just popping over the trees and the temperatures are under 70 degrees is a great way to invigorate you for the day ahead. Going out at lunch and hammering around the park makes the log jam in your mind give way and things seem so much clearer.

Come to think of it… it’s almost better than coffee… almost.

Brought to my knees

Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

My 44 year old body has taken quite a beating since I started riding the bicycle. I’ve had my share of spills — some my fault and other ones that happened because of other riders’ mistakes. These falls have left me with some aches and pains that I call “the new normal.” However, there is one pain that is getting me now that didn’t even happen on the bike.

I’ve broken thumbs and fingers. They don’t bother me at all. Sometimes they get a little stiff, but I don’t notice it much.

I’ve broken my neck. I’ll admit that I do notice that one when I time trial or get low in a tuck. I can bend my neck for long periods of time without it starting to ache. Still, I’m so used to it I don’t really think about it.

One of the mystery injuries that has stayed around for years is my hip pain. Basically, I ALWAYS have some pain in my hip. It just varies in the amount of pain. I’ve learned to deal with it by stretching and deep tissue massage. The good news is it rarely hurts when I’m riding the bike.

So, what am I dealing with now? My knees. I’ve never had trouble with my knees while riding. However, earlier this year I decided to do some cross training and play basketball. I ended up with “jumpers knee.”

Both knees directly below the kneecap get inflamed and are tender to the touch. At times I will wake up in the middle of the night because I have intense pain in one or both of my knees. The funny thing is that I can lay on my stomach, stretch out my legs with my toes pointed and the pain will subside.

I beginning to think I was making progress in dealing with it until I went out on Monday to do FastPedal intervals. This is part of the Time-Crunched Cyclist plan. This means I was to do 4 x 2 min. high cadence intervals. For me that means around 120 rpm. Any faster than that and I find it hard to keep from bouncing.

That really caused me issues. As I sit and type this I can feel the dull ache. I know when I stand up that the pain will be a bit sharper.

I really enjoy basketball. It was my favorite sport to play in high school and college. Right now, I’m wishing I had never picked up that basketball this winter.

Anybody out there know what I’m talking about? Have you ever had this pain? What do you suggest I do about it?

The good news is that I have several days in a row of easy riding. This weekend I will be off the bike completely due to a conference. I imagine just giving my knees a break will be a help.

I don’t want this knee pain to bring me to my knees this season.

Don Quixote on a bicycle

Monday, April 9th, 2012

I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m at peace with taking what comes my way when it comes to the bicycle. It hasn’t been easy to reach this point. Now that I have, I’m feeling like a kid again.

Maybe I won’t get a chance to race again this year. Maybe I’ll get several chances. Thing is, I don’t know and it doesn’t matter. I hope I do, but I don’t have to.

Of course, that has led to the arguing in my mind, “Why do this training if you aren’t going to race?” I guess that is a reasonable question. My answer is that if I get a chance to race, I want to be ready for it. Plus, even if I’m not racing in an official event, I still can “race” against my personal goals.

Looking out from Paris Mountain

Looking forward to getting back out there someday.

Take for instance the climb up Paris Mountain. I went up it at speed on Friday and then again on Saturday. Friday’s time was 13:02. It came after several power intervals and that seems to cause me to run out of gas toward the top. Saturday, I headed out for the mountain with a steady state interval on the way. The legs gave me the impression that I was going to have a tough time on this climbing repeat interval.

Always switching things up, I decided to climb this time in my big ring. My thought was that if I could keep the momentum going I could produce more power and have more gear for when I hit those flatter sections. I fully expected to have my legs explode two-thirds up the climb.

Hmmmm, I was feeling pretty good as I finished the water tower section. At the halfway point I was moving much better than times past. I rolled past the midway point at 5:45. The big ring was still turning.

At two-thirds of the climb I hit that section where I normally die. Almost instinctively I went for the shifter to find some relief. I knew that would be the death knell.

Instead, I stood and reminded myself that there was a short reprieve if I could just keep turning. Sure enough I hit a section that helped me gather myself for the last few turns to the base of the wall. The timer reached 11:45 as I stood to give the final push up the hardest section of the climb.

As I crossed the line I had a mixture of emotions. I had shifted to an easier gear about halfway up. Still, I had pushed through. I was disappointed that it took me a whole minute to climb the wall, but I was pleased that on a day I thought would be bad I held a consistent time of 12:45.

It gave me some thoughts on how I’ll approach the climb next time. Sometime soon I’m going to attempt the climb on my Giant — which is a bit lighter than the Felt — sans water bottles and saddle bag. Unfortunately, I’m still fluctuating at 5 – 10 pounds heavier than I was the last time I had an attempt like that.

Downtown Greenville

Beautiful Easter day in Greenville

After morning services and a wonderful lunch with my family, I headed out for an easy spin around town. I did have a matter of business to take care of before making my way to Starbucks for a coffee. It meant heading over to Nature Trail near Herdkoltz Park.

I had forgotten that I had a Strava account. However, on Saturday I received a Tweet from a newer cyclist. It was a screen shot of his phone showing that he was only seconds away from passing my time on the Nature Trail climb. I took a look at the list and noticed the current King of the Mountain was someone I had ridden with often and figured I could beat that time.

With fresher legs than I normally would (Nature Trail always seems to come at the end of hard rides), went up the climb to open my legs. Not bad… I was matching the times on Strava. Now it was time to go at it hard. I hit the base of the .4 mile incline of 6.8% at a sprint.

That didn’t last! When the road kicked up near the end, I was seated and fighting to get the pedals around. The killer time was slipping away.

What a beautiful day to ride into downtown! By the time I got there, the effort up Nature Trail was flushed from my legs. I sat in the shade and enjoyed my pumpkin bread and coffee.

At home, I loaded up the data and found that I did take the KOM with a time of 1:59. For those two minutes I averaged 477 watts. Of course, my first thought was, “I can do better than that!”

So the fun continues. I’m sure that there are those who think I am Don Quixote chasing windmills on the back roads of Greenville County. That is okay. That is where I am at peace. Thing is, I don’t care what people think. I’m happy where I am.

Riding back in time

Sunday, January 29th, 2012

I started out yesterday morning reading some from The Time-Crunched Cyclist (more on that later). Then it was off to take my son to his baseball tryouts. After moving branches from a tree that fell in my backyard and fixing the shed door, I stopped for lunch. Lunch done, I put up a new light fixture in the hallway. I helped my son burn some of the branches and then I was free to ride my bike.

It was around 2:30 PM when I rolled the Felt out to the driveway. The weather was beautiful. Just around 60 degrees and feeling even warmer when I stood in the sun. I wondered if I was going to get too warm with my long sleeve under layer and knee warmers. Figuring that the wind would make things a bit cooler, I decided to stay dressed.

This ride was a throw back to days gone by. I didn’t have a plan. I didn’t even know where I would go. Turning right out of the driveway decreased my options, but there would still be plenty of varied terrain to mix things up.

In about 8 minutes, I was in Cleveland Park. I decided I would stay there a bit and do some laps. This would also be a return to days gone by.

Back when I was first starting to ride I had no inclinations to race. I thought it was way beyond me. However, I did like going fast and enjoyed competition. If I couldn’t race other riders, I would race myself.

Little did I know that what I was doing was an unsophisticated type of interval training. What I did was do up to 10 laps of the park – about a 2.5 mile loop. There are two climbs that require a good effort and some downhills that give you a minute or so to recover. The rest of the park is pretty flat as it runs along the Reedy River.

As I did these laps I would focus on either 1) beating the time of my previous lap, or 2) try to maintain a certain speed for the entire lap. I still remember how pumped I was when I managed to hold a 22 mph average for the 20 or so miles. I can’t remember my fastest lap, though I don’t believe I ever got under 6 minutes — though I did get close.

Well, on this beautiful Saturday I pushed my lap button at the bottom of the climb on Woodland Circle. The first lap was more a warm up. Because of all the people and the traffic, I finished the first lap close to 8 minutes.

I picked it up a bit on the second lap, but still got caught at the doggie park because of all the people parking along the side of the narrow road to unload their dogs. I went a little harder once I got clear in an attempt to make up time, but that was a mistake. I’m not ready for those kinds of efforts! Still, I shaved off about 30 seconds.

The earlier effort caught up with me on the third lap. I focused on keeping a cadence over 90 rpm and tried to make sure I kept spinning circles instead of mashing on the pedals. This time I got held up by pedestrians crossing the road and cars slowing for speed bumps, but got the lap done in about the same time as the second lap.

I made that one my last and slowly made my way toward the Swamp Rabbit Trail to go downtown to get a cup of coffee. What a wonderful thing to see all the people! It is a great place to people watch. There are some interesting characters, but also it is fun to watch the cyclists who are trying to be “all that.”

About an hour was under my belt when I stopped for my coffee. As I pulled up to dismount my bike, I saw two racer type cyclists — probably college age — go by. Their jerseys were unzipped and they looked like they had been putting in an effort. I wondered if they were coming in from the UWBL.

Several cars went by with bikes on top. I figured they t00 were used for the several hour long ride that leaves from downtown most Saturday mornings during the winter months. Unlike the past, I didn’t feel a pang of guilt for not taking my bike with them.

I tried to finish the last of my coffee so I could get going and ended up burning my tongue. I had parked my bike on the outside of the shop and sat near the door. I wanted to get riding again, but also wanted to attach myself to the bike before someone else did!

Now I was on the Swamp Rabbit Trail headed toward Furman University. Once again I found myself moving around people skating, walking their dogs, running, walking or riding their bikes. Today there were a lot of bicycles.

As I neared Furman, I was glad I had kept my knee warmers and under layer. The wind was cooler now and I was in more shaded areas. The layers made me feel quite comfortable.

Once you reach the portion of the trail that goes through the Furman campus, Paris Mountain becomes an obvious landmark. As I glanced up from the shaded trail to see the sun shining on the mountain, I decided that going over it would be the fastest way home. That would make my ride about 2 hours total and it would be fun to make my first attempt of 2012.

I had absolutely NO thoughts that this was going to be a good time. I didn’t even try to make it so. I put the bike in the easiest gear and started to climb. Frankly, I was feeling pretty bad by the water tower section. I was starting to second guess my decision!

Getting around the first turn after that section, I was feeling a bit better. I was more in a rhythm.

I reached halfway in 7 minutes or so. Hmmmm, that wasn’t so bad for not really trying. As I started, I thought it might be nice to hit 18 minutes. Now I was thinking I might make it in 16.

Sure enough about two-thirds of the way up I bogged down. This is typical for me. Still, I just kept looking ahead to the next turn and kept spinning. I reached the wall just under 15 minutes. I stood and started rocking the bike toward the top. Maybe because I had not pushed hard to this point, I found that I was feeling pretty good.

Paris Mountain KOM

Looking through the trees atop Paris Mountain. Looking toward Saluda.

I pushed the lap button at 15:33. This will be my base time to start the year. Each time I make the climb, I’ll try to bring it down. Granted, it won’t be hard to drop it with a little bit of effort. However, I know the time will come when it will be very hard to improve the time.

Coming off the mountain, I let the Felt go. I love big-ringing it down Altamont and swooping like an eagle around the turns. It helps me forget about the pain of the climb.

I pulled up at home after just over 2 hours on the bike. There was no guilt that it hadn’t been 4 hours. I sat down by the still burning logs to talk with my son. There was a smile on my face — and on the inside.

It was good that the bike was telling me how to love it instead of everyone around me.

2012 Goals

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

You may ask that with all these changes in my approach to cycling this year, “What are your goals for 2012?” That would be a good and fair question. It is a question I’ve asked myself and struggled with. I guess my first goal is to set some goals!

Typically, I divide my goals with the bicycle into three sections — racing, personal and charitable. Racing goals can be your typical “A”, “B” and “C” type events that you try to peak for. These goals can also be aims within the race — improvements in performance and knowledge of the sport. Personal goals are more associated with training. Working toward a certain FTP or a time up Paris Mountain. Charitable goals have normally culminated in my Ride for Mike events.

I guess I’ll do the same thing this year. One thing I know is that I need some goals in order to stay motivated. It is just up to this point, thinking of goals has made me tired.

Racing

There will be plenty of opportunities to race locally this year. It all starts with the Spring Series in mid-February. You can have some pretty serious racing under your belt by the end of March. Also in March is the Spring Cycling Extravaganza — a new two day series presented by the POA Cycling Team. As for April, I don’t know if I’ll take the trip down to Charleston for the SC crit championships this year, but the St. Francis summer series starts up locally.

May presents opportunities at the Spartanburg Regional Classic and another St. Francis race. June brings about the SC road race championship, the SC time trial championship and, yes, another St. Francis race. July could see me in Asheville again for the French Broad TT and road race. There is a St. Francis race near the end of the month as well.

The new race weekend “End of Summer Blowout” will take place in August along with the continuing St. Francis race. September brings the end of most racing — except cross — with the final St. Francis race. So, there is plenty of racing right in the general Greenville area. Throw in other races within an hour or so drive and you could nearly race twice a week or more the months March – August.

That isn’t my plan. My “A” race is going to be the SC Road Race Championship on June 9. My goal is to be as fit as I can be to be on form for a top 10 finish. I’ll use any racing up to that point as a means to reach that goal. I’m definitely not planning to explode out of the gate for the Spring Series!

Other than that, but goals will be to put a more conscious effort into watching and learning — becoming smarter. That means better skill wise, better reading moves and better at using the field to put me in the best place. This will happen by racing and watching riders I know have been in this game for a long time. The goal is to set a lesson plan for each race, focus on that one thing and grade myself at the end.

Personal

This one is simple. I want to return to my obsession with the mountain. I realize many people think this is a Don Quixote endeavor.  However, when I think back to some of my more fun periods on the bike, they include my attempts to bring my time down on that 2.2 mile stretch of road.

My goal here is simple. I want to get a personal best climbing Altamont Road. That means I have to climb it in less than 11 minutes and 24 seconds.

Charitable

Here is where I face a challenge. In the past, I have always had a clear road ahead for my goal by this time in the year. For 2012, I don’t have an “epic” ride in mind.

Originally, my goal was actually much larger. My plan was (is?) to start a new foundation — iridefor.org. Its purpose is to help others who want to be an encouragement by personally supporting people in need. Basically, it would be to provide tools and knowledge to help anyone carry out their own “Ride for Mike.”

The problem for me right now is that to make this a success, I would have needed to be much farther along in the process right now. I just don’t know if I can pull it off on the same scale for 2012 that I originally dreamed.

At the same time, if you don’t have goals, you might as well not dream. I still have a dream for iridefor.org. While I may not hit the stars this year, I don’t see why I can’t land on the moon.

So, there you go. I’ve laid it out what I’m thinking. That is another part of setting goals… you need some accountability. That is one of the main reasons for this blog.

Thanks for keeping an eye on me.

Thanks, Coach. Thanks, Friend.

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

Over the last several years I’ve had the privilege to be coached by Jim Cunningham. As I look back at any success I have had, I can attribute a lot of that to Jim. Where I haven’t done so well, I can attribute that to me not listening to Jim! Now in 2012, I’m moving in a different direction. As I do so, one of the things I’ll miss is having Jim covering my back.

I couldn’t believe that in all the photos I have of me cycling, I don’t have one with Jim! Here is the closest I have to it — this is a photo of Chris Hartzler wearing a Low Cadence kit standing next to Jim. Chris had just attended a hill climbing clinic that Jim was holding on Paris Mountain.

The coach

Jim Cunningham and Chris Hartzler

This is the one thing that brings a little pang of regret. Not having Jim pushing me along means that the official coach/athlete relationship comes to an end. I’ll have to admit, I’m not so much going to miss the coach structured training as I will Jim the coach.

The same thing goes with the decision not to race on a team this year. I definitely know it is for the best, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t miss that feeling of “belonging” that comes with having mates in the peloton. Sure, it isn’t like I’ve been disowned, but it just isn’t the same.

It is going to be interesting finding my spot in the cycling world. The bicycle was the primary connection that I had with most folks in the community. My “other life” moves in a different sphere than most other two-wheeled junkies.

Now I’m going at it a little bit alone. I’m hoping that Jim will still be willing to give me some pointers and kick me in the seat on occasion. He definitely has the knowledge and desire to see those he helps succeed. Take a look at his recent article over at CarolinaCyclingNews.com.

I highly recommend his services. If you want to improve as a cyclist, one of the best ways is to get yourself a coach. The knowledge and accountability it brings will definitely move you to a different level. If you can’t get Jim, then let him point you to someone he knows can help improve you.

Thanks, Coach! Thank you, my friend!

Back to the lair

Friday, January 20th, 2012

I call my basement office the “Low Cadence Lair” (what it looked like back in 2009). Over the last several years, I would like to know how many miles I’ve ridden down there! I’m certain the whirring of the trainer has been heard for dozens of hours. Well, the sound returned last night for the first time in many months.

13 minutes in to the first trainer ride of the winter

13 minutes in to the first trainer ride of the winter

As I was groaning about to roll out of bed Thursday morning, the beautiful redhead whispered in my ear, “You need to exercise today.” Rather than hitting her with a pillow, I agreed. It wasn’t just for the physical benefits of it, but for the stress release as well. I determined I was going to get on the trainer that evening.

After a bit of delay due to the fact I couldn’t find the skewer for my trainer, I got the bike set up and climbed on board. I had the same feelings that I have at times when I’m about to set out on a ride that I know is going to be a long one… this wasn’t just the start of a trainer ride. It was the start of the new season!

I had a dread of 1) the boredom of an hour being spent going nowhere, and 2) the realization that this would reveal just how out of tune I am. To battle the first issue I started a  movie on my iPad. I figured I could avoid number 2 by spinning easy this first time and just letting my legs get back in the motion.

Wow! The basketball business was hurting! One thing this all has revealed is how desperately I need to cross train. My non-cycling muscles had all kinds of aches and pains going on. It was even affecting my stroke on my left side. Some tendon on the backside of my knee was tight and caused me to pedal blocks and swing my heel out with each revolution.

Those negative thoughts began to seep in… “I’m getting old.” “Most of the guys have been out doing long base mile rides. I’m so far behind, I don’t know if it is worth it.” “Do I really want to go through this again?”

The voices in my head got so loud that I even turned off the movie. I wasn’t paying much attention to it. I just silently spun for a moment being lulled into a trance by the rhythm of the spinning wheel. By this point I was starting to warm up and the pain and stiffness was leaving.

I raised my head and looked around the room. Right in front of me were jerseys covering the wall. Each one of them told a story… Assaults on Mount Mitchell, Challenge to Conquer Cancer rides, podium finish in the state criterium championship, and numerous charity events. There was that Greenville Spinners jersey from my first ever win.

All those memories started pushing against the negative thoughts. It has been a good ride over the last five years or so. Whatever the future holds, the bicycle has been good to me.

Perhaps where I have gotten off course is trying to be something I’m not. In my mind, I’ve always seen myself at the front. I’ve wanted to be one of the “fast men”. Early on, I was. However, as you move up it takes more and more commitment to stay at the front. It is a commitment that I now realize I can’t invest.

You know, that might sound like a negative thought. However, it is freeing. I’ve got a lot of great memories of success to hold onto. I’ve also got a lot of great opportunities and memories to make off the bike.

I looked down at the meter and saw my hour was nearly up. My legs were feeling pretty good (though that one push for a few seconds at around 750 watts reminded me I’ve got work to do before spring). Best of all, my mind was feeling pretty good.

Me and the bike are going to have a more mature relationship this year. I’m looking forward to it.

It is official

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

For many years my neighborhood has worked to get sidewalks put in along the street that runs in front of my house. It is a “cut-through” between two main roads leading into downtown Greenville. I was shocked to learn that thousands of cars come down the road. Some of them well over the 30 mph posted speed limit. Well, we finally got our sidewalks… and a bonus to boot.

The plan was to put a curb and sidewalk on one side of the street. Our side of the street would not be altered in any way. However, shock of all shocks, the project came in significantly under budget. Since the money was earmarked for the project the project was expanded to include adding curbs on our side as well.

I was loving the changes. The only thing that would have topped it all off would have been to have the street repaved. The drainage work, curb work and moving of the stripes had made a mess of the asphalt. It was pretty obvious that we were going to have some erosion issues.

Lo and behold, the resurfacing request got approved and around Christmas time we got a newly paved road. Then to add to my contentment, the idea of bicycle lanes was broached with the community. At that point, there were some pretty vocal opponents to the idea. Even so, I had a good feeling that something would come through. I was well aware of the city’s Complete Streets Program that makes it a priority to consider all means of transportation — car, bicycle and pedestrian.

Our road was a perfect example of where this could be used. It was already a wide road so basically nothing had to be done to accommodate the space needed for the lanes. The road was already being used by cyclists and pedestrians. It would also help with traffic calming as it would visually narrow the road.

After one rather testy community meeting, I knew we would have the lanes. Then about two weeks ago the guys showed up to stripe the road. There was plenty of room for both the cars and bicycles — and a nice smooth sidewalk for the pedestrians.

Finally, last night as I was sitting eating dinner, I noticed some more street painters appear. I watched as they made it official. Right in front of my house in the far lane of the road, they painted the bicycle man and arrow.

Now, I can use bicycle lanes all the way from my house to the Swamp Rabbit Trail and — before you know it — be out in Travelers Rest. Not only that, but I am already seeing commuters using the lanes. I hope there will be more opportunities to see the Complete Streets initiative become a reality.

Granted, there are some downsides to having bicycle lanes in your neighborhood. You cannot place yard waste in a way that obstructs the lane. This can lead to your lawn being destroyed by the garbage man. You also cannot park on the street in any way that obstructs the lane. This will be a problem for my neighbors who enjoy throwing a party from time-to-time.

The city is working with those neighbors to offer them a permit that temporarily gives them the right to block the lane. It is like I mentioned to the neighbors in the meeting about the lanes. We are a community. Our road is something we share with each other, but it is also something we share with other Greenville residents. Their taxes helped us get our sidewalk, road and bicycle lanes. We have to work and sometimes compromise to make the best opportunities for the whole.

The Complete Streets initiative does this for our city. It is more than a logistical necessity. It creates many intangible benefits. For instance, bicycle lanes with their little cyclist signage gives the perception of intimacy. Much like sidewalks they are footprints of human movement. They are indicators that there is a soul in the city.

Thank you, Greenville, for bringing that footprint to my neighborhood.

Not the first time

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

Yes, I know that it has been a long time since there has been a post here at Lowcadence.com. If you are a blogger, you probably know the guilt I’ve been feeling about that. Looking back, I realize that there have been other times when I’ve gone a month or so without a post. I’ve always come back, and most likely will again.

What I have I been up to? Nothing. Absolutely.  Nothing. Since October, I can count on one hand the number of times I have gone on a ride over 30 minutes. There have been the occasional commutes to work (like this morning), but for the most part the bikes have stayed in the basement.

The thought of a long ride in the cold is not appealing to me. The idea of an hour or so sweating on the trainer going nowhere is also uninspiring. The realization that I am way off my fitness level gnaws at the back of my mind. I know what it is going to take to get back and the motivation to do it just isn’t there.

I’ve tried running as a way to cross train. However, the hip pain that continues to be with me seems to be exacerbated by pavement pounding. Besides… see the first sentence of the paragraph above.

Last night I went and played basketball for the first time in… Well, I can’t remember the last time I played a pickup game. It has been years.

I enjoyed it. I woke up this morning feeling like I had raced a crit, but the actual participation was enjoyable. If it wasn’t for my defense and rebounding, I think I would have gotten laughed off the court, but you can’t expect to hit many shots when you haven’t played in years.

One thing that surprised me was the fitness that still seemed to be hanging around. Not having a big body and no outside shot, I have to move a lot to get a position to rebound or score. I managed to play for an hour and it wasn’t until near the end that I started to wain.

At the same time, I’ve been catching up a bit with the Tour Down Under. Other than the crashes, I’ve found the racing to be motivational. It reminds me that warmer weather is coming. I’m going to want to be on my bike when it does. Now is the time I need to start getting ready.

I think I’ll keep playing basketball, but also set up my trainer. I don’t know what this season holds, but I do know that I am going to want to be on my bike. To enjoy the spring and summer, I have to stay with it during the winter.