In case any of you (all three of my readers) missed it, I am in the process of taking this blog a little further out into the world of cycling in general. I will likely start posting something every Sunday since I don't ride on Sundays. (It's part of what I consider keeping the Sabbath Day holy.)
Well, I came across this gem earlier this week while perusing some information on stuff hidden in bills passed by Congress before anyone reads the bloody thing. (Yes, I am surprisingly conservative. That's not something that you find very often with cyclists and hard core recyclers.) Alas, I digress...
Now, I found this article on treehugger.com that reveals some of the stuff that snuck into one of the bailouts Obama pushed through Congress. Did you know that you can be reimbursed up to $20/week for applicable expenses associated with bike maintenance if you cycle your commute to work?
That's right, hidden away in the bowels of legislation among the tax exemptions for using wooden arrows and various cost analysis assessments for racetracks (please explain how these stimulate the economy), is this nice little tidbit for the benefit of those who wish to ride their bikes to work.
I don't care why you ride a bike (health reasons, environmentalism, cost efficiency) I'm just glad to see that there is finally something worthwhile in DC happening in favor of those who are truly using alternative transportation.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Why do I do this to myself?
A friend of mine here in town wanted to go riding with me. He's a couple of years older than me, but he's also out of shape. Now, what makes this super "not fair" is the fact that he's one of the skinny "out of shape" people. It's so unfair...
Anyway, I wanted to ride out to a park north of town, but he didn't want to because he works near the park and "it'll feel like I'm commuting to work." I can understand that (but I do wonder, since when does 1.5 miles count as a commute?). So I make another suggestion, and wouldn't you know it... he used to "commute" that way too. I wish he had just sad that he just wanted to go ride the trail that I have blogged about the last two times I went out.
So I figured that this might be a little fair. He's "out of shape" and wearing blue jeans. I, on the other hand, am wearing fat people workout clothes. He's got the Trek mountain bike (made for off road stuff) and I've got the Trek road-based hybrid. In the end, we took the trail and were fairly evenly matched. Well, maybe not so much.
He did a lot of stopping for sightseeing at the bridges and to read the signs and so forth. I can understand that, and I even did that on one of my rides. So, I understand the delays. What I did not get, however, was how a skinny dude with better equipment was going so far behind me. I had to keep slowing down to let him catch up. Then I would get back into my normal cadence, and pass him again, only to slow down for him to catch up, and get back into rhythm, and you see the cycle (no pun intended). I was shocked at how quickly this tired me out even MORE than riding my ill-equipped bike on an off road trail.
Then, just to make things even more interesting, there was the tree that had fallen across the path. Yes, a mighty oak had decided it was tired of standing and chose to have a bit of a lie-down... right across the trail! Well, my friend decided that he wanted to keep going, so we portaged the bikes through the wreckage and continued on the ride.
By the time that we got home, we were both exhausted. I cannot do that on the wet trail again, or so help me... okay, that was an idle threat. It's really not going anywhere.
Unfortunately, I did not take my phone with me, otherwise, I'd have a picture of the tree. I would have taken a picture with me on top and called it "Manuel the Wonder Tree-Slayer!" or something predictably silly like that.
If nothing else, this gave me 20 miles for the week. I know that I have done that in a day before, but among the various challenges (not riding in a while, weather, friends, etc.) it's a hopeful start back into the lifestyle.
Anyway, I wanted to ride out to a park north of town, but he didn't want to because he works near the park and "it'll feel like I'm commuting to work." I can understand that (but I do wonder, since when does 1.5 miles count as a commute?). So I make another suggestion, and wouldn't you know it... he used to "commute" that way too. I wish he had just sad that he just wanted to go ride the trail that I have blogged about the last two times I went out.
So I figured that this might be a little fair. He's "out of shape" and wearing blue jeans. I, on the other hand, am wearing fat people workout clothes. He's got the Trek mountain bike (made for off road stuff) and I've got the Trek road-based hybrid. In the end, we took the trail and were fairly evenly matched. Well, maybe not so much.
He did a lot of stopping for sightseeing at the bridges and to read the signs and so forth. I can understand that, and I even did that on one of my rides. So, I understand the delays. What I did not get, however, was how a skinny dude with better equipment was going so far behind me. I had to keep slowing down to let him catch up. Then I would get back into my normal cadence, and pass him again, only to slow down for him to catch up, and get back into rhythm, and you see the cycle (no pun intended). I was shocked at how quickly this tired me out even MORE than riding my ill-equipped bike on an off road trail.
Then, just to make things even more interesting, there was the tree that had fallen across the path. Yes, a mighty oak had decided it was tired of standing and chose to have a bit of a lie-down... right across the trail! Well, my friend decided that he wanted to keep going, so we portaged the bikes through the wreckage and continued on the ride.
By the time that we got home, we were both exhausted. I cannot do that on the wet trail again, or so help me... okay, that was an idle threat. It's really not going anywhere.
Unfortunately, I did not take my phone with me, otherwise, I'd have a picture of the tree. I would have taken a picture with me on top and called it "Manuel the Wonder Tree-Slayer!" or something predictably silly like that.
If nothing else, this gave me 20 miles for the week. I know that I have done that in a day before, but among the various challenges (not riding in a while, weather, friends, etc.) it's a hopeful start back into the lifestyle.
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