Category Archives: bicycles

Aug 29 2024
bicycles, fun, sports

I’m a spinner now

I’ve been playing tennis for a few years now, almost exclusively for fun and exercise. It’s been a good sweat and I like hanging out with my tennis friends. I’ve also gotten better at it.

I’ve gotten to a point now, sadly, that my skill has exceeded my fitness, and if I want to keep improving I’m going to need to start exercising and improving my cardio so I can get better at the thing I do for exercise.

I know, I don’t like it either, but here we are.

I have chosen a twice-weekly spin class as the path by which I will collect cardio gains. I used to be an avid recreational cyclist and I’m not unfamiliar with the dark arts of the spin studio. Plus they’re free at the club so the barrier to entry is low.

I never thought of myself as a Zone 3 Man, but the data is the data.

Sep 14 2021
art, bicycles

Fresh new leather

I lost my wallet on Father’s Day. I 100% blame it on going to a little too hard and ignoring the age-old adage, “don’t put anything on the roof of your car that you’re not willing to lose”. I somehow got my phone back in the car, but the wallet (and my vaccine card!) are gone. I held out hope for a week or two that maybe a good samaritan would drop it in a mailbox, but that didn’t happen.

I went back to the source, Rider Boot, a local leather guy(??) here in RVA. I traded some emails with Ron, commiserated over the loss, and talked through a replacement. It’s not 100% the same, but damn if he doesn’t make nice stuff.

I’ve already promised myself to never ever ever ever ever ever put my wallet on the roof of my car again.

Jun 22 2021
bicycles, photos

Father’s Day MTB session

Got out with some Dad-bros for an early, early, MTB session at Pocahontas. That’s me on the right. With the beard.

It was steamy and my memory may be faulty, but to my recollections we went Blueberry-> Gateway-> Bell Lap-> Bell Return-> Corkscrew-> Sunsetter-> Bell Return-> Blueberry Return.

It is always better to go ride.

After we went home and caught a shower, we met again and watched some Euro 2020 at Final Gravity.

Jun 08 2021
bicycles

2021 Ford Maverick

This new Ford Maverick seems designed specifically for me (as opposed to the old Ford Maverick, which had a great name badge). A 21-Century compact pickup, which is as big as full-sized pickups were when I was coming up. This is exactly what I’m looking for in a truck. I don’t need to pull a boat or haul a ton of bricks. I just want to be able to go to the dump a couple of times a year and to take my bikes to the trailhead.

I hope it is a hit so they’re still around in a few years when I’m in the market again.

Or even better, maybe this will kick off a compact pickup renaissance, and I’ll have a bunch to choose from in 2024. That would be the dream.

Jul 28 2020
bicycles

That gum I like is coming back in to style

It’s probably been two years since I had my road bike in rideable shape. I’ve been riding a lot of mountain bikes in the pandemic so far, but there is nothing quite like long, country miles on a road bike to really get into the zen of it.

I’m out of town and away for the next couple of weekends, but my future will definitely have some local coffee shop rides and more than a few miles along the Virginia Capital Trail.

Jul 20 2020
bicycles, sports

Pared it back this weekend

I still had some fun outdoor time but it was too hot to go hard.

Saturday morning tennis was just an hour but the humidity was over 70% so it was super-sweaty and gross. I got some new tennis shoes, too, so the hour-long session was a good break-in session.

I didn’t have team tennis yesterday afternoon, so we went a little further on the bike ride. Stella and I met some folks for Blueberry and we threw in a Bell Lap for good measure.

We ran across some folks managing a big copperhead that had gotten on the trail. It was kind of sketchy. It was also brutally hot and humid again. It’s great to get out and see friends on bikes but the weather definitely took a few points off of the experience.

Jul 06 2020
bicycles, sports

I am a Weekend Icarus

Sunday started with a very chill mountain bike ride out at Pocahontas State Park with my youngest and some friends. It’s really nice to see people out in the world, and riding bikes is a reasonable way to do it. An ice-cold beer in the shade afterward was a perfect capper.

And then I embraced the hubris and played in my first competitive tennis match. This tennis situation has progressed aggressively. I went from hitting balls on Saturday mornings with a buddy a month ago to joining the USTA and playing a doubles match on a team. It was *so hot* out. I don’t know that the morning bike ride ruined my tennis debut, but it certainly took a little out of the tank. We lost 6-1, 6-4.

This is the part where I express mindful gratitude for being physically capable of doing this stuff. I ask a lot of this old bag of bones and it continues to be there for me. I promise to keep icing these knees for as long as they’ll carry me.

May 31 2020
bicycles, fun, meditation

This weekend was set up for some good stuff.

We watched one of my all-time favorite movies, Out Of Sight, with the kids. We broke with recent tradition and watched it on Friday night (as opposed to Saturday morning) and it was a hit. It’s an impossibly good-looking movie with two legit Movie Stars who movie-star all over the place. I was tickled that they enjoyed it and I was appreciative of the brief respite from the COVID-cloud that has been hanging over everything for the last few months. As a family, I think we’ve really enjoyed these movie sessions for the escapist break they give us.

dominion demo

Early Saturday morning the old Dominion Power building was imploded. I didn’t get up and go watch it live, figuring the internet would provide, and boy did they ever.

I got up early on Saturday morning and caught a mountain bike ride with my younger daughter out at Pocahontas State Park and we ripped some trails for the first time in over a year. The weather was wonderful and I wouldn’t have spent it with anyone else. It was also the first time I’ve used both bike racks on my car since I installed them. It was more than a minor victory to get to the park and see that both bikes were still there!

All of those good-times-as-distraction are null because while the world may still be upside-down with the COVID, now it’s on literal fire with protests. My home of Richmond, Va. suffered last night. People are justifiably angry and they took it out, correctly in my opinion, on the symbols of institutional racism that stand in our town.

I don’t understand the destruction and looting of local businesses, though. We have an incredible community of business owners in this city and it’s fucking absurd that some shitbags will use the protest of police killing black folks as an opportunity to burn and destroy good places. I also don’t subscribe to the All Cops Are Bastards mentality. It’s ignorant and counterproductive.

My disappointments are small potatoes compared to the real suffering going on in my city and my country. Please stay safe.

Nov 13 2017
bicycles

Sunday Bikes 11/12/2017

Got out with Adam to the Ancarrow’s Landing Trail, better known as The Poop Loop. We parked over by Legend Brewing and made our way to one of the Slave Trail access points. Turns out there was one a lot closer to our spot and we’ll be ready next time. It was also cold.

The last time I was down here was with Stella and when she and I ride we stay at her pace. Since Adam and I didn’t have kids with us yesterday, I opened up the throttle a little bit as we made our way to the Loop. I opened it so much, in fact, that I had a solid crash when my front wheel got just slightly off the track and into some leaves and softer dirt. I was able to use my belly and arms to break my fall and I escaped with some scraped knees. It’s been worse.

I’m not an aggressive enough rider to really shred on the Poop Loop and it’s a track that rewards that kind of riding. It’s still fun (when I can stay upright).

After a lap there we backtracked up The Slave Trail to Belle Isle. There is a great MTB skills park on the island that we goofed around in for a little bit. Then it was a fireroad ride to Riverside Drive and back to the car. It’s been a long, long time since I fired up the cardio machine like that. I had almost forgotten how the cold air dregs up the wet cotton from the bottom of my lungs. Gross. I should do it more.

Oct 20 2017
bicycles

Sunday Bikes 10/15/2017

Stella and I got out to Pocahontas State Park with Adam and Kaden for another crack at the Blueberry Hill Trail. Luckily, the rain we had during the week didn’t keep us off of the trail. It probably even helped a little bit since things had gotten sandy in the couple of weeks without rain.

This is the 4th(?) time we’ve been on Blueberry Hill and I think Stella’s getting the hang of it. In fact, she did such a good job there wasn’t a photo break. It is rated as an Easy trail in the park guide so there are very few technical (rocky or rooty) sections and none of the climbs/descents are too steep. It’s a fun ride for me, too, since I’m pretty damn far from cycling fitness.

Stella has started Nutcracker rehearsals so I don’t think we’re going to be able to keep riding on days she has to dance. She’s also a bit of a chicken about the cold, so she might not be on too much until the Spring. Luckily Adam got a new bike so there should at least be plenty of dad rides through the winter.

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