I have been sticking to what I said and I am not running, though I have been mighty tempted to a few times over the past week. Wednesday I woke up and rode out Macon to Collierville-Arlington and back to the house for just over 21 miles in about 1:14.....then I commuted to and from work which gave me 27 on the day....
Thursday Lauren came over to my house early and we hit up the farmer's market for some fresh veggies to make our homemade veggie pizza....I rode with Lauren to Fleet Feet then rode to Outdoors from there which put me at 22ish for the day....
I took Friday off from the bike as I'm just getting used to the saddle after not riding very much recently....Today I woke up and headed out from my house on Macon headed East....Stayed on Macon for quite a while until it crossed I think Highway 194 maybe...Hung a left there and headed towards 64....while I was cruising that section of road I was thinking about how much more enjoyable my ride would be if I was with a group because when I run solo I jam out on the ipod but it's just not safe on the bike....then all of the sudden a group of about 35 riders made a left onto the road I was on about 200 yards ahead of me....talk about a wish come true...I sprinted to catch up with them and latched on for the remainder of their ride...It was the R.B.'s Cyclery Saturday morning "B" ride so the pace was decent but not so fast that I was getting winded or anything......Rode with them through the backroads of Lakeland on the way back to R.B.'s shop.....stopped in R.B.'s to holler at a few of the mechanics I know that work there, grabbed some cold water and got back on it.....cruised down 64 to appling....appling to Cordova road to G'town Parkway and back home....total on the day was 63 miles....felt really good...my legs felt strong the entire time....really the only thing bugging me was the backside from being in the saddle for over 3 hours.....
It is definitely much cooler than running when riding 19-20 mph on a road bike...the breeze feels good and it actually feels hotter when you come to a stop....I enjoyed riding the backroads as there was not a lot of traffic out...I also feel a lot safer riding in a group as cars seem to give you more space when passing than if I were riding solo....actually, for the first time in a while I wasn't worried about cars when riding with the group....just more focused on watching the riders in front of me as if one goes down it can be a disaster for everyone....
Not to bash on Memphis but cycling here is just not accepted and as safe as Colorado (or plenty of other places for that matter)....here it seems that people just get pissed off and think that you shouldn't be on their roads rather than giving you space....there is not a single "share the road" sign anywhere in this city....You can't go a quarter mile without seeing one in bike friendly places....its frustrating but you learn to live with it.....
anyways, enough ranting...until next time happy running and share the road....
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