Andrew Norton.com

Hurts so Good…or not really

Ah! Three days completed this week:

Tuesday, April 14th

Thursday, April 16th

Friday, April 17th

Total Miles Ridden: 39

Fastest Time to work: 26.51 minutes

I basically couldn’t move all weekend after I went to see Eric Church at Coyote Joe’s in Charlotte and stood in cowboy boots all night.

I got my boots on!

Things I learned this week:

1) People will laugh, but they are interested in what you are doing, and want to talk about it.

2) It is near impossible to get up in the morning.

3) Riding with barely any rear brake takes planning at stop lights.

4) Tap on windows so people know you are there.

5) Keep the keys to your apartment on you at all time or have a buddy that will bring them to you.

6) Country music and Jack make the soreness go away.

On the Road Again…

Finally! After much sickness and traveling, I was able to get back out on the road and begin riding to work.

The day was dreary this morning, but through the mist of the air and out of the haze of my bed, I made it. And I really didn’t want to. Allergies haven’t gotten the better of me this year. I guess that lesson #1:

The first leg of the ride starts by getting out of bed.

It’s better this time of year because now it is light outside in the morning and afternoon so people don’t want to run you over as much.

I enjoyed the fact that people found my clothing ridiculous and the security guard was nice enough to let me through the gate this morning with my whole bike.  Since I didn’t know that we had bike racks and hadn’t brought my lock,  I just parked it in an empty cubicle.

The ride home was the best part because:

a) It was great weather

b) Easier than I thought

c) No cars hit me

d) I got to ride along side a freight train. That’s right! I out rode a freight train. That’s pretty excited even if he was going about 5 miles an hour…

Because every post needs a picture and I attempted to clean my bike last night. I’ll leave with this important point:  Grease gets everywhere. Case in point:

Mileage Ridden to work 2009: 26 miles

Time to Home this Ride: 27.51 min.

Going Practically Green

The Rides

Welcome to my adventure in biking to work starting this Spring 2009!

Since I don’t believe change happens by just saying the word, I decided to take a practical approach to my own efforts to become green and healthier. Last year I moved closer to work, but didn’t put in the time to go out and get the equipment to carry all my stuff. I finally bit the bullet and front roller panniers to put on my road bike the other month.

I embarked on my first attempt 2 weeks ago. Starting off small, I drove the car to work with the bike and took the bike home. Daylight Savings Time is a fascinating concept that Ben Franklin first recommended. It has some great benefits by keeping light until about 7:15 pm this time of year. On the flip side though, I woke up at 5:30 am on Tuesday to begin the ride to work in pitch dark. To add to my difficulty, I forgot my headlamp in my car. It reattaches easily, but that makes it easily forgotten.

Embarking on my self righteous crusade to get myself healthy a

nd educate my fellow North Carolina neighbors on bike riding, I began riding at 6:40 am in the dark. I, at least, had my rear light on so people could see me

(I hoped).  It is only about 7 miles to work, but the majority of the route runs on US-115 which is a 55 mph stretch of bare shoulder road with no street lamps. Most the cars where pretty respectful to the idea of a skinny dude with no headlight holding up their morning commute.

I thought I would have plenty of time to think about my upcoming day and what I needed to get done. Wrong! I’ve never thought more about simply surviving getting to work in my life. I took the approach of holding up cars by riding a little in front of them because I could not see the road. True to Southern road infrastructure, there were moments of no shoulder or barely one, cracked pavement, rotting roadkill, and possibly one live skunk (I didn’t see, but could smell), and lots of trucks. Especially since it was early morning, there looked to be a lot of construction workers headed out.

While I arrived terrified and wide awake and learned that I really need that headlamp, I felt one step closer to some progress. The goal of which I don’t know truly yet. Riding the bike makes the whole world seem different. Surreal in way that it didn’t exist before. The cap to this that told me I should keep doing this was the sight I saw coming into work.

I had just put my bike on the car and was walking to the visitor entrance (I had also forgotten my badge). The sun was just creeping over the horizon. As I passed the intricate landscape of the building that included a retention pond disguised with a waterfall, I heard the company helicopter rotor blades approach from the direction of the rising sun. The air was a crisp 50 degrees or so as I stood and watched the copter glided slowly down.

This could easily sound like corporate excess, but something in the way that all this scenery came together stuck me as wonderful moment that says there is a place in the world for business and nature. Unfortunately, no one else was there to discuss the scene. The most sublimely subtle moments in life aren’t meant to be witnessed by anyone but the viewer and God.

Claim the Lane…

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