Bike

This morning I crashed my bike ok the way to work. I would love to be able to say it was something spectacular. It was not.
At the bottom of the hill by my house, I rolled up the access ramp to press the crosswalk button, like I had done hundreds of times before. As I hit the button and made the quick right, I didn’t have enough momentum. I pulled the turn tighter, hoping of using the ramp to gain some momentum. No such luck. I stopped and started to teeter. I’m desperation I tried to get my right foot out of the clip, and when I did, it was too late. I misjudged the ramp angle and was so off balance, I went down.
I looked to see if anyone was around to see it. Luckily there wasn’t. Besides a little scuff to my bar tape and seat, a chunk of skin on my ankle bone, and the spot on my hip where it might bruise, the only other thing that was hurt was my pride. Even that only stung for a second before I started laughing at myself.
I’m such a spaz.

I has been a year since I got my bike and I can’t believe that I went so long without riding one. Riding the bike I get the exercise I need, as well as doing my part environmentally. Best of all, It gives me a place to clear my head and work out the clutter. Nothing beats having a stressful day and hammering it out on the bike. Even Katie notices the difference when I haven’t ridden. Like here with her horse, I need the bike. On the days when I do drive the car, I stay aggravated, sometimes more so because, lets face it, most people are idiots when they are in the car. They are so focused on everything but driving, and it shows. On the bike, I am so focused on everything around me, it is exhilarating. While a lot of people tell me they are scared to ride on suburban streets, let alone in downtown areas, I find it exhilarating. Rain or shine, it is hard to have a bad day on the bike. My worst enemy on the bike is the cold. Usually because I have to carry more gear and end up stripping it off, and filling my bag. I like to travel light. (Gear post to come soon) Even on a day like today, where I got two flats in the span of thirty minutes, it was still zen.
I have surpassed many challenges I have set for myself on the bike already.

• I ride about 11 miles a day most days.
• On my days off, I usually ride 30-40 miles.
• On occasion I have ridden 50-60 miles
• I learned to ride fixed gear as well as free wheel.

I am getting a new bike this week, one with 9 speeds,  and with it brings some new goals.

• Ride from Orange County to San Diego
• ride the Seattle to Portland Double Century ride.
• Ride from San Francisco to Orange County

Some of these new goals will have me to check my ego and actually wear true cycling gear. I have been fighting it, but I now realize how functional it is in the long run. Over the weekend my friend Michael and I were discussing going on a ride, and he sang the praises of the cycling bib. When I told Katie, she got all excited and wanted to pick out the colors of my gear. (I am pretty sure she just wants to look at my butt in tight clothing, as she has been asking me if I would be wearing cycling shorts for about a year now) I am going to stick to my Dickies and other street clothes for the ride to work, as it makes it easier to change and and is less gear to carry.

The weather is changing, and with it getting warmer, I highly suggest getting on a bike and see for ones self.

Stages ride from Jeff Donaldson on Vimeo.

Here is the clip of the Stages ride with Lance Armstrong. It was pretty fun to ride down Sunset Blvd with a lot of other cyclists. When I get more time, I will make a video including some of the still shots I took. This is just the ride taken from my helmet cam. The original footage is almost 9 minutes, so I sped it up, but it is a little jerky.

Soundtrack: A Year and a Day by The Beastie Boys off of their 20th Anniversary remix of Paul’s Boutique.