Calling Bullshit

Obviously I spend a lot of time cycling, but also more than a little reading and listening to cyclist rants. If there is one thing cyclists do well, it is bitch about how cars, cities, and non-cyclists treat cyclists. Sometimes I contribute, sometimes I listen and nod. Today, I’m calling bullshit on a couple of common refrains that I hear in the cycling world.

Running Stop Signs

Talk to cyclists and you will hear all manner of reasons why they don’t stop at stop signs and red lights. No, not all cyclists, but enough of them that there is a legitimate gripe against them as a whole. Yeah, seriously it is time to call bullshit and get our collective attitude straight. Yes, a bicycle can slow to a near stop, look both ways and move through a clear space. However, you cannot legislate a ‘near stop’ and expect uniform enforcement. In a car, it is a California Stop, on a bike it is legislatively the same. There are a hundred reasons, I’m going to dissect a few:

I can see what is coming on a bike

Of course you can. You slowed down, you head checked both sides real quickly and are still travelling too fast to make a stop if you see something even a little late.

The red light won’t sense my bike

You are probably right, it won’t. But it will sense that car behind you, or across from you. If those aren’t there, you can waddle over to the pedestrian crossing button. If that isn’t an option, and you’ve stopped, you can check all directions completely, and proceed.

It is dangerous to stop and clip in mid intersection

That is like saying a manual transmission shouldn’t stop at a stop sign because it might stall mid intersection. I don’t think this one works all that well. If it is a problem, I encourage you to, oh I don’t know, practice clipping in until it isn’t an issue.

Cars don’t stop why should I

Apparently we are in kindergarten again. Joey did it, why can’t I? Such a compelling argument point, I think I’ll respond the same way my mom did. Just because Joey jumps off a building doesn’t mean you should. Let us all stop justifying our own bad behavior because of someone else’s bad behavior.

There are plenty of others, but let us stop here.

At the end of the day, I am calling bullshit on all of the cyclists playing fast and loose with the rules. As someone with many miles in the legs, there are times for doing things that violate the letter of the laws, but are in keeping with the spirit of the laws. What I am really trying to say is this. When out on the roads, honor the one cardinal rule:

Don’t be a jerk.

It really is that simple, regardless of your conveyance.

Training Opportunities with the OGRE’s

Just a heads up for any Atlanta area readers that might want to come suffer along with the OGRE’s. IT is Wednesday, so we will be out with the Endurance House crew riding their Wed Night Ride. OGRE Dru is expecting to lead the B2’s on the EH WNR route at about 16.5-17 mph and then follow that up with an 8 mile run around downtown Alpharetta.

Feel free to come out and get your sweat on (weather permitting, or not).

The Ride (Wheels down 6:15PM) https://www.strava.com/routes/2439821

The Run (Feet on the pavement after the ride) https://www.strava.com/routes/2940107

Roller Coasters as Cross Training?

Well, I suppose it is not a traditional way to roll, but last weekend the family and I needed a break. So we ran up the road to Charlotte, NC and spent the weekend riding roller coasters and water slides. It was a good way to spend the weekend, but it certainly put a crimp in the training schedule. 26 miles of walking over 2 days though. I’m login to call it a wash and move on. Back to the grind this week.

Weary Legs, Weary Body, Rest Day Blues

I’ve joked a lot about how much I struggle with rest days. Here we are, another week in the books, with less than 10 to go until IM Chattanooga, and it is rest day. For once, I am truly grateful for my rest day. My body is telling me it needs today in a bad way. It is not anything specific, but more of an accumulation of the last 3 weeks combined with a lack of sleep. The lack of sleep is mostly a side effect of work + training + family stresses all hitting high points at the same time. Eventually it all catches up with you, and that is exactly where I am today.

Weary.

It really is the best word for it. Nothing is broken, nothing is injured, but I need a day off nonetheless. The worst part is that by this afternoon, I will have forgotten how worn out I feel this morning and I will have to resist the desire to do something. In the grand scheme of things though, these days are arguably more important than workout days. They clearly indicate that the training days are getting it done. It is however, high time this old body takes the day, so that is what I am going to do.

Bike Alpharetta Kits & Fundraising

For all the local riders, I want to remind everyone to get their orders in soon. Before July 31. This is a great opportunity for us. First, we can pick up these fun kits, with the Share Our Roads logo on the back. The colors are vibrant, but not garish. Second, these are very good kits made my Castelli Cycling. If you don’t know your size, Endurance House next to Publix in Alpharetta has a sample fit kit you can go try on for sizing. Lastly, this is a major fundraiser for Bike Alpharetta. Purchasing these kits helps them fund their counting advocacy and vocal support for our growing cycling community in the Alpharetta area.

Bike Alpharetta Kits

Yes, when I say advocacy, I mean advocacy. They are directly involved with the city, they have worked hard to support RAMBO and the mountain bike trails on the Greenways. They worked with REI and the City of Alpharetta to create, publish, mark and put up signage for the designated bike routes in Alpharetta. What they have accomplished on a small budget to date is remarkable. What they can do go forward should be fun to watch and enjoy the results of their work. If you can’t be involved as a volunteer, take the time and get involved with a few dollars for a great kit.

In the words of Woody from Toy Story. “If you don’t have one, GET ONE!”

Running In Circles

Monday Miles

I hate doing ‘laps’. Seriously, when it comes to running, this is the hardest running there is for me. I’d rather go climb a mountain than run laps. Last night, with the imminent threat of storms, a need to get some miles in, and a desire to stay closer to home, I ended up heading over to a great little facility not too far from the house. Sweet Apple Park in Roswell is a great little run. It is a 1.05 mile loop of crushed granite running loop. It has a little climb and descend, but it is a 1 mile box around a park and a school ( and passes close to some tasty restaurants, the smells make running even harder ). The goal for the day was 5-6 miles at an easy pace, keeping the heart rate down in zone 2-3. This is a bit of a challenge for me anyways, since I tend to run with a fairly high heart rate anyways. It is incredibly easy for me to push into zone 4 and even zone 5 with a moderate effort.

Putting it bluntly, I am not an ‘efficient’ runner yet. Almost 4 years in, and I am just beginning to figure out how to run efficiently. It will be a long time before I see fast miles at these heart rates, but that is part of the journey. It is part of why we do this. In order to get more efficient and to run better, sometimes we have to do things we do not want to do. Hills, Fartleks, Rest Days, and yes, Running in Circles.

So what about running in circles makes me a better runner? A lot of things, but last night it was working on two very distinct things. Efficiency and form at a lower effort level. The theory is that as efficiency and form become habit and muscle memory takes over, the same motions translate as the speeds and efforts ramp up. Combine that with a concerted effort to go with negative splits, I do feel that the work is valuable and shows an impact. Particularly in areas like how I feel afterwards.

It used to be that these 6+ mile weekday runs were a struggle the day after, but as I have worked on these types of runs, the hardest parts of the recovery have eased.

The observant reader may have noted that I had to go into Roswell to get the kind of facility I wanted to get this run in. The truth is, the City of Milton does not have this kinds of facility open yet, but they are working on one. I can not wait, since it will be about a mile from the house.

Thinking Outside the Box

Claim The Lane

In an interesting experiment, I tried something today. Rode the exact same route, the same bike, even the same kit to work. The experiment? I added something simple, a backpack. All of the sudden, instead of some feckless bike snob, I am a commuter, and the way I am treated on the road changes. People give a little more space. I suspect this speaks to some deeply rooted psyche issues in the American commuter, but it does raise an interesting question.

Does the appearance of a lycra clad cyclist imply a different usage that justifies a different behavior?

There is an interesting thought, and I wonder if it plays into the success of bike lanes and the success of the city bikes programs around the country. Bikes, and cyclists that don’t look like pure fitness usage do not create the conflict that the lycra wearing road cyclist do. Is this related to the idea that cyclists are law breakers, and hooligans? I don’t know, I am thinking out loud here, but if this is the case, is it something we need to talk more about?