Flutterby™! : Where I'll be 2006-04-15 18:27:31.683925+00

Where I'll be

2006-04-15 18:27:31.683925+00 by Dan Lyke 11 comments

It always sucks to go back to Chattanooga, because I never get a chance to see everyone, I always miss people, and this trip is especially short. So, here's how I'm going to do it: I'll be at Stone Cup next Saturday afternoon.

And on May 6^th I'm going to do the Wine Country Century 100 mile course. I'm hoping for a better than 8 hour finish time. And then I'm going to Valley Visions in the evening, where I'll be expected to eat lots of food (easy) and dance (won't be so easy).

Too bad you aren't making it in a couple days earlier. The Tour de Georgia ends Stage 3 at the Aquarium. Otherwise, we're all looking forward to seeing you!

#Comment Re: made: 2006-04-15 23:10:48.133343+00 by: Dori [edit history]

You might want to tell them to update their page. If people who aren't familiar with the area go looking for the LBC, they're likely to get lost as it's now the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts. All the signage has changed.

Sonoma County's back roads are very popular with cyclists. You may only visit here once or twice a year, but the residents along our route have cyclists--in large groups and small--passing their homes and farms and wineries every day. You can help us preserve friendly relations with our neighbors by being a good ambassador for cycling when you ride here.

"Preserve friendly relations"??? I guess that's their spin on "make people less likely to bring out the shotguns than in the past." No, we don't much like large groups of cyclists around here. They ride three and four abreast on our "scenic backroads" and not realize that while they think that this area is quaint and that they're off the main drag, those narrow windy roads are the only routes we have in many cases. When you're just trying to get from point A to point B first thing in the day, 2500 cyclists spread out all over the road is a hazard, not an attraction.

Then again, maybe they shouldn't change the web page to give the correct starting location. Given that riders have to sign up and pay in advance, maybe it's a good thing that many out-of-towners won't be able to find the beginning of the ride. Hmmm... maybe those folks are smarter than I thought they were... ;-)

Dan, if your route comes anywhere near here, let me know if there's anything I can do for you.

Let's say start at noon, and if the coffee and company are both good (and I've no reason to believe they won't be) I'll easily be there through four.

#Comment Share the road, spoil the child made: 2006-04-17 19:26:10.866445+00 by: Dan Lyke

Dori, I appreciate the offer. And whenever people start talking about the inconvenience of cyclists, I'm of a mixed mind. On the one hand, I can go off about lost vehicle hours and how automobile drivers have no right to complain until gas taxes go up another two and a half to three bucks a gallon, on the other hand now that I've started riding with groups I'm seeing some really obnoxious behavior, and, perhaps worse, I'm seeing it in an almost institutionalized fashion. Someone felt it necessary to point out to me that I was riding further right than was socially accepted, for instance.

So as someone who lives in a similarly semi-rural place where sometimes the riders are four abreast on a 55MPH stretch of road, I'll continue to holler "Share the road works both ways, asshole!", but as a cyclist I'm also well aware that many roads are substandard, and it really doesn't matter all that much if I'm following a cyclist at 20, or driving at the 25MPH that the road can reasonably tolerate.

Especially if they're going to be hardasses about starting times, I think the "Luther Burbank" thing is completely a good idea. On the other hand, who the hell thought that renaming that from honoring a famed horticulturalist and genetic researcher to shilling for a second-rate bank was the right thing to do? And what are we teaching our children? "Do great research and people will celebrate your memory, at least until some corporate behemoth comes along and erases it."

I've not ridden a bicycle in a while but I have noticed that while they demand the use of the road they love to run through stop signs and red lights, like the rules don;t apply to them. We were taught to ride on the side walk, and I think that would be best today. Of course no one anywhere will agree with that.

If I ever ride a bike I will not wear a helmet. Silly. I carried several paper routes as a kid and a helmet seems so 'politically correct' it makes me want to puke.

Stop signs are a tricky issue (obligatory rant link), although I try to at least pay lip service to them (if there's other traffic and I'm not getting crowded from behind I yield to the other traffic, which often confuses automobile drivers who expect me not to stop) but out here red lights are at least a $271 fine (I think this goes up with the cop's discretion, this morning I was told that several folks have been ticketed at one light on our route in the $350 range), and bicyclists get ticketed for running them. The other day coming in from Ross to San Anselmo, I and another cyclist stopped at a light, there was a cop parked in a neighboring lot, there wasn't any other traffic for blocks, and we all had a good chuckle at the ridiculousness of me jaywalking my bike against a red light so that I could get to the pedestrian "walk" button because the bikes wouldn't trip the sensor...).

Helmets... I'm pretty much a believer (kinda like seatbelts, just out of habit I buckle my seatbelt even if I'm only moving the car in the driveway), even if they only reduce the road rash (and I've seen what happens with scalp injuries, so even if it just keeps me from copious bleeding it's worth it), but I'm quite happy to let people make their own decisions on that. But if I were riding bikes with more upright stances (as kids' bikes often are) I might be less hardcore on them. Part of my helmet issue is that on the bikes I ride my stance is generally far enough forward that if something happens with the drivetrain (a skipped shift, a chain derailment, etc) I'm liable to go over the handlebars.

Yeah, I may still be at risk of concussion when I crack a helmet, but at least I don't have to wash lots of caked blood out of my hair. And I also had a helmet when I was a kid. I think the jury's still out as to whether I would have done some of the wacky stuff I did had I not had it...

#Comment Re: made: 2006-04-18 10:33:41.567615+00 by: meuon [edit history]

Dan, while I wish I could ride with you Saturday AM, you are welcome to grab my )^( veteran bike (but not junk) and take a spin down the bike path. From Stone Cup, do the Walnut Street Bridge, Art District and then it's on bike/pedestrian pathway all the way to the Chickamauga Dam. It's a good quick ride. I need to start doing it again, I need the cardio-vascular burnout that I was getting riding my bike. - Helmets: It's a love/hate thing, but I wear one. It's saved me from some nasty head injuries.

Dan, have a safe trip. We truly are honored that you are trekking out here for our big event. And remember: BBQ at the wedding, so dress accordingly (ie; comfortably!)