Back in the saddle

I had taken a break from biking since I had been pretty busy lately with vacations, visitors, and general obligations. However, now is the perfect time to get back to it and today I decided to tackle one of my fears: riding on a road. It doesn't sound like much, but you see, I am into self-preservation and therefore prefer to ride on paved trails safe from the hazards that results from the general public behind the wheel.

Nothing good can come of me riding a lightweight piece of metal with two skinny wheels next to 3 lanes of traffic traveling at 55+ mph. That is why I wear a little ankle bracelet with my info on it so I don't end up with headstone saying "Here lies the pieces of an unknown person who should've taken up a safer hobby like knitting."  I started out on the sidewalk in order to gain a bit of confidence instead of jumping straight into the bike lane. The sidewalk turned out to be no picnic and probably not much safer for me or for others. Besides dodging the average jogging mom or dad with the specialized double-wide jogging strollers who are oblivious that they are taking up the entire sidewalk and can't hear my squeaking breaks behind them because they're listing to Jay-Z on their iPhones, there are the people with their dogs on extend-a-leashes. The extend-a-leash is my new nemesis. I understand that sidewalks are for pedestrians, but at my state of fitness, I'm really not traveling much faster than a jogger and so I don't see why people can't control their dogs when clearly an outstretched leash across a sidewalk in front of a bicyclist is not going to turn out well for the person, the bicyclist, or the dog.

I decided to try my luck on the road instead. All was going well until I needed to make a left turn. Now, I could've done my normal routine where I go onto the sidewalk and use the pedestrian crosswalk, but this time I decided to head out into the left turn lane and wait for the green arrow, just like real road cyclists do. Unfortunately, the green arrow never came. Apparently no cars were wanting to turn left to trigger the light and I was sitting out there like a freakin' traffic cone with traffic cruising by on my right and left! I was finally able accept defeat and scoot across the 3 lanes back to the sidewalk and just decided to head back home while I was still in one piece.

I know my story is not half as funny as Anne's terrifying trip to REI on her bike... you definitely need to check this out! It's one of my favorite posts.