Exploring the countryside on a pedal bike
I have put a lot of miles on my bike this year. I ride every Saturday and Sunday. And not just to the corner store and back. I ride for hours upon hours. I’ve been doing this for months now, yet I still find it strange to be called a “cyclist.” Honestly, I really haven’t been at it very long. Until about nine months ago I had only ever owned a cheap hybrid (which suffered a slow demise due to being an “outside” bike) and a pretty nice mountain bike (which has apparently been relegated to being a “garage” bike). And even now I still don’t own a proper road bike–what I own is a nice cyclocross bike that is currently wearing slicks. As far as geometry and looks go, it pretty much appears to be a road bike, though. What distinguishes it is mostly the fact that it is a bit burlier than a nice road bike would be–to make room for the fatter cyclocross tires that will supposedly make it kick ass in the mud. (It will also take a touring rack, which most road bikes won’t.) I don’t know that buying a cyclocross bike was the very best choice, but it was the choice I made. And it has turned out to be a great bike.
Currently, all of the rides I do are in preparation for riding the STP in one day. The route from Seattle to Portland is approximately 202 miles. That is a lot for one day of cycling, no matter how in shape you are! It is only four weeks away now, so my long rides are definitely getting long. Last Saturday I rode 97.4 miles in the Flying Wheels Summer Century. My elapsed time (from start to finish line) was 6:25. On Sunday, I rode out to the Alki Point Lighthouse and back. That was just a touch over 33 miles. It took me more than three hours, but I was not in a hurry at all and actually stopped for lunch.
These long rides show me parts of the state–and parts of myself–that I have never really seen. I mean, sure; I have driven there … but the experience you have while driving through a place is very different from the experience you have while pedaling to and through it. I remember when I rode through Monroe for the first time. I almost didn’t recognize where we were–it was like I had never been there before. I thought to myself how far it is to just to drive to Monroe. And here I was having gotten there on a bike. It was an enlightening and inspirational moment. I had truly managed to amaze myself.
If you had told me six months ago that I would be doing this, I would have thought you were nuts. Now, I just think I am nuts. But craziness aside, doing these rides has been an incredible experience.
“It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” ~Ernest Hemingway
If you are at all inspired and want to support a great cause, please consider donating on behalf of my efforts. I am using my STP ride to raise money and awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project. You can donate online at http://bit.ly/STPforWWP-Kaia, donate by check by printing out this form, or even join the team and raise your own funds.
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