Atlanta’s victory in New Orleans last night. I picked the Saints to win. And I literally didn’t it coming as I fell asleep sometime after the first half.
A Lackluster Thirty
I didn’t want to ride yesterday, I needed to ride. It had been a week since I mounted my bicycle.
After one false start, when I realized that I didn’t put my water bottles into the cages, I pedaled my way out to Stone Mountain.
Starting a ride at 11:00am (ish) is not recommended, even when the weather is starting to cool, because of traffic. My ride was a series of stops and gos as I got stuck for more lights than I usually do on this route.
By the time I reached Stone Mountain I was ready to turn around, so I did. I entered the park and rode as far as the Dekalb PATH at which point I exited the park.
My loop yesterday was thirty miles, taking two hours. You don’t have to be a math wizard to calculate that I rode at an average pace of 15mph.
I may have to find alternate routes because some of the roads used by the old “Thursday Night Pizza Ride” have fallen into dangerous (for cyclists) disrepair.
ITP Flickr Pic
Nope, fallen off the wagon.
Pour Some Sugar On It
A few days ago I read this article which claimed that Bicycle Magazine has named Atlanta a “Best Bike City in the US”. In my experience this is a crock of shit. Let me point out why I think this:
- Atlanta’s roads are filled with potholes and, even worse, metal plates
- Most of Atlanta’s bike lanes do not go anywhere useful, and many are shorter than a few miles long
- Some of the bike lanes are littered with debris (glass, tree branches, sand), creating hazardous riding conditions, because the street cleaning program is severely underfunded
- Atlanta has many aggressive drivers
Sure we have Silver Comet and parts of the Beltline, but these are far from idyllic places to ride because they are heavily, and rightly, used by runners and walkers (some of whom are dog walking or stroller pushing).
So I wonder if our city being chosen as a “Best Bike City in the US” came about in the same way that we’ve been told that “fat is unhealthy, but sugar is not” — through a generous grant from one party to another.
If you ride, what’s your take?
I Am The Rainmaker
Guess who has a ticket for tonight’s Braves game, the only time he/she plans to see Turner Field one last time. Me.
Guess what the weather forecast is for tonight. Rain.
That’s right, it’s going to rain for the second time in two weeks and perhaps for the fourth time in months.
So I guess if you want rain for your lawn you should start buying me baseball tickets…
Dangen!
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
I think by biking city they are talking about riding a cruiser to a park or restaurant via the beltline. Not trying to get actual exercise. In that aspect I agree that Atlanta has made great strides, it is now a little easier to get around town by bike.
I really hope that the rain holds off as I have another vendor event at the Porsche driving center in Hapeville. Don’t hate, I have to suffer through a 2 hours sales presentation but I do get to drive a Porsche 🙂
Sucks to be you, Bob. And I’ve seen the Braves for the last time. Unless there is some event hosted by Barb and Allan, I don’t foresee going to games in the new stadium.
Debbie floated the idea of kittens on our ride home from the hospital yesterday and I said sure, why not. Little did I understand that their arrival was emminent. She left to pay for her tags (what with the birthday and all) and stopped by the shelter and found Phil and Paul waiting to come home with her. They have been given residence in the mancave to keep down the non-existent rodent population. The dogs are fascinated by them- when I let them out at 0300 this morning, they went straight there and I could hear Maggie barking (incessantly) at them. I hope they are still OK- they do have plenty of dog proof places to hide.
The celebratory sushi dinner was fun and quite filling!
Now we return to our regularly scheduled work day.
-FP
I’d never hate, Bob. Hope the rain holds out for both of us.
Dogs, horses, and now cats? Holy heck, you all have quite the animal population down there.
a friend has (or maybe had) a new stray cat hanging in her backyard last week. it was catching all kinds of rodents. she could tell it was someones pet, but had no idea where i came from.
typing with 1 hand sucks
we may do 1 baseball game at the new field, just to do it.
i havent been to a game in years…..
i think Bob has it on why the article would say that.
Keep good thoughts for my hometown, the river has flooded, hope all the sandbagging & prep worked so downtown isnt devestated again.
And – editorial comment – notice how this isnt getting much press? is it because there is no craziness like looting, etc? just people working together?
Wow, I have heard nothing about potential flooding again in Iowa. Hoping all fairs well.
It made it on NPR several times… and I think they had an interview with the mayor.
The horse population is back to 4 as Perry came home Sunday. Barbara’s vet flexed him and reccomended a full xray. She couldn’t do all that, so our vet was already coming out next week. I hope it’s more a fitness issue rather than structural.
NPR – who listens to that? just kidding…..
but seriously, its barely mentioned by the mainstream media
I know its Iowa, but still……..
Yes, the bike lanes are usually full of crap: glass, nails, bolts. Almost useless.
I think I’ve seen the article, Atlanta figured on the list but was near the bottom (46/50?). I’m not familiar with other cities for biking other than San Francisco, where things went very smoothly (as far as cars, that’s one hilly city).
I didn’t make it to 6 GAP, I chickened out and decided to do 3 GAP instead, as this was my first time in the mountains.
It was a good experience. I was kinda tentative on the descents (I was passing slower people but Strava tells me otherwise). Also, was being very careful to “pedal within myself” and never redline, so I wasn’t particularly fast (I did pass a bunch of people). At that pace, however, doing a full 6 gaps would probably take close to 7 hours.
I took a big tumble right in front of the First Aid station towards the end (convenient?). Those were horribly treacherous “esses” and they should mark them as such. Just down the road from me there was another guy down. I suffered very minor scrapes, and pained wrists. Not to mention the bruised ego of flipping in front of some 20 middle school age kids that were volunteering.
This was a lonely, introspective ride, even though there were people around, everybody had their own rhythms and paces, and sizes and ability to suffer, thus there was very little banter and chatting. At the top of the last gap I kinda wished I had more riding to do, maybe a 4.5 gap 🙂
Things to do for 6 gap next year:
– Don’t fill up 2 water bottles at the bottom of the gap.
– Watch out for those S curves at the end
– Drop 5 more pounds
– Add a 32 cassette, just in case I need it
3 Gap is nothing to be ashamed of, says the man who has never even considered doing 6 Gap.
I know ITP-Reader Bob has done 6 Gap, he can give you the details of what to expect.
Thanks for the birthday shout out. Turning 50 was unbelievably fun!
Our menagerie is fairly out of control but every barn needs card so now we’re compliant. Paul is perched on top of hay mountain and Phil is lurking in some crevice or another.
Barb has work slowed down for you any or are you still doing 3 jobs and now one handed? You deserve a raise!
Sorry you hit the deck Al. And add the embarrasment of a young audience makes it all the more tragic!! Riding within yourself is the best advice for that type of ride. Once you go into the red zone, it takes a while to recover and lowers the threshold for further crossings. Been there, done that, and really did get a T-shirt.
Steve,
Yes, my mistake was to think the bruised ego was the end of the tragedy 😀
Today they sent the link with the ride pictures, where in every single picture of mine my helmet is on like a beret. I’m a posterboy for the special olympics.
Feast your eyes on these:
http://www.backprint.com/peacocksportphoto/138831/2017?utm_source=backprint&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1 – Photos Online – Specific (Participants with emails/photos) – Sends immediately when photos live