Around Town

I've been sneaking in a few rides through town the last few days. My wife and I went on a nice ride Wednesday morning, though I had the misfortune to hit one of the only muddy patches on the greenway at an angle and *Ka-Wham!* went down. No major damage done, just a scraped knee and 2 elbows.

My bike riding since then has been to my in-laws for a nice dinner, and over to my brother in-law's to help with his packing to move. No distance of real significance but it's kept my legs limber.

Rain

Atrocious weather the last few days have kept me off the bike. I can feel sluggishness building up in my bones. Day off tomorrow, so I will squeeze in a ride no matter the temp.

Leisure time thoughts

The previous picture was taken at the Stone's River National Battlefield, which is on a short extension of our greenway. A detailed account of the battle is here. There are historic markers related to this battle all along the length of the Murfreesboro Greenway.

Our family went for a ride last evening down The Chason Lane extension. Our son had to, as is customary, stop at the playground near the terminus. This area is usually pretty calm, but there was a kid's birthday party happening and the kids were going nuts.

There seems to be a mini fitness boom overtaking Murfreesboro. We see increasing numbers of people walking, jogging, biking on "our" greenway. If this disturbing trend continues you'll hardly be able to maintain 10 mph for the length of the path. Dang it. Why can't folks just stay at home and use their Wii Fits and frag on their Playstations? If folks really want to get radical, they can auction off their electronic devices and buy bikes to ride downtown. I'll be the first to give them safe riding classes.

Ride at Dusk

I'm working the night shift for a few days at work. We are revamping my department and this can't happen during daytime hours. This makes working in a ride more challenging.

Went out at 6:30 this evening after a delicious meal featuring tilapia cooked by my wife. The greenway was busier than I expected, but still not bad at all compared to a Saturday or Sunday. Put in 13.5 miles including a trip through town. Cool this evening, perfect for riding, temps in the low 60's.

Catching Up

Had a family ride last evening. Good weather starting out, but it got chilly when the sun went down. I had to buy a new blinkie and some batteries in expectation of this ride, We put in about 10 miles.

I rode solo this afternoon. I thought my son would trail-a-bike with me, but he preferred going shopping with his mommy. What?!

Put in 20 miles, but had to stop a few times for various reasons:

There was a minor obstruction on the path early in the ride



but also a way around it



I saw a turkey



Then a couple of eldery ladies who thought they could drive on the greenway.

Cool Morning

I realize as I write this that these blogs are more of a journal for recording of ride mileage and conditions. Oh well. If anyone finds this the least bit interesting, it would be surprising to me.

I did 10 quick miles this morning before I had to go in for work. There were quite a few joggers and runners on the greenway, I know some of them are in their taper down phase for the Nashville marathon and half. I always give pedestrians a wide berth, but it can be irritating when people walk/jog 3 abreast and take up the whole path. Our greenway regulations explicitly state that no more that 1/2 the path should be occupied by one group of people or bikes. I actually had a group thank me for shouting "on your left" as I approached from behind. Did they think I would just run them down? I'm not a barbarian.

Night Quickie

8 miles this evening. There was some political event ending at the town square as I passed through. I didn't see a single person on a bike. I know most of these people live 5 miles or less from downtown.

The past 2 days

Doing a bit of catch up on the blog. My wife and I rode a little Wednesday A.M. before I had to go to work. Our child was at playschool so that gave us some time to ourselves. We put in about 8 miles.

Yesterday we went on a family ride down the greenway, about 12 miles total. It was another cloudless warm day here. 1 1/2 miles into the ride while crossing a set of railroad tracks our son's trail-a-bike came unhitched from my bike, leading to a crash on the tracks. Much panic ensued. He had a scraped arm, but was otherwise ok except for the mental trauma. While hooking up the trail-a-bike I did not slide the hitch in far enough, and the locking pin did not connect. I guess I was still bleary from working the late shift Wednesday night, but you can bet I will always double check that hitch from now on.

Later on into the ride my wife and I got separated and did not meet up again until we got home. Overall it was a kind of frustrating afternoon, or at least as much as it can get while you're enjoying a ride on a nice spring day.

Day Off

Beautiful day for a family outing. We rode to the terminus of the greenway extension at Cason Lane this morning then had a tasty lunch at a Mexican restaurant conveniently located next to the path.

A huge Dos Equis for each of the adults and equally huge and delicious shrimp cocktails were our reward for our cycling. I had to make an additional trip to (try to) fix my mother-in-law's trunk latch, bringing my daily total to 28 miles.

Quiet Night

A 6 mile ride around downtown Murfreesboro this evening. Our square area is woefully underutilized at night. We have a few restaurants, but for the most part our night life is scattered widely throughout Mboro proper. Now, if we can convince many more people to cycle downtown instead of car cruising through the square, that would be a beautiful thing.

Family Time

A little 8 mile recreational ride this evening with the family, pulling the trail a bike. Even after several months of ownership, the TaB gets oohs and aahs from other cyclists and walkers on the greenway. Or maybe it's just my exceptionally handsome 3 year old son.

Perfect clear warm weather for a ride, marred only by swarms of (gnats? whiteflys?) in the shady parts of the path.

Crosstown Traffic

After getting out of work and making the 40 minute drive home, I was able to bike over to the in-laws for dinner Only 5.5 miles each way, but it was very enjoyable, especially the return trip. Cycling at night is one of my favorite activities. My route passes a small hospital, a cemetery, and catches a corner of the college campus before heading out a major "pike", Tennessee's term for a larger roadway. Many of the pikes around here have wide shoulders for your cycling pleasure. They do get their share of debris, but I'm equipped with Armadillo tires, to lessen the flat potential.

Most drivers around here give cyclists a good berth, but you have to be forthright (without being stupid) and take the lane when necessary. No driver could use the excuse that they didn't see me at night; I'm lit up like a Christmas tree.

Beginnings

Welcome to the blog. I am a one time commuting cyclist, who after a move to a new location, is determined to arrange his life so that cycle commuting is once again possible. My distance from work, at 32 miles, limits my current commuting ambitions.

In the town where I live, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, we do have a decent cycling culture based on students of the local college, quite a few recreational cyclists and the occasional person for whom biking is a necessity because they have lost their driver's license. We have a nice greenway system that is continually being expanded for off street cycling.

My wife and I, along with our 3 year old son, enjoy cycling (trail-a-biking) through the community and down the greenway.

I try to use my bike around town as much as possible, to eliminate small trips in the car.