The Hills are Alive...I Feel, Not

Two days after that amazing and excruciating bicycling clinic, and I decided to go out and ride some hills.  There's a nice, respectable hill (not too long, not too short) not far from my home.  I thought that today I would challenge myself to climb and descend it for an hour.  Wow!  What an hour.

Here's what I am coming to learn about myself.  For a commuter and recreational rider, I am in amazing shape.  As a serious rider, I'm doin' okay!  As a potential road racer, I am in abysmal shape.  Now, I don't really aspire to race my road bike.  So, the status of my fitness level as that kind of athlete is really not a worry.  But, I do aspire to increase my fitness and be a serious road rider.  So, there's work to be done!

So, to the hill I went today.  Down, and then up.  ARGH!  That kind of hurt.  Then I coasted down the hill again...and pedaled back up.  That hurt even more.  One more time down...and then...up.  Hmmm, not so bad that time.  Two more times down and up.  And, I was ready to go home.  So, I did five hill climbs.  Not that impressive, I know.  For now.  But later...after days, weeks, even months of riding that hill--up and down--I'm gonna rock!

Women-Only Bicycling Clinic

This past weekend we participated in a women-only cycling clinic, hosted by our fast-becoming-a-friend and world champion cyclist, Leslee Schenk Trzcinski and three of her bicycling comrades, Ken, Emily and Julie.  It as an awe-inspiring, ass-kicking weekend.  I'd signed Jo and I up to ride in the Highlander Tour, a Finger Lakes Tradition for the past 15 years.  Little did I know what I was in for...and, now, I'm not certain that "The Corkscrew" is even a ride we can complete.  Since moving to Rochester, I think I've become a little soft on the hills.  Okay, perhaps I'm lying to myself...perhaps it's the ice cream I've been consuming from the Pittsford Dairy.  But, really, I used to be able to climb hills in Pittsburgh in a respectable amount of time.  Now?  Maybe I'm just thinking about them too hard.

The clinic was helpful in so many ways.  It offered us both some important insights into technique, recovery and nutrition.  And, I left wondering if I really could start to consider myself as "athlete."  Leslee says "Start getting used to it."  And, perhaps if I keep working with her, I'll own that mantel.  For now, I'm bonn take care of my saddle sores, and focus on stretching out my stiff and tired hamstrings.

Whew!  What a ride!!

I'm Making This About More Than Epic Tours

Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel…the picture of free, untrammelled womanhood. –Susan B. Anthony, 1896

Hello all! So, it occurs to me that if I wait to write about my "epic" adventures, I won't be writing much on this blog.  So, I'm going to use this blog to chronicle my almost-daily musings riding around my not-so-new hometown of Rochester, New York.  My wife and I moved to Rochester a little over a year ago.  I became instantly smitten with the place when I was reminded that Rochester once provided the backdrop against which Susan B. Anthony tenaciously pursued women’s right to vote in the United States. Thrilled to learn more about my new home,  I set out to explore Susan’s surroundings on my bike. Much has changed, of course, since Susan’s day.  And, I remain both smitten and utterly fascinated by the place.

I think I have developed a couple of intentions for this blog. First and foremost, in addition to my longer distance travels on my bike, I plan to chronicle my experiences of pedaling around town, recording what I see, hear, and am concerned about specifically in the context of cycling. I am a commuter, road rider, path pedaler and cyclotourist, and already I have noticed some things that seem particularly unique to Rocha-cha.  Secondly, I need a "home" for my writing, and a public forum, a place that will house my thoughts and ideas, and provide shelter for the dialogues I hope will emerge and evolve.

No one woman is an island. And, so, as I share with you my thoughts, ideas, questions and concerns, I hope that you, as you are interested and/or moved, will (respectfully) engage and interact with them. I don’t respond well to bullying, and am generally uninterested in the espousal of values or attitudes that negate or neglect the diversity of people and bikes out on the streets. This doesn’t mean that I don’t believe in certain rules of the road, or norms around cycling and interacting. For example, I do believe in the NYS law that bicyclists riding on the road should ride with other modes of traffic (not against it), that bicycles do not belong on the sidewalks (although, that isn't a law throughout the city), and that people riding bikes at night should have numerous reflectors and lights on their person and/or bike so that passersby can see them. I do not believe that to ride a bike one must wear spandex (though I do when out exploring the roads), that there is one legitimate type of bike to pedal in the streets, or that bicyclists should be allowed to disregard traffic lights and stop signs.

Finally, this blog is most certainly a work in progress. And, I both invite and encourage you to read my words in the spirit of curiosity and openness. Thanks so much (again) for visiting, and engaging my project here. Now, in deference to Susan B. Anthony and all of the women (and, woman-identified people) who have participated and continue to contribute to the realization of emancipation, let’s get on our wheels and pedal on! REJOICE!