WELL, THAT DIDN’T LAST LONG…

 

January 15, 1944 From the daily diary kept by S.Sgt. G.C. Watts, while stationed in Naples, Italy during WWII… “Work all day – Last nite one other flier broke his leg. Put some electric lites in my tent. – Still use a candle to write by…”

 

What a January workout plan I had. Note emphasis on “had”. You can file it under “Well, that didn’t last long…” But more on that later…

The last couple of weeks have been busy and the coming week isn’t showing any signs of letting up. Starting tonight, with the monthly meeting of the …

Blue Ridge Bicycle Club of Asheville, NC (BRBC), there will be three more cycling related meetings between now and Thursday. This follows on the BRBC day-long retreat last Saturday. BicycleHaywoodNC merged, as of January 1st, with BRBC in an effort to strengthen both groups and gain additional “voices” in our efforts to improve cycling.

On the local cycling scene this week is the presentation of the South Main Street study commissioned by the Town of Waynesville. The study is being presented to the public for comment as the future vision for the southwestern side of town is being contemplated. It will be years (2034?) before most of these recommendations can be considered for funding by the NC Department of Transportation. However, no voice NOW means no voice THEN! Hopefully, we can find some common ground for sharing our vision in this gateway to our community.

Also, on tap for the same evening, is our monthly meeting of BicycleHaywoodNC. It is that time of year where we need to be taking next steps for developing and implementing specific goals of our recently adopted Comprehensive Bike Plan. I’m hopeful for an initial application for League of American Bicyclists (LAB) “Bicycle Friendly Community” this calendar year.

On Thursday night, I will be speaking to the Waynesville Lions Club membership and discussing the Bike Plan. These “chats” are part of our EDUCATION component of the 5 E’s followed by the LAB. We do our best not to turn down any requests for speaking on the bike plan or cycling in general.

An Update on My January Conditioning Goals…

This is best described by the following phrase: Well that didn’t last long… My plan had been to ride the number of miles per day that corresponded to the day of the month. Days 1 through 4 went quite well. I almost broke a sweat. Day 5 saw my downfall however. I made the mistake of eating before I came home and then sitting down in my recliner in a toasty warm room. Not Good! Next thing I knew it was time to get up and go to bed! Ah! So early in the month to fall apart.

I made up for it on the 6th however, which just happened to be my 59th birthday. My plan was to ride the mileage for the day in the morning and then ride the missed mileage from the 5th in the afternoon. (For these purposes, riding the mileage means spinning on my Tour de France spinner bike.) Well, I knocked out the 6 miles for the 6th with no trouble but then other matters, i.e., food, got in the way of that missing 5 miles. My plan was done early. Time to reset goals.

Next, I decided I would just ride as often as I could and then each time I rode would be a minimum number of miles that match the calendar day. I did o.k. on the 8th and the 10th. Missed the 9th. Caught the 11th and then a bummed up hip has kept me off any bike since. Despite visits to the chiropractor and my massage therapist, the hip pain has stopped me or I’ve allowed it to stop me from adding more miles.

Road Rage in New Zealand…

By now, most folks know of the attack on Russ Roca and Laura Crawford during a road rage incident as they continued their ride across New Zealand. You can read the details by following the link above. My point here is to say that I appreciated their public response to the mad Kiwi’s attack and the outpouring of support from across the country. Russ notes in his review of the incident that he relearned the wisdom of sometimes not responding. Of course, had a vehicle nearly hit The Navigator in a similar situation, I’m not sure that my response would have been any less than Russ’s. Still, Bob Mionske has spoken of the need for cyclists to try and refrain from behaviors that help escalate these situations. Perhaps the “silver lining to this cloud” will be an increasing conversation in New Zealand and other locales about sharing the road. I am thankful that the injuries sustained in this incident were no worse than they were.

I hope your coming week is a great one that affords you the time to spin! My best to Bro Dave and his Sunday sunny ride today!

Until later,

- Zeke