Hey, guess what? Levi Leipheimer took the yellow jersey at the 2008 California. Sheeeet, I can tell you anything you want to know about this race because I’ve been spinning in my garage for saddle time watching it all week. After tomorrow’s road ride, I’ll have 9 hours in this week – not bad for March, huh?
An event shook me pretty hard this week, and reminded me that just being able to ride is a beautiful thing – never mind racing, and training – just being able to ride a bike. A very popular valley rider – chick – got whacked yesterday morning in Phoenix by a 16 year old driver. Here’s the thread. Riding a road bike is similar to riding a motorcycle in a lot of ways, as eventually, you’re going to be scrubbing tar out of your skin with a nylon brush – or worse.
The roadie scene up here is OK. We have one weekly “town” ride, and it brings out the Pros to the Joes. The reasons I rarely attend these rides – 1) Time….it leaves at 10:00am on Saturday and not to sound like a commercial for the military, but I’m usually done with breakfast/riding/housework by 10:00am on Saturdays. 2) There are always a handful of aggro skinny dudes who act as though our group has right of way while leaving town – at stoplights, stop signs, whatever. I’ve seen these clowns yell at drivers. There’s a lot of animosity between cyclists and motorists in our town, and I’ve seen why first-hand.
All I know is, the last time I had a motorcycle license, I had to take a defensive driving course, as a reminder that even if you are right in a traffic conflict, you are going to lose to a 3,000 pound vehicle every time – thus you better be the one to apply the brakes early and to check your sightlines twice/thrice. You can be right all you want in a hospital bed, but it ain’t worth it.
Just another reason to ride your mountain bike.
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