I'm finally starting to make up for my lack of riding at the beginning of this month. This week I was able to make two longer rides from my house to the gym and back. Each ride was between 10 and 13 miles each and, while not real long, were challenging as I was not used to the paths I chose.
The most interesting part of the rides, the second one in particular, was riding amongst the general traffic. On the first ride, I loaded the bike on the rack and crossed the main thoroughfare, parked and rode on from there. However, on the second, I chose to brave the main road between my house and the neighborhood where my gym is located.
North of Houston, F.M. 1960 runs from Katy to Dayton and is relatively busy. It's seven lanes at its widest, has a lot of stoplights and is not really striped for a bike lane on either shoulder. Fortunately, the distance from my neighborhood to the next light, where I cross, is only about 3/4 of a mile. The shoulder is about 2 feet wide and allows plenty of room to ride. Still, for that first ride I have to admit that I took an older bike and not my new one. It is an older mountain bike and would be more equipped to go off-road if the shoulder proved to be too narrow in some spots. But, everything was fine and I plan on taking the Biketown bike on that path from here on out.
9.29.2006
9.15.2006
busy
It has indeed been a crazy couple of weeks. To say I haven't gone on a ride is an understatement. In fact, as I walk by the bike to my car each day, I can only glance at it briefly as the guilt of not riding just builds up too quick.
Unfortunately, my wife's grandmother passed away on September first. She was strong woman and extremely sharp, exhibiting these qualities until the end. Apart from being a huge influence on my wife - she's a big reason Amy's a nurse today - she was a key force in my kids' lives. When they were young, and we were broke, she helped us considerably by keeping the kids while we worked. The kids naturally grew very close to her and respected her as more than just a source of gifts and junk food. Though I wish she could have stayed with us longer, I'm happy the kids were old enough to understand how important she was to them and others. They may not know it now, but her influence will stick with them the rest of their lives.
From this point the month hasn't slowed. The week following Labor Day was hectic as we returned from Lafayette. Then I caught some type of bug over the weekend, had to take some customers to the Texans' game on Sunday and travel to Arkansas on business last week. Fortunately, the business trip resulted in guarantees for future work. Still, I didn't even see my bike last week and hardly made it to the gym. I think I'm going to forgo my cardio sessions at the gym and ride my bike instead. We'll see if that works.
Unfortunately, my wife's grandmother passed away on September first. She was strong woman and extremely sharp, exhibiting these qualities until the end. Apart from being a huge influence on my wife - she's a big reason Amy's a nurse today - she was a key force in my kids' lives. When they were young, and we were broke, she helped us considerably by keeping the kids while we worked. The kids naturally grew very close to her and respected her as more than just a source of gifts and junk food. Though I wish she could have stayed with us longer, I'm happy the kids were old enough to understand how important she was to them and others. They may not know it now, but her influence will stick with them the rest of their lives.
From this point the month hasn't slowed. The week following Labor Day was hectic as we returned from Lafayette. Then I caught some type of bug over the weekend, had to take some customers to the Texans' game on Sunday and travel to Arkansas on business last week. Fortunately, the business trip resulted in guarantees for future work. Still, I didn't even see my bike last week and hardly made it to the gym. I think I'm going to forgo my cardio sessions at the gym and ride my bike instead. We'll see if that works.
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