"WHY DON'T HE WRITE?"

Miles Ridden Since Something Written

845 Miles

"Why don't he write?"

Timmons the Muleskinner, Dances With Wolves, 1990

Only one part of this blog's equation seems to be working regularly -- the riding part. The writing part has been neglected. I might say it's due to my chronic lack of discipline. But I seem to have the discipline to ride fairly regularly.

It must be motivation, or the lack of. I have signed up to ride in the Tour de Safford on October 30. And I am planning to sign up for the Tour de Tucson held on the third Saturday in November. I suppose getting my 56-year-old body in shape for those two century rides keeps me in the saddle on a more or less regular basis.

Maybe if there were some kind of writing competition I could enter, I would find the motivation to write more frequently.

The practical explanation, I think, is that I usually just don't have the time for the writing after the 90 minutes or so of the riding. I either have to go to work directly after the ride or rationalize that I have other, more important, things to do.

And it probably does have something to do with discipline.

I mentioned the Tour de Safford. I was invited to be on the organizing committee for this event. It's the first annual Tour de Safford so the members of the committee are feeling our way through the organizing. The more we do, the more there seems that needs to be done.

I took on the task of preparing a traffic plan for the three rides of the event -- a 33-mile ride, 66-mile ride and the main event, a 104-mile ride.

Since this is a timed event, intersections will be controlled by law enforcement officers. Over the three routes, there are 23 intersections that need to be controlled for anywhere from one hour to several hours during the day. Coordinating this requirement with our local law enforcement agencies has been a chore. But I think we are nearly there.

We are hoping for about 500 riders to show up and our registration numbers so far put us on track for that number. Our local hospital is the beneficiary of the money we raise at the event.

(Maybe another reason I haven't written after I have ridden is because I am too tired to write a decent blog entry -- as this one will attest.)

Happy riding.

SHOOTING VIDEO FOR THE TOUR DE SAFFORD

Recent Rides:

June 23, June 25, June 30, July 1, July 7

107.2 miles

I have volunteered to work on the committee that is organizing a charity ride in October. It will benefit Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center. There was a small event last year that attracted about 35 or so local riders. We are vastly expanding our marketing and organizational efforts this year, however, so we are calling the upcoming event the "First Annual" Tour de Safford. We hope to attract about 500 cyclists with a few hundred more participating in the half-marathon and the 5K walk.

We've been receiving some support and assistance from the Perimeter Cycling Association in Tucson, the folks that put on the El Tour de Tucson, one of the largest cycling events in the nation with usually around 7,000 to 8,000 riders.

We hope to grow the Tour de Safford over time. It has the potential for becoming a significant event because the riding in this area is scenic and, relatively speaking, without much traffic to contend with.

A riding buddy of mine, Russ Reynolds, and a friend, Ryan Rapier, went out the early morning of June 23 and shot video which I edited into the following promotion piece for the First Annual Tour de Safford to be held on October 30, 2010.

If you like road cycling on good roads in beautiful cotton farming country and scenic deseret terrain, you may want to consider signing up for the Tour de Safford. You can then tell your grandkids that you rode in the first Tour de Safford. Here's the video:

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

Today's Ride:

26.4 miles

Bryce-Pima Loop

1 hour 31 minutes

69° F., clear, calm

Wednesday's Ride:

27.8 miles

San Jose out & back

1 hour 39 minutes

68° F., clear

I knew it would happen some day. Frankly, I'm surprised it has taken until this week.

I was riding eastward through the small village of Solomon located about 10 miles east of Thatcher. Solomon, sometimes called Solomonville, is a friendly village with several unfriendly dogs. But there are also a few dogs that enjoy chasing a cyclist just for the sport of it. They do not have evil intentions.

One such dog, a small white pooch of unknowable breed, spied me approaching on my red bike. I could see its eyes focused on me with anticipation as I rode into its territory on the road in front of its owner's house.

I could also see that the look in its eyes said, "I'm going to chase you and I'm going to bark at you but I am not going to bite your leg. I'm not that kind of dog."

It came after me with laser-like concentration knowing that this just might be the highlight of its day.

What the dog didn't see was the large white pickup truck coming in our direction in the other lane.

The truck ran over the dog.

I don't know what the final outcome was for the dog. It yelped loudly and struggled to stand up but then seemed to regain strength and took off running back to its house.

By the time I rode back to the accident site, I could no longer see or hear it.

If there is a lesson to be learned from this incident I suppose it might be that our actions often have unintended consequences. The temptation to chase was just too much for the dog to withstand. But it did not take into consideration all of the circumstances and outcomes of its decision. The dog was blindsided.

It's an experience to remember when we are excited (or tempted) to pursue a particular course of action.

Look before we chase.

Happy riding.

A Salute to the Draft

Today's Ride:

26.2 miles

Bryce-Pima loop

1 hour 31 minutes

65 perfect degrees

Flag Day 2010. Patriotism. Need to defend the country. Register for the draft. Yes, I'll write about drafting today.

Drafting is when rider B follows so closely behind rider A that rider B is able to exert far less energy because rider A is breaking wind... that is, breaking THE wind.

NASCAR drivers know all about drafting. So do serious cyclists. And geese.

If you have even casually followed the Tour de France you have likely heard the term "peloton." It means the main field or group of cyclists in a bike race. Through long road races, as opposed to shorter sprints or time trials, cyclists like to stay grouped together in the peloton. There is efficiency in the group because of the ability to draft off riders in the front. At some point in the race, two or three or a small handful of riders may attempt a "breakaway" and try to put some distance between themselves and the main peloton.

Often the peloton is able to overtake the breakaway before the end of the race because of the greater efficiency of riding in a large group. There is energy in numbers.

Geese use the same concept when flying a "V" formation. The lead goose does most of the work with the trailing geese drafting just off a wing of the goose in front.

Studies show the lead rider in a group expends up to 30 percent more energy than riders in a drafting position. That's significant.

That's why a basic rule of riding in a group -- even a group of two -- is to trade off the lead position. Geese do that. So do cyclists, most of the time.

I often ride with a friend, Russ, who is a stronger rider than me. I'm tempted to draft behind him for much of the ride, thereby equalizing our abilities (or neutralizing his strength, depending on how you want to look at it). But my conscience usually gets the best of me and I try to take my turns in the lead position.

Like so many other areas of our lives, working together in groups often produces better results than a solo effort.

Let's hear it for the draft.

Keep on riding.

Life's Little Landmarks

Today's Ride:
27.4 miles
Bryce – out and back
1 hour 40 minutes
Clear, 70° F.



Reay Lane runs roughly north and south through the Gila Valley and is part of a route I frequently ride, as I did this morning. When I say "runs roughly," I mean both ways: approximately and not smoothly.

Until this week.

County crews have just finished resurfacing about two miles of Reay Lane on the south side of Thatcher. It's now a strip of asphalt: smooth, clean, and quiet as electrical tape.

It's a pleasure to ride on.

But I miss something about the old, pockmarked, pothole-repaired and rough surface. I miss the landmarks or, in this case, the roadmarks.

You see, after a few dozen rides, a cyclist gets to know a stretch of road quite well. He notices and remembers unique designs etched on the road by the thermal cracking of its surface. There are pothole repairs, some done well producing nary a bump when ridden over and others that have either disintegrated with time or were not done well to begin with. There's the occasional survey paint, man-hole cover, broken center line reflectors, graffiti and the ever-present tar-filled fissures.

All of these surface features form a sort of road map that comprise the clues informing the cyclist exactly where she is on the road; how far to the top of the hill; how much more time before reaching the next intersection. They define a road, give it character.

And now, for this new stretch of Reay Lane, that character has been paved over with a uniformly smooth and featureless ribbon of asphalt. I've lost my bearings.

I was thinking today while riding that life is a bit like the rough version of Reay Lane. We all have our cracks and fissures, our covered over potholes, the imperfections of life that we try to smooth over with time, experience and repentance. Our personal roads are mostly very much rideable and usually pleasantly so.

But the marks in our life's road provide the context and dimension that give us the bearings and cues we need to continue to move forward toward our destination. We know just when and how much to swerve to miss a crack or crevice because we recognize the features of our life's highway.

We want smooth travels but we don't want to cover our past and take away our personal landmarks that keep us going in the right direction and at the right pace.

Happy trails.

Back on the Blog

Recent Rides

19 rides since last blog

569.4 miles

29.96 miles per ride average

Some riding since last blog entry (March 6), but no writing. Not a good trend.

I am hopeful of increasing my riding and writing frequency.

The highlight of the last 19 rides came on April 10 when a friend and I rode in the Tour de Phoenix -- a 73 mile race on a loop course going through Mesa, Tempe and Scottsdale then back to Mesa. It was a weather perfect day with the desert clothed in her spring best. Beautiful.

And the riding was also good although there was one long ascent toward the end of the race (when it was warmest) that took a lot out of me. My friend, Russ Reynolds, and I finished together in about 4 hours and 15 minutes.

There are a lot of reasons -- or excuses -- for why I haven't been writing much but, in retrospect, none of them is really very valid. It just wasn't a priority, at least the writing half of the equation. I at least got the 19 rides (including this morning's ride) done.

My bike's odometer passed the 15,000 mile mark on today's ride. That may seem like a lot of miles on a bicycle and I guess it is. In the interest of full disclosure, however, I must add that those 15,000 miles have been ridden over the course of 10 years. That's only about 1,500 miles per year if averaged out -- not all that impressive, actually.

I think last year's total was the largest single year total at just over 2,800 miles. I've had years with fewer than 1,000 miles so my commitment to the saddle varies widely over time.

I am off to a good start this year with almost 1,000 miles accumulated so far with my most productive riding months still ahead of me.

Happy riding.

IN TALL COTTON

Today's Ride (Friday)

30.3 miles

Bryce O&B

1 hour 47 minutes

70° with little wind

It's actually not tall yet, in fact, it's not even planted, but the local cotton farmers are beginning to stir after their winter fallow season.

With one exception, no matter which direction I ride away from my home in Thatcher, I ride through cotton fields.

Our seasons here in the Gila Valley are marked off by the cycles of planting, cultivating and harvesting cotton. Our "brown" season, winter, is coming to a close as the farmers prepare their fields for planting. A couple of weeks after the spring planting, the cotton plants will emerge and transform our brown valley floor into a patchwork quilt of green cotton plants that stay with us until the fall harvest.

Living among the green cotton fields makes the desert summer heat much more bearable -- even enjoyable. The color is soft and cool on the eyes and when the fields are under irrigation the air temperature drops by five to 10 degrees. It's a pleasure to ride the farm roads flanked by fields of cotton.

Come fall, after the cotton blossoms have transformed themselves into bulging balls of white, the fields turn mostly white. It's the closest we usually come to snow-covered ground.

The Gila Valley is one of the most productive cotton-growing regions in the nation.

Ride on.

Sweater Weather

Today's Ride:

32.0 miles

Bryce-Pima Loop

1 hour 53 minutes

68° of beautiful air

My wife tells me I stink. She's right, I do. At least I do after my rides.

And sometimes before my rides.

I don't wash my bike clothes as often as I probably should so when I put them on before a ride and she is nearby she sometimes reminds me of my stinkiness. I love her anyway.

Fortunately, most of my rides are solo. And because one rides through the wind, one's odor, like the tail of a comet, stays behind one's nose and it isn't something one notices or even thinks about (except when one is looking for a topic for one's bike blog).

When I know I will be riding with others, I try to be more circumspect in my jersey and shorts selection.

My body produces a rather extraordinary amount of coolant which doesn't help with this issue. With warmer weather approaching, I will need to get back in the habit of daily washings.

Ride on (in clean clothes).

Marvelous Machines

Last Wednesday's Ride:

28.8 miles

Bryce - out & back

1 hour 52 minutes

Cold weather

Today's Ride:

21.1 miles

Solomonville - out & back

1 hour 15 minutes

63 degrees, no wind

Bicycles are extraordinary machines. What is considered the forerunner of the modern bicycle, the "laufmaschine," or "running machine" was invented by the German, Baron Karl von Drais, in 1817. Here's a picture:

It was called the "running machine" because the rider simply straddled the machine and used his feet to push the bike along either slowly (walking) if he had a load of wood or bread strapped on the back or faster (running) if he, or maybe even she, was out on a pleasure cruise. The Baron learned quickly what all cyclists know: uphill, hard; downhill, easy.

From the looks of things, the Baron's feet served as both the energy source to go forward and the way to bring it all to a stop.

The ol' Baron took his running machine to Paris in 1818 and it became a hit with the French. A few years later, a couple of Frenchmen added cranks to the front wheel and, voilá, pedaling was invented.

The rest, as they say, is history.

A couple of interesting bicycle facts:

A bicycle is the most efficient form of transportation ever invented in terms of energy expended to travel a given distance. Over a relatively flat terrain, one can travel on a bicycle at about 15 miles per hour while expending the same energy it takes to walk about two miles per hour.

And talk about going green... the carbon dioxide generated in the production and transportation of the food required by the bicyclist, per mile traveled, is less than 1/10th that generated by energy efficient cars.

The bicycle also played a significant role in the emancipation of women giving women unprecedented mobility at a time when their traveling options were severely limited. Susan B. Anthony described a woman on a bicycle as "...the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood."

It makes me proud to ride my bike.

Ride on.

The Itinerant Dentist

Today's Ride

30.5 miles

Bryce - out & back

1 hour 51 minutes

67 degrees, no wind

I am posting this the morning after my ride so by "Today's Ride" I mean Wednesday evening.

I met an itinerant dentist on this evening's ride. He was also on his bicycle and, no, he wasn't carrying any dental instruments or portable x-ray machines.

But he was, for all practical purposes, an itinerant dentist. He recently owned a dental practice in a small community in Arizona's White Mountains but sold it a year or so ago. Since then, he's been doing his drilling and filling on a contract and part-time basis for such places as the Federal Penitentiary in Safford. He travels here every other week or so and keeps the convicts' teeth in good working order.

He also works out of various other dental offices on an as-needed and part-time basis. As I said, an itinerant dentist. Nice guy with a very nice bike. We may ride together on his future visits to our local penal colony.

I can feel the season beginning to change. The days are warming up and lengthening. We are plagued by strong spring winds here in eastern Arizona but they haven't kicked in yet, for which I am grateful. Hate riding in strong wind.

My work and a few other duties have been taking up my riding time in recent days. I feel so much better when I ride regularly that I must make it a priority. I'll soon make the transition to morning rides -- a great way to begin my days.

Good riding to you.

A Two-edged Sword

Today's Ride:

30.5 miles

Bryce – out and back

1 hour, 58 minutes

55 degrees, 10 m.p.h. wind

It's amazing how much of an effect a little bit of wind has on a cyclist – at least this cyclist.

I'm somewhat wider than most cyclists, if you know what I mean. So I offer more of a target for the wind.

Wind, of course, is a two-edged sword. It's great when I am riding in the same direction the wind is blowing; not so great when I am pushing against it.

When it's coming at me from one side or the other it makes it difficult to steer.

The higher the wind velocity, of course, the more effect it has.

But even a slight breeze, something that we might not even notice too much if we were out walking, for example, has a tremendous effect on cycling over the duration of a ride.

In our beautiful Gila Valley, the winds are generally westerly, that is, coming out of the west and blowing to the east. Of course, that's not always the case. This evening the wind was coming out of the northwest.

On an "out and back" ride in any noticeable wind, it is generally an assist for half the ride and a drag for the other half. This evening, I was against the wind going out and generally with the wind riding back home. A good combination.

The weather in the Gila Valley is just about perfect – except for the wind. It's not so bad for three of the seasons – summer, fall and winter. Spring, however, is very windy in this part of the state.

Of all weather forms, I like wind the least. I can take extreme heat or cold, rain, or snow. But combine any of those with strong wind and the weather loses all its appeal.

May the wind be at your back.

A Rider's Best Friend... Not

Today's Ride:

32.2 miles

Bryce, AZ out and back

2 hours, 3 minutes

53 degrees, no wind, beautiful

Dogs. They are not a bike rider's best friend.

I was chased by six dogs on this evening's ride and barked at by two more.

The six dogs were actually three dogs who chased me twice – once on the ride out and again on the ride back. Three times two equals six. I was ready for them on the return trip.

The two barkers were just sitting on the side of road. They didn't bark until I was right next to them and since it was mostly dark, it had the intended effect.

I did get a quick look at one of the barkers. A basset hound. No wonder he/she didn't chase.

I can tolerate barking dogs and, most of the time, even dogs that choose to chase. I can usually tell by the expression on their faces whether they intend to injure or whether they are just having fun. Ninety percent of chasing dogs do it for the sport and you can usually see that in their faces.

A few dogs have other intentions.

The worst thing about being chased is that most dogs are not well-versed in chasing cyclists. Most dogs, whose owners don't care enough about them to keep them contained, probably have some experience chasing cars and know enough to stay out from under the tires.

When a cyclist happens along, they don't know how to act.

I can probably keep a dog from biting me. Or at least if I can see that's the dogs desire, I can dismount, put my bike between the dog and my legs and put up a good fight. (I've not yet had to do that, by the way, but I've thought it through.)

It's the dog that runs in front of my wheel that I fear the most. That dog will take me down.

If you are riding at 20 m.ph. and you hit a dog with your front wheel, chances are you and the pavement will get to know each other pretty well.

That's not happened to me before but I've come very close.

I don't carry any protective equipment to battle dogs. I used to carry a bicycle pump that would have made a decent anti-canine weapon. I don't carry that on my rides anymore.

I have a riding buddy who carries a .38 caliber snub-nose pistol just for dogs (or anything else that crosses him the wrong way, I suppose). He keeps it in a holster strapped to his right ankle.

I feel safer when I ride with him.

But I let him win all the sprints, just in case.

Ride on.

Back on the Road Again

This afternoon's ride:

27.2 miles

Out and back to San Jose (yes, I knew the way)

Mostly clear, 57 degrees, a bit of wind

No excuses today. Dry roads. Sunshine... at least for the first half of the ride.

The instant the sun went down, the temperature dropped. It's always surprising how fast it gets cold when the sun drops below the western horizon. There must be some psychology behind it. No more sun... it's getting dark... and, wow, feel how cold it's getting and how quickly.

If there were the same drop in temperature with the sun still shining, I don't think it would feel so cold so fast. We have a wind chill factor... the wind makes it feel colder. Maybe we ought to have a sun warmth factor... the sun makes it feel six degrees warmer than it actually is, or some such thing.

There is certainly a sun-warmth factor in the middle of summer in Arizona. There is a big difference between working in the blazing sun compared to working in the shade – even if the air temperature is exactly the same in both places.

It was a pleasant ride today, but rather uneventful. Uneventful is usually a good thing when riding a bike.

I did have a herd of 40 or 50 cows watch me as I road by their pasture. I think, without exception, every cow was looking at me. I actually felt kind of special for some strange reason.

Have a good ride.

Rain Delay

It's a standing rule for living in the desert. One does not complain about rain.

And rain we've had the past several days.

The result?

Spring poppies in the desert... maybe.

Happier farmers... certainly. This is a good time for rain. The cotton fields lie fallow waiting for new cotton seeds in March.

And it snows in the mountains. Yes... even in the desert.

Here's proof: a snow-covered Mt. Graham behind the new temple being constructed in our little valley.

Another result – more germane to the subject of this blog – it keeps me off the saddle.

I know. There were some breaks in which I could have squeezed in a ride. But the wet roads, intermittent rain and cold combined to keep me off the bike.

The forecast calls for sunny weather to return soon so I'll enjoy the much-needed rainfall and, instead of writing about my riding, I will introduce you to my ride.

Meet my bike. It doesn't have a name. I'm not that kind of a person. I haven't named my truck either. Coincidentally, both are red. Maybe that says something about the kind of person I am. I don't know what.

I bought the bike on eBay about 11 years ago. The seller purchased it new to do a ride from California to New York. He developed some medical problems and could not make the ride so decided to sell the bike. I recall he was a roofer from Eureka.

We compared sleeve length and inseams and consummated the sale.

It was a purchase with no regrets.

It's a Waterford made by Waterford Precision Bicycles in Waterford, Wisconsin.

Most people don't know the name Waterford but do know Schwinn.

Back in the day when Schwinn was a real bicycle company (it's only a brand name now), Schwinn's racing division hand-built competition bicycles that were given the name of Paramount. They were among the best bicycles in the world.

When Schwinn went bankrupt, the guy in charge of building Paramounts acquired that part of the company and changed the name to Waterford Precision Bicycles.

Unlike many of today's road bikes made of exotic materials like carbon and titanium, Waterfords feature a frame made of light weight (but strong) steel tubes, lugged at the joints.

I will tell you about lugged joints someday.

It's a classic road bike with a comfortable leather saddle made by Brooks of England, a company that has been making horse and bicycle saddles since 1866.

Here's a picture.

A few years ago, I made a longish ride from our home in Mesa to Salt Lake City. The fifth leg of the ride was from Flagstaff to Page, Arizona. About 40 or 50 miles into the ride, I stopped for a break at the small reservation community of Cameron.


I was sitting on a bench just outside the Cameron Trading Post with my Waterford leaning up against a porch post. A woman – I think from a tour bus – came up and began inspecting my bicycle.


"Is this your bike?" she asked. I found the question a bit funny since I was the only one around wearing bike shorts, bike shoes, bike gloves, bike jersey and a bike helmet.


"Yes," I replied. "That's my bike."


"I'm from Waterford, Wisconsin," she said, "and my neighbor makes these bikes."


What are the chances sitting on a bench outside the Cameron Trading Post on the Navajo Nation in Arizona of meeting someone who knows the man who made my bike in Waterford, Wisconsin?


About the same, I guess, as four days of rain in the desert in the middle of a drought.


Good riding to you.

I ride. I write.

I ride. A bicycle. A red road bike.

I write. Mostly with a computer. I'm a Mac.

I ride because I enjoy it and it's about the only exercise my knees — at least, my right knee — will permit. A bike is less expensive than a pool.

I write because it is required (much of the time) and also because I enjoy it (some of the time).

I earn money with my writing. I would like to be able to earn money with my riding but I'm afraid it will never happen. Too old. Too slow.

This journal, or blog, or diary, or whatever you want to call it, is where my riding and my writing intersect.

I call it Bicycle Writing. Here's the plan...

I ride on as many days as my schedule allows. That's usually three or four times a week. I have ridden as many as six times in a week and as few as zero times. You can't get much fewer than zero times.

Every time I ride I will write.

I already keep a ride log -- miles, average speed, course, time, maximum speed, etc -- of each ride I make. Been doing that for years.

This will be my ride blog.

I rode a lot last year. I was motivated for reasons I might get into later.

I plan to ride even more this year but spread those rides more evenly through the course of the year.

Last year, 2009, I really didn't get into a serious riding routine until June. From June 1 through early December, I rode three or four times, sometimes five and even six times, each week. A total of 84 rides in the second half of the year. More than 2,640 miles.

From January to June 2009 I rode a total of one time and that was on New Year's Day. Shameful.

So this year I am planning to ride more frequently but that really only means getting into a riding groove much earlier in the year.

So far in January? Three rides. That's not good enough. Short days and cold air are my enemies.

I live in southeastern Arizona so it's certainly not lung-freezing cold. Still, when on a bike saddle, there is the continuous wind chill to consider. But I have lights and my balaclava so that leaves me without excuse. I will do better. I am hoping this riding journal provides an extra measure of motivation.

I rode today so it must be working.

TODAY'S RIDE...

27.5 miles

From home to Bryce, Arizona and back

1 hour 42 minutes

No wind, 55 degrees (until the sun went down)

MY OTHER RIDES SO FAR IN JANUARY...

January 6

23.5 miles

Bryce-Pima loop

1 hour 34 minutes

Cold with some wind

January 14

25.5 miles

To Bryce and back

1 hour 45 minutes

Windy on the return ride

This is a long post. I will try to keep them shorter in the future. The idea is to log my rides and share some thoughts I had while riding through the cotton fields and deserts of southeastern Arizona.

Good riding to you.