I ride

I have been riding at lunch for a couple of weeks now and the rides have been quite a lot of fun. Where I work is just made for a nice lunch-time ride, lots of interesting things to see and great little places to stop for lunch. 

But that isn’t what I want to talk about.

Today I stayed home (it is saturday) it was supposed to rain and the ride I had planned fell through. I figured since I was riding at lunch most of the week it would be ok, After all I had things I needed to take care of. I went grocery shopping, cleaned the living room and played with Spyke. It was a rather full day

So I thought. It seems I was wrong

I started watching Murder of Couriers.and the movie kept pausing. so I gave up and hopped on the macho man and headed down to the nearby school to ride some laps. That is when it started raining. And that is when I started to really enjoy the ride, It wasn’t a long ride maybe 14 or 15 laps, nothing to write home about.

Still, as the rain fell and I rode those circles I felt almost reborn. Like the rain washed away the funk. I really enjoyed the ride, the more the rained the more I liked it. I felt like I was the only one out there (It was raining so I was the only one out there) Even as I sit here and write this I have to wonder why I felt this way. I can’t really explain it. I can’t explain how I feel about riding or why I love it so much. 

But I’ll try

Today at work I got my bike and went for my nice 30 min ride at lunch, I had to talk myself into going on the ride knowing that as soon as I got out of the parking lot I was going to enjoy the ride. Knowing that it is only when I am on my bike that I no longer care what other think about me. I don’t care what I look like being a big fat guy on a bike. Because no matter what people think. I’m on a bike and you’re not,

That may be what it is all my life I have been a fat guy. All my life I have felt out of place and looked down on. But when I’m on my bike you can think anything you want.

I can’t hear you with the wind in my ears.

I don't care

Let me start out this post by saying I try very hard to put forth a positive view of cycling and cyclists. Some days however... I just want to carry around a ball peen hammer that I can use on people who start any statement with

"You know the Problem with people on bikes?"

The desire to peen the living daylights out them before they can answer their own question can be almost overwhelming. If you are a non-cyclist reading this let me take a moment to explain somethings Saying the sentence listed above is like standing up and screaming

"IM A SELF RIGHTEOUS DOUCE-BAG!"

You should also know that no-one hears anything you say past the "Problem". I will clear up a few things.

Cyclists don't follow all the traffic rules. Now now before you get all huffy and self-righteous we learned it from drivers. The same people who view a Speed Limit as a Speed Minimum and red lights as optional have a problem with someone acting the exact same way, just without a car. Cyclist don't want to die but we're not the ones driving 2000 pounds guided missles. Telling someone to "ride on the bike trail" is a joke unless you only drive your car on parkway or turnpike. We don't care what you think about us because you have proven over and over again that you don't care about us.

So I have to wonder what would happen if each of us stopped putting up with in-bred questions that come from people who think being in a car makes "attempted murder" into "Teaching that guy on a bike a lesson" and started giving them a gift like the one on the shirt above.

WorkBike

Say hello to my #Workbike.  She is a nice bike and I have felt bad that since I got here I haven't ridden her much. Since she is a single speed and I am a big fat guy it seems like I had made a huge mistake by picking a sweet little thing like her. Between BOB and the Macho Man, I never really found an excuse to take her out riding. She has sat patience in a dark closet just waiting for her time to shine.

That time has come.

I work for Heyl & Patterson (sorry about the talking sales pitch) designing some really cool machines. In August we moved from Robinson to Carnegie. Carnegie is pretty flat. i.e. Perfect for my sweet little single speed to really shine.  One of the cooler things about horking for H&P is that I can keep my bike inside in a secure room so I never have to worry about it. So when Lunch time comes

Off I go.

It is a great feeling to head out for 30 min of pedaling in the middle of the day, off to discover what I can about the area around our new building. So far I have found churches, graveyards, parks and playgrounds, murals and memorials.

In other words, some cool stuff

It is interesting to look forward to the middle of the day and wonder what I will see on my ride. No more sitting at my desk eating pb&j and watching youtube. Instead I get air, people, and usually smiles. I see a mom with a stoller and a puppy. I see other people on bikes, clearly not out for a ride but running errands. I ride and find the Professional & Amateur Pinball Association. Which is very cool looking place to find. So if you happen to be in Carnegie at lunch and the sun is shining look around you might just see me go zooming past you.

Ill be the fat guy smiling

It Seems

Well it seems like I have something to say after almost an entire year of silence. A lot has gone on in the last year but more than anything I ask you all to forgive me. I never meant to just abandon all of my friends. It was just something that happened and before I realized I found myself so far away that I no longer felt like I was part of this group.

Stop laughing.

I realize just how stupid that was. I stopped down at OTB a couple of months ago and was reminded over and over again just how wrong I was, as one person after another reminded me that I was not forgotten and I was still welcomed. And people still wonder why Pittsburgh has such a lively Cycling community. I know why.

Because you are part of it.

Anyway this last week with what I am going to call a break in the weather I got back on my big orange Bike (BOB) and managed to do a small amount of riding (enough to realize just how out of shape I am as well as enough to remember just why I love being on the Bicycle. FREEDOM!) So now I am on the long road back and kicking myself for missing the Viking Ride. 

I for one can't wait to see all of you again. I truely miss you all.

More soon.

Terry Bruce (Fatguy Orangebike)