Spring

[pbray]

Spring is finally here. It's not going to last, but for now we have sunshine and warm weather and I'm getting the itch to get out on my bike.

This will have to wait a bit. First, since I'm still having issues walking, biking is contraindicated for another couple of weeks. But that's okay, since I need to bring my bike into the shop for its spring tune-up anyway. And hopefully by the time that my bike and I are ready the town will have swept the sand and accumulated winter crap off the streets, making them safe for cyclists.

I can't ride yet, but the helpful catalogs that arrived in the mail reminded me that I need to get some gear. I have a ten year-old pair of bike shorts that need to be replaced, and while I was shopping I couldn't resist ordering a new bike shirt for training.

19 weeks to get into shape for the Canadian Rockies trip.

Comments

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

Aww. I got an error when I went to look at your new bike shirt!

I'm *really* envious of the biking. I brought my recumbent to Ireland, but I had not realized how alarming the roads here are. No sidewalks or even shoulders, and they're about 1.5 cars wide, so...eegh.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

I fixed the bike shirt link. Hope you enjoy the pun.

Biking in Ireland is an adventure. I did a Ring of Kerry tour about 10 years ago. Not only were the roads incredibly narrow, but it took days to get used to the fact that cars & trucks were coming up on my right side, not my left.

And when a tour bus tries to pass... well there's your cardiac spike for the day.

[libwitch.livejournal.com]

Actually, I have a question - what shop do you take your bike to? Both me and my bf need our bikes tuned up, but I haven't taken them to a shop since i moved to this area.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

I used to go to Ted's Bike shop, which is where I bought the bike. Then about a year ago Babcock's bought Ted out, so now I still go to the same store, but it's Babcock's running it. It's on Main Street in West Endicott.

I liked Ted's, but Babcock's also had a very good reputation, and I liked the work they did for me last year so I'll be bringing my bike back there this year.

Where do you go riding around here? Have you found any good routes? I'm always looking for new rides to keep things interesting.

[libwitch.livejournal.com]

I haven't done any riding yet around here, but I want to go around Otsinago Park. I miss riding my bike - before I moved here, I used to ride all the time, but then when I first moved here (JC), I used it only for shopping trips and errands.

What are your favorite trails?

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Ostiningo Park is nice, but if you hit prime time on a weekend there can be too many families with small children and pets for an enjoyable ride.

Chenango Valley State Park is supposed to have some nice trails,but I haven't been there myself.

Mostly I do road biking. The ride from West Endicott to Owego on Route 17C is a very nice ride-- most of the route has wide shoulders and pretty scenery. The ride out from Endicott to Greenwood Park can also be nice, but Route 26 has traffic, which isn't everyone's cup of tea.

For a training ride in town I do Farm-to-Market Road up to the airport, then loop down by the mall (optional stop at Friendlies for ice cream), then ride Watson Boulvevard back to Endwell. It's a decent length ride with hills, though you need to cut through the mall parking lot to avoid the worst of the traffic mess.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Oh, I meant to add that the Southern Tier Bicycle Club (http://www.southerntierbicycleclub.org/pages/14/index.htm) does organized rides. I've been too disorganized to join on of their organized rides, but I have taken advantage of their database of rides http://home.stny.rr.com/jaysweb/tuesbike/tuesbike.html (http://home.stny.rr.com/jaysweb/tuesbike/tuesbike.html).

[jennifer-dunne.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what the picture's SUPPOSED to be of, but I'm pretty sure it depicts a modern knight mounted on a bicycle, pedaling full speed ahead with a lance clutched under her arm.

And may I remind you, I don't care if you get points for it if the net result is that I'm dead? :-)

[pbray.livejournal.com]

I like your interpretation, although officially it's a cyclist morphing into a train, from the Rails to Trails conservancy.

So it's a "training" shirt. Yes, I know. I will be pun-ished for that.