Hanging Out in the Old Donut Shop

Sadly, one of my extended family members has recently undergone some extensive health issues, and she has been in the hospital.  I've been driving Melissa to and from for her visits, and this place is in the southern part of Gainesville, with me passing by the University of Florida. This afternoon I seriously considered, on the way back after dropping her off, stopping at the nearby Krispy Kreme donut shop about three blocks north of campus...but changed my mind considering that rush hour was soon on the way and I didn't want to get caught in heavy city traffic. So instead I'm sitting here in my nearby Dunkin Donuts writing this, remembering that Krispy Kreme from my past.  Back in the early 1980s I was single with a very modest income and a pretty frugal existence.  Still, I enjoyed going to coffee shops and studying...being out in public tended to rivet my attention on what I was trying to focus on.  That Krispy Kreme store was open 24/7, and they never gave me any trouble if I chose to sit there for a while.  I think doing this helped me to come to some level of inner peace about interacting in public settings while enabling me to adopt a lifelong discipline of learning.  Back then, I lived in the southwest area of town and would ride my bicycle back and forth, largely down Archer Road and across the UF campus, between Krispy Kreme and my apartment. The early eighties was a time in my life of "no running", but I was still pretty fit with my extensive bike riding.  Nowadays, though, I'm frankly a little afraid of getting on a bicycle and riding through the motor traffic around me...there's too much going on in cars now to distract drivers from my presence on the road.  One of the subjects I remember studying back then was a romanized Japanese language grammar book, which I have sadly misplaced somewhere in the deep recesses of my home.  But my son Will, who tragically passed away last July, was himself a student of Japanese, and one of the books he left to us was an impressive Japanese grammar.  So although it remains to be seen, I just might be inserting some Japanese studying again into my daily routine. Hey, I'm retired and this should be fun.  And although I'm no longer a regular customer of Krispy Kreme, I'm glad it's still standing there in the midst of the excessive construction and congestion that's recently taken place in that part of Gainesville...

Weekly Short Stories: 1993 Science Fiction, Part 5

Below are my reactions to three more short stories as they appeared in the Gardner Dozois anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction, Eleventh Annual Collection, covering material published in 1993. That year...going back to me first starting to work at the Gainesville post office and afterward through most of 1995...I often rode my ramshackle bicycle the nearly eight miles from my home to my graveyard shift at work and back, usually on the way there stopping off for a book & coffee break at the Books-a-Million (now 2nd and Charles) on NW 13th Street and then cutting across the University of Florida campus before hitting Archer Road...good times, good times. I'm also having a good time reading this book edited by Dozois...

GEORGIA ON MY MIND by Charles Sheffield

Sheffield was a theoretical physicist who worked with the U.S. space program...he injects much of his science and engineering knowledge into his stories.  Here he presents a primer on the early history of computers as an anomalous discover has been made in a remote New Zealand country house that puts into question not only what we believed about our past, but also the notion that humans are the only indigenous life forms on Earth at our level of intelligence and technology.  Very intriguing...

CUSH by Neal Barrett, Jr.

A poor rural black woman's niece has a little boy, Cush, who seems to supernaturally bless everyone he encounters while drawing illness, injury and deformity upon his own body.  When word of his gift leaks out, Andrea must encounter and confront the outsiders invading their personal lives at their suddenly prospering Alabama farm.  Taking on the world's pain and suffering to make it undeservingly better is a common theme in religion, especially Christianity.  This tale seems to be a kind of analogy...

ON THE COLLECTION OF HUMANS by Mark Rich

Sometimes a story can be so short, like this one, that it lacks an integral structure.  This is more or less a manual for advanced alien scientists on how to abduct humans for research purposes.  Obviously meant to be funny, I gave it a couple of chuckles and then moved on, in doing so casting a suspicious look at the sky behind me...

Next week I will continue my look at 1993 as I go through some more of Garder Dozois' selections from that year in science fiction...

Weekly Short Stories: 1992 Science Fiction, Part 6

Here is another round of reviews of 1992 sci-fi tales appearing in the Gardner Dozois-edited anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction, Tenth Annual Collection.  At that time...and for years before and after...I mentioned before that I worked essentially an early morning graveyard shift at the post office processing plant here in Gainesville.  Also, during this time I often rode my bicycle the nearly eight miles to work and back, something that I would never do these days...not because of the physical demands but rather because I've grown to distrust other drivers with their myriad sources of distractions when they're supposed to be focused on the road (and my very vulnerable presence on the side).  But back to those stories...

THE ELVIS NATIONAL THEATER OF OKINAWA by Jonathan Lethem and Lukas Jaeger

A futuristic story, as are so many in this genre, it's also brief, but to the point. It distills what we see in our current popular media culture of celebrities into the absurdity of elevating shock over artistic substance. A musical band seeking recognition thinks its big moment has arrived, only to find itself shunted aside by an influential agent who only sees a future in one of its quirky members.

THE TERRITORY by Bradley Denton

This is an alternative history story about the passage through the American Civil War of perhaps our best-known writer, Samuel Clemons...who later wrote under the pseudonym Mark Twain.  There is a crucial moment when "our" history changes and it involves the fate of Clemens' brother Orion as they face the marauding Kansas Redlegs.  The story to me was true to Sam Clemens' incredible sardonic wit and theorized that sometimes alternate scenarios can return to their original paths, more or less.  I enjoyed it...

THE BEST AND REST OF JAMES JOYCE by Ian MacLeod

Four years ago, I read Irish writer James Joyce's chief defining work, Ulysses...click on the title to read my reactions.  Subsequently I picked up a copy of his later piece Finnegans Wake and was instantly befuddled.  Joyce likes to present "stream of consciousness" narratives, if you can call them narratives, and this can be difficult for the reader who is trying to discern what is real and what is imagined. This story by MacLeod puts Joyce the artist in an array of alternative history universes...with time travel thrown in for good measure just to complicate things further.  In one passage the United Kingdom isn't in northern Europe but just off the coast of Africa, in another it's been at war against Tsarist Russia for more than a century.  Joyce for his part slips in and out of different roles, one as a physicist on a dirigible and another as a popular poetic recording artist fusing the hip Moroccan music scene with Irish traditions...it's all a little too much to take. My suggestion: read this story like you would one of James Joyce's novels and just try to flow with it all...it may be all you can do with it...

Next week I conclude my look at the year 1992 in short science fiction...  

Finishing Week-Long Break from Work

I've had a vacation break from my job this past week...it was a pleasant temporary interruption of my weekly routine.  But I also like my work, and look forward to getting back to it tomorrow...wonder what's changed around my workplace?   In any event, I'll find out soon enough, I guess...

One thing that being off for a few days has impressed upon me is that I don't get outside enough like I used to...working weekdays often from noon and on into the night and being in the house mornings doesn't give me much of an opportunity to enjoy the sun and daytime.  I think I'll be changing that in the future, though with brief daily morning neighborhood runs alternating with bicycling (I just dusted off my dilapidated old bike, filled the tires, and oiled it).  Oh, and looking around me, I think a little yard work is also in order..

On a completely different note, the National Hockey League and National Basketball Association regular seasons have ended...with hockey the playoffs have already begun and I've been watching them.  I don't see the point anymore paying much attention to the regular season...the coaches often sit out star players and sometimes the worst teams deliberately "tank" in order to be awarded with better draft prospects...I think this is despicable.  But in the playoffs they have to go all out and scratch for every win they can get, else they're eliminated.  In hockey, I naturally want the semi-local Tampa Bay Lightning to win and in basketball I'm once again pulling for the San Antonio Spurs...as well as the good ol' Miami Heat with Dywane Wade happily back on the squad (they have a tendency to win championships with him on board, go figure).  Since the Spurs face daunting Golden State and the Heat will have to play the surging Philadelphia 76ers in the first round, I'm afraid the prospects for these teams aren't very good...but at least the Lightning shouldn't have any problem with New Jersey.  Now please excuse me while I finish my vacation...

Some People Change When They Get Behind the Wheel

I never was a particularly adept middle-to-long distance runner, although in the end that seems to be the sport I took to for much of my life, especially for the last ten years.  When I was growing up, I was in fact a pretty ferocious sprinter in high school and did very well in the 50-yard dash...until around the 11th grade when fellow classmates grew up past me.  But one crucial difference that made running the longer distances more attractive to my higher instincts was that it forced me to go out into the world to train...when my natural inclinations were bent toward staying home, safely indoors. And consequently, I got to observe the flow of that world around me, including how people tended to compartmentalize themselves in their motor vehicles...anonymous to the world while I was out there in the open, along with the other runners, pedestrians, and bicyclists.  I noticed that when folks were safely ensconced in their cars, they would sometimes shed the common respect and courtesies they would normally be careful to display were they personally identifiable.  So cars would honk at me for exercising my right-of-way, curses yelled safely from behind windows as they sped by...once someone threw their soft drink at me just to be an [expletive deleted]. And I've experienced eggs, glass beer bottles, and even a firecracker thrown at me while riding my bicycle on different occasions.  This dichotomy between the insulated and unaccountable masses and the vulnerable few (like me) came to influence my view of the world and human nature...

For most of us, we slip in and out of situations where we are traveling in motor vehicles and walking, running, or bicycling.  Yet a few don't have that option: for various reasons, someone may be forced to walk or bike to wherever they need to go...many others have to take public transit and spend much of their time walking to and from bus stops.  But in a city like Gainesville, the traffic is weighed very heavily in favor of road travel, and pedestrians are often overlooked as drivers allow themselves to get distracted by their various gadgets that they like to play with when they should be paying attention to where they are going.  The other day, Tommy, a middle-aged man whom people in this area had come to know well and who due to his life circumstances had to resort to walking to get where he wanted to go, was crossing NW 39th Avenue from his home, just across from where I am sitting here in this Starbucks.  A car was switching lanes and took no notice of the pedestrian stepping out onto the pavement and struck him, killing him.  Now there is one of those sad flowery memorial displays at the site to remind us...or at least try to remind us...to please look out for people and not just take the narrow view of the vehicles around us when we drive.  But I look back at the conclusions I drew from running roadside way back then in the 1970s and I know it's all probably an exercise in futility: some people just go through an ugly metamorphosis whenever they get behind the wheel.  I don't know the exact details of what the driver who hit Tommy was thinking or doing...or even whether Tommy may have stepped out too soon...but I have had too many personal experiences over the years with drivers who imperiled my life with their distracted or aggressive driving and others who harassed me while I was out there walking, running, or bicycling.  Yet if I encountered any of the same people in a store or restaurant...in person...I'm confident that they would all be on their best behavior...

Reassessing Own Running Goals While Sidelined

I'm writing this at my local McDonalds...the one closest to my house...after having entered my favorite Starbucks at Magnolia Parke and, seeing no available seats and the long line of customers snaking around the back of the store to the door, got back into my car and drove around the corner to this place.  I have grown to like iced coffee...the largest "venti" size that Starbucks offers, with tax, comes to $3.15 while I can get one here at Mickey D's for only $1.48: just as good, but without the long lines while enjoying plenty of seating space...and with free Wi-Fi to boot.  Oh, and I think I forgot to mention that it's a lot quieter here as well, even factoring in the occasional loud child.  Probably should have come here first...

It's approaching the end of January and, had things gone the way I had intended for them to go, I would now be in prime distance-running shape, having run the Ocala Half-Marathon a couple of weeks ago and the Newnans Lake 15K here in Gainesville yesterday...and would be gearing up for the FivePoints Half-Marathon, also held in town, in three weeks.   Instead, I am recovering from the residual effects of an upper-respiratory infection I caught earlier in the month that produced a severe sore throat and a confounding residual cough due to scarring and sensitivity. I don't know how long it will be until all is healed, but this has really set back my running efforts considerably...no, I ran neither race in Ocala or Newnans Lake and it doesn't look as if I'll be ready to tackle that half-marathon course through Gainesville in three weeks.  In short, I've been forced to sideline myself for a while from running.  How long?  I'll be surprised if, in a couple of weeks, I'm not ready to hit the road again...but forget about any racing until at least March...or maybe even later...

In the meantime, I've taken the time to assess where I'm at with my running and, considering my age (60), whether it might not be more advisable to expand my activities into bicycling and (fast)walking.  The idea would be to alternate running with the bicycle on consecutive days, with a good, long walk for that odd seventh day of the week.  It sounds like a reasonable course of action to take, and I could still run in the 5K-10K races that are more available here and which are spread out more throughout the year than are the longer distances.  But first: rest, rest, and more rest!

Ups and Downs of TV This Morning

When I turned on my TV this morning, while running a few minutes in place in my living room and waiting for my coffee to finish brewing, I first caught sight of Donald Trump...on the morning following his supposedly watershed nomination speech...going back to what he does best: flinging mud at others.  His target today was one of his favorites: Ted Cruz.  I switched the channel, but all of the news stations seem to think that any time this guy wants to rant about anything or anyone, they are somehow obligated to give him all the free publicity he wants.  Then I remembered that the Tour de France was still going on, and I changed the channel to watch it.  Today it was in the 19th of its 21 stages, and the course was severe, going up and down mountains with steep slopes and tight curves.  On top of that, it was raining heavily, and cyclists were skidding and falling everywhere...including Tour leader Chris Froome.  Fortunately for him, immediately after his fall and loss of his own bike, a teammate who was right there gave him his own...Froome did not suffer much in the end in terms of his lead.  But his yellow jersey had gaping holes where he had hit the pavement, and you could see a lot of bruising over his body.  What a game, courageous performance this competitor gave today!

Later on, after the Donald was safely off the air, President Obama and Mexican President Nieto gave a joint press conference after their meeting with each other.  The calm, assured demeanor of Obama contrasted sharply with the often maniacal rantings of Trump.  Later on, I've heard, Hillary Clinton is supposed to announce her VP running mate, with the news pundits leaning toward Virginia senator Tim Kaine as the pick.  We'll see if they were right...

No, television wasn't all that great this morning unless you happen to be into bicycle racing or political mudslinging, but then again I didn't spend a lot of time going up and down the dial.  I did try out the Andy Griffith Show on TVLand, but alas, they were showing one of those inferior later color episodes without Don Knotts playing his famous role of Barney Fife.  And without ol' Barney to muddle things up, it just wasn't the same series anymore...

Spectators Out of Control at the Tour de France

One of the charming aspects of the Tour de France, the ongoing 21-stage championship bicycle tour that covers this beautiful country, is the presence of the fans along the roadway, urging on the contestants.  At each stage's final mile or so, the concentration of roadside spectators is naturally the thickest...and here is where we're seeing some serious problems.  In just about every race I've watched...the Tour is broadcast on NBCSports (Gainesville Cox Channel 33)...there are segments in which the crowd impinges on the roadway where the cyclists are racing, sometimes reaching out to touch them or running extremely close beside them.  This type of interference makes me cringe when I see it, and I wonder why those organizing these races have allowed it to go on.  Once I even saw one such spectator, ludicrously dressed up like a chicken, reach over at a cyclist...and then receive a harsh punch in the face from said cyclist, making him stagger backwards in a daze.  I did a fist-pump in the air when I saw that, feeling only slightly ashamed at taking such vicarious pleasure in an act of violence against another...albeit one justified by the circumstances.  But as bad as that incidence was, the fan interference level reached an intolerable stage a few days ago when three cyclists, including current tour leader Chris Froome...only one kilometer away from their stage's finish line...suffered a collision with a camera-equipped motorcycle when the crowds closed in on them, allowing only single-line riding and no passing on an already narrow, uphill road.  Froome got up from his fall and, seeing his bicycle damaged and unrideable, then began to run uphill toward the finish.  Eventually, a workable bicycle was provided and he finished the race...only after a later review did the Tour authorities restore his lead, which he had lost due to this inexcusable interference...

I don't know why people feel the need to get in the middle of the road and obstruct the bicycle race.  It is difficult enough for the competitors to try to figure out how to outmaneuver each other for an advantage without foolish spectators jumping into their path.  But will those running the Tour de France do anything to restrain them in the future?  Probably not.  Sigh...

Gainesville's West 34th Street

West 34th Street is an interesting road in Gainesville.  It is my most traveled street, since my workplace is on it at the most southern point of the city...while my subdivision lies at Gainesville's far north.  The distance from my house to my office is eight miles, and in years gone by (from 1989 to 1995) I've ridden my bicycle to and from work on it numerous times.  Although I feel I'm still in good enough shape to resume this activity, I no longer trust other drivers to stay focused on the road and not on their "devices".  Yes, I've recently seen too many instances of cars in front of me veering off the road into the adjacent bike lane and I picture myself getting run over on my bicycle were I there.  Of course, there have always been distracted drivers, and besides, especially when on the road at night, there is always the risk of encountering alcohol-impaired drivers.  But even many drivers who have been drinking, in my opinion, usually don't pose as much of a risk as those who can't stop texting or checking their Facebook page while driving.  Still, it might be fun to get my wheels out again and try the old route every now and then...

Gainesville's West 34th Street is a section of State Route 121, a most curious state route.  Out of Gainesville and going south-southwest, it runs through Williston and eventually out to the Gulf of Mexico.  Northward from our fair city, it passes on into Georgia a few miles west of Jacksonville and then continues on as Georgia State Route 121.  But that's not all: after winding its way through the southeastern part of that state, this road crosses over into South Carolina...and, you guessed it, becomes South Carolina State Route 121!.  I'd like to say that it goes on and on like that, but just south of the border with North Carolina, approaching Charlotte, this very, very long road finally comes to an end...

If you are from out of town, you may have heard of the "Wall" on the east side of SW 34th Street just south of SW 2nd Avenue that various people over the years, mainly students, continually paint messages over...with one exception: the names of the five victims of the student murders in 1990 continue to be permanently displayed and honored on it...and in the street median facing that wall are five trees, each with a sign featuring the name of a victim.  This stretch of road, which is on the slope of a small hill, is also part of the Five Points Marathon/Half-Marathon and I've run down it three times...in 2010, 2014, and 2015...and plan to add to that list next February.  Also, further north lies Westside Park, the site of several races I've run...including the last one, July Fourth's Melon Run.  Going back south of the "Wall", about a half-mile down the road, is the Florida Museum of Natural History and the UF Harn Center for the Performing Arts...which incidentally is the starting and finishing point for those aforementioned Five Points races...

Although West 34th Street is a major city thoroughfare for Gainesville, my city's public transit service, which is continually boasting of all its routes and accessibility, has steadfastly refused over the years to add a route going down this important, well-traveled road.  If they ever did, I would definitely ride it...especially if I could ride home on it late at night after getting off from work...

Enjoying Watching the Tour de France

Now that there isn't a standout American like disgraced Lance Armstrong competing in the annual Tour de France, the premier bicycle racing event in the world, interest in this championship has diminished in the United States.  Ironically, I have found that not having any particular bicyclist or country to root for has made it more interesting for me, as I have discovered that participating in the Tour involves a lot more than just being in good physical condition, jumping on a good bike, and pedaling your ass off...

For one thing, entrants in the Tour de France must be on one of the allotted 22 nine-bicyclist teams, making a total of 198.  Each team carries the banner of a country, but they are privately owned and sponsored...and countries can be represented by multiple teams.  Within a team, the roles of the various members are manifold: one, to support the "star" bicyclist in his quest for individual glory, two, work to maximize the team's score, and three, to aid individuals in the team to garner points or times for certain categories that the Tour awards...

As for the championships within the Tour de France, the most prestigious is the General, which is the title you usually hear going to the Tour's annual winner.  This is based on cumulative times spread out over the 21-stage, 2,200-mile course that winds its away across France.  There is also a Points championship competition that involves the top placers in each stage...as well as how well they do at each stage's halfway point.  A Mountains award goes to the bicyclist with the best overall time based on how they handle the climbing sections of the races.  A Young Rider prize goes to the entrant who is 25 or younger with the best cumulative time.  And the Team award...well, I suppose that one is self-evident...

I love how the Tour de France is covered on television, here on NBCSports (Gainesville's Cox Cable Channel 33).  I can either watch it live late in the morning (as I did today) or watch the day's racing replayed later at night.  The multiple camera angles of the race are amazing and give the viewer the sense of being there in the middle of it all.  And the almost virtual tour through France is stunningly beautiful as the contestants race through towns, country roads, and across mountains.  The most interesting thing I've been picking up about the Tour de France, though, is the "peloton"...the main group of bicyclists in the race, who ride excruciatingly close to each other and always seem to be on the verge of a domino-like multiple crash...like in one of the early scenes in the James Bond flick Goldeneye.  It gets even more scary when the road leads uphill or becomes much narrower.  The riders find refuge in the peloton in order to cut down on wind drag...by as much as 40%.  In each stage, there is always a small number of racers who go out in front, far ahead of the peloton.  As the race goes on and the end approaches, the leaders usually begin to fall back and the peloton gains on them.  Sometimes it catches up, but sometimes an early leader will gut it out to the end and win the stage.  And in order to avoid catastrophic collisions at the ends of races, all racers within the peloton group are given the same finishing time...as long as there is no intervening gap of a second or more between finishers...

At the start of each successive stage in the Tour de France, the competitor currently leading with the best cumulative time (General competition) wears a yellow jersey.  The one leading the Points competition wears a green jersey.  The leader in the Mountains competition gets a polka-dot jersey.  The Young Rider leader dons a white jersey, while the ongoing leaders in the Team competition get yellow helmets.  They seem to make a great deal about getting to wear these special jerseys and helmets: personally, I don't see the point in it other to cultivate fan interest and lend some temporary prestige to participants who may not stay at the top as the Tour progresses...

The Tour de France has just finished the 5th stage, which involved a more mountainous course than the previous ones.  This time around the peloton didn't catch up with the leaders, making me wonder whether the more challenging terrain had something to do with it.  Well, tomorrow is another day, and I'm confident the course will once again be interesting and distinctly different...

Time Off from Running Due to Leg Strain

Unfortunately, for the past couple of weeks I've been suffering from a left leg strain that has kept me from running or bicycle riding.  I suspect that I had gone into the cycling a bit too hard instead of following the advice I always give others to start a new training regime slow and easy.  Instead, I pushed myself too hard at the outset and didn't include days off for my  body to recover.  So I'm off the exercise routine for a few weeks...as long as it takes for recovery...instead I think I'll focus on getting my eating habits back to a healthy level and work on getting my weight down.  In that regard, I could probably stand to lose about 25-30 lbs...

A Bit Out of Shape on My Bicycle

I went out again this morning on my bicycle, riding around my neighborhood for 3.4 miles.  It was clear and relatively cool for this time of year, and the air seemed drier than usual as well.  But it seemed that, no matter which direction I was riding in, I was getting the wind coming at me...and believe me, I wasn't going fast enough to cause the effect with my riding speed.  Also, in spite of the fact that my neighborhood is, for all practical purposes, as flat as a table top, I felt as if I were continually fighting my way up a gradual slope.  I think there's probably a reasonable explanation for this all: I'm out of training on my bicycle...and anything that might possibly contribute to me having to make an extra effort is going to be magnified in my mind.  But I'm going to keep grinding away and gradually step up the mileage.  The irony is that I could run the same course I just rode my bike down and come away from it with a different reaction...but I'm used to running a lot and I haven't biked regularly since 1995...even though, from time to time, I've taken the rusty old contraption out of the storage shed and wheeled around on it...

My April 2015 Running Report

In April, I kept up with my total running mileage while limiting the lengths of individual runs, managing this with multiple runs per day.  My total mileage for the month was 309, with my longest single run being for only 5.3 miles.  I ran on 29 of April's 30 days, in spite of suffering a pretty severe rear-end collision on my car on the 20th and spending the day two days later at the hospital undergoing medical tests for a life-long condition.  With both of these, I emerged with no injuries or complications...so onward with the running!

I wasn't able to run in a race this past month, but then again races are secondary for me to the daily running itself.  Maybe I'll pick and choose some races during the next few months to enter...most likely they'll be of the 5K sort.  I also got out my old rusty, cheap bicycle a couple of times and rode around my neighborhood.  Just for the sake of recording it, I rode a total of 8.3 miles with 5.0 miles being my longest ride.  Next month, though, I intend to do much more bike riding and combine that with my running...so I look forward to greatly increasing the mileage there...

Foot Strain Necessitates Break from Running

For the past few days, my right foot has felt a little tight and twisted, and a little swelling may have been going on there due to a strain.  In any event, I've indefinitely put off my running, starting yesterday, until it feels better...and then I can gradually build my mileage back up again.  In times like this, the wisdom of cross-training comes to the surface of my thinking, and while I am recovering I'm going out on some short bicycling excursions.  The main thing is to stay in as high a state of conditioning as possible while resting my foot from the high-impact running.  It's been a while since I rode my bicycle, which I deliberately bought cheap, as usual, for around ninety bucks at Wal-Mart (or was it Target) a few years ago.  I had to re-inflate the tires, lubricate it a little, and wipe off the acculumated grime.  But it's sitting out there, locked to my gate (we've had two bicycles stolen off of our property since living here), and waiting for a little ride around the neighborhood.  I'm also thinking of re-incorporating the elliptical machine (which is available at my local 24-hour gym), into my regular exercise routine, along with a light daily no-impact session designed to stretch my body and exercise most of my body's muscles, all of which need activity to avoid deterioration over time and to help prevent damage to joints and soft tissue in the long run.  There was a promotional show on PBS-TV the other day featuring a woman who sells DVDs in which she leads exactly this kind of workout: I think I'll check into it and get a copy...

...Well, I just finished a 6.3 mile ride around my neighborhood on my old ramshackle bicycle...a nice little workout on a lazy Sunday afternoon...

Bicycling and Running to Work

I have been riding my bicycle the eight miles to work for most of the last few Thursdays, and today was no exception.  So far, the weather has held up with no rainstorms around to drench me (although there have been a couple of close calls).  Today was more pleasant as the temperature was hovering around the 70 degree mark (noontime), a sign of autumn finally asserting its presence.  My renewing of bicycle riding, though, is due more to transportation glitches within my family that necessitate me lending my car out than to any resurgence of my enthusiasm in the activity.  Still, it is kind of fun to do this, although I have a lower back ache today that took away some of my enjoyment.

I always stop off, at around the six-mile mark on my route, at the Panera restaurant located at Archer Road near SW 34th Street.  There I order the same thing each time: coffee (I drink their hazelnut flavored brew), french onion soup, Caesar salad, and a cheese danish.  While I slowly consume my way through all this, I study foreign languages, read, plan things out...and even write an occasional blog article. 

I have entertained, at least in my mind, that is, the idea of running to work instead of bicycling.  I can always take a change of clothes to my workplace locker the night before so that I can freshen up after the run, just before starting work.  It's feasible, but with one potential snag: I haven't run for eight miles at a time in several months, although I feel that I am fully capable of it.  Anyway, there would be rest times built into the run since I'd have to stop and wait for green lights at various busy intersections from time to time...

Bicycling to Work Again

Due to some transportation glitches in my family recently (due to good things going on), I found myself for the last two Thursdays with looking for an alternative way to get myself to my workplace besides driving my car there (or being let off by a family member).  The city bus, taxi, maybe asking a co-worker for a lift...these all come up as possibilities.  But instead I opted to return to an old tradition of mine that I had engaged in to a great extent in the late 1980's and early 1990's: I rode my bicycle the 7.8 miles to work.  I knew I would have transportation provided on my return home after work, so it wouldn't be quite as strenuous as the "good old days" when I would bike on a round-trip basis.

Both times I handled the ride quite well, stopping at a Panera's for lunch at about the 6-mile mark.  I'd get myself one of their wonderful hazelnut coffees (free refills) along with either a scrumptious cheese danish or a lunch special comprised of a sandwich, salad and (french onion) soup.  Panera's french onion soup and salad beat all, as does the friendly, helpful demeanor of their workers (at least that's the case in Gainesville's Panera). This may be the start of a new tradition...

This bicycle of mine is typical for me: I paid around $100 for it.  No, I don't plan to go into bicycle racing anytime soon, although I think it would be cool to make it through a triathlon sometime (without bankrupting myself buying an ultra-expensive racing bicycle).  Who knows what the future holds, right?

Bicycling does work out some muscles different than running, and I was a little sore after my rides (especially that first one).  But it surprised me how easily I took some of the rolling hills I encountered on my route, hills that seemed at times almost insurmountable back in years gone by.  So there is definitely an enormous crossover benefit from running to bicycling...

70.3

Having completed both the half-marathon and marathon events in running, I feel a sense of connection while out driving when I see, on the back of a vehicle in front of me, a decal with the simple number of "13.1" or "26.2" on it.  For that means that the owner of that vehicle has run one of the two aforementioned distances, expressing their accomplishment, of course, in miles.  So the other day it intrigued me when I was on the road and saw a car with a decal that simply said "70.3".  Well, it took me a very, very short time to figure that this individual was referring to having completed a triathlon event (swimming, bicycling, and running), the total racing distance amounting to 70.3 miles.  H-m-m, maybe that's the Ironman triathlon I've heard so much about.

But after reading up on it in Wikipedia, I found out that I was only partially correct in my conclusion.  "70.3" is an Ironman triathlon, but not the full version.  No, this is an Ironman half-triathlon, with the distances covered breaking down to 1.2 miles of swimming, 56 miles of bicycling, and 13.1 miles of running.  Sounds like something I could build myself up to, after the current medical issue I am facing eventually is satisfactorily resolved.  After all, I have run many, many half-marathons and I could train up to the other two distances.  But a full Ironman triathlon? No way, dude...

By the way, since it is a "half-triathlon", why not get cute and perform some arithmetic on it? Then it would be the three-halves-athlon, or the one-and-one-half-athlon. Oh well...maybe we should just name it like the decal does: "70.3".

Bicycling in My Life

When I was a kid, I hardly ever rode a bicycle. In fact, it wasn't until I was sixteen that I even owned one. The only reason that I instantly could ride it from the time I set it out in the parking lot was that, many years before when I was about eight, there was an old beat-up bicycle in our storage room at home that I would repeatedly get up on and try to balance myself in our backyard. But once I actually began riding one on the street in 1973, I fell in love with this activity. Yet I never did fall for the trappings and expense of "serious" bicycling. To me, that would have detracted from the utter simplicity and freedom of being so mobile with a vehicle that ran on no fuel, could be parked just about anywhere, had very cheap maintenance, and cost me only about a hundred bucks.

I continued my fervent bicycling for about 22 years, finally cooling off in late 1995 when I changed my work schedule to a shift when bicycling conflicted too much with the local traffic. You see, although I lived about eight miles from my workplace, I would often ride my bicycle to work and back. This also meant riding up some pretty steep (for Florida) hills. So I kept myself in pretty good shape with this activity.

Since that time, my bicycling tapered off considerably. Along with that went my physical fitness as well, and at times I got quite overweight. A few years ago I began to exercise at my YMCA's workout room. Then, a local Starbucks manager, Marty Bower, told me that with his suggestion Gainesville had started to hold an annual marathon/half-marathon in February (put on by LifeSouth). I told him that I wanted to run in it, but tarried in getting back to running. Finally, in 2007 I began to run in earnest, first on the treadmill, then in the vicinity of Gainesville's Westside Park, and finally settling down to designing and running lengthy courses up and down my neighborhood roads. So my fitness level improved again with the running, but I never did get back to bicycling very much. And I did manage to run and complete the 2010 LifeSouth Half-Marathon, but unfortunately Marty had left Starbucks by then and I couldn't brag to him about it.

During my "heyday" of bicycling, I felt relatively safe on the road. Sadly, I can no longer confidently state that. Motorists today seem very impatient and are too easily distracted with their assorted "toys", the worst being their cellphones. They tend to drift off the road too much into the bike lines that are reserved for me, not them. No, I have to admit it: I'm a little bit scared to undertake bicycle riding again to any appreciable degree.

Not that, from time to time, I won't just get on my bicycle and ride around for a little bit. My days of "extreme" bicycling are probably over, but I'll always cherish the memories of my journeys in the now-receding past...

I Don't Get the Sport of Bicycling, I Guess

Many years ago, I was seated in the middle of one of those obnoxious small groups that tend to plague my existence on Earth. It was at someone's house and there were several married couples informally sitting around the living room "shooting the bull". One woman, her proud husband right beside her, beamed that she had purchased a bicycle and was going to ride it and enjoy it (my words), but her hubby, who was a mechanical engineer by trade, had pointed out to her that something called "gear ratios" or the like was a little off kilter with the bike. So she didn't ride it and, boy, wasn't she glad! I sat there dumbfounded: I don't think I ever spent more than $115 on a bicycle and I sure as all don't think that I ever gave a hoot about its mechanical details. I would get on a new bike, ride it around, and if it felt good, then it was a winner, pure and simple.

I have piled up many miles just riding my bicycle around town over the years, but I am not into the culture and expense of maintaining the activity to the level that others insist upon for themselves. For example, I am not going to shell out a couple of thousand dollars just for a bicycle. Nor will I wear that tight, stretchy bicycling clothing that may be good while on the bike but completely foolish looking once off. I also don't have the bicyclist posture of practically hanging over the handlebars, and I have the seat low enough that I don't have to dismount every time I stop. But I get around anyway.

I was watching the Tour of California bicycle race on the Versus Channel the other day. It was the first leg and was 76 miles in length, starting from the Lake Tahoe area and ending through the streets of Sacramento. With that much distance, you might think that at the end the pack would be spread out a bit. But you would be wrong.

At the end, ALL of the bicyclists were clumped together as in one mass. The finish was so close that everyone was given the same time. As I was watching the race, it looked to me like someone had cloned one bicyclist, along with the bicycle, everyone looking damned near identical with only their clothing and helmet colors to distinguish them.

I don't get this mass photo finish after 76 miles, I don't get the heavy expense, I don't get the conformity of appearance.

I don't get the sport of bicycling, I guess.

Gainesville Still Not Bicycle-Friendly

Except for a brief period in 1987, I have lived in Gainesville, Florida since 1977. For most of that time I extensively used bicycle travel either for basic transportation, exercise, or leisure. I have recently been increasing my bicycle riding, largely in part due to a leg injury that sidelined me from running for a while. If there's anyone in Gainesville familiar with the road conditions for bicyclists, then I'm that one. And I sadly have to say that, in spite of this town's boasting of being so bicycle-friendly, it has a long, long way to go before I can agree with that assertion.

It is true that Gainesville has its share of bike paths, but upon closer examination those paths tend to encourage north-south travel and are noticeably lacking in an east-west direction through the central portion of the city. The major east-west roads running through the city's center, i.e. University Avenue/Newberry Road, North 8th Avenue, North 16th Avenue, and North 23rd Avenue, are all deficient in bicycle paths. It is hazardous for bicyclists to employ these routes. Instead, one has to go north to 39th or 53rd Avenue or south to Archer or Williston Road to be able to travel down bicycle paths east-west. Lately there has been much discussion about proposals to make a bike path down NW 16th Avenue, but there is a significant level of opposition to any change.

Part of this opposition arises from the notion that spending public funds for bike paths is a waste of money since not that many people use bicycles as transportation. I find this argument circular: a lot of people don't use bicycles as transportation because there aren't the needed bike paths to make them feel safe! Another part of the opposition is more cultural: the country/rural "Deep South" culture is embedded in this area and tends to regard those choosing bicycle travel as being effete and highbrow. Then, there are also many thousands of university students from other parts of the state and country who are wed to their cars and have neither patience for bicyclists nor any desire to share the road with them. Finally, there is this strange, perverse notion that I have noticed among drivers that somehow being behind a wheel in a motorized vehicle makes their lives more legitimate than that of a bicyclist who is just as legally entitled to a place on the public street.

So I am still not at all satisfied with how far my Gainesville has gone to promote bicycle travel by creating strategically-located bicycle lanes. You don't have to put one down every road; just give bicyclists a way to design a course that allows them to reach their destinations without imperiling themselves at the hands of careless, selfish, and inattentive drivers!