Morning Rides

I ride my bike to work most days but it is only 0.8 miles, so I try to ride before work twice a week when the weather is good (above freezing and no precipitation). I ride a 16-mile loop generally from Commercial Street on the north, Barnes Avenue on the east, Sunset Street on the south and Weaver Avenue on the west. This morning it was 62 degrees and the predicted rain seemed distant, so I headed out about 5:30AM.
















Scattered clouds were chasing across the sky as the wind was blowing about 18 mph out of the south, and I could see a planet in the eastern sky that I assume was Venus. The roads were wet, either from earlier rain or just the high humidity; perfect weather for fenders.

For visibility, I have dynamo-driven dual headlights; dual taillights, a reflective vest, ankle bands and wheel strips; and reflective stickers on my helmet. While I am clearly visible, I have to be careful of approaching cars turning in front of me. I think a combination of my speed and a lack of depth perception gives some drivers the impression they have plenty of distance to make the turn. Actually, at this time of the morning there is little traffic to worry about. The major conflict locations are the Kraft plant entrance on Barnes and St. John's Hospital along Fremont and Seminole.

I can ride the loop in about an hour. My best average speed has been 17 mph. I can do that speed on the summer days when there is no wind. I slow down when it gets dark, especially with the wind and wet roads. Today, I was able to average 15.4 mph because I caught a couple of traffic signals where I often have to slow and stop.

Hopefully, there will be many more morning rides this winter. Last winter, there was not much riding during January because of a major ice storm.
















Dave Moulton and Maynard both have a good dialogue going about bikes in traffic. Check them out under LINKS.