seen from Greece
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seen from United States
seen from Spain
Day 1! About 85 miles with 2,500m of gain, two new passes, lots of great views, some rain, some sunshine, some teeth chattering, time with my favourite people, pushing myself. Made it to Italy and had a lovely evening. Still very tired now but it's time for day 2 :P
Another scorcher of a day so we rode early. This time Daughter tagged along. This bike challenge is catchy. When we got home I had second breakfast on the little deck. If the wind hadn’t picked up pace I could have spent the rest of the day there.
We are packing in the fun on this long weekend. This morning I wanted to ride again for the bike challenge and Hubs said he would come too. He has not ridden in ages so we stuck to the easy tracks although I did squeal a little on one which dropped away rather suddenly. We had a great ride before the heat set in. Once home Hubs had sorted my road bike so I took that on a spin around the block. This bike hurts me to ride and I am wondering if it is the right bike for me. I love its lightness, manoeuvrability and speed but I struggle to reach the breaks and the gear changing is not nearly as intuitive as my mountain bike. I will persist but in the mean time might look at making some modifications or buying a new bike. Any how the rides went well so Hubs headed off to take the white Cortina for a spin and I headed off for a gentle 5km run. We crossed paths, it was a shame I didn't think to chuck a water bottle in the car with him because by the time our paths crossed it was 29ºC out there.
I started my first day of lock down with a bike ride around the neighbourhood, it was chilly and slightly foggy but the sunrise was amazing. I need to figure out how to take photos whilst cycling. Much easier while running. The roads were pretty empty because well lock down so it was a good ride. I wore my fun shoes today , couldn't help but smile every time I looked down. Daughter called in around 3 and we headed out for a walk. Work was stressing me out so I just walked away for a bit and found myself out in the sunshine enjoying a Bear Hunt. I'm a fan, Bear Hunt is a cool idea. Definitely putting a Bear in my window tomorrow.
It is take your old Mum grocery shopping after work day, that means no bike riding today. I started the day taking my cranky legs for a slow walk by the river. They are still pretty sore from Sunday's race! At morning tea the wind was blustery and the legs even crankier from sitting still all morning. Not much of a walk at lunchtime as I had a two hour training session. No worries I had to walk to Mum's after work. The wind was still strong and a little chilly. After the shopping was done and Mum was taken home I headed out on my road bike and rode around the neighbourhood to clock up some kms for the Aotearoa Bike Challenge. The wind was still strong and cold but the sunset was well worth a look.
Somewhere near Wenatchee, 2018.
Sometimes I think about how “quiet” moments like this felt or how good a well-loved house cat seems to have it- how those moments and those house cats sort of seem free from the noise, the racism, the arrogance, the ignorance, the hate, the anger, the frustration, the vitriol, the blame, the GOP, etc etc etc.
Other times I think about how cis and white cycling is and how it’s so full of privilege. And yes, I am a cis white dude with all kinds of privilege. And I think about all the people who got mad because the bike shop did not drop everything to fix their bike on the spot. Most of the time, these are white dudes, often times (in Seattle) who own mountain bikes (who generally take zero care of their mountain bike) who are upset because they waited til the last minute to have their bike looked at- an after thought though it seems to be SO IMPORTANT.
And then I think about all the black people killed by white cops and the Asian folks getting harassed by white people and all the members of the LGBTQ community who are harassed for no good reason what so ever, and all the women sexually assaulted and harassed, and it makes me wonder what the fuck am I doing with myself and my time because in so many ways, bicycles are toys to 95% of the population in this country. They are luxury items or a thing for kids to most- yet there’s a whole host of people who need bikes to deliver shit like food to rich people so they can hide from a pandemic, meanwhile local restaurants and the gig economy workers get left to bleed out so some investors can try and get that ROI.
As usual I don’t really know where I’m going with this. But I know that I want the world to be a better place for everyone, especially people who aren’t cis white men. And I want to help at least make cycling a less cis white enterprise that has a little more awareness.
End rant.
You can tell he’s a dressage horse and she isn’t 😂
