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It’s been a couple of years since I last had anything to post about even though there has been a few miles down the road. Shortly after my last post in August 2023, my Specialized S-Works bike was accidentally ran over by a friend when he was backing out of my driveway. No blame on him; but a lesson here is that it is always one’s own responsibility to take care of your own bike. Things in life like this can happen and it’s best to make the best of it.

So…I pulled out my 13YO Orbea and rode on that til I decided what to do next. I really am one that leans heavily towards Specialized and began to check out their new bikes. While online at their website, I chatted with one of their reps and the equivalent new bike to the one I had was going to be way more than what I could spend. But after looking at a number I decided to go with the Specialized Tarmac SL8 Expert.

Little did I know how much this bike would transform my riding. Of course, pretty much all new bikes today come with electronic shifting and disc brakes (those two features are major pluses compared to the rim brakes and standing shifting). But what really helped out was the SRAM group set of 48/35 chain ring and the 12 speed 10-36 cassette. The SRAM Rival E-tap electronic shifting has also the power meter in the crank set.

The 48/35 & 10-36 group set provides a variety of different combinations for various types of elevation and speeds that allows me to stay in the group rides much longer before getting dropped.

Besides it is a good looking bike as well! I suppose good things can come from something that seemed devastating at the time! Ride Safe! Ride Lots!

What do we call ourselves if we ride a bicycle?  Are we cyclists or bikers?  What brought this to mind was a friend of mine sent me a text and asked if I had heard about a “biker” being involved in an incident with a vehicle on a street near where we lived.

So, I googled…”is a cyclist a biker?”  Of course, there were numerous hits.  But the first one that appeared was from the website Grammarist.  Here is what they had to say:

“A cyclist (or bicyclist) is someone who rides a bicycle. A biker is someone who rides a
motorcycle. These terms are an ongoing subject of controversy, especially in cyclist circles. But it’s best to refer to groups of people as they refer to themselves. Cyclists generally call themselves cyclists, and bikers call themselves bikers. This is the case in the U.S., at least.”

This is coming from a website that is all about the right wording and grammar!  The next hit was from the Bible of Bicycling….Bicycling Magazine….and they simply asked the readers what they thought was correct.  Yes, you are correct.  There were hundreds of responses and Bicycling magazine even did a YouTube video on it https://youtu.be/lr6j2gj8hRU

However, they best summed it up as the following: “Bikers ride motorcycles, cyclists ride road bicycles, and mountain bikers ride mountain bikes.”

So, one last look at the hundreds of articles on this topic was the Columbia Journalism Review.  This is from what is considered the top journalism school in the country.  So, I think they should have the final word:

“To play it safe, shy away from nicknames and diminutives, and call someone a “bicyclist” if they ride a “bicycle,” and a “motorcyclist” if they ride a “motorcycle,” unless they express a preference for what to be called.”

Now I will provide my expertise on this matter.  I call myself a cyclist.  Bikers are those that ride a motorcycle.   When another person who rides a bicycle refers to someone who is riding a bicycle as a biker, I will casually bring into that conversation that the person is a cyclist.

But that leaves one final thought that you may have had.  Why do you have your website as bikeablene.com and not cyclingabilene.com or cycleabilene.com?  The answer to that is quite simple. 

More than ten years ago when my wife (who was living at the time) and I went up to Denver to visit our daughter who was and still is living there, we attended a large art festival in the Cherry Creek area of Denver.  There was a gathering point for those (families and individuals) riding their bicycles to leave them in a secure area.  It was managed by BikeDenver.org.  So, I thought why not have that website in Abilene and as my yahoo email account. 

Ride Safe!  Ride Lots!   (Or should I say…Cycle Safe! Cycle Lots! or Bike Safe! Bike Lots!) 🙂

It’s been over a year and roughly 5,800 miles on my bike since I last placed some words on my post. We have made it through 2021 in hopes that we can have more of a usual year next in 2022; but what we have to deal with now may be the usual in the years to come. I hope not!

You might be wondering about the title of this post.

Last Sunday, December 5th, I was out for our usual Sunday group ride. And as usual I sometimes get dropped and get behind the others in the group. It was no big deal since we were near the end of our ride on a rural road that is called Bell Plains. This road runs east – west for about 3 1/2 miles with a highway on the east side and FM road to the west. In between there are a lot of homes out in the country. There was a strong southwest wind that day and the stretch of Bell Plains that I was on had a gentle decent to it; so my speed was in the 20-25 range. After being on the road for a minute or two, I could tell there was a diesel truck coming in hot behind me. Most of the times cars will slow and move to the left and pass you. There was another car coming westbound on Bell Plains and this situation seemed different. This truck was not slowing down. I happened to make a quick glance to my back left and the diesel truck was right on my rear wheel. How I was able to move to the right quickly enough and not be hit by the truck puzzles me. The truck went by and out of frustration I yelled at the truck (why I was thinking that he would hear me from his cab I don’t know) and the driver stopped in the middle of the road. He yelled at me and told me to get the f**** off the road since I didn’t have insurance on my bike. That comment right there showed me what type of an idiot I was dealing with. (As for the westbound car, they did circle back and check on me and provided me their contact info since they saw the whole event and they were even honking at the truck to hopefully make it slow down.)

Of course, this happened so quickly and right before he took off I took a picture with my HTC RE camera that I carry with me on my rides in hope that I would be able to get his license plates. Unfortunately, even though he stopped about 25 yards up the road, I wasn’t able to obtain a clear resolution of the plates even after running the picture through one of the free software programs on the web for situations like this. I did report to the local sheriff’s office and of course they would need a license plate #. I even sent the picture over to a friend who is the PIO for the the local police department and he will give it a try on what software they use (no results yet).

Therefore, lessons to learn from this. Obviously, be sure and get a picture of the plates, the person, who is the driver and any other details that may be important. Things like this happen quickly and afterwards (if we are not hit) then we need to be in this mindset to remember what needs to be done.

I am thankful that nothing happened. I didn’t wreck my bike getting off the road at that last second. The driver didn’t hit me – even though I honestly believe that was his intent.

I also ask that you read this about a cyclist in Boulder who was a victim of a hit-and-run and the driver was convicted and sentenced to 2 years in prison. https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/biking/driver-hit-run-bike-justice/

So if you see this truck….be sure and get his license plates and let me know.

We have certainly heard of the expression about having 2020 vision. But needless to say that this 2020 year, our vision has been blurred quite a bit with something called Covid-19.

Since my last post on 10 March, we have experience some difficulties in life that have produced words that we don’t normally use in our everyday vocabulary. Words such as lock downs, unprecedented times, mask, social distancing, flatten the curve, isolation, pandemic, quarantine, Zoom, virtual, etc, etc, etc.

But a few words that have been a part of this “unprecedented times” have been words that those of us who cycle are using and have continued to use. Words such as cycling, bicycle, riding, pedals, handlebars, gears, brakes, tire, miles ridden, Strava, PR’s, etc

Some of us may have found the pleasure of riding that bike again for the first time since childhood. The freedom it brings once you got on the bike was great. Also, the enjoyment you felt when you and your family went out on a ride around the neighborhood.

I am sure by now you know that cycling has dramatically increased over the past 6-7 months during this pandemic. You can Google “cycling in the pandemic” and you will have 124 million results to look at! Speaking to my local bike shop owner, he (and everyone else in the biking industry) did not see this coming. Bikes are no where to be found. People are bringing in bikes that have not been used in years…not 2-3 years; but 20-30 years! https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/04/coronavirus-biking-critical-in-cities

This is great! But for those of us that ride often and will continue to ride during a pandemic, during cool or warm weather, we encourage you that have found the enjoyment again, to treat each day, month, and year as if the pandemic is ongoing and you want to be out riding on that bike.

But remember, ride with a helmet. Ride with a rear and front light. Ride with the traffic (not against it ….run against traffic…ride with the traffic).

Ride safe. Ride lots!

If you enjoy cycling as much as I do, I am sure you have more than one bike.  There is a book I would highly recommend called “The Rules: The Way of the Cycling Disciple.” (You can find it on Amazon)  In it, there are 95 rules to follow for those who cycle.  From rule #1 “Obey all rules” to #95 “Never lift your bike over your head,” you will find some that you will certainly understand and others you will question.  The one that relates to this entry is rule # 12 – “The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.”  By this you will know that there is always room for one more bike!  Of course a sub-rule to that is never sell a bike!  

So back to the bikes we own….I own 6 bikes.  I have my very first bike I bought brand new in 1977 – Raleigh Super Course 5 speed.  I also have a ’76 John Deere 3-speed cruiser, a Trek Mtn Bike, a 2005 Specialized Rubaix, a 2009 Orbea Orca, and the 2015 Specialized S-Works Tarmac.

The Tarmac S-Works is very nice and one that I am fortunate to be able to acquire (obviously the most expensive of the 6).  The one that has the most value is the ’76 John Deere.  My late wife – Jo Carol – found this one at an estate sale for $5 and was wanting to use it to decorate the yard with a basket and flowers.  You’ve seen that before.  But unfortunately, she never got that opportunity since cancer came.  So I took the bike to my local bike shop and since it needed almost everything except a new frame, I have a rideable bike now.

So, make room for that extra bike.  Get that bike fixed up if it is sitting there with a flat tire or two.  Spring is here and get out and ride.

Ride safe!  Ride lots!!