The West Side

There has been much talk lately of bicycle advocacy.  Cities in Europe are always used as examples of what could be.  It is a bit Pollyannaish to think that we can snap our fingers and create the infrastructure of cities hundreds of years older than ours.  However, I find it inexcusable that city planners do not consider alternate transportation when designing, or redesigning streets. This also seems to be a topic that gets split along political lines.  Democrats love it, Republicans not so much.  As a conservative, I find this odd.  It isn't about making people ride bikes.  It's about allowing people the option to ride safely if they choose .   The gears of the big machine turn slowly.  Indiana has made great strides in the last few years, but comparatively there are miles to go.  Luckily there are groups out there fighting for your right to ride safely.  Local groups like the B&O Trail Association ( www.botrail.org ) have, for years, been slogging through the process

There are pluses, and minuses to owning your own business.  I'm sure the same can be said for lots of things.  One of the pluses (especially if you have a seasonal business) is off season travel.  I had logged enough air miles to circle the globe 3 or 4 times by the time I signed up for my Trek Travel vacation. I don't know that I had ever thought about riding my bike as being a vacation.  I guess it had been too close to my work for too long.  My time in the saddle had severely diminished since becoming an owner, and I wanted to get back on the bike.  This seemed like a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.  I am not used to being.......pampered.  This was something I had to get over pretty quickly.  Ever wonder what's it like to get up in the morning to find that your tires had been pumped up, and your bottles filled?  That was the daily routine.  Our guides Dan and Jess did everything.  It's funny, you get used to it pretty quickly. I've had

*Originally posted at www.a1cyclery.com  Since my last Tri Club presentation, I’ve had a couple of people ask me to further explain why I chose to use a compact crank on my new road bike.     They specifically were interested in why I chose to run the chainring sizes I am running (42/50 and now settled on 40/50).     I thought it would be better to put “pen to paper”, and put it in writing for all to see. I’m older now (NOT old though), and I’m not going to be pushing a 53 tooth big chainring anymore.     I don’t ride enough, and I don’t want to hurt that much anymore.     So, the 50t big ring was attractive.   However, the 34t little ring that comes with most, if not all, compact cranks is not (IMO) a good choice for Central Indiana.     The primary reason is the terrain is just too flat.     I would spend most of the time in the big ring, and this would limit my gearing choices not expand them.     The other problem with a 34/50 combination is that every front derailleur gear chang