58:
I rode my bicycle to schenectady today. Apparently I rode sixteen and seven tenths of a mile. This is abnormal for me. This took me about one hour and forty minutes. I am faster than when I last took note of dist/time by bike.
I learned that people generally only gave me the space I took. So if I wanted vehicles to not pass obscenely close to me, I needed to ride halfway in the lane; I felt a tad afeared each time a vehicle passed close by. Smaller vehicles are okay; pickup trucks so-so; buses, construction vehicles... only if they give me plenty of room. One cement truck did not appear to be giving me much room; I got out of its way. While passing the overpass after Wolf Road, somebody decided to accelerate by me as they honked their horn, and proceeded to cut me off (as much as a speeding vehicle going in a similar direction _could_ cut off a bicyclist). I also got sunburned (I was smart and decided to not wear long sleeves. Or sunblock.)
I felt as if riding in the road required me to be "on." I felt I needed more aggression in my mind than normal... more "enthusiasm" or something. I felt I needed to "claim" my space. Will I transfer this to motorized vehicles? Both ideas I do not particularly like. I disliked the nearness (in my mind) of the chance to be hit. I liked that it made an hour-forty-minute ride seem not too long, though. (Before, anything more than an hour was too long in my mind).
I decided later to take the bus back to Albany. Some other guy with a bike gets on at the first stop, too. He asks me if my phone does texting, which I deny any ability to do so; he asks for paper, which I provide; asks around for pen; writes something. Three quarters of his portion of the ride, he hands me the paper and says, "this is for you." It says, "Hi, my name is Matt. Do you want to hang out sometime? Let me know. [phone number]." I though this very strange. Very much like that Sazer guy at the library, or the christian housing manager guy, or Vicente on the bus, or at least a few others who are not coming to mind right now.
I feel better when biking. There is no good or bad or right or wrong. I am not "trying" or anything like that...Aside, yesterday I read about laughter clubs and transcendental laughing.
I learned that people generally only gave me the space I took. So if I wanted vehicles to not pass obscenely close to me, I needed to ride halfway in the lane; I felt a tad afeared each time a vehicle passed close by. Smaller vehicles are okay; pickup trucks so-so; buses, construction vehicles... only if they give me plenty of room. One cement truck did not appear to be giving me much room; I got out of its way. While passing the overpass after Wolf Road, somebody decided to accelerate by me as they honked their horn, and proceeded to cut me off (as much as a speeding vehicle going in a similar direction _could_ cut off a bicyclist). I also got sunburned (I was smart and decided to not wear long sleeves. Or sunblock.)
I felt as if riding in the road required me to be "on." I felt I needed more aggression in my mind than normal... more "enthusiasm" or something. I felt I needed to "claim" my space. Will I transfer this to motorized vehicles? Both ideas I do not particularly like. I disliked the nearness (in my mind) of the chance to be hit. I liked that it made an hour-forty-minute ride seem not too long, though. (Before, anything more than an hour was too long in my mind).
I decided later to take the bus back to Albany. Some other guy with a bike gets on at the first stop, too. He asks me if my phone does texting, which I deny any ability to do so; he asks for paper, which I provide; asks around for pen; writes something. Three quarters of his portion of the ride, he hands me the paper and says, "this is for you." It says, "Hi, my name is Matt. Do you want to hang out sometime? Let me know. [phone number]." I though this very strange. Very much like that Sazer guy at the library, or the christian housing manager guy, or Vicente on the bus, or at least a few others who are not coming to mind right now.
I feel better when biking. There is no good or bad or right or wrong. I am not "trying" or anything like that...Aside, yesterday I read about laughter clubs and transcendental laughing.