Cycle Ti Thunder

I was on a Sunday drive and decided to see if the two bridges south of Baconton were fixed.  you can see by the photo that they are completed.

Cycle Thunder II I am recovering from a near death experience that happened on March 17, 2014.  I was hit from behind on my way to work and could have died, but I did not.  I could make up all sorts of excuses of why I should never get on a bike again, but that is not who I am. Cycle Thunder I was sitting in my living room this past week in front of the TV and my wife was napping beside me.  Out of nowhere I starting sobbing and tears flowed freely from my eyes.  Was I mourning the lost of a bicycle?  I went to work for two days this week and I carried my bike in the back of my truck.  I have not had the heart to take it out since getting it from the Dougerty Police Department.  I guess I am having a hard time of letting it go. Before I had this accident I had already made up in my mind that this 1999 Serotta Rapid Tour was the last bicycle that I would ever buy.  I had already decided that I would only ride just so fast and that...

I got my bike from the Dougerty County Police on March 24, 2014, one week after I got hit. (pictures below) and talked to the first officer on the scene. Hearing from him what happen was really somber. I will pass this along and you may find this amusing. I always ride with a Niterider Solas on my helmet. When I was hit the Solas flipped off of my helmet and landed in the road and was bright enough to act as a warning flasher to let other cars slow down for the accident. The officer let it stay there until I was gone in the ambulance then he took my bike and other parts he could find to the in-pound yard. I would endorse this product as crash proof. The officer went on to tell me that the motorist was defiantly not paying attention as he saw that I had on lots of flashers (three) plus my rain coat with a reflector stripe. Bottom line is that I have always said that if I got hit by a motorist it would not be because a motorist did not see me, it would be because they are not paying a...

I think I am ready to write about one of the scariest days of my life.  Funny thing is that I do not remember the horrific details, but I will write what my friends tell me what happened when I was unconscious or just do not remember. On Monday morning March 17, 2014 I put on my #Bicycle Commuter Cabal green jersey and  headed to work. It was drizzling slightly, but it was warm.  I had my yellow rain jacket on and three tail flashers on my bike, two red and one white. I left my house about 6:15 AM and started my 25 mile commute to work.  This commute takes me about one hour and thirty minutes. I was taking an easy pace because I had just finished a big 145 mile ride to St. Mark's on Friday so I jut wanted to relax today. Everything went as usually until I was riding on the short stretch of Newton Road (HWY 91).  I do not remember turning on to HWY 91 so everything that I write from here on is from what my friends have told me. I was struck from behin...

Sylvia had some shopping yo do. So here I am eating organic dinner after my ride.

Today I am going to do another ride south to the coast.  I will stop at Whataburger in Thomasville, GA before heading to Tallahassee, FL. I will add pictures along the way. My planned course. Here is my ride report. Winds were the training feature for the day. The closer I got to the Gulf of Mexico the stronger they got. Weather Channel had winds at 14 MPH, gusting to 17 MPH.  I was surprised to find that the largest hills on the ride were in south Tallahassee.  I was not in a hurry as I wanted to ride for the distance and not for the time. I took a few pictures. Flint River at the GA 37 over crossing east of Newton, GA More Pine Crest Country Club 2415 Old Georgia 3, Pelham, GA 31779 Me and my bike. I am happy during the first part of the ride One of the many Lakes along the highway in North Thomas County. This needs to be center The real reason I ride for 146 miles, Whataburger (with bacon this time) Metcalf, G...

I may be starting a new tradition in my cycling routine.  I clean my bike Sunday afternoon to remove a week's worth of grime.  then I go for an evening night ride through the city of Albany, GA. Last Sunday was the first really warm evening and I rode my bike without any winter sleeves or leggings.  When I rode past turtle Park it was still full of families and couples enjoying the nice early spring evening.  As I toured downtown i took some pictures of St. Paul's Episcopal Church . St. Paul's Episcopal Church St. Paul's Episcopal Church St. Paul's Episcopal Church St. Paul's Episcopal Church I was experimenting with my Samsung Note 3's ability via Android to take panorama images and remove moving objects from the final image.  Several cars past while I was taking some of these images. I am riding around town in "fixed gear" mode.  This means I am not shifting and I am riding in my hardest gear. Starting from a stop light ...

I cleaned my bike last Sunday.  I decided to take some pictures of the rust spots on the frame.  Even as I consider my options for getting a newer lighter bike I want to preserve the Serotta for bike commuting. Under the chain stay rust Under chain stay rust Under bottom bracket rust Under bottom bracket rust Under the top tube rust Under the top tube rust I really love this bike and it pains me to see the rust encroaching on the frame.  Hopefully when I do get a new bike I can then take this bike apart and have it restored.  I may consider getting it powder coated.

 This week was a hard week for me to ride.  I am getting tired of the cold wet rides in darkness.  I say this with a twist of irony as I live where the winters are quite mild compared to my friends up north.  Of course I do not have any local acquaintances that ride all year every day no matter what the weather is,  This is the longest consecutive days that I have been on my bike in my life. I wanted to have 2,000 miles behind me by Week 10 of 2014 and today I have 2,011 miles in the logs.  These miles are almost exclusively commuter miles on the same roads.  There are many benefits to riding the same route over and over.  There are plenty of downsides to this routine bike commute and I only think of them in the morning right before I start putting on my riding gear.  Since I want to encourage my positive brain and discourage negative vibes I will only list the beneficial reasons that I like bike commuting the same route day after day e...

Yesterday I watched some YouTube videos on how to fine tune a derailleur.  I had not cleaned my bike in over a month.  It has been cold and I have just been putting White Lightning on the chain when it got to loud during my commute to work.  Well Sunday evening I decided that instead of watching my girlfriend Ellen host the Oscar awards, I would clean my drive train. First I wanted to restore movement to my lower gears so I watched a few videos to remind myself of how to do it.  Down here in the flat lands I do not shift much and I wanted to use my small 12 tooth and 13 tooth rear cog on my commutes.  After about 10 minutes of adjusting I was satisfied with my work so I cleaned up the chain. This morning I rode to work on my 25 mile commute in my smaller cogs and it felt great.  I have been riding in this "single" speed mode for some time as it gives me a chance to get my legs strong for hills and then I will shift gears.  Today was a fast ride and...