Posts tagged ‘YMCA’
rain commute out-takes
rain
When you’re going to end up jumping into a pool anyway, does it really matter?
One of the big gaping holes in my blog, I think, is … well, the rest of it. The not-so-pretty stuff, the traffic, the rides around town that don’t take place on the pleasantness of the greenway, but rather, tailing exhaust pipes and edging away from distracted minivan moms texting on cell phones.
view of traffic from the handlebars, in the rain {-P
I rarely take pictures while on the commuting rides, largely because it’s tricky business, not-so-safe, and I typically don’t carry my DSLR along. It’s not the kind of shooting where I can take time to stop, compose the shot. When I manage to capture anything, it’s typically blind shots from the hip with my point-and-shoot. And on days like today, rain on the lens and blindly shooting … well, not a pretty picture.
blind shot from the hip
like I said ... my arm (and a truck)
I had a couple errands to run, and since it was a better day to be swimming than cycling, I wanted to head to the pool. The weather was pretty high on the crappy scale – upper 30’s, rainy, gloomy – and probably a blessing in disguise. I ended up having the pool largely to myself.
going from wet to wetter at the Y
pool to myself
Had a great swim, got out and dried off …. just to go back out in the rain. {-P
So, although I may try to tip the scales and balance the biking photos with some real-life-on-a-bike shots, don’t hold your breath. I think I am obviously more suited to old barns and quiet rural roads. 😉
blindly shooting wet legs heading home
#330daysofbiking Day 99: experiment
Trying a bit of an experiment with this post, trying to see if I can do the entire thing by IPhone – from the photos to the photo editing to the writing and publishing of the post using the WordPress app. We’ll see … (and if this is full of typos and other errors, you’ll know why).
Today’s ride was a mid-day commute to the pool for a swim, and a few errands on the ride home. Not my favorite time to swim; I much prefer the early morning lap-swimming-only time, but some days it just doesn’t work out that way. Mid-day tends to be full of kids cutting through the lap lanes, not looking where they’re jumping in (occasionally on my head), and today some 8-year old spotted my pull buoy at the end of the lane and was about to walk off with it (I saw him and promptly put an end to that idea).
It’s back to horridly hot and humid, and the best place to be is in the water … and next time, earlier rather than later. Same for the riding, I’m afraid.
#330daysofbiking Day 68: chivalry
at the pool
Decided to take advantage of the rainless morning; rode to the pool for a swim, ran a few errands, stopped for a few groceries on the way home. And in the afternoon it rained. Hah!
I suppose this will sound sexist, but I really believe that a lot of drivers are more courteous to me – as a woman on a bike – than they typically are to most males. The route to the pool is one of my least-fun rides, traffic-wise – an interstate crossing, entrances to two major shopping centers, a four-lane commercial-zone slog. Lots of trucks. But I have to say I am grateful to all of the people who give me 3 feet (or often more) in passing, or slow down and wait until they can safely do so. Not everyone is always alert and courteous, but mostly I have remarkably few problems.
When I rode up to the bike rack at the Y, someone stopped me to tell me they had seen me riding before, and had passed me on my way over today. He said he had noticed me as I was stopped at one of the intersections, and went on to say something like, “Well, so many of the people on bicycles around here pay no attention to the lights; you seem to know what you’re doing out there, and that’s good”. I didn’t (and won’t) comment on how accurate or inaccurate he might be about other cyclists, but I thought it was a significant thing to hear from a driver – as if he was saying, “If you behave like traffic, I will treat you like traffic.” Maybe the “female factor” played into it as well – or not? Chivalry is not dead? Either way, I think it is an important statement of our responsibility to ride lawfully and courteously as well.
(And if that doesn’t work, try wearing a skirt….! ;-))
groceries ... someday, maybe they'll give me a bike rack
#30daysofbiking Day 27: storms and swimming
caught in the rain
To the pool today. Another day of unpredictable – when it came to the weather. Sun, clouds and wind on the way to the pool; not so bad. The swim part was more work than the biking part today. Not that I strictly adhere to a regimen when I swim, but most days I like to follow one of my old swim club workout sets – primarily to mix it up. (I have almost perfected the skill of being able to doze off and nap while swimming, so the “mixing-it-up” part tends to keep me conscious). It was a long swim today – for me, anyway – and by the time I finished, the storm was brewing outside.
Sure enough, got caught in a downpour on the way home. No rain gear, of course. Thankfully it was brief. From wet (pool) to wet (rain). Oh well.
anxious to be swimming outside (soon!) - rather than inside
another one of the typically (un)productive ways I spend my day
of course when you have no rain gear, you can just see it coming ...
#30daysofbiking – Day 6: day of beauty
It was another beautiful day. As much as I wanted to just go off on a road ride, I headed into town to take care of a couple of errands as well as a visit to the Y for a swim. Dropped a couple of packages off at UPS, stopped at the bank, hopped in the pool for 2000 yds, and paid my dues in the weight room. On my way home, stopped for a much-needed bit of pampering and polishing – in the manner of a pedicure. (Yes, I still have my girlie ways 😉
By the time I was done, school was out and I met up with Dillon for an early bite to eat, and also a trip to the phone store to swap out/upgrade his old phone. With everything done, I headed home. On the quiet street of the neighborhoods that I cut through to avoid a nasty main road, there was a lovely blooming cherry tree (in the photo above). Beautiful.
Not that I advocate riding in flip-flops, but sometimes a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do ... pedicure! 😉
shebicycles 