Heres the thing....................

So, I had a great ride today. I'm not vain enough to think that anyone wants to hear about it, but it got me thinkin'............I had the day off and I had a dual agenda- I needed to drop off JDRF posters and flyers @ all the other bike shops in the area and I wanted to try and exorcise the lactic-acid demons that had taken up residence in my quads after last nights brutal workout. So..........I climbed on the trusty fixie with the flyers in my messenger bag and Steve Earle in my ears and rolled out. I rode north from the shop to CC Cycle and Lakeshore Cycle, then over to Zeeland to hit Jade and Zeeland Schwinn, then Taco Fiesta for lunch, then Holland Cycling and Fitness on the way home. It was great.
So...........what's the point? Good question. Think about the route I had to use to go where I just said I did: Not exactly a great route eh? I rode on North River, I rode on Butternut, I rode on Riley, I rode on Old Chicago Drive, I rode on Lakewood Blvd, and I rode on South River too. With the exception of South River, all those busy roads have a "bike path", or as the Township suits refer to them to one another, "Multi Use Pedestrian Paths". Did I use them, even once?
I did not.
Was there tons of traffic? Well.........I rode from 11:00 am to 2:00pm..........you tell me. ( Hint for out of town readers.......there was tons!) Did I get hassled or feel unsafe?
I did not.
That's what I wanna talk about...............why didn't I get hassled? Why didn't I feel unsafe? is it 'cuz I look intimidating? Not likely. Is it 'cuz I just got lucky? Well.............maybe. but the fact is that I never use "M.U.P.P's" and I rarely get hassled. I'm always amazed how many more car-nightmare stories my buds and customers have than I do. Hell...........I've been ridin' around this town for 35 years!
Here's the thing................I think it might have something to do w/ the way I ride. I ride my bike in town just like I was driving a car. Always. I stop for every stop sign. I yield. I get outta the right lane if it's "right turn only" and I'm goin' straight. I act like I belong there, 'cuz I damn well do and my theory is that drivers get that, maybe on some subliminal level, and they make room for me. That's my theory anyway, and I'm sticking to it.
It's worth a try anyway, isn't it?

Here's another thing I was thinking about: I was thinking about just how completely cool Merino wool clothing is. Lemme tell you a quick story to show you what I mean: I have a black, thin wool pullover. Not just a base layer, an actual shirt, thinner than a sweater. I wear it a lot. (In fact I have it on right now.) But here's the thing....................It looks nice enough that I wore it to Doez and Mel's wedding..........that's about as dressed up as I get...........nice shirt and "church pants"...........and I wore it as our band played the reception. I put it on when I got up Sat. morning, wore it to work and all the rest of the day. First thing Sunday morning I put it on and used it as my base-layer under a wind-front jersey for that day's ride, then wore it 'til bed time. At no time during that 3 days did it smell, nor was it ever inappropriate, uncomfortable or too warm. I can't think of any other garment I've ever owned that I'd try that with. We have some wool @ the shop, Smartwool base layers, those Fox jerseys we just got it, but I think we hafta have more. If we can get folks to try it..........they're sold. ( Kinda like bib shorts!) I've heard good things about Ibex stuff and Swobo is supposed back in business after goin' under a few years back. I'll have to look into it.