A Mural Moment

A few Sundays back, my bike ride took me through old downtown Hampton. It had been some time since I was last in this area of town and I noticed as I slowly rode down West Queens Way that murals had been painted on several of the buildings. I was so impressed with the work, that I turned around and rode back down the street stopping to admire and take pictures.

There was a time in my bike riding life that a consumption with total miles and average speed would have prevented me from stopping. As I've grown older, while I still track my speed and mileage, I do not let either of those things keep me from enjoying other facets of riding, such as the opportunity to look around and admire. Below are a few of my favorites.To view all of them, click here

$&#@!* CARS!!!!! - #2

A couple weeks ago, I was riding work. Running late, which seems to be the rule lately, I took the shorter route which goes through Huntington Park. I was exiting the park at the light that crosses Mercury Blvd. Since I don't have enough metal on my bike to trigger the traffic light sensor, I rolled over to the light pole and pushed the button. My light turned green and out of habit, I first looked right, towards the James River Bridge, all was clear. I then looked left and noticed a white car approaching the intersection at a pretty high rate of speed. Although they had a red light and it had been red for several seconds, it was obvious that they weren't slowing down.

As the car barrelled through the intersection at 45 MPH, I noticed the female driver chatting away furiously on her cell phone. She was completely oblivious to the dangers she placed herself and others, principally me, in.

My dear readers, never take a green light for granted. Look both ways before you stomp on those pedals. It may mean the difference between life and death. It did for me on this particular morning.

Hometown

I am in La this week visiting my parents. I took the Bike Friday. As I write this I am in the middle of a bike ride. I stopped outside the library to use their WiFi. I am writing this post using my new Apple Itouch. Slow but effective.

Bicycle or Motorcycle or Both

On a recent ride, I noticed a bicycle locked to a light post. Then I noticed something peculiar about it. Running along the chain stay was the tell-tell sign of a muffler. A bicycle with a muffler - hmmm - that deserves a closer look.I had never seen anything quite like it. Notice the 2-cycle engine mounted beneath the down tube and forward of the bottom bracket and the fuel tank integrated in the rear rack.

When I got home, I googled it and found that it was a Motorella S1, made by Micromachine.

C&O Canal and GAP Ride - Postlude

Well - there you have it. 34 Blog Posts (35 counting this one) chronicling our Epic Journey of the C&O Canal Towpath and Great Allegheny Passage.

As I mention in my intro, this blog is about "looking over my handlebars and telling you what I see, experience, think and feel." That's what I've attempted to do in this series. I hope you've enjoyed reading it, as much as I enjoyed writing it.

If you wanna see all the pics of this ride, check out the photo album "C&O Canal And Great Allegheny Passage Ride 2009".

Ya'll stay in touch, cause I got more riding to do and more stories to tell.

For now though, I'm gonna sit back, relax and sip on an ice cold beer (Bell's Oberon - my favorite wheat beer).