The Dragonfly Warrior

I’m a week into April’s 30 Days of Biking and feeling good. :) My goal is to rack up at least 250 miles total. So far I’ve only gone short distances, but I’m hoping to get one good longer ride done before the end of the month. There are some excellent urban trails here.

Reblogging each week with an updated total! Trips so far:

Total: 42.2 miles

Week 2! On Wednesday evening, I witnessed/responded to a bad bike accident on my work property. The woman was riding with her friends in the city bike lanes when she hit a crack or a pothole. She swerved; a car clipped her wheel, and she went flying. She was wearing shorts, a tank top, and no helmet. There was blood; some from sliding across rough pavement but most from an impact wound on the back of her head. She was unresponsive, but I at least think she was still alive when the ambulance pulled away. Sorry for the gruesome tale but it shook me up and got me fucking frustrated at how blasé people are here about wearing helmets while riding the inner city streets. You are surrounded by two-ton motorized vehicles. Pavement is hard. Skulls are not made of titanium and skin is like tissue paper.

tl;dr Bike commuters, please wear your helmets FFS. It’s easy. It takes two seconds to put on, and there’s NO reason to leave it at home. If you don’t have one, go buy one. Your brain is certainly worth a $40 piece of protective equipment.

Total: 83.4 miles

Week 3. 

The wind is starting to wear me out. On my route, the wind seems to follow a tidal cycle. In the daytime, the wind blows out of downtown (because it’s warm there: exhaust, buildings, cars, people) and I’m riding into that wind. At night, the wind reverses along the Central corridor and blows back towards downtown (because it’s cooling down) and I’m riding out of downtown/into that wind. I have to stand up to pedal on flat stretches before I grind to a stop. Even though I understand the science, it’s maddening. And loud. Riding into a strong wind, I can’t hear myself yelling, I can’t hear cars honking, and it’s so strong it rips my breath away. I’ve only dumped my bike once, and that was while crossing the Mississippi River via Hennepin on a night when the wind was so strong it blew me sideways. LOLprops to the #30daysofbiking peeps for picking the literal windiest month of the year for this. :)

Total: 121.5 miles

Week 4 plus a couple extra.

I’m sad I didn’t get that long ride done like I wanted, but I told my dad that I’d take a 30mi+ ride with him for Father’s Day so I’ll do it then. Also, this month I saved over $100 in gas and bus fare, and found some excellent routes around the city! 10/10 would recommend. 

Total: 187.5 miles

I’m a week into April’s 30 Days of Biking and feeling good. :) My goal is to rack up at least 250 miles total. So far I’ve only gone short distances, but I’m hoping to get one good longer ride done before the end of the month. There are some excellent urban trails here.

Reblogging each week with an updated total! Trips so far:

Total: 42.2 miles

Week 2! On Wednesday evening, I witnessed/responded to a bad bike accident on my work property. The woman was riding with her friends in the city bike lanes when she hit a crack or a pothole. She swerved; a car clipped her wheel, and she went flying. She was wearing shorts, a tank top, and no helmet. There was blood; some from sliding across rough pavement but most from an impact wound on the back of her head. She was unresponsive, but I at least think she was still alive when the ambulance pulled away. Sorry for the gruesome tale but it shook me up and got me fucking frustrated at how blasé people are here about wearing helmets while riding the inner city streets. You are surrounded by two-ton motorized vehicles. Pavement is hard. Skulls are not made of titanium and skin is like tissue paper.

tl;dr Bike commuters, please wear your helmets FFS. It’s easy. It takes two seconds to put on, and there’s NO reason to leave it at home. If you don’t have one, go buy one. Your brain is certainly worth a $40 piece of protective equipment.

Total: 83.4 miles

Week 3. 

The wind is starting to wear me out. On my route, the wind seems to follow a tidal cycle. In the daytime, the wind blows out of downtown (because it’s warm there: exhaust, buildings, cars, people) and I’m riding into that wind. At night, the wind reverses along the Central corridor and blows back towards downtown (because it’s cooling down) and I’m riding out of downtown/into that wind. I have to stand up to pedal on flat stretches before I grind to a stop. Even though I understand the science, it’s maddening. And loud. Riding into a strong wind, I can’t hear myself yelling, I can’t hear cars honking, and it’s so strong it rips my breath away. I’ve only dumped my bike once, and that was while crossing the Mississippi River via Hennepin on a night when the wind was so strong it blew me sideways. LOLprops to the #30daysofbiking peeps for picking the literal windiest month of the year for this. :)

Total: 121.5 miles

I’m a week into April’s 30 Days of Biking and feeling good. :) My goal is to rack up at least 250 miles total. So far I’ve only gone short distances, but I’m hoping to get one good longer ride done before the end of the month. There are some excellent urban trails here.

Reblogging each week with an updated total! Trips so far:

Total: 42.2 miles

Week 2! On Wednesday evening, I witnessed/responded to a bad bike accident on my work property. The woman was riding with her friends in the city bike lanes when she hit a crack or a pothole. She swerved; a car clipped her wheel, and she went flying. She was wearing shorts, a tank top, and no helmet. There was blood; some from sliding across rough pavement but most from an impact wound on the back of her head. She was unresponsive, but I at least think she was still alive when the ambulance pulled away. Sorry for the gruesome tale but it shook me up and got me fucking frustrated at how blasé people are here about wearing helmets while riding the inner city streets. You are surrounded by two-ton motorized vehicles. Pavement is hard. Skulls are not made of titanium and skin is like tissue paper.

tl;dr Bike commuters, please wear your helmets FFS. It’s easy. It takes two seconds to put on, and there’s NO reason to leave it at home. If you don’t have one, go buy one. Your brain is certainly worth a $40 piece of protective equipment.

Total: 83.4 miles