I've ridden 100 miles (approximately) on a road bike. You may remember my proclamation of a few weeks back, inspired by Lance Armstrong's historic sixth straight win over Le Tour de France, I had decided I needed a road bike.
A bike was then purchased, and as corny as it sounds, on the very afternoon of Lance's familiar pose in front of the Arc de Triomphe.
So far, I've fallen twice. Hard. On account of the clipless pedals which lock your special shoes into the the cranks of the bike, requiring a delicate, almost graceful "twitch" of the heel in order to free them again. My problem: unlock right foot (so that I may touch the curb), but lean left -- thereby tipping ever-so-slowly into the pavement. It's the sort of fall that happens literally in slow motion. You know you're going to hit the ground, yet you can (or choose to) do nothing about it.
Aside from the falls, I'm loving it. Hills are getting slightly easier, and thanks to my wife I'm going on some nice routes around the North Shore of Boston.
There is one scenario that's maddening though. Consider the figure on the right. I'm riding along, and a huge SUV sits parked on my right. Just to the left of the SUV is a giant pothole. I have three choices here: Run into the back of the SUV, take my chances with the pothole or swerve out into the lane around both. Don't worry, I'm extremely cautious when riding. But I'm presented with this situation constantly.
And that brings me to another topic: why is cycling more popular outside the United States? I'll take a few guesses. I can't speak for all of Europe, but when we visited Sweden recently, there were few or no SUVs in sight. Gas was roughly 3 times what it is here, making it more expensive to get out on the road. Less cars, smaller cars = more room on the road.
In New England--or in any location that has harsh, snowy winters--roads are horrible. Potholes are everywhere. Salt, gravel and snowplows make for bad riding during the other seasons. Road work is constantly being done. Certainly that has to affect cycling popularity in some fashion.
Regardless, it's fun and it gets me exercising--which these days is a victory. Expect additional reports as the miles increase.