Riding in the dark

I have been a bicycling enthusiast for many years, going back to when I was a child. I got really serious about 20 years ago, doing centuries and week long tours. I was in the best shape of my life. For a number of years there I also ran for conditioning, but a few years ago I grew weary of all the aches, pains, and nagging injuries that running seemed to provoke. So I decided to step up my cycling again (to replace running), and included a regimen of commuting to work.

After joining Intel almost five years ago my commute distance increased to eight miles each way. Though long, the route was very conducive to cycling (I love Portland, reputedly the most bicycling friendly city in the USA!) so I set a goal to commute by bike at least 50% of the time. I exceeded that goal through the summer and fall, but with darkness setting in for November commutes home I balked. I had never ridden at night, but did some research and bought lights, fenders, and reflective clothing, and just kept on commuting. It was a big success! And I love how it makes me feel.

Well, with the loss of DST, this week is the start of my night riding season. I put fresh batteries in my lights, dusted off my reflective vest, bought some reflective decals at the bike shop, and cleaned my clear lensed eyewear. I often feel I am more visible to cars with my flashing lights than I am in daylight. Yesterday was such an enjoyable night ride home. No wind, pleasant low 50’s temperature. There is something magical about riding at night. For one thing you feel like you are going so fast! (I noticed the same sensation running at night vs. day.)

I included a picture of my commute bike with lights on and fenders.

Fall at Intel

Here is the view looking west from my building at work. Gorgeous autumn day with reds, oranges, yellows, and shades of green.

All the above was sent from my iPhone, which I used to take the photo. For some reason the photo didn't transfer so I had to edit it and add using my desktop PC. If I can get this method to work then I have a convenient way to add a "cheap" blog post on a day when I'm too busy. :-)

Never fear, though. Since I'm new to blogging I have lots of pent up topics I can post on. Maybe I'll write them all up in advance and serialize them with posts each day.

First blog post

I'm inspired by the blogs of my daughters, so I'm accepting the challenge of writing a blog post each day in November.

By the way, I spent maybe 30 milliseconds deciding on a title for my blog, and it isn't "A. Craig Walker's Blog". It is "A Craig Walker's Blog", a significant difference. In other words, it isn't "The Craig Walker's Blog" just "A Craig Walker's Blog".

Today was stake conference for the Cedar Mill Oregon Stake. Our ward was assigned the 10AM session at the stake center. The high point of the conference for me was sitting together with my youngest son. I won't dwell on the reason for us sitting together at the back, namely that he was slow getting up and dealing with a sore toe so I remained behind to go with him (Suzanne and "on time" Daniel left without us). We arrived quite late. In fact, so late the parking lot was full so we parked up the street at Five Oaks School. It was a nice, sunny day, so other than being late it was a pleasant little walk. Anyway, I didn't let any of that bother me, but enjoyed the conference and counted my blessings as I contemplated the fundamental goodness of each of my children, and was pleased to be sitting with Steven (http://steven-walker.blogspot.com).