Tag: cycling

Some thoughts on cycling

Carl Setzer2 Comments
I found this gem here on Pinterest.

Some of you may know that for a good chunk of my life, I was a rather militant cyclist. I lived downtown Seattle (properly, on Capitol Hill and First Hill) for the better part of a decade without owning a car. I really loved living life this way…mostly. After a few painful altercations with cars, though, I stepped away from this path. But bikes hold a dear place in my heart. So this cartoon resonates with me. I still ride, just not as much. And I’m a bit more humble of an environmentalist.

I hold some cycling aspirations. RAGBRAI, for instance, sounds like a blast! Part of me has long wanted to ride the STP (Seattle to Portland), but it seems, shall we say, antithetical to introverts. Of course, the same can be said for RAGBRAI.

This sentiment delights me (some people suppress their inner child; I got mine a bicycle). Are there any comics/graphics that speak loudly to you?

PS: here’s the link to the artist’s page. He doesn’t seem to have updated it since 2017, but there’s plenty of fun cycle-centric comics here.

Cycling, Cycling Videos, And The Need To Ride

Carl Setzer
Urban Cycling

I love cycling. Sadly, making time to ride at this point in my life is challenging, to say the least. Right after I got out of the Navy, I spent about 10 years without a car. My bike was my main mode of transportation, next my feet, next the bus. Every so often, I either took a cab, borrowed or rented a car as there were places and times that didn’t work with this lifestyle. Mainly, those moments that either need to be somewhere fast, too far or too late for the bus or weekends.

When I went back to school, I planned to ride more. I planned that I would bike to and from campus, as well as for my errands. Covid messed all that up. After the first lock-down, I got out of the habit of exercise period. At this age, the degradation from inactivity happens with a frightening ferocity. Now I’m back to walking daily and am figuring out when to block time to ride. Increments…

I’ve been watching YouTube videos to get me back into the groove. Man, everything is on YouTube! And watching these rides does help motivate me to get back into the saddle.

Today I had this one (below) going while doing some work. A group of New York City-based cyclists on a ride just out of the city. Cool that they can just hop the train, get off, and ride.

I’ve started a playlist of these to inspire me. There’s a lot of variety from urban riders to bike tours to trials riders to mountain biking. I think you should check them out. If you get inspired, too, we can meet on the road.

 

Featured Image Photo by Alex Powell from Pexels

Mountain Biking In Hawaii: Fun Video

Carl Setzer

One of my bucket list items: mountain biking in Hawaii. With that, I discovered the YouTube channel Mahalo My Dude. Now, despite the name, these guys are from the Vancouver, BC area. But the video below features biking on Oahu and Maui. So, I thought it was great, and reccomend it.

Are there any places you long to ride? Let me know!

Sustainable Living, Healthy Living and Suburbia

Carl Setzer

Yesterday was spent driving. Meetings in Late Stevens, Everett and Mountlake Terrace. Not at all uncommon. Though I travelled many miles, my body spent the day seated. This hit me at night: I just had to move. I did a little yoga, ran through taekwondo poomsaes, and was eclectic settle down. My body now expects some motion during the day now. 

My culture, my community, has evolved to minimize physical effort. Most energy expenditure gets deferred to our cars. Turns out its killing us. Whether the upswelling of type 2 diabetes or the obesity epidemic, our drive for inaction hurts us greatly. This concerns me. 

With this mindset: our obsession with speed. Faster! Faster! More and more in less time. Road Rage’s roots are herein. And those folks who get beside themselves in fury because someone is crossing the crosswalk, or being slowed by a cyclist; they’re deeply trapped in that mindset. Really, your blood pressure is going to soar into pathological levels because you need to wait ten seconds? 

I’ve wondered how society would look after healing this fracture. Well, first, we’d walk more. Or bike. We’d also have a rational engagement with time. Becoming unhinged over the most minor inconvenience is deeply unhealthy. 

As our urban areas are only going to get more dense, we need to start dealing with this stuff now. Or we don’t need to worry about North Korea nuking us: we’ll explode ourselves with self generated fury.