I used to be quite a bicycling enthusiast. In my younger days I had a great neighborhood to ride around in... .15 miles down, .15 miles up, .10 flat. Most was shaded by huge oak trees and almost no cars because it was a road with no outlet.
When I ventured out into the land of cars it was a much longer hill which I would race down at 50mph or so and then crawl back up after a few or many miles of riding about the Lehigh Valley.
Bicycling was big there and so drivers were accustomed to seeing us about. The Valley Preferred Cycling Center (back in the day it was simply... The Velodrome) made cycling big and it also was a place to see the top US track racers on Friday nights. I was much more of a tour about the countryside at a slow pace kind of dude, but I enjoyed those Friday nights of racing.
I have not been there in years, so I was glad to see it still existed and thriving with a variety of events. Mosaic Woman, who remembers the vegetarian food from the one time I took her many moons ago, is glad to see the menu is bigger and still friendly to her diet. Maybe one Friday I will be telling you about being there. Mosaic Woman seems up for the date.
My bike is a dusty and spider web covered mess in my garage. I don't feel safe on these crowded roads (my excuse and I'm sticking with it). My dad took this photo...
It was 1986 and I had recently graduated from East Stroudsburg University. My immediate goal in life was to head north to see the Catskill Mountains on my bike. Folk in campgrounds would see my vehicle of choice and my 135 pound body and feed me well. So as my friends were preparing for grad school I was rambling on my bike. No set route. I would start each day with no goal but a direction. I would stop when a campground emerged. Hmmm, sounds a bit like how I still live parts of my life.
Anyway, check out The Velodrome. The Lehigh Valley is blessed to have such a place.
as for last week's post... there were no pancakes, but the shade saved me, while Mosaic Woman was whisked away by her sister to cool off inside for awhile.
I probably need to drag my bicycle out of storage and try riding it again. The oldest daughter and hubby bought it for me maybe ten years ago, one of the older chain-driven, no gears, models as I had requested; but too many dogs run loose in this area and the seat, at the time, was uncomfortable for the size of my rearend. Maybe the loss in weight is reason to try it once again.....
ReplyDeleteJim... I have put on about 40 pounds since that photo, mostly intentional... thought some extra body mass could be a good thing for when and if I need to take on an illness
ReplyDeleteStratoz, I raced there from the late 70's to 1990.
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