Cycling became my exercise of choice about five years ago, when we returned from our Mission in New Zealand. While there, I developed a persistent condition of plantar fasciitis. Cycling was my solution to this condition and still getting the cardiovascular exercise that I needed for weight control and heart health. The side benefits were not totally unexpected, but made cycling even more appealing -- my knee and hip problems connected to jogging completely disappeared. I started riding a hybrid bike that I already owned, but very quickly found that my appetite for greater times and distances was impractical with the heavier bike. While it was very comfortable for short distances, it was actually painful after a 15 - 20 mile ride. During the summer of 2010 I made the leap and have never looked back. I purchased a steel frame Bianchi road bike. With my road bike 15 -20 mile rides were no longer painful, but truly enjoyable. Steel frame bicycles are not very popular now, they're just not "cool", but I couldn't be more pleased. And it wasn't a problem at all getting it repaired after a collision with another bicycle. The unexplained dents in the frame would easily have been the kiss-of-death for a carbon frame. Enough about bicycle specifications! (That is not my purpose here.) Back to the history . . . after a year of riding my road bike with standard pedals, a choice I made intentionally at the time I purchased my bike, I felt ready to upgrade from sneakers to riding shoes equipped with cleats. That change resulted in the realization of several immediate benefits; increased speed and better bicycle control to name a few. But the most obvious change was my interest in even longer rides. I immediately found 30 and 40 miles rides to be my standard. Over the course of a couple of years of solo riding, I developed my "style" of riding which seemed to play down my initial preoccupation with speed and the overall cardiovascular workout, and focus more on the mere pleasure of the ride. This has helped me to try to take in the scenery more -- although, hunched low on my bike does not lend itself well to aimlessly gawking around. Nevertheless, I rarely go on a ride but what I am rewarded with an renewed appreciation of the beauties of nature, the varieties given to us by our Grand Creator. It is these simple masterpieces that testify that there truly is a God in Heaven, that He is our Creator and that He loves us -- this is my purpose in documenting some of my rides.
Four years ago, I decided to ride my age in miles. One mile for each year. Instead of candles on a cake, I'd put miles on my bicycle odometer. So I rode 68 miles when I turned 68 years old, in 2012. The following year I added another mile to my ride, and so on. This year (2015) I rode 71 miles -- just so I could say that I did it. A week later, on a beautiful spring day, I rode 84 miles. I did it on a whim and I was ill prepared without enough food or water, and not enough money to buy what I needed. I thought at the time that I would really like to do a multi-day road tour. So I began planning a trip. I considered several destinations, Houston, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Little Rock, Lubbock, and San Antonio to name a few that were up for consideration. I finally decided on Tulsa, Oklahoma -- primarily because that is where our daughter, Becky, was living at the time. Diane wanted to go along for logistical support. Her contribution proved to be invaluable! So my first entry will be a few pictures we took along the way. Perhaps, later on, I will add a few pictures from other rides. But for now Tulsa, Oklahoma or Bust.
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