Monday, March 2, 2009

Sunnyvale to Stanford Bike Ride 3/2

Got my first bike fit recently - I'll write about bike fitting in a following post.

I went in to work early this morning, so I was able to leave a little early and get an evening ride in. It's been a wet three days in Nor Cal, and 3 hours of sunshine was just the excuse I needed for this weeks first bike ride.

My ride took me through Fremont ave, to Foothill expressway (recommend for bikers). From there I got into the Stanford campus, rode down University Ave to Middlefield and back home.

Things I learnt today:

1. Its fun to ride on large open streets, with dedicated bike lanes.
Foothill Expressway is fantastic for a ride.
Long flats, Intermediate Hills and you're able to go good distances at nice speeds.

2. Do not ride in a school campus. Too many stops signs will require that you stop every 100m.

3. Avoid busy streets or streets without dedicated bike lanes.
These streets are good for commuting, but don't really cut it for pleasure ride.
Middlefield is one such street. I've ridden Middlefield before: to work and back, but riding this street on a long pleasure ride was very different.
Too many traffic lights, too much evening traffic, and the road became a single lane in many places. I couldn't pick up any speed on my ride back. :(
However, you won't really learn to appreciate the good roads, till you go through a few such ones :)

I got a little rain on this ride too. But a little rain shouldn't be able to stop anyone. Right?


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