Friday Bike Ride

I took my 2 year old with me for a beautiful Friday bike ride. We  ride with family up in Mount Airy every once in a while on the weekends, but I thought this would be something special for him and Mommy to do :) We went and rode around Salem Lake and just had a wonderful time. We love the outdoors and riding and any spare moment we get, weather permitting, we are out of the house and enjoying the fresh air. Riding is a great way for us to spend sometime together while enjoying the world around us.

First Bike Ride

I decided to take my bike ride on Sunday since it was such a beautiful day. My children, Sophia (7) and Miles (5), love to ride their bikes around our neighborhood. We live in a cul-de-sac bay of townhouses off of a very busy road, so usually I don't allow them to leave the bay. On Sunday we rode together up to the park near our home. It was exciting for them to leave the neighborhood, yet too nerve wracking for me, I have to admit! Although we had fun and they did fine, the traffic is intense on Robinhood Road, which is the road the park near our home is on. I was too focused on the children's safety to feel relaxed and enjoy the ride, and I was very happy to return to our neighborhood.
Not willing to give up on the experience because of the high volume of traffic near our home, we road around our cul-de-sac and had a picnic lunch. I let Sophia and Miles practice riding their bikes in the parking lot around our neighbors' cars, which will help them become more proficient riders. Hopefully by the end of the semester we will be able to take our bikes out onto one of the trails in Winston. It is certainly something we enjoyed doing together on Sunday, and I look forward to making time for more frequently rides as a family.

My Biking Adventure

OMG! The first part of this adventure, I tried a stationary bike and rode for approx. 2 minutes. (how embarrassing!) I visit my mom quite often, in my old neighborhood, and decided that part two of this adventure would be riding a bike instead of driving through the neighborhood. I was wobbly at first because the bike was old. I first rode down a hill (almost busting my #!*) with the handlebars shaking back and forth. Less than a couple of minutes I started to gain control but was still a little nervous. A new road had been built at the bottom of the hill and I had to struggle, not only to stay on the bike, but to make it up the hill. Eventually, I had to push the bike. It became somewhat humorous which caused me to become even weaker. Coming down the hill in the opposite direction was exciting! (Still nervous about wrecking!) I had never really noticed all the new industrial plants and businesses while driving. This experience was definately an eye opener but fun. I MAY ride with my nieces and nephews at some point. This experience has, however; motivated to reach personal goals on the stationary bike. I did not realize just how out of shape I am in. Bike On!

First Week Bike Ride

I took a bike out onto a friend's farm, as they have a few trails laid out across their land. We rode through a few pastures and eventually came up to a mountainside, which was the most beautiful view. I didn't even imagine any city around Kernersville had that kind of view, I should admit. I enjoyed the ride for the most part, it was calming and quiet. All we heard were the occasional sounds coming from the various animals surrounding us. It was nice to have some time to get away from a classroom and the busy work schedule of daily life. When all was said and done I was VERY sore, but I felt good, like I had just taken a mini-vacation for a few hours. I have to admit - though I did enjoy it, I doubt I will be doing it again, at least not unless I can get a little physical conditioning in.. haha!

Biking: Week One

This week I began the biking portion of this class. Since my schedule is a little hectic right now I decided to do my biking in the fitness center, but I hope that later in the semester I will be able to ride outside. My legs started to hurt towards the end and my lungs felt a little tight when I was finished, but seeing that I had biked five miles made me feel like I had really accomplished something. I also found that I felt more relaxed when I was finished because I had been concentrating on something other than school and homework. My bike riding experience was really positive, and it is something I would definitely be interested in doing again. I am not sure that it will become a daily thing, but I would really like to make sure to try and work in some time each week for bike riding. I am looking forward to seeing how this will progress over the semester.

First Assigned Bike Ride

With it still being fairly cold out, I decided to ride one of the bikes in the fitness center. I was excited about this assignment because I used to really enjoy riding my bike, but I haven't in months. I rode for an hour while I listened to music. It felt really good and I was proud that I rode for 8.5 miles. The next day I thought I would be really sore, but surprisingly I wasn't. I have really enjoyed this class so far and I am excited to start working on our service projects.

Winter cycling...

Stop one along the work trip that will eventually take us up into the snowy northeast, is Penn State, in State College, PA.  Last night I walked around the college town with empty streets, I guess everyone was watching some important football game.  I came across this... advertisement? bike rack? Both?  What I found striking was that even though I found it difficult to walk on two feet, due to the ice in some spots, there were plenty of people braving the ice, and cold and cars on bikes around the campus.  There are a lot of bike lanes and greenways, both from what I can see and what I've been told.  A member of the lab I visited on Sunday told me that he bikes in everyday (rain or shine) about 3 miles.  Now 3 miles on a bike is a very nice commute.  I was also informed that people in State College, are "used to bikers".  How do we get the folks of Winston-Salem "used to bikers"?

Ok I do want to mention it here, I will also send an email around to everyone.  SAFETY FIRST.  I was watching the Vlogs from week #1 and a couple students scared me with comments like "I think Dr. Allen is trying to kill me" and "I rode to staples...and almost died".  My first reaction, before hearing the end of these honest comments was that you rode on the road and maybe had a conflict with an automobile.  It turns out that these "near death experiences" were due to the newness of this particular mode of transportation and the body's physiological response to exertion.   This is another issue entirely and please be wise as you bike, if you have never biked before, grab a friend to help you learn (yes, I know you are out there), and know your capabilities, if you can't go for a hour (unlikely in the gym due to boredom), bike for as long as you feel good.  Either way, please be SAFE!!!  Please wear a helmet and remember if you do choose to ride on a road that automobiles are big, heavy, fast, and dangerous.  People in Winston-Salem are not used to sharing the road, so please use extreme caution and use the greenway trails (no traffic) or small residential roads with light traffic.

19 Cities

Top 50 Bike Friendly Cities
Researcher	City
Alannah	San Fransisco, CA
Sarah	Long Beach, CA
Erika	Baltimore, MD
Nicole	Arlington, VA
Olivia	Washington DC
Brittany	Miami, FL
Meghan	Philadelphia, PA
Teshenia	St. Louis, MO
Heather	Carmel, NY
Kiva	Columbus, OH
Desiree'	Charleston, SC
Amy	Cleveland, OH
Cassie	Cary, NC
Kristen	Ann Arbor, MI
Lane	Pittsburgh, PA
Tia	Seattle, WA
Sara	Fargo, ND
Shannon	Minneapolis, MN
Louise	Greensboro, NC

Problem - Solution

I know Winston Salem is not NYC, but some good ideas could come from this.