Healthy weekend

After wondering if I was coming down with a cold last week, I took it easy Friday and did nothing athletic. I also got a good night's sleep. And it worked, because whatever was making my sinuses run has gone away completely. Yah!

Saturday, the hubby and I had a wedding to go to in the afternoon, so I knew I didn't have time for a long bike ride. But I got up early enough in the morning to go for a three mile run. For the second time this summer, a church was having their outreach day and handing out bottles of cold water along the bike path. I really appreciate that - especially on a warm, sunny day like Saturday.

Sunday was a gloriously unscheduled day! The hubby and I woke up relatively early and enjoyed a long day without anything official planned. I got some house cleaning done, then decided to go on a bike ride. I wanted to do the distance of the bike portion of next week's duathlon at a good pace. The problem was, I didn't know where I could ride that I wouldn't have to stop for too many cross streets, driveways or dog walkers.

My hubby suggested a route in Ada that he used to ride when he was preparing for triathlons, so I tried that. It was a bike path along a loop of not-so-busy roads. Even here, I still had to stop or slow down a lot, but I got a good workout nonetheless.

The ride yesterday served to strengthen my frustration with drivers that don't pay attention. It's made me paranoid that every car that crosses my path is not looking at me. On the one hand, this keeps me safe because I'm prepared for drivers to ignore me. On the other hand, it's anxiety causing and just plain wrong.

What irritates me even more than drivers that don't pay attention for cyclists is drivers that live on a bike path that don't pay attention for cyclists. When you're driveway crosses a highly used bike path, shouldn't you have learned to pay attention? Especially after an entire summer of young couples walking or biking with their kids and serious club riders flying by from the nearby bike shop? Shouldn't these people - at the very least - get it?

Sigh. I'd write to our mayor to plead for more education about cyclists for motorists, but he's already a strong advocate for bikes in our city. I know change takes time. I just hope no one gets hit by a car in the mean time.