mattyblog

Late night bike riding

It's Christmas eve and I just got home after taking a late night bike ride around my neighborhood. I haven't taken the bike out much over the last year. I let myself get psyched out by the cars I was sharing the road with, started to ride less, and then hardly at all. I used to ride a lot and I was feeling a little down about how little I got out on the bike over the last year. It upset me just enough to do something about it. I decided to charge up my bike lights, pump up the tires, dust the thing off, and get out for a ride.

Being able to experience all the streets I normally ride around on without any cars was incredibly relaxing. It was so quiet that all I could hear was myself and the sounds of the bike. I wasn't constantly checking behind me, I was able to get through two way stops in the neighborhood without cars not seeing me despite wearing high-vis gear, I didn't hear any cars behind me start to floor it to get around me at high speeds on a residential street, and no one passed me close enough to nearly knock me off my bike with their side mirror as a punishment for being an inconvenience. It was just me pedaling around enjoying a bike ride without all the usual things that you have to worry about when you're on a bike and a lot of other people are in cars.

When I wasn't thinking about all that extra distracting stuff I was able to just slow down and enjoy rolling around the neighborhood. I found it to be a nice reminder of why I bought a bike in the first place.

I'll be sure to snap a photo of my winter riding getup the next time I'm out. Happy holidays!