Bike
Yesterday I went for a leisurely early evening bike ride with Stacy and my biking buddy around our neighborhood. Sticking mostly to the back roads to avoid the rush hour traffic we meandered around and were able to clock 11 miles in under an hour. Like I said it was more of a "cruising" ride than actively biking. I wasn't going to complain though because prior to our ride I had been finishing reading my Microbiology homework and re-writing notes from class earlier that day. After 4 hours hunched over my kitchen table exercising my mind I was ready to stretch my legs and exercise my body!
This morning I was resolute in waking up and hitting the road on my bike at 5. I wanted to see how well my new lights worked on my bike. Good thing I woke up and tossed my butt outside because it was beautiful this morning. Dark, quite, the sky full of stars, crisp air, and no vehicles were even on the road. It. Was. Awesome. I have never seen the stars as bright as they were this morning since moving to Missouri. Back home I saw it all the time because the light pollution was practically zero; I grew up in a small town. There wasn't a cloud or even a haze in the air this morning everything was in High Definition!
Gear (quick light review)
I jumped on my bike and took off going what felt like a million miles an hour. It's awesome how much faster it feels you're going at night and you can't reference objects. I had to make a small adjustment to my front light and point it down a little farther, but because the straps are only velcro it was easy to do on the fly. I didn't think I would like the velcro straps, but they've proved to be handy already. The white front light is blindingly bright and the rear red light is better than nothing. I'm a little disappointed in its brightness, but with the flashing setting used I think it does the job. It's better than nothing and if I was going to be on back roads with absolutely zero ambient light I would upgrade to brighter and larger lights. You cannot ride (without difficulty) with only these lights. They don't illuminate the path ahead of you far enough in my opinion making avoiding potential hazards difficult and last minute.
Bike
My ride was nothing special, clocking just a hair over 9 miles, but it was a good time and great stress reliever. Anytime on my bike in my mind is awesome no matter how quick it is. There is nothing like starting your day on the right foot and biking or running is my "right" foot in the morning. It puts me in the correct frame of mind to tackle my day and it's safe to say I'm addicted. I've never been a morning person and still to this day if I wake up early and do nothing I'm miserable. Throw in a light workout during the morning and I'm feeling great; it's crazy.
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