A Midlife Ride In Adolescence

 Thirteen years ago today, I wrote my first of (to date) 4195 posts on this blog.

It occurs to me now that this blog—Midlife Cycling—is in, or entering (depending on your point of view) its adolescence.  Whether that will affect its hormonal activity, I don’t know.

Speaking of hormonal activity:  I began this blog as I was starting to ride again after my longest layoff from it.  Those months off my bike were a condition of my recovery from my gender-reassignment surgery.

Also, as I have mentioned in earlier posts, this blog started as a spinoff, if you will, from my first blog:  Transwoman Times. I mentioned some of the last pre-surgery and first post-surgery rides, as well as much else in my life, on that blog.

So how has this blog changed?  I guess it has to do with how I have changed:  When I started this blog, I was still figuring out what my life, let alone my riding, would be like after, not only surgery, but years of therapy and treatments, not to mention the people who came, went and remained.

Whether this is the first post you’re reading on this blog, or you’ve been reading since my first post, I am grateful you are—and hope you will remain—with me on this journey.

I Made It Home This Time

 I finished my ride yesterday.

Normally, that would hardly be worth mentioning, especially since it's one I've done many times before:  to Greenwich, Connecticut and back.

Yesterday, however, marked one year since the crash that ended the life of Arielle, my Mercian Audax Special.  It was my first Mercian, so the loss was all the more painful.

Yesterday, I mostly retraced the route I took one year earlier. I must admit that I slowed down a bit more than I needed to, and was especially wary, when I made the turn onto Bonnefoy Avenue in New Rochelle.  That is where I crashed:  about 30 kilometers from home. Instead of home, I spent the rest of that weekend in Montefiore-New Rochelle's emergency room and Westchester Medical Center's trauma unit.

I was transferred to the latter facility because of the the impact to my face and head.  There was "slight" bleeding around my brain, but that healed relatively quickly.  After a month, I was back to riding more or less the way I was before.

 

Ironically, the "dooring" incident I suffered late in October kept me off my bike for longer, and led to a slower recovery, but the accident in New Rochelle had the potential to be more serious.  Once the bleeding around my brain subsided and there were no signs of a concussion, I was able to ride without pain:  the wounds to my face, while they required stitches, looked worse than they actually were.  On the other hand, after the "dooring," I suffered deep lacerations and injuries to my right thigh muscles and knee.  

I didn't finish that ride, either.  But I made it home yesterday, from Connecticut--and made myself a sumptuous dinner of cavatelli with broccoli rabe and fresh mozzerella, and a dessert of a fresh peach and cherries.

Celebration Rides

Yesterday's post was rather depressing, if necessary.  So today I'll be a bit more cheerful.  Or, at least, I'll follow Walt Whitman and celebrate myself.

Last Thursday, on the Fourth, I said I'd "sneak in" a ride before going to a barbecue with friends.  Well, that barbecue started a bit later than planned and, of course, there was no rule about being there when it started.  

When does a barbecue "start" anyway?  When the first burger or chicken wing is placed on the grill?  Or when the first one is eaten?  Even if you can fix a "start" time, when is someone "late" for a barbecue?  When the food runs out?  

Cyclists Resting at the Top of Pendle Hill by Gosha Gibek

Anyway, the ride I "snuck" in took me to Connecticut and back:  137 kilometers, or about 85 miles.  

A ride and a barbecue:  Really, what more could I want on my birthday--which just happens to be US Independence Day!


The other day, I celebrated another "birthday".  On Sunday, the 7th, I took another ride to Connecticut. I took a longer route, though, from Rye to the Nutmeg State, over a series of roads that climbed ridges and looped around farms north of Greenwich.  Then I descended one of those ridges into the town of Greenwich.  In all, I rode 169 kilometers, or 105 miles.

When I set out on my ride, though, I didn't realize I was celebrating another "birthday":  It's something that occurred to me while I was climbing one of the ridges.  On that day, exactly ten years ago (7 July 2009), I had my gender reassignment surgery.  It kept me off my bike for a few months and I started this blog not long after I started riding again.

Oh, and while I was riding/celebrating, the US Women's Soccer/Football team won the World Cup.  If I were just a little more self-centered, I'd say they did it for me, or there was some sort of cosmic convergence.  But I have just enough humility to believe in coincidences that I can't explain.

Then again, when you can celebrate, do you really need to explain?

Nine Years: What Writing This Blog Is Teaching Me

Nine years ago today, I started this blog in much the same way I start many of my rides:  I had a general idea of the journey I was undertaking, but I had no idea of where it would take me along the way.

About all I really knew when I published that first post was that I'd be writing about me and bicycling.  And, I supposed, anything related to them--which, of course, is open to very wide interpretation.  

So, if you've been following this blog, you've heard me ramble or rant about any and all sorts of things:  history, art, architecture, literature, New York, Paris, food, gender and more.  If you'd told me, for instance, that I would try to explain how a certain molecule works, I might have wondered whether you were partaking of substances that have only recently become legal, and only in a few states!

The fact that I write such posts (however ineptly) might be the reason why I've kept this blog going.  While I never imagined writing a post like that one, or some of the others I wrote, I also knew that this blog could not simply be a recounting of my rides or a discussion of equipment.  

 I realize now that this blog has become a forum for my experience of bicycles and cycling.  Whatever I see when I ride, what I think about when I'm adjusting my derailleur, what I recall from rides past, and the things I've learned about everything from urban panning to music as a result of my rides, are all part of my cycling experience.  

Really, I can't think of much that doesn't relate to bicycles or bicycling.   At least, there aren't many things in my life that I can separate from my experience of cycling. So, I expect that as long as I continue to write this blog, it will take twists and turns I never expected.  

Thank you, dear reader, for taking the journey with me.  I'm not done yet!

8 Years Already!

So why am I posting a picture of an 8 year old girl?

From Thanks, Mail Carrier

Well, she looks really cute on that bike. But she is relevant to this blog.  Better yet, she has something in common with it.

What?, you ask.

Midlife Cycling turns 8 years old today.   I wrote my first post on 2 June 2010.  I'm still "at it," 2567 posts later.  And I'll keep it up as long as I enjoy it.  Since I've never stopped loving cycling or writing, I don't think I'll lose the pleasure I've found in this blog and you, my audience.

So what has changed?  Writers are the worst judges of their own work, but I'm guessing that this blog has developed a "voice", whatever it may be.  In the beginning, I was probably making some effort to imitate other bike blogs I'd read, especially ones written by women. (I'm thinking particularly of Lovely Bicycle.) But I am a very different sort of woman, and cyclist, so I realized that I could do no more or less than follow my own instincts and inclinations.  Sometimes I write about my own trips or bikes; other times I write about other people's rides and machines; still other times I veer into topics that don't have much of a relationship to cycling.  Others will judge the results, but I am happy to be writing this blog and that others are reading it.

Aside from the blog itself, some other things in my life have changed since I started.  For one thing, I now have four bikes I didn't have back then:  Dee-Lilah, my new Mercian Vincitore Special; Vera, the twin-tube Miss Mercian mixte I bought about a year after I started this blog; Josephine, the Trek 412 estate-sale find and Martie, the Fuji Allegro that's become my commuter/errand bike.  And I no longer have Helene, the Miss Mercian I bought not long after I started this blog, and the two Schwinn LeTours I acquired and used as commuter/errand bikes.

Oh, and I now have one cat, Marlee, who wasn't even born when I wrote that first post.  Sadly, Charlie and Max, my feline buddies back then, are gone.  

On a happier note:  I have taken, in addition to hundreds of day rides, trips abroad which have included cycling: Prague, Paris (twice), Italy (Rome and Florence) and Montreal.  And I've been to Florida a number of times to visit my parents but also to enjoy some warm-weather riding in the middle of winter.  

I don't know what changes and adventures lie ahead.  All I know is that you'll read about them here!

Seven Years--But No Itch!

OK...So you are probably asking yourself what the most famous scene from The Seven Year Itch is doing on a blog about bicycles and bicycling.

Or maybe you're not.  Maybe you don't mind seeing it any time, anywhere.  I mean, how many people really and truly object to seeing an image of Marilyn Monroe, ever---especially this one?

Well, that scene comes from The Seven Year Itch.

No, I am not suffering from it.  For one thing, I'm not in a relationship with anyone, so I am not feeling "itching" to get out of it, or to "spice things up" with someone else.

Now, I must admit:  I had Helene, the Miss Mercian I recently sold, for nearly seven years.  I wasn't bored or dissatisfied with her:  I merely wasn't riding her much, and thought she would be happier elsewhere.  I was a little sad to see her go, but I think it's for the best, as I have Vera (my green Miss Mercian mixte) and have ordered a Mercian Vincitore Special.

And, no, I am not feeling a seven-year itch about this blog, either.  Today is indeed its seventh anniversary:  I posted my first entry on 2 June 1010.  

At that time, I was just returning to cycling after a layoff of several months, during which I was recuperating from surgery.  I had been keeping another blog, on which I once posted almost daily but for which I have not written anything in months. 

That other blog witnessed its seventh anniversary nearly two years ago.  You might say that I was getting a "seven year itch" with that blog:  I knew, then, that I was getting tired of the topic of that blog and I didn't like the directions in which it could have gone.  

On the other hand, I feel more and more energized to write on this blog.  Perhaps I am not feeling a "seven year itch" over this one because, for one thing, I have been a cyclist for most of my life and bicycles still fascinate me.  Another reason, I believe, is that I seem to have a more numerous and wider audience for this blog than my other--and I feel I have gained a clearer sense of who you are. (I have even corresponded with a few of you off-blog.)   And, the longer I write this blog, the more I find I can relate other things in my life--my work (what I get paid to do), my experiences and my other passions--to cycling.  Or, sometimes, I find I can get away with writing about them on this blog even if they have no apparent relation to cycling.  

Anyway, I thank all of you for reading my stories, rants, rambles, musings and other writings on this blog.  And I hope you will continue with me on this journey of cycling, in the middle of my life. 

Six Years: Thanks For Reading, Again!

Six years ago today, there was an Event.

All right, I'll dispense with the capital "E".  Undeniably, though, something started that day.  I know:  I started it.

It may not have changed the world at all, or even my own life very much.  Well, at least not in ways most people would see.  But it has made my life a little more interesting.  After all, it's brought me into contact with people I never would have expected to encounter.

It's also caused me to reflect on some of my experiences, which has been, at times, enlightening. 

I am talking, of course, about this blog.  On this date, six years ago, I posted my first "dispatch", if you will.  At the time, I really had no idea of what directions it would take.  My only intention was that it would be related, in some way or another, to cycling.

I also had no idea of whether anyone would actually want to read it--well, except for one person: "Velouria", the author of Lovely Bicycle. She encouraged me to write about some of my cycling experiences and reflections after reading my other blog.

Anyway...I've never come close to having as many readers as she's had.  That's all right.  I never felt discouraged about how few readers I've had at certain times, though I'll admit I was delighted to see that last month, I had more than 40 percent more page views than I had in any previous month (just over 20,000 vs. just over 14,000 in my best previous month). Also, I am thrilled to see that page views are coming from places I never would have expected, like Finland and the Ukraine. 

The thing that keeps me going, however, is that I purely and simply enjoy doing this.  Hopefully, you get at least as much pleasure out of reading my posts!

El Cinco De Bloggo

All right...Those of you who speak Spanish might hate the title of this post.  But what else was I going to call it?  A Fifth of Bloghoven?

Anyway, I am not going to deal with any weighty, serious issues (as if I ever did on this blog!).  Instead, I'm going to celebrate, and hope you join me.

You see, it was five years ago today that I wrote my very first post on this blog.  At that time, I had been writing my other blog, Transowman Time, for nearly two years.  I had just started riding again after a layoff of several months following my surgery. 

A reader of TT suggested that I start a cycling blog.  Midlife Cycling labored in the shadows of Transwoman Times before taking on a life of its own.  Actually, I very quickly found that I enjoyed writing a blog about my Journey and journeys as a cyclist and found myself putting more and more of my energy into it. 

Anyway, here I am, and here you are, dear reader, 1456 posts later.  I hope that you are enjoying this ride with me, and that we continue it for a long time.

Somehow this image--which represents the freedom cycling offers us--seems apt for my celebration of cycling and what it's given me:

Image by Julia Van Vuuren on Behance

 

Three Years!

Today I realized that I—or this blog, anyway—had reached a milestone.  A minor one, perhaps, but a milestone nonetheless.

Three years ago yesterday, I published my first post on this blog.  Now, 818 posts later, it’s still going.  And I haven’t lost my passion for it.  Or, let’s just say that it’s fun for me.  I hope that reading and following this has been fun for you, too!

In the three years I’ve been keeping this blog, I’ve tried to make it interesting, funny, thought-provoking and a conveyor of emotions and spirit.  Now, I don’t think I’ve done all of those things at the same time.  Then again, would you want to read a post that did that?

I’ve also tried not to turn it into a mere log of my rides or my bikes and equipment.  Speaking of equipment, the few reviews I’ve done are of ones that I have used for (at least relatively) extended periods of time, and for which I hadn’t seen a lot of other reviews up to the time I was writing mine. 

That is why, for example, I haven’t reviewed Mavic Open Pro rims—or, for that matter, any other Mavic rim or wheel.  I have been using Mavic wheel goods for over 30 years, and all of my current bikes sport their rims.  That’s an endorsement, I’d say.  Also, I haven’t reviewed, and don’t intend to review, Brooks B17 saddles, even though I now ride the standard version on two of my bikes (Helene and Vera) and the narrow version on my other two (Arielle and Tosca).  I could write a post, or more, about what I like about them but, for the most part, I would simply paraphrase what other fans of those saddles have already said.  

On the other hand, I hadn’t seen many reviews of the King Iris cage, White industries or MKS platform pedals, Bike Burrrito or other products reviewed on this blog.  I’ve debated whether I want to review the Carradice bags.  Some time, if I’m feeling really ambitious, I might write a blow-by-blow analysis of the bikes I now ride.  I love them all, but I still feel as if I’m learning about them.  Then again, I have felt that I was always learning about any bike I kept and rode for any period of time.

I’ve also debated whether I want to write about past bike tours or races.  If I were to write about them, I’d probably concentrate more on my feelings and impressions—and, perhaps, other things that were going on in my life—rather than to scribble (Can you do that on a computer?) travelogues or accounts of race tactics.

Anyway, as I said, I still love writing this blog, so I expect to keep it up for some time.  In the three years since I’ve started this blog, I’ve posted about three out of every four days.  I don’t know whether I’ll keep up that pace.  One thing that will determine the frequency of my future posts is, of course, what else goes on in my life. 

So, to those of you who have been reading and following this blog:  Thank you.  And if you’re here for the first time—or started following us recently—welcome aboard!  I hope you’ll enjoy the ride with me!

One Year Today

I can hardly believe it:  One year ago today, I made my first post on this blog.  


It's a strange thing:  I'm still figuring out what this blog is really "about."  I mean, I'm writing about bicycles and bicycling, and about rides past and present, in my middle age.  And I started this blog nearly a year after having my genital reconstruction surgery (what used to be known as the "sex change operation").  So, I'm guessing, as I did then, that I have a point of view that, if it is not unique, is at least one that not too many other people have.  As to what, exactly, that means, I'm still finding out.