Does Bicycling Reduce Stress?

April 5, 2013

The anxiety and stress of finishing my Federal and State taxes pushed me out the door for a bicycle ride. Why did I even work on my taxes on such a beautiful day? I should have been riding instead! I randomly rode around the area.

The old pump house for the reservoir for the city seemed like a good place to frame a Brompton. There's a newer pump house now, but it doesn't have columns.

Pretty windy day! can you see the bottom part of the sign floating in the wind?

Guess which direction I was riding?

A cold, clear day... You can just see the white roof of the Syracuse University Sports Dome; my homage to the SU Mens Basketball team. We'll see how they make out this weekend in the NCAA tournament.

Brompton makes me happy! Again I'll tout the advantages of the Touring Bag. My ride included a stop at  E J Wren's Homebrew store in Liverpool. I didn't buy much, and everything fit in the bag, a fact I can be sure of every time I pull out on the bike.

Yes, I felt much better when I got home. My stress had receded as my enjoyment increased.

I've just joined the local cycling club, the Onondaga Cycle Club. There's a ride tomorrow I'd like to do. I'm sure they are all big wheel, lycra wearing riders. How will it work to bring a Brompton to that mix?

Brompton Winter Riding

The winter refuses to end!

While I have been very bad at updating this blog, I have still ridden when the weather has cooperated and sometimes when the weather has not! I don't mean to be a whiner, and still...

So here's some photos of winter in Syracuse taken January 12, 2013.

This is the path I frequently ride along the lake. about 5 miles along it joins up with a much larger path that through a park. Unfortunately, this part of the path is not maintained during the winter. What you see is the snow that has partially melted after being packed down by snowmobiles. This is impossible to ride through and means there is walking and pushing involved.

The winter storms have brought down a tree onto the path, although this part was a little more rideable, because the thaw had cleared off more of the paved surface.

The main part of the path runs through the park and is plowed clear of snow for use year round by cyclists, runners, and rollerbladers. The local governments are working to complete the path so it circles the lake. I hope when they do that the path on the other side of the will be cleared in the winter. There are so few places to ride in Syracuse that are not on roads shared with cars. It would be great to have this path around the lake!

Cycle life under the gray dome. I don't mind the cold so much; gear can deal with the temperature. It's the ice and snow that is messy and sloppy. This part of town is clearer. I had hoped that the snow would be done. Hopes were dashed!

Onondaga Lake Park

According to the people at the Apple store, my MacBook has been fixed! The ride back to the mall to the Apple store is short, only about 4.5 miles. There is only one really less-than-friendly section to travel where the road is two lanes in either direction: two narrow lanes! It's an industrial area, that used to be a oil storage facility before the mall was built. Now what remains is the water treatment plant, a metals recycling facility, used car lots, petrol stations, pan handlers on the corner, and brown fields. Since most of Syracuse travels by car, there's not a lot of patience for cyclists outside of a couple of specific areas. I actually use the sidewalk through this area. There are very rarely any pedestrians.

The staff at the Apple store recognized me. Well, that's not really true. They recognized the dude with the folding bike. I was asked to demonstrate how it unfolded and what it looked like when it was in it's "bike" state. I have to admit, I was pleased. I know this sounds fatuous, and I really am proud of my brompton.

The computer was, in fact, finished, so all was packed back into the T bag. I was off. The mall, newly expanded and designated Destiny Center, is a stone's throw off Onondaga Lake, which has the dubious joy of being known as what was one of the most polluted lakes in the US. There have been years of remediation, and a recent project to remove and cap some of the most polluted areas was just started. No one swims in it. It would be foolish to eat any of the fish. And many use it for boating, scull, and kayaking. There is a very pretty lakeside park around the eastern and northern sides with a nice, paved cycle path. I thought a loop around the lake was in order.

Onondaga Lake from the northwestern looking down toward the city of Syracuse. The day was overcast and cool, good for riding, but not as good for photography.

Another photo that shows the city in the far distance.

The bridge spans a section of the Oswego River and canal, part of what connected Syracuse to the Erie Canal system and Lake Ontario.

It ended up being a 17 mile loop that made for a great ride!