I rode a bike, even more!

Yes, I, happily, acknowledge some repetition in my post titles. Too much of a two-wheeled good thing? I hope not. Many years, ok, a few decades in fact, ago, my friend and often most challenging competition, Matt Estes and I were, tongues in cheeks, keeping a tally of who had the least life outside of riding bikes. It was a close race, and while we briefly thought Matt might lose when he met a girlfriend, that she too ride bikes had us reconsider that he might have just pulled ahead, or fallen further down in the mire, depending on your perspective.

I like riding bikes, and that has been a big part of my life, so recent challenges doing that has been, well, challenging. My body has been fighting back, and maybe last week's epidural shot is also starting to assist in that. Yesterday, I had an appointment with a sports therapy facility on the northern boundary of Northampton to start a more focused treatment of the apparently fairly not good sprain, likely tear, of my ankle ligaments last August. I left early to ride to the bus stop to start the two transit legs of my journey, but rolling up the road, I considered switching my target to the slightly closer stop with the steep uphill in the way.

I had low gears and the ability to shift into them, so, yup, tempting, but then I considered more and thought I could also ride the slightly less steep hill of Harris Street, and then a couple miles more would have me skipping the first bus ride entirely, and even have me snagging the second bus at a stop where I could first collect some groceries. Sold! We have evolved with food as an effective motivation.

With my pannier a little more loaded, I negotiated the parking lot to the PVTA stop, and having found an online list of stop numbers, I was able to submit a text request for an update of the next bus arrival at the stop without a visible number anywhere on site. All, I believe justified, grumbling about the PVTA aside, I am still glad the service exists, but yesterday, with being informed the next bus was twenty-five minutes away, I was glad the stop was a couple hundred yards from the rail trail that would let me pedal in peace to Northampton in that time. Yay, the full trip to Northampton under my own power!

I'd left early, which left plenty of time for a stop at the Forbes Library, even with walking the last quarter mile from the Smith College parking garage which I'd earlier discovered as a dry bike parking option for when, like yesterday, I felt a few flecks of rain. Like bikes, especially dry ones, I also like libraries a lot. I could say so, so, so much more, but I'll suffice with a picture of my friend Adele's friend's t-shirt.

What's better than something you love? The combination of two things you love, and the Forbes Library manages that feat, sort of, in a few ways. For one, I met one of the librarians, Heather, last year when I joined her, her partner and my friend Ben, and Adele riding to the Bread and Puppet performance in Easthampton, and months later I recognized her bike parked out front as likely belonging to someone with more than a haphazard relation to bikes, as evidenced my the haphazard collection of parts on it.

Ben confirmed this as Heather's.

Note the old school MA-40 rim.

I did.

And for two, yesterday, on my way out the front door, the stand for a "TWO-WAY TRAFFIC"  sign caught my eye, or rather, the brand sticker for the same two-wheeled-cycle repair stand I own did. Yes, I'm a little sad to see a wonderful bit of bicycle repair kit repurposed to automobile directing duties, but I did still enjoy the smile of recognizing something bike related. Maybe it's a subtle hint to drivers that there might be a better way about town.

But I did eventually have my appointment, and I rode there, all the way from home! It seems more of a more focused physical therapy is in my future, although there's a possibility I will be able to receive that treatment closer to home, but maybe that's becoming a decreasing concern. You see, after a failed try at coordining a quick connection with Adele while in town and en route to their CSA pick-up, I consulted the PVTA schedule and learned if I hustled my ride up the Norwattuck Trail through Hadley, I might catch the next bus over the Holyoke Range Notch to home.

Yes, I've been riding more, but I've definitely been avoiding hustling, so it was an interesting test to step up my output a notch. It felt okay, and I even made it to the bus stop with four minutes to spare, according to the schedule. But ah, PVTA schedules, it seems, are not always based on the reality of real world traffic and delays, so checking the text update system (hooray, that stop has the ID number on the sign) told me it would be move accurately thirty-one minutes until the next bus, and that time would let me pedal most of the way home, even dropping down from my recent hustle pace.

I like riding, and it still wasn't hurting, so I continued rolling down route 116, and within a five span, I saw two of the buses I'd wanted, heading the opposite direction. I know scheduling is imprecise, a challenge even, but when two of the buses that are scheduled to run every half hour are both late and within five minutes of each other, it seems there must be a better way. I am still glad even the not-so-great way exists! One bonus of imperfection, it inspired me to not ride a bus at all yesterday. I rode. I rode much more than I have lately, about forty miles I think. Hoo-rah-ray!