I'm normally an avid cyclist, and in addition to commuting to my job downtown, at one time I would log more than a hundred miles most weeks. (for those who saw the earlier version I wrote "most weekends", but it should have read "most weeks". I didn't typically ride fifty miles a day on the weekends. I'd ride about 40 miles on Saturday and another 20 Sunday. The balance was scattered through the evenings).
A steep decline in my wife's health has made recreational cycling a rare treat, but today she was in good enough shape for me to do a loop through southeast Atlanta with my camera. My path took me across Moreland Avenue into North Ormewood Park, past Glenwood Park, over I-20 into the industrial area along Memorial Drive and into Cabbagetown. I've posted the photos in an album called Bike Ride, and have captioned it pretty extensively (although I've dumped the shots in in no particular order, so don't expect it to accurately reflect my route).
The bike I use for hops around the neighborhood is an interesting story in itself. I picked it up for 4 dollars at the Value Village thrift store on Moreland Avenue with the intent of converting it to a fixed gear bike. It's been so useful for short hops around the neighborhood with my camera and microcassette recorder that it has remained untouched, down to the "what were those guys thinking!?!" top tube shifters which became inexplicably ubiquitous on entry level road bikes in the 1970s.
I have considered at least putting a set of SPD pedals on the old Raleigh, so that I can efficiently expand the distances I go on the thing, but something about converting a $4.00 bike to a $74.00 bike in one ten minute burst strikes me as a bit inelegant. So for now the only thing I've done to it is oil the chain and check the brakes and tires.
To redeem myself in the eyes of my fellow vehicular cyclists, I'll post photos of my venerable old Bianchi road bike the next time I do a cycling post.
Y'all may have noticed that I haven't posted a lot of photos of Atlanta neighborhoods lately. My old digital camera bit the dust about ten months ago, and I've been shopping in my penny pinching and lethargic manner since then. I finally settled on a camera and purchased it.
