FitView
By Efren Martinez
Great weather for Cycling
We’ve had a mild summer this year, which in turn has steered me more to riding my bike instead of running. It’s no secret that running is one of the most high-impact and strenuous exercises you can do to your joints versus any other exercise. This is why I’ve really enjoyed cycling more last summer. Over the next two months, the weather will get even better for cycling before the freezing cold winter and rain comes into play.
On October 12th The Stanislaus County Bicycle Club has their yearly Golden Hills Century. This year’s event will be starting earlier at (7:30 a.m.) for the Century and Metric Century. There will be free parking for the first 50 cars, a continental breakfast, and a new route map for easier to follow turn by turn directions, ham radio support, SAG Wagons, and a post-ride meal. Proceeds in part to help The Second Harvest Food Bank along with Safety Advocacy in Stanislaus County.
If you’re a cyclist enthusiast, you know all about this event as well as where and when the local weekly rides take place. One of my personal favorite rides is the 30-mile loop to Valley Home from Modesto. It’s a great bike ride and I’m always thrilled to not only see many other cyclists on the road to and from but also who I might meet up with at one of the most popular rest stops in Valley Home; “The Valley Home Shopping Center” AKA The Valley Home General Store. All kidding aside, it’s always a cool surprise who you just might run into there as I recently did running into these two handsome cycling “Casanovas.”
With that being said, I’d also like to remind all of my cycling friends on some safety tips that I use on my own bike rides. First of all I always let my family know when I’m going for a ride and the route and I always use the road ID app on my phone. The application tracks your ride and will notify your loved ones if you’ve stopped and have not moved for more than 5 minutes. I also use a GoPro camera. This camera mounts on top of my helmet to remind drivers that they are being recorded. It keeps us all a bit safer. As far as my cycling outfit goes I include as much neon brightness as I can wear. In fact my cycling outfit has actually been compared to a cross between a Cal Trans uniform and some of Madonna’s 1980’s video neon outfits. I am florescent! Even with all that, it’s still no guarantee that I might not fall into an accident so I always wear one of the most powerful protections in faith I have to keep me safe, my grandmothers Escapulario. For more information on this years’ Golden Hills Century please visit www.stancobike.wildapricot.org/<stancobike.wildapricot.org/>
