You'll Love the Ride Even More

Getting ready for a day on the Baldwin Rail Trail. © Lloyd Lemons

Everyone discovers something unique in riding a bike

Ask a dozen cyclists what they like most about cycling, and you’ll get a dozen different answers.  But, as time goes on, and their experience deepens, their answers will often change. That’s another great thing about cycling: It sort of evolves with you. As you become more seasoned, the act of riding a bicycle morphs into something different that you often love even more. The more you ride, the more you’ll love to ride. 

What resonates with you?

A friend of mine, a long-time cyclist in his 70s, once told me that cycling can be whatever you want it to be. What to race? Then race! There are races for every age. Ride for fitness. Ride long distances. Ride in the mountains or along the beach. Or ride simply because when you’re on your bike the air seems fresher, colors more vibrant, and you feel more alive. Your bike can be a source of enjoyment in so many ways and on so many levels.

Make your ride, the best ride

Explore the cycling culture in your town. You might find a great bunch of people to ride with. Are they cyclists you can relate to? Fitness-wise? Age-wise? Style-wise? Try a ride or two with them to see if they’re a good fit. If you don’t care for big rides or big groups, go solo, and do your own thing. 

A casual ride along the river on a sunny weekend. © Lloyd Lemons
Know your bike

Become “one with the bike”. I’ve known many cyclists who love their bikes so much, they name them. But seriously, is your bike comfortable to ride? Make sure it fits you well. You should know it well enough to fix a flat or make minor repairs or adjustments if something happens on a ride. 

Develop riding confidence
Confident cycling comes from experience and understanding the rules of the road. It’s important to know how you and your vehicle (the bike) can safely co-exist with the other vehicles on the road. Experience also builds good bike handling skills.

I’ve just written a little booklet on safe road cycling. Check it out. 

Preparedness is also key to confident cycling. Carry with you the things necessary for your trip: a multi-tool, a food bar, hydration, a spare inner tube, spare cash, or whatever you think might become necessary if there’s a delay in the ride. 

Make it a memorable ride

In the early stages you should know where you’re riding to, a destination, a neighboring town, or around your community. Later, when you have more experience, it’s really fun to explore. Let your adventuresome spirit carry you along to less charted courses. Take in the sights and sounds and smells of the planet as it goes by, and use your camera to capture it. 

Share your ride with others. Post a short ride story, with a photo or two, on your favorite social media. You’ll be delighted to see how many friends will respond with favorable comments.

Cycling can be an awesome escape! Make it an adventure. Make it part of your lifestyle. But beware. It can be highly addictive. Always remember: When you’re on your bike, it’s about the ride, your best ride.

A Better Holiday

Christmas in Senoia, GA. © Lloyd 

Learning to understand each other

The drive home was long — thankfully, two hours on the freeway were the worst of it. The other five hours, through wooded miles of winding roads, were virtually traffic-free. It was the perfect time to reflect on the previous five days.

The visit itself was pleasant this time. No awkwardness. No unspoken frustrations. No raised eyebrows. No angry words. At first, a tentative compliance between hosts and visitors — youngsters and parents. Later, a relaxed camaraderie, easy laughter, and joyful gift giving. Ill feelings dissipated. A quiet, friendly calm. A welcome change to a niggling problem that was never elucidated. I won’t question success. The future seems bright.

On My Mind

A mid-century Smith Corona manual. © Lloyd Lemons

Getting unlost - 12.15.2025

This is a recurring post about what’s in my headspace at any given time. It’s partly for me to commit publicly about what I’m up to at the moment, and it’s about you, too. Maybe it will help you think about your life, and focus on things you’re curious about, want to do, or ideas you’d like to see come to fruition. I invite you to comment below.

I’ve had a frustrating year. Politically, it’s been a disaster. Enough said about that! Personally, I worked through a variety of medical problems, and feel pretty darn good going into 2026. And professionally, I’ve been kind of lost.

Why?

I’ve been a professional writer for 40+ years. I’ve written content for corporations all over the world. The COVID lockdown decimated that work, and it never returned. At 73 years old, no one is rushing to commission me for writing work. (Believe it or not, there are people who think that someone my age has outlived their talent -- yes, it’s true.)

So I intended to start writing things that would please me. I began by writing a series of memoir-ish type stories that my kids could read and hand down to their kids. But as these things often go, they’re not much interested in family history.

After the memoir stuff, I fell into a spell of moody inactivity that has been difficult for me to kick. I guess it’s the type of numbness that often comes with retirement. The problem is: I AM NOT RETIRED. I have not stopped thinking and dreaming and planning.

And I never will.

I keep myself busy with refurbishing our old house, gardening, and planning my next writing project. My problem has been the planning part. I seem to just keep planning. And planning. And planning. And the writing hasn’t been forthcoming.

Well, that type of thinking had led to analysis paralysis. The good news is: it has ended. I have resumed consistency in my writing practice and am sharing my eclectic ideas, stories, and experiences once again. Today, I am focused on returning to the writing that has always kept me curious and helped me think and learn more about myself and others.

I hope you’ll continue to follow me.

H/T to Brennan Kenneth Brown for his brilliant article.

It's Gift Giving Time!

Like new Trek. Less than 100 miles. 

If you ride a bicycle on the road or have loved ones who ride on the road, it's important to know the rules and ride safely. Here's just the booklet you need, and it will make a great Christmas gift! -- https://payhip.com/b/7uCv0

As a side note, I have this pristine Trek for sale.

Enter the world of road riding with speed and style. Own this pristine 2007 Trek Pilot 1.2, 54cm. Fits 5’6″-5’10″ rider. Comfortable riding position, EZ pedaling 27-speed drive train. Aluminum frame, carbon fork, Shimano Tiagra components. EXTRAS: dual platform multi-purpose pedals, Selle Anatomica comfort leather saddle, narrow handlebars, 2 water bottle cages. Made in the USA.

$400. (Venmo or Zelle)

What I've Been Reading Lately

I liked it!

I read this several months ago. I liked it a lot. It conveys some fascinating "Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization." The title is right on! If you ponder the universe as I do, check it out, you'll likely read it to the end.  

Having a hard time finishing it.

Curiosity keeps us thinking, learning, and evolving. I've had a high level of curiosity all my life. That's why this book caught my eye. Brian Grazer is a famous movie and television producer who has put his big ideas into big projects. While the book talks about how he's developed curiosity tools to help him learn, it dwells mostly on his ability to ask questions within his own industry. If you're interested in curiosity and love the movie business, you'll probably like this book. For me, it's a little too one-dimensional. 

The Road to Safe Cycling

It's possible to ride safely amid traffic. © Lloyd Lemons

Ride confidently in traffic every day

Riding a bicycle became very important to me after my first back surgery in 2000.

I used to be a runner, but my back could no longer take the pounding that running delivered. So, after a long recovery period, I pulled my old mountain bike out of storage, dusted it off, and started riding it. Cycling offered a way to exercise that was easy on my joints. In 2005, I went mountain biking in Moab, Utah, with my son and a friend. After that, I knew that riding a bicycle was my new sport. In 2006, I bought my first road bike, and I’ve never looked for or considered another sport since.

In 20 years, I’ve ridden in 15 states and covered tens of thousands of miles.

Today, when I’m out riding in urban and rural areas, I see people riding bikes on the road who have no idea of the rules of the road or safety precautions. They do incredibly dangerous things, break the law, disrupt traffic, and put themselves and others in peril.

There are, of course, very good organizations that teach safe cycling. I’ve attended two of them. But often the excuse for not taking a safety course is: Don’t worry about me, I KNOW how to ride a bike! But the truth is, often they don’t know a thing about how to ride on the road among the traffic of motor vehicles.

That’s why I wrote:

The 30-Minute Guide to Smart, Safe Road Cycling
A practical resource for casual riders, commuters, car-free citizens, and new ebike riders.

It’s important to remember: A bicycle is legally classified as a vehicle.

If you’re thinking of getting rid of your car and replacing it with a bicycle, this booklet is for you.

If you’re using a bicycle to commute to work, go shopping, take the kids to school, go to the bank, get some exercise, or any of the myriad things you do in a day, the information in this booklet can help you get started safely and confidently.

This booklet provides cyclists with the information, knowledge, and confidence they need to ride their bicycles on the road safely and within the law.

You can purchase the booklet on Gumroad, or Payhip.

Please consider reading it if you ride on the road, or give it to loved ones who ride their bikes on the road. It’s an easy read, and it could save a life.

Getting Through the Summer from Hell and Beyond

Friendship Fountain, Jacksonville, FL © Lloyd Lemons

Freedom to live while continuing to resist

It’s a sweltering summer here in NE Florida, as it’s been in many other areas of the US. It’s a great time to stay inside, shelter from the storm, and reevaluate some of life’s conundrums. I’ve been thinking a lot about the direction my life will take in the coming months and years. I think it would be wise for all Americans to consider their futures.

Over the past five years, my life has presented me with one obstacle after another. Starting with COVID 19, the lock-down, having multiple episodes of the affliction, the subsequent shutting down of my business and income, my son, a US Marine, having three brain surgeries caused by something he picked up in the Iraqi war, my fourth back surgery, the constant threat of losing my vision, and … all the niggling aches and pains associated with age.

And while things have improved for me on a personal level, there’s still a dark cloud over the hostile political climate we are all living under. How will I keep my sanity when the world is crazed and money is tight without burying my head in the sand?

We’re all stressed, no doubt. Aggravations persist. Threats multiply. Our future looks bleak. So, what will you do to make your life comfortably livable? (And I don’t mean comfortably numb.) I plan to engage my stiff upper lip and live my life with optimism in the wide open.

I’ve decided to compartmentalize politics as it stands today rather than let its poison eat away at me every waking hour. I intend to live my life to the fullest, and I hope you do too. But to do that, it’s important to think about the path we will take during the foreseeable future.

I plan to continue resisting the current administration’s dictatorial meanderings by talking, writing, voting, and sharing my ideas in a manner that will rally like-minded souls. Then, I disconnect from that “compartment”. I turn off the news. I don’t discuss it at friendly gatherings, and I turn off the worry meter while I work on things that I know make my life more complete. Try it, it’s liberating.

I will not allow our administration’s fiasco to change how I live my life, and I will not let it put a shadow on my family's existence. I will use the curiosity that was given me at birth to explore whatever fascinates me at the moment. I will continue to do the work that makes me happy.

For me, I see some interesting, inexpensive, drivable travel in the coming months. I’m resuming road cycling, which I’ve done for 20 years, but has been put on the back burner for a variety of reasons. I plan to continue renovating my old house, as money allows, and prep my back yard (the Greenroom) for the coming fall and winter, a time in Florida when I can bask in the crisp, fresh air. I will continue to think, write, share my thoughts with others, and live my life to the fullest.

I feel like this is a path that gives me freedom to live, while still resisting. I have faith in the American people who understand what the United States was meant to be. We’ve never reached that dreamed-of ideal, but we’ve been moving in a mostly positive direction for 250 years. I see a united people coming together to defeat the fascists and make living comfortable for everyone.

We still have the freedom to live our lives the way we see fit, while we continue to resist.