8:50PM. Just got back from an EPIC journey to the grocery store via Rollerblades. Wow, what a downhill event that was. The hills between my parent’s house and Sullivan road are incredibly intense to rollerblade on!
I think I overdid it. By the time I got to Sullivan, I was shaking from the adrenaline and the extreme breathing. My lungs were on fire, like the feeling I get when really pushing myself on a run. I think that means my lungs are getting torn up on a microscopic level, and subsequently healing themselves. That’s precisely the sort of thing that is not good for avoiding getting a respiratory disease!
I went to Albertsons. 32nd road is nice and flat, but there was more traffic than I anticipated. I was confined to the rough pavement on the shoulder for more time than was comfortable. Every chance I had when there was a break in traffic, I would take up the entire lane and it’s there that I could build up some speed.
It took me about 2 hours round trip, with shopping time included. I got a lot less food than I had hoped to get, but I’m really constrained by the size of my backpack and the weight that I can carry. The walk up the hill at the end was brutal. The sun had set at that point, so I affixed a glowstick to my backpack for extra visibility.
I wore my high-vis green Progress Daily sweater. I don’t think any cars had trouble seeing me. The roads and the lack of sidewalks in this area is troubling. I wonder how many years it will be until the population gets to the point where sidewalks and bike lanes everywhere is demanded. I miss Eugene because of that city’s bike friendliness.
It probably doesn’t have all that much to do with population. I think it has to do with lifestyle. So many people are so used to driving everywhere. It’s America, that’s the norm, not the exception. When I was 16, almost every my age was getting into driving school or at least had the desire to drive. The parking lot at my HighSchool was massive, divided into three lots, accommodating hundreds of cars.
The roads are optimized for cars, not pedestrians or bicycles. Spokane Valley didn’t even have the Appleway Trail bike path until a few years ago. That’s a great trail. I hope to see more trails like that in the years to come.
I think I’m ahead of the curve in some aspects of life. I got addicted to computers before Facebook or “Social media” even existed. I went vegan before it seemed to trend on social media. I invested in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in 2016. I was sick of social media and Government dismantling privacy and the US Constitution bit by bit before Edward Snowden blew the whistle…
I’m sick of having a sedentary lifestyle and being on the computer so much. Is this the next trend? Hopefully it is, because the more people wanting to use a bicycle instead of a car means more bike paths, bike lanes, and sidewalks!
Sidewalks suck by the way. I’d rather skate on the road than on a sidewalk. Sidewalks have those breaks in them every 3 feet or whatever it is, and those cracks are uncomfortable to ride on. In addition, sidewalks aren’t wide enough for my long legs to extend sideways and get a proper stride. Sidewalks are really built and designed for pedestrians and bicyclists. Things that go forward, and have little or no side to side motion. Rollerblading is so niche that I don’t think they get considered in city planning.
Fortunately, there are roads and pathways and if it really bothered me that much, I could move to a city which better accommodated rollerblades and active lifestyles!
Larger cities usually have pretty good surfaces for rollerblading. Downtown Spokane for example has some really good spots, and of course, the Centennial Trail!
My friend D. wants to play Weiss Schwarz on Tabletop Simulator. We’re planning on playing tomorrow. That means I gotta get my encore-more project up and running before then! I want to show it off. I think it might be useful, even though the images are not hi-res yet. Artists release things, and I want a release!
