I did get out for a ride this morning on the Lager, my fixed gear bike. It was a lovely morning, bright and sunshiny, a little windy, but the sky was clear blue and everything was bright. It wasn’t very early. I was avoiding the colder early morning temperatures and figured I could enjoy some morning coffee and a little internet before hopping on the bike. So I headed out at about ten-thirty.

About the first thing I discovered when I began the ride is that I had neglected to charge my cycling computer. That is one of the big drawbacks of using the Garmin GPS computer. It does need to be charged between rides, unlike some of the other computers that just have to have the battery replaced every year or so. But since I didn’t have a computer I don’t have any stats today. I know I did about 16 miles because it’s a familiar route, and I left the house sometime around ten-thirty, as already mentioned, and I returned around eleven-forty-five. Which would mean I wasn’t maintaining an especially high pace, but then again I usually have a little slower overall average on the Lager. It’s a good workout though.

I did bring my camera along for the ride. The trick with taking photographs while on a bike ride is that you really have to will yourself to stop along the side of the road. Even when you do see a scenic view that you think would make a good picture and would convey part of the reason you enjoy being out in the world on your bike, you think to yourself, “but I have such a good pace going. I’ll have to start over again. Oh, there’s a hill up ahead and I don’t want to lose my momentum.” There are any number of reasons to not stop pedaling and take a photograph.

Further, on a slightly chilly day like today I ride with long fingered gloves, which means handling and operating the camera becomes problematic. And then there’s is the simple factor of where to stow the camera while riding. I don’t usually have a whole lot of extra pocket space on the bike.

All that being said, I did bring the camera along. I did stop. I did get the camera out and turned on. And I did discover that I had failed to put the memory card back into the camera when I took yesterday’s pictures off of it last night. So…no pictures from this bike ride. It simply goes to show that I am very much amateur hour with this photography stuff. Lesson learned.

To summarize, one bike ride, no stats and no photographs due to my forgetfulness. Is this what should be expected when I ride a bike called “Lager?”