Rides - Or, Get Out of the Bike Lane, Stupid!

I survived my first 13 mile round trip to and from work well enough to want to do it again. Twice more, to be exact.

(HI, MOM! Yes, I'm still doing this! No, I'm not crazy! Love you!)


Here's what I've learned about commuting by bike:

Bright clothes, reflective gear, lights, whistles....you need
it all in order for cars to know that you are there, as well as people, who have a real knack for stepping out into crosswalks while talking on their phone, oblivious to anything going on around them. I gotta get me some more reflective stuff.

Bridges, Suspension: they're like hills, with an uphill side that makes you question who in the hell thought propelling yourself on two wheels was a good idea and a downhill side, which is pretty awesome, even if you do need to keep stopping for pedestrians (see above).

Greenways: they are the best thing the city has created/restored/maintained during the heady boom days. Dedicated paths for bicyclists are truly a metroplitan treasure, I appreciate them all the more during my commute when there's a six block stretch of sharing the road with cars. In rush hour. By city hall. (Hi, Mom!)

After the first ride to work by bicycle, I was sore and stiff and generally pretty blah but then a friend reminded me that it was also cold and damp right after that day so maybe warmer weather and a bit more stretching it would be better. She was right!

I rode to work two days in a row last week, on Thursday and Friday. That's a total of 26 miles, a number that amazes me. That breaks down to four one-hour high intensity workouts over two days, which is a 400% increase in exercise. Because until this, I hardly ever worked out. (Well, actually, I swim alot on the weekends in the summer but then I cancel that out in beer and hot dogs so really, it's never.)

This week the weather has been less than optimal so tomorrow will be the only day I bike in but I'm really enjoying it!