How was your ride? April 3, 2008

The ride to work was sweet. The weather was nice (didn’t even have to wear my hoodie!), the trail was pretty much clear, the wind was negligible, and I went really fast. I don’t have a speedometer, but I’m guessing my speed was somewhere around WHEEEEE!!!

The ride home was something else entirely. It started out with steady rain, which gave way to those big fat wet spring snowflakes. It was cold, it was sloppy, it was scary, and it was more fun than I’ve ever had on my bike before. There is a certain joy that happens when someone gets caught in the rain (ever wonder why kissing in the rain is so romantic?). Once a person gets to the point where he or she stops worrying about getting wet and enjoys the big sloppy mess, that joy becomes apparent. I have never appreciated a cold and snowy day as much as I did riding home this morning.

First bike commute! March 28, 2008

I did it!

Three miles there!

Three miles back!

I almost wussed out. I could think of a million reasons not to ride in today: Too cold, high winds in the forecast, scratchy throat, do I really have all my stuff?, running late, and so on. I even went as far as to ask Stephen if he really needed the car today. He said he would, and then it hit me: He was counting on me to bike commute. Peer pressure rocks. I got on my bike and left.

It wasn’t exactly enjoyable; I mean, I would have much rather spent three miles on a roller coaster, or in the back of a limo with the guys from the fire calendar, but it wasn’t bad! Sure, it was 0400 and freezing outside, but my cold weather gear did its job, and I got the bonus of being outside during my favorite time of day, just before sunrise.

The highlight of the day, though, came well after my ride in. I was just sitting at my console, dispatching my dudes, when my best friend EMT Mr. C. came in to the comm center. His face LIT UP. He was so geeked-up about the fact that I rode my bike in that his voice cracked! He’s a hardcore bike geek. He’s the type of guy who will ride 50 miles in a day just for fun (hmm…him and Twin Bro should exchange numbers). The fact that my friend was proud of me gave me an ego boost that I’m still coasting on now.

I got a pleasant surprise on the way home, too: Those 20 MPH headwinds that the forecast was predicting never materialized. It was just a nice, mellow ride home, with plenty of quiet and nature and a few other bike commuters to say hi to on the way back.

The start of something March 23, 2008

After much convincing, soul-searching, and psyching up, I walked in to REI today and bought myself…a bicycle.

Starting very soon, probably this week (!!!),  I’m going to be riding to work.  It’s not that big of a deal.  It’s only a three-mile commute.  I spent all of last summer walking back and forth; I’m enamored with the greenbelt that runs pretty much from my door to the station.  So what if I have a bad day at work?  On the way home, I get to be around nature!

The bike thing was a big hurdle, though. I didn’t think I could do it.  I still have my doubts sometimes.  The last time I was on a bike was when I was 12 years old; I would ride my secondhand BMX around the neighborhood.  I’ve never really had to deal with gears or hand brakes or any of that newfangled high-tech stuff.  Besides, it’s dangerous.  Most of the “auto vs. cyclist” accidents we run on end up with the cyclist being hauled emergent to the trauma center.  And all of the bike commuters (all the cyclists in general, not counting kids) I know of are WAY more hardcore than I am.  These are people who will ride 30, 50, even 100 miles in a day just for fun.

But after consulting my (hardcore cyclist) twin brother and my husband and the internet, I’ve finally made the leap of faith and bought a bicycle.  So one of the many subplots of my life (does it even have a main plot? i don’t think so) will now be the story of some n00b attempting to become a somewhat-serious bicycle commuter.