I rode my bike to work today!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Last Friday, I got my tax “incentive” and headed off to REI, which had it’s annual happy sale. I wanted a bike. I’ve thought about it for a while, looked at different bikes, and realized that the cheap cruiser I’d been looking at would fall apart in a month, and besides, it didn’t have gears.

So, I bought a K-2 T-Nine Breeze commuter bike. I have named it “Rocket Venus,” and I already love it dearly.

I biked to church Sunday morning. Wow! First, I’m in better shape than I thought. A three mile ride had me out of breath, but I recovered pretty quickly. Second, I couldn’t believe how lovely it was - quiet and wonderful, and I could smell things. Good things! I passed a hedgerow of honeysuckle I’d never noticed when I drove, and it smelled so good, I nearly fell off my bike.

I wanted to bike to work - a good six and a half miles each way - but the weather Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday just didn’t agree. I won’t ride that far if it wants to rain. I’m a great big wimpy coward. But, this morning, I hopped on my rocket, and did it.

And I didn’t die! (I’m very excited about this.)

So, with only thirteen and a half miles under my belt, I have saved about half a gallon of gas, gotten nearly two hours of excellent cardio-vascular exercise, spent time outside in the real world, and spared the planet several pounds of greenhouse gas.

Yay, me!

Anyone else bike to work?

2

Please wear a helmet and a high-vis jacket.

3

I just started on Monday for the first time with a brand new bike. With weather and other things, I haven’t been able to do it since but plan on it tomorrow.

My commute is about 10 miles each way mostly through the Chicago Botanic Gardens and Cook County Forest Preserve Trails.

The morning wasn’t bad, but I was a bit sweaty on the ride home. Luckily it’ll be cool tomorrow.

Also, I can’t wait until I break my butt in a little more - or at least get some muscle back there to pad my seat a little.

Congratulations!

4

Way to go! I ride my bike quite often, but not to work alas - the weather’s been too bad, and a train takes me there quicker and with no profuse sweating involved. But with the summer coming I’m hoping to do some more biking.

5

If I didn’t have a 40 mile commute that crosses a tunnel and a bridge, both of which are off-limits to bikes, I probably would ride to work.

Oh well…

6

I’d like to bike to work too, but it’s about 12 miles with a few pretty big hills. :frowning:

Doable I know, but I don’t like riding on 55mph rural highways.

7

Beautiful ride! Good on ya!

I’d love to bike to work, but 25 miles one-way with some good-sized hills and no good bike routes is a bit much. :frowning:

8

Yay! I do! I love my ride in. It’s just gorgeous. 12 miles one way, most on a trail, but about half on some busy streets, all with decent bike lanes.
Santa Rosa is a very bicycle friendly town. I only ride in the summer months, and average about once a week,although a couple of years ago I was doing it more like 2 or 3 times a week. I’ve got my calendar marked, my first ride in is scheduled for a week from today, on Bike to Work Day.

That looks like a nice commuter you’ve got.

9

I do most days, when the wind isn’t to gusty. Unfortunatly the ride is only 2.8 miles. My best commute was back in Atlanta. It was 5 miles and a lot of it was on a nice bicycle path. I miss that ride.

10

This is “bike to work week” locally and in the state
http://couleebikes.org/ http://bfw.org/btww/index.php

I biked to work on Monday, Wednesday, and today. About 4.5 miles one way.
This week was great because we had a locked room to store out bikes in (and so didn’t have to bring in helmet, pump, etc). Unfortunately there is some sort of rent dispute and we won’t be able to use the room after tomorrow. The nearest rack is pretty lousy - we do plan on getting a new one (but I’m not holding my breath)

I biked approx once a week to my old place (9.5 miles one way).

Brian

11

I can’t bike to work (I take an expressway) but I bought a bike last summer to do small errands around town. I love it. I got a dorky basket and go to the video store, the library, the drycleaners (for small orders), to meet my girlfriends at a coffee shop etc.

Well done, all here.

12

Oh, this noggin ain’t going nowhere without a good helmet strapped to it. I also have the reflective vest, two reflective ankle straps, a tail light, and a head light.

Shortly after I wrote the OP, I road from work to home. Lots more traffic that time of day, but the drivers were all nice and gave me plenty of room and yielded right of way.

My only complaint is that my ahem girly bits get extremely squashed, even with the girly engineered seat. They complained very loudly, so I told them to man up. Okay, not “man” up. Toughen up. No, not that either. Shut up? No. Stop whining. Yeah, that’s what I told 'em. Stop whining!

13

You can get gel-filled seat covers at Wal-Mart or somewhere for not too much money. Makes the seat a lot more comfortable on the boys, should do the same for girly bits…

14

I often bike to work on Fridays, because that’s when I have a half-day, it’s an unofficially “causal day,” and it’s all downhill from Hollywood to Pico-Union/downtown, so I don’t get all sweaty (about five miles). Really I do that because it’s actually faster than the bus/subway. Sometimes I have no choice but to drive. Otherwise, I will bike to any place that is close to a bus line (the buses here take up to two bikes). After driving a taxi in L.A. for nearly two years, I hate driving here.

On the weekend, or a Friday afternoon, we can coast down to Sunset Blvd. (on our bikes) and take the #2 to Malibu, or pretty close thereto. Why drive on Sunset? That’s got to be one of the most annoying things in life.

15

:smiley:

Try one of the saddles with the center cut out. I don’t know REI’s policies, but most bike shops would let you swap the saddle out at least once (as long as it’s still in brand-new condition), and often until you find one you like.

16

Try adjusting the angle of the seat - tilt it forward a couple of degrees could make all the difference.

Re helmets, don’t let the fascists make you feel guilty if you don’t want to wear one - bicycle helmets are pretty useless objects in any kind of serious crash.

17

IMO helmets are like insurance, you probably won’t need them but if you get into an accident that involves whacking your head, the helmet could make a big difference.