Spring really is here, and the weather is sometimes cooperating. I didn't think it was ever going to get here, and the temperature drop on Wednesday afternoon made me doubt it's here, but it is!
I managed to get in my first two days of commuting by bike this week, so I'm feeling much better about my training progress. That allowed me to ride 4 days in a row, which, I'm sad to say, is the most I've done since last fall. But now I can focus on consistency.
I had planned to ride to work on Monday, but the 30 degree (Fahrenheit) temperature in the morning stopped me. You may call me a baby, but I think I'm just a fair weather bicycle commuter. I was able to catch a ride when I got home from work that night, and I was able to ride to work on Tuesday. It was cool in the morning, but by the time I rode home again it was shorts and sleeveless jersey weather. Fabulous! Wednesday morning I woke to an iffy weather forecast (remember since I'm still at home and not on tour I can still choose whether to ride my bike or use my car!). It was pretty warm in the morning, but the temperature was supposed to drop in the afternoon with possible accompanying rain showers or thunderstorms. Hmmm... I rode my bike anyhow, and I'm glad I did. Two days starts a pattern... The temperature drop was interesting though. It was in the low 80's at about 3 in the afternoon, and it dropped to 60 degrees during that hour. It was 60 when I left the office. Silly me, I thought the temperature was done dropping, so I dressed in shorts and a short-sleeved jersey and stashed my rain jacket and tights in my pannier. I should have stopped to pull out my extra clothes along the way, but once I was rolling I didn't want to stop. I felt and watched the temperature continute to drop as I pedaled home. It was 47 degrees by the time I was finished with my ride. A bit chilly, but a warm shower fixed me right up.
I had pretty much figured out the back roads to work before I started. I wanted to avoid route 3A, which is really a wide 2-lane road but is driven as if it's a 4-lane road. That means it's difficult to carve out room for a bicycle, especially during the homeward commute. I've noticed that the traffic seems to be crazier in the evening. Everyone seems to be very eager to get home very quickly, and people seem to drive like they are a bit cranky in the evening. My route to work includes a small stretch of 3A, less than 1/2 mile, not too bad. The section that's really tight is right before an intersection, and there's a sidewalk there that is usually empty, so I can hop up there if need be. I've been pretty happy with my inbound route since the first day. I had to do some playing with my homeward route though. My first attempt had a very nasty intersection in it - too much traffic, and I think probably too close to the exit from route 128/95. I won't do that again. The second day I headed west first even though my home is north and east of the office. That turned out to be the right way to go. I had a really pleasant ride home (in spite of the temperature drop) and discovered a very pretty road in the process. It was only the first 5 miles or so of my homeward commute that differed on the first 2 days. So my route is now 16 miles to the office, and 18 miles home. Not bad. I may do some more playing with the homeward route as the sun continues to set later - with more daylight I can add a little more mileage. I know, I know, there are good bicycle lights out there, but I really like to be off the road before dusk. Guess I'm both a fair weather and a daylight commuter.
I know I feel good after I ride. I think I had a big grin on my face when I got into the office after my bicycle commute. And I definitely appreciated having access to showers (and clean towels) at the Marriott health club. What a nice feeling - I'll definitely continue this practice. I'm hoping for 2 to 3 days a week, weather and work schedule permitting. (What - letting work get in the way of cycling? Sometimes I have to visit a customer or prospect site, so I need my car... and sometimes I need my computer for those off-site visits so I have to carry my computer home the night before. I wonder how my laptop will react to getting bounced around in a pannier on the way home - does anyone out there know? I know I can cinch the pannier in so it's not bouncing inside the pannier, but I'm a little concerned about bouncing due to rough roads...) I want to keep riding on the weekends, and I'm afraid that if I shoot for commuting 4 to 5 days a week that my weekend riding will suffer.
My ride home on Wednesday really surprised me at one point. I turned onto a road that I drive all of the time and found an uphill grade that I didn't expect. Not really a hill, just not a flat road. How funny - I never trusted drivers when they told me that a road was flat, and now I can see that even as a cyclist I see the road differently when I drive it. I also saw a little park and playground on the side of the road that I had never noticed before, even though I've driven by it many times before. It's amazing what you see when you remove step out of your car and remove that shell of metal... I've always felt that you see more from a bike, and this small experience just cemented that feeling. The wonders of the world surround me when I ride my bike - the smells, the sounds, and the sights. Of course it's nice to see the flowers in bloom, a bit of green and bright color after a long stretch without them.
I'm happy to be riding again. I feel like I'm emerging from the long tunnel of winter into a happy riding season.
Just four more weeks till my trip!
One more picture for focusing my goals, dreaming of sights of Hawaii. Photo of active lava entering the ocean courtesy of the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, taken on April 18, 2003.
