And now, a moment of self-congratulations.

[saffronhare]

I rode a bike to work today. There were all sorts of reasons for not doing it, but they were all gutless. So I did it.

Mapquest shows the most direct driving route as 5.46 miles, but that route seemed too harrowing. I bet my route was closer to 6.5 miles -- it took me about 30 minutes and involved two stops to put air in the tires, which were squidgy.



I am an inept cyclist. Sure, I'm pretty smooth on the dance floor...but my clumsiness in stopping, starting, and signaling a turn is such that I barely avoid being a danger to myself. Heck, I don't even know how to operate my gears. A backpack would have been much more clever-er than a satchel slung across my back. And did I mention that it's not actually my bike? Yeah, it's Princess Boredom's. (She was very condescending when I asked to borrow it.)I have no idea whose helmet I wore, though it seemed to fit nicely. The brakes are squeaky and my knees came up Way High, which I bet is Not Good.

If anybody feels inclined to get me a shiny new bike for my birthday, I'd like one of these Town Bikes, pretty please:

http://www.breezerbikes.com/

That said, I'm so very pleased to have done it. I'm also very pleased that agrnmn will pick me up for the homeward journey on his way back from gymnastics with Princess !Kaboom. I don't think I could make the round trip just yet. (Give me a few weeks doing it one way first.) Besides, I was going south...and that's like going downhill, right? If I can just manage to do it twice a week -- maybe Tuesdays and Fridays -- then I'll be getting some serious exercise AND saving gas. A gallon or two each month isn't a lot, but it makes a difference, I think.

Things I noticed:
In the neighborhood between 71st & 75th Streets, today is trash day.
South of 75th Street, the sidewalks are super-wide (like triple width).
There are some seriously aggressive squirrels around old downtown OP.
No hill is tougher to pedal up than the Last Hill.

Right now, I feel like my own sweaty little hero.

UPDATE: It's 1 p.m. and I'm still walking. Glad to be feeling no soreness at all, even after sitting at my desk all morning. My muscles are good to me; I should do better for them. And there are no actual bike trails I could follow from home to work -- in fact, this area of OP is a dead zone for bike trails. The route I followed should work just fine, but I'll want to look for a better place to cross 75th Street.

Comments

[teross50.livejournal.com]

U go girl!!!I am sure your two wheeler movement will be as fluid and beautiful as you on the dance floor in no time at all

You Rock!

[lightonthesill.livejournal.com]

Today you are my hero. And you get to be cool in my book for at least a week. : D

[kcwitch.livejournal.com]

wow! congrats on your bike ride! here's to hoping that you have many more to come. i don't have a town bike here but i do have a pink and purple mountain bike which used to belong to kristi you can borrow/have until you get yours for your bday if you want. i think the tires might need some air but it's nearly new and hardly used.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Pink and purple? That sounds like tremendous fun, and a very generous offer. I don't know how long Princess Boredom will tolerate having her mother's butt on her bike...I'll let you know, okay?

terribly proud of you

[zylch.livejournal.com]

Oddly curious, what route did you take?

Were I you, I'd avoid Antioch (hills seem steeper over there) and go east the couple of blocks to Foster/Santa Fe instead. Use that light to cross SMPkwy, then just follow Santa Fe to 87th (with a weird little detour to get through downtown OP) and 87th to Bluejacket/your office. That'll gives you lights to cross all the major roads (except 75th, and there's a light about a half-block out of your way on that one) while staying mostly in pleasant residential neighborhoods.

You know, since I'm not carrying gallons of milk home on a regular basis anymore, I really don't have any reason not to ride my bike to work. Except that my bike doesn't have a seat right now. Oh well.

Your bike doesn't have a seat?!

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Yes, I followed Foster south and then jigged over to Santa Fe, then over to 85th Street, where I crossed Antioch and came up on the back of my office building. The only "killer hill" was the one coming up 85th Street near Family Tree Nursery. It wasn't all that bad...I was just pooped by then.

not asking why it has no seat

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

However, I had/have an extra-comfortable bike seat, which I will look for in our garage. If it still exists in my possession, I actually even know where it *is*.

Woo!

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

If it should happen that one of us wins the lottery first, I will buy you a Breezer Town Bike. I would hope you would do the same for me; I'd love to have one to throw in the back of my car and take to lunch, the grocery store, the library, etc. I miss the bike I had in Iowa...

You know I would, sweetie.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Commuter bikes for everyone! Do you want one of the foldy-up ones?

Re: You know I would, sweetie.

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

Considering the size of my car, I think that would be the only option. I only glanced at the site though, so I don't know how well the folding bike would mesh with my wallet/Blue River trails system...

Re: not asking why it has no seat

[zylch.livejournal.com]

It has no seat because a certain Chaos hound ate it in lieu of stuffed animals over the winter :) My fault, really, for leaving it where he could get at it. But if you've got an extra just lying around, I wouldn't say no.

[kcwitch.livejournal.com]

yup

Re: not asking why it has no seat

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

Well, in honor of my girlfriend's dog, then, I am even more pleased to say that I do in fact have a bike seat sitting in my garage. You are welcome to it at any time.