I needed a picture for this post and I’m afraid that American Commuting wasn’t cutting it (the photo is from last summer’s Japan trip). I’m also converting my gallery to a photo blog so there’s some dust going on. The point was this, I have met my goal.
When I started this, last week, I said my goal was to hit 15.3 km/h (aka about 9pmh) as my average commuting speed. That would put me on par with the Europeans. Well yesterday and today I have met that goal with surprising ease. Friday last week was slow (because of how cold it was), but yesterday and today were easy. A little chilly, enough that I needed my coat, but not too windy. A pair of light gloves and I was good to go. I’ve mastered all the bike lanes near my home and my office, so I don’t have to fool around with morons at Union Station anymore, and I’m not sopping with sweat already.
My office runs a bus from the train to our building, which is nice of them. With my bike, I don’t use it anymore. Today I got on my bike right as the bus pulled up, and my friend Rae said ‘We’ll beat you today!’ (I had beaten the bus on previous days by cheating – I left before they did). Today, though, I left shortly before they pulled out, and I was sure they’d beat me. I zipped off and after about 2/3rds of a mile the bus catches up to me and, at the next light, passes me. Expected. But I realize I’m at a point where I can skip the stoplights by hanging a left and going up the hill there. So I checked that the street is clear, cut over to the turn lane from the bike lane (far right, always, it’s much safer), and hung a left right after the light went green, shifting into first gear like a pro. The bus ended up hitting three more red lights (yes, three), while I scooted up the hill, around the corner to the double-wide (and empty) sidewalk outside my office, and was in the building and on the elevator, holding it open so the bus riders could catch up.
I felt like a rock star.
As I got upstairs to make our communal coffee, a friend says “So that’s you on the little red bike.”
Yes, yes it is.
Lessons Learned
Yes, you do need a light in the gloam of morning. It helps, it makes me feel better, and I will have to get a better one for my rear-fender.
I am more accepted as a bicyclist than I ever was as a RollerBlader. Not by the individual communities, mind you, but by the rest of the world. Today I was approached at the office and asked/told “So that was you on the little bike today.” Yes, yes it was.
You’re going to look a bit like a nerd in your gear, but as my former boss, Joe, pointed out, that just means you’ll be able to come back and get ribbed again (versus being dead, ya see).
Your butt is gonna hurt at first. No matter how soft your seat is, the fact is that your buttocks are not used to being sat on in that manner. You’ll get over it, though.
Side Bar
In strange serendipity, my BFF has a bike too. Also a Dahon, though bigger and more Euro. She has no helmet and I freaked out abotu the idea of her riding around without one. That is the one thing that will ALWAYS make me a non-Euro. Helmets. Funny thing is, if we were in Europe, I wouldn’t care. But there, the drivers are used to maniacs on bikes and don’t want to kill them. Here it’s a different story. Europeans I understand why you don’t wear them, but in America, Americans are morons. Please put one on. BFF was about to go to a local chain (Johnny Sprockets) and mentioned to me that they felt very ‘big’ and more geared towards the wanna-be Lance Armstrongs. I admitted that while I like them (and Kozy’s), they aren’t really what you think of as a neighborhood friendly shop. Great when you know what you want, but if you want some help, they may not be it. So she asked where I got my bag. Rapid Transit Cycles, says I.
We’re headed there after work today (she’s never gone shopping for gear, I know how to get there and home). In a second serendipity moment, I noticed that the owners posted a blog entry about Trusting Your Bike Sellers. And they’re right.
Performance Bicycle Shop, in Lakeview, ignored me completely when I went to poke around. CycleSmithy were great, but they tried to sell me a bike that I didn’t feel was right. At the time, I admit, I didn’t know jack about folding bikes, but they wanted me to get a hybrid commuter that felt too slippery to me. I still totally recommend them for the LakeView crowd, don’t get me wrong, but I think we fell victim to a bad meshing of needs, wants and sales. Wrong place, wrong time.
Spent TWO HOURS at Rapid Transit Cycles, and I heartily recommend them for anyone in the city who is a total newb, and feels daunted by the process of becoming a bike nerd. Also: Remember to take a day off of biking now and then, in the early days. Not for your muscles, but for your backside. Seriously. Ow.
