It's Easy to Ride to Work When You Have No Car
My car's in the shop again, and instead of hitching a ride with my wife, I decided to pedal it.
I didn't leave until after 8:00, after an unsuccessful turning upside down of the house to find biking shorts. Oh well, it's boxer day! It was 32° Fahrenheit (0° Centipede), sunny, and calm, and I warmed up pretty quicky. A roadie passed me going west.
My trip home included a trip to the Marsh store for supper food, so I left all of my work clothes in my file cabinet to save room in the pannier. I used roads called Grant, Salisbury, Lindberg, Klondike, Sharon Chapel, and Newman. For details on the route, see any number of previous posts for descriptions of the same blank-i-ty blank roads I travel every time I ride!
Anyway, Lindberg offered great photo ops for a pinkish blue sunset. If I only had remembered my camera. By the time I hit Sharon Chapel Road, it was dark.
I've mentioned before that I'm not comfortable riding in the dark on county roads. There are no street lamps, and even with my red blinky light in the back, I feel pretty vulnerable when a car passes. Because of poor planning on my part, I didn't have the headlight with me. The traffic was light, and I got home fine.
The other day, I saw a guy riding on campus with a white strobe light in front. It wasn't blinding, but it really got my attention. I may have to get one.
Since Indiana will be observing daylight saving time this year (first time in 30+ years), my 6:00am rides will start before sunrise a lot more than last year. I'm thinking of investing in an orange reflective vest and maybe some better lights to make myself more visible. By fall , I should be pretty comfortable in the dark.
Miles Ridden: 11.8
Oh! I almost forgot. The free bike is gone.
I didn't leave until after 8:00, after an unsuccessful turning upside down of the house to find biking shorts. Oh well, it's boxer day! It was 32° Fahrenheit (0° Centipede), sunny, and calm, and I warmed up pretty quicky. A roadie passed me going west.
My trip home included a trip to the Marsh store for supper food, so I left all of my work clothes in my file cabinet to save room in the pannier. I used roads called Grant, Salisbury, Lindberg, Klondike, Sharon Chapel, and Newman. For details on the route, see any number of previous posts for descriptions of the same blank-i-ty blank roads I travel every time I ride!
Anyway, Lindberg offered great photo ops for a pinkish blue sunset. If I only had remembered my camera. By the time I hit Sharon Chapel Road, it was dark.
I've mentioned before that I'm not comfortable riding in the dark on county roads. There are no street lamps, and even with my red blinky light in the back, I feel pretty vulnerable when a car passes. Because of poor planning on my part, I didn't have the headlight with me. The traffic was light, and I got home fine.
The other day, I saw a guy riding on campus with a white strobe light in front. It wasn't blinding, but it really got my attention. I may have to get one.
Since Indiana will be observing daylight saving time this year (first time in 30+ years), my 6:00am rides will start before sunrise a lot more than last year. I'm thinking of investing in an orange reflective vest and maybe some better lights to make myself more visible. By fall , I should be pretty comfortable in the dark.
Miles Ridden: 11.8
Oh! I almost forgot. The free bike is gone.
posted by Dan at 8:36 PM
1 Comments:
A car repair is what forced me to start bike commuting again about four years ago. I now commute by bike almost every day. I put 2000 miles on the car last year and 6000 miles on the bikes.
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