I finally sucked it up and did it.

[Tri Girl]

So today I FINALLY bit the bullet and rode the 23 miles to work and then the 25 back home (took a different, less traveled way home). It took me 2 hours 20 min. to get to work and about the same to get home- a whopping 10.something mph average. I was fighting a nasty headwind the whole way- sustained at 20 gusting in the 30's. Ridiculous. The ride home was nice with a bit of a tailwind, but traffic was nutty and it got dark on me fast. Funny- I don't mind the morning 2 hours in the dark, but the afternoon 40 min. in the dark scared me something fierce. I think because boogie men aren't out at 5:45 a.m., but they ARE out at 5:45 p.m.

I'll definitely do it again. Here's what I learned:

*I need to eat more when I do this. I burned somewhere near 2500 calories for the 4.5 hours of riding, but only took in about 900 for the day (before dinner). I was HUN-GRY when I got home.

*I'm lit up pretty well. Most cars saw me and gave me good room to breathe. A co-worker followed me for a half mile on a "dangerous" section of road because she didn't want me to get hit. hee hee. Said she could see me from a long ways off.

*I don't mind the morning commute, but I'm tired by the end of the day- so I need to have some extra energy before leaving for the afternoon ride home.

*drivers in the morning are more patient- or just more sleepy and don't want to mess with me as much

*morning darkness really didn't scare me like I thought it would. evening darkness scared me more than I thought it would.

*I LOVED the freedom of biking all the way from home. I've done the "half" commute before- parking halfway and then riding. I don't like that as much. It's much easier to just leave from home (although it's a much longer day).

*I loved freaking out my co-workers. "you biked HOW far?" It's really not that far, but I guess to some people- nearly 50 miles in a day (although spread apart by 7 hours rest) is a lot. To me, not so much.

Thank you all for you encouragement (even though you didn't know you'd been giving it). I kept reading your posts, and although I don't do it often enough to be a "real" commuter. I really think I could get used to this. I chickened out about 4 times before I actually did it. I think the "thought" of doing it was scarier than actually doing it, ya know?

Anyway- thanks again- I love you ladies- you keep me trying new things and pushing my limits. I never would've tried the whole commute if it wasn't for you.

[KnottedYet]

Congratulations! That's very cool, doing both ways and this time of year, too!

That's about how long my commute is (both distance and time), but so far I've only done the evening ride. Worried I'd be late to work in the morning, but maybe I should switch it around instead.

The traffic in the evening is a bit tough for me to handle, and if the a.m. traffic is better...

[Zen]

Wow!
You're not thinking of doing that every day are you?

[mimitabby]

congratulations! yes! eat more and more!

and I am very proud with you, you brave woman!
(HEADWINDS?!?!? )

[RoadRaven]

Way to go, TriGirl!!!

I love biking to and from work and relish the stunned reactions of a few of my (rather sedentary) colleagues and I bike only 24km each way (about 15miles I think)

When I am biking home at the end of my day (like you 7-8 hour days) I eat a late and significant lunch about 2pm. Breadroll or wrap or quiche and also some fruit. I eat so I feel full. My house is 600metres above sea -level so the commute home from work (which is virtually sea level) is quite an effort after work.

When I eat nutritous stuff and no later than 2 hours before I plan to leave, I find I have the energy (though still hungry when I get home).

I'm like you with the darkness. I have no probs with dawn-riding, but dusk bothers me. I thought about it alot and came to the conclusion that in the morning, I know the day keeps getting lighter and more and more people will be about... but in the evening, it only gets darker and fewer people are progressively about as they are all going home.

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy... commuting is such a feel-ggod way to spend time on the bike

[Veronica]

Excellent! And what did your students think? My class thinks it's so cool that their teacher rides a bike. It bothers them when the bike is not in the back of the class. By now, they know it usually means I have a hair appointment when I don't ride.

V.

[Melalvai]

*drivers in the morning are more patient- or just more sleepy and don't want to mess with me as much.

That has been my experience too. The traffic is lighter and the drivers are respectful in the morning. I assumed that pattern is because I work at a university and morning drivers are employees while evening drivers and employees + students.

[Tri Girl]

Thanks for the encouragement, ladies.
NO- I won't be doing that everyday. Too long. When it's spring and lighter and warmer, I'll do it twice a week. For now I hope to do it once a week.

I think morning drivers haven't had a bad day yet, so they're nicer. At the end of the day, they've put up with more crap, so they don't have patience for a biker getting in their way.

Thanks for the eating tip, Road Raven. I can't eat because I teach, so my only lunch is at 12, and school is out at 3:45. I don't have a plan period in the afternoon, so I'll just plan on a bigger than normal lunch that day. I appreciate your tips!!!! And you're right about dawn- knowing that the daylight is coming. That does bring hope.

V- my students think it's cool. They were in awe when I told them how far I rode to work. Most of them ride their bikes, and they were like "5 minutes is a long way for me- I could never ride that far." I want to start a bike club (5th grade) and take them out for longer rides. District policy says I can't do that (liability), so I'm working on trying to figure something out. Hmmmm...

[Veronica]

What time do you guys start out there? Our student day is 8:15 - 2:45. Teacher time is 8:00 - 3:05.

Unless I have meetings, I bail out at 3, bringing my work home rather than staying at school to do it.

V.

[RoadRaven]

Thanks for the eating tip, Road Raven. I can't eat because I teach, so my only lunch is at 12, and school is out at 3:45. I don't have a plan period in the afternoon, so I'll just plan on a bigger than normal lunch that day.

I think the bigger lunch is the way to go - just make sure it is "solid" in terms of carbs and fibre - not cakey things as they are "empty" and don't make me feel full of oomph.

If you eat about 12:30, thats pretty much ideal. I teachtoo - but adults at a teriary institution. So if teaching, I can have a top up around 2:30 - the classes are 3 hours long with a 20 minute break in the middle. And if not teaching that day - I can eat when I want to.

[Geonz]

I'd also invest in or investigate something like Power Bars for something you can fuel up with on the way out the door. And if caffeine is your drug of choice, time its intake to get you rolling in the afternoon.
My commute (7miles) is short enough so that by the afternoon I can't *wait* to get out there (like now), tho' often I"ll extend the trip home to 13 or 23 or if it's Friday and I'm really adventurous, the Seymour-St. BOniface 32. Your commute is awesome
I tutor & sometimes get purty good ideas on the rides... which I better go and execute now (our classes aren't back yet but I'm preparing a presentation on making math 'more accessible to diverse learners' - as in all those folks who think they can't do math...)

[GLC1968]

Congrats!!

I feel the same way about dark in the morning vs the evening and for the same reasons! If you don't want to do all that riding in one day, do you have the option of driving to work with your bike, biking home and then biking back the next morning? I do that often in the winter when my commute 'feels' longer. It also keeps me from having a SUPER long day (I work 8-6...so with the commute both ways, it's very long).

I always figure that drivers were more impatient in the evening because they were on the way home and wanted to get there in a hurry. On the way into work in the morning, no one wants to get there any faster!

[kjay]

Tri Girl, you're AWESOME! Hope to see you again in August!

[bikerHen]

Way to Go! That IS a long commute. Glad everything went well for you. Interesting observation about morning dark versus evening dark. I'll be doing some early morning commuting spring and I hope drivers are nicer here as well. One thing I've found about my evening commute is that timing is everything. When I leave at the height of "rush" hour it's a scary ride home. But 30 to 45 minutes later it's a pleasant ride home. It's worth gettting home a little later and a lot happier. bikerHen

[northstar]

Just found your thread...way to go! And it is shocking how hungry you get when you commute that far. During the spring and fall, I commuted a couple times a week to work, and it is about 20 miles each way. I was RAVENOUS all day! But it's so fun! Now that there's snow and ice on the ground, I'm out of the game, though.

Good for you!!! Keep it up! It can really brighten the day!