First Commute This Tuesday!

[RolliePollie]

I did it!!! Yahoo!

Everything went well and I'm very happy to know I can do it. Not sure I'll be riding to work on a regular basis, but who knows. Total mileage was 24.75, average speed was 11.9 mph (16.8 going to work, a lot slower going home!).

The ride down to work was great. It only took about 35 minutes and was relatively easy since I pretty much just pointed the bike downhill and coasted to town. Well, not really, but there were no big hill climbs and lots of easy spinning. I was actually cold, which is amazing for July. I ended up riding through downtown because there were some road closures due to construction. But that went well too. I lucked out on traffic and sailed through the "scary" intersection (you would all laugh if you saw what I'm labeling as scary...it barely qualifies as in intersection at all!).

The ride home was not bad at all. My boss told me about another route to avoid downtown and that worked out great. I had to pick the bike up and walk about 250 feet across a dirt field, but it was worth it because I avoided all the intersections. I was intimidated by all the climbing I knew I had to conquer as I've never tried that route before. But it was much easier than I was expecting! The hills on my normal training ride routes actually seem more difficult. It took me an hour and 20 minutes to get home.

All in all, the "first commute" was a wonderful experience. Folks at work were very impressed when they found out I was riding. Several offered to drive me home because they just couldn't believe I was going to ride all the way "up the hill" to get back home. I have to admit, I kind of liked it that they were impressed!!!