No More Excuses! Tomorrow's the Day!

[wackyjacky1]

I have run out of excuses for not riding my bike to work. My latest excuse was the lack of a heavy-duty lock to secure my bike while I'm inside. Well, today I picked up a sturdy U-lock to augment the lightweight cable lock I already had.

Now my biggest problem will be to re-set my alarm in order to get up a little bit earlier than usual, which is kinda tough because I'm already getting up at 3:30 a.m. so I can be at work at 4:30 a.m.

I'll let ya know how it goes! *fingers crossed*

[GLC1968]

Wow - and here I was complaining that getting up at 5 am was too early for me! No more - if you can do 3:30...I can at least do 5!

[Serendipity]

And I feel almost decadent getting up at 6:00......
I suspect that once you try it, you will be 'addicted' to commuting - I know I am and I've only been doing it for a few weeks.
Happy riding.

[wackyjacky1]

3:30 was bad enough, but now it will have to be 3, I'm afraid.

(Because it's still dark out when I go to work, one of my main excuses was not having a headlight/taillight, but I got a nice Planet Bike combo set the other day.)

[NoNo]

Ouch, you're more dedicated than I am. I've been using the later sunrise as an excuse to sleep in a little more on the days I ride in. Can't ride in the dark, you know! I brought in all my stuff so I could ride the next two days and now I just remembered I have to drive in tomorrow to take some huge reports home to my boss Good luck on the ride, let us know how it goes!

[kfergos]

Wow! And I thought I was really sacrificing by getting up at 5:30. At least you shouldn't have too much traffic to contend with.

Give yourself a pat on the back when you're done (and possibly a shower, too...)! Keep us posted on how it goes!

[wackyjacky1]

Woo hoo! I did it!

On the way to work, there's a pretty steep (for me, anyway) 1/2-mile hill that I only got halfway up before I had to walk the rest of it ( ) but otherwise it was a piece o' cake (about 3 miles total -- I forgot to turn on the CatEye, so I don't know for sure). I felt super energized as I started my workday, and that was a nice surprise.

On the way home, I took a slightly more meandering route -- mostly to avoid that damn hill. Had to take two brief rest stops, but made it home in about 20 minutes (3.6 miles). For me, that's making pretty good time. Temp about 92 or so. As I type this, I am still fairly sweaty.

Gotta get a backpack or messenger bag, though, to carry all my crap...

[GLC1968]

Good for you!

It's exciting, isn't it? I rode in this morning and for the first time since we moved to this house I didn't feel tired at all. I'm looking forward to the ride home, too.

[Tri Girl]

Great job, wackyjacky!!! Congrats on your commute.
I sure did like how I felt when I'd ride to work. It made my day start so nicely.

[andtckrtoo]

GREAT JOB WJ! That is wonderful. I'm so glad you enjoyed it!!! Yes, that bit of fresh air and sun in the AM is a wonderful mood setter!

[sundial]

Wacky, you are likely to see the shooting stars and comet showers at that time. Just one of the perks of early a.m. riding. Do you think a Basil bag would fit the bill?

[NoNo]

That's awesome! Just think, as you keep riding you'll soon be able to ride all the way up that hill Keep at it!

[ASammy1]

That is fantastic! I am sooo jealous of all you who are able to commute.

I'm only 12 miles from my office, but there just isn't a safe route for me to take

And after reading this on my local Craig's List, I'm not sure commuting is a good idea here...



"dear 40-50 year old driver
of an old white minivan
with wife in passenger seat reaching back
in an attempt to block out the cursing and sheer confusion of a bike rider
from reaching your 3 kids ears and eyes

who then continued to chase you down
only to have you slip out of his fingers on a straight away on constitution blvd

i guess i would just like to know
why?
why did you pull up directly behind me on the road
and lay on your horn
as if to prove something
what could i do?
magically float in the air
so as to avoid the car traveling 35mph behind me
narrowly slowing down
just short of actually running me over?
again i repeat
what do you have to prove
i am doing nothing wrong
there is no bike lane
so i stay to the right hand lane
i even began riding
when little to no traffic was on the road
[you were one of two cars to pass me while i was on first colonial]

if anything
i get it
little biker
big man
you have a car
so you are better
i get it
with the horn
that was, gosh, i mean you really showed me
honking that horn.
just
really good man. scared me a little.
until i realized, there was nothing i could do

now this next action of yours
[and now i would like to apologize for flicking you off]
you see
when you honky tonky on your horn for 35 seconds
it gets annoying to someone, who
can do absolutely nothing about the situation
why did you continue
to ride up next to me?
you hit my elbow with your mirror
and then continued to run me
off of the road
yes
off of the road.
and do you realize we were going around 15 miles an hour at this point?
have you ever seen someone get hit by a car before?
if you have
i will ask you,
why did you do that?
you know, there was no one else around
you could have just as easily
signaled
gone into the left lane
and passed me
just as the 95 year old man did
that passed me seconds before you
see?
no harm done
we all got to where we were going
you safely
and with out the cries of agony and pain
of a bike rider reaching your moldable childrens ears
and
i would have reached the verizon store
without being so confused and exhausted
ready to throw up
because of the events that previously took place

i really wish
that after i got back on my bike
when you looked in your rear view mirror
and saw my face of rage
and realized i was catching up to you

i just really wish
i really do
i wish i could have rode up next to you
and asked
why?
why did you do that?
what did yo have to prove?

if i ever see you again
i will not hesitate

i will throw a wrench through every single one of your windows and slash all your tires.

way less than you did to me.

f******g a$$hole.

with love
yours truly
the raleigh record rider you mowed down on first colonial avenue


if anyone knows who this man was,
i would really like it if you could go up to him
and shake his hand
because
he nearly ended the life of a 24 year old
who was riding to verizon
to ask a question about his cell phone."

[tulip]

Wacky, great job! I'm so glad you did it and had fun.

ASammy, while those incidents are no fun and can be quite serious, I hope it doesn't dissuade you from riding. In my 25+ years of riding, I have been tapped by a car twice. Once was on a very busy street in Boston. The other was while crossing a very busy street in Washington DC in the crosswalk. Happily neither were serious. But in all my riding, that's pretty small beans and I'm certainly not going to let the bullies keep me off my bike.

[kfergos]

Thumbs up for Wacky! Way to go, and good job keeping at it on the hilly parts.

About the scary driver thing: Yes, there are jerks out there who'll gun for you and make your life miserable. But I think it's important for us not to be intimidated by those drivers -- and also not to overreact (as in the Critical Mass fiasco in Seattle). Shame them with your good grace and your uncowed riding; wave and smile at people who honk at you. Keep riding safely and legally. It's the classic "love those who hate you" scheme, and the bonus is that being legal and nice in response to car nastiness is like lemon juice on that irate driver's already raw road rage.