It Gets Easier

Well...I rode in to work for the second time this year today! That's twice in three weeks. Considering how little I bike commuted in 2012, this is very promising.

It helped that I left after 7 am today whereas the last time I tried to get the jump around 6:30 am (more sun!). Also the weather in general was just warmer, too. I doubled up my socks, including some new wool socks I bought, but my poor little toes were still cold. Ah well, such is life. After dusting the cobwebs off last time, my day of riding went much easier. Sad to say, but my legs were pretty sore after the previous commute, and I needed a few days to recover. As I write this a few hours after getting home, I'm feeling pretty good.

Another amazing sunset

In case you're new to my blog and haven't read about the origin of the name Bike21, take a peek at the About page. I recently saw this article that tells a similar story to how I started bike commuting:

The 21 Day Challenge

 

First ride of 2013

Greetings, Internet people!

It's a new year and I'm trying to get off to a good start. I made my first bike commute of the year last Friday, my first ride since October. Yay!

Speaking of that last ride, it did not go so well. This happened:

Yep, my pedal broke off. The thread was completely stripped, so it couldn't even be fixed. I had to catch a ride home for me and my bike.

This time around, it was very cold! I was struggling with the cold and some fatigue about halfway to work when I saw this:

What a great omen. I made it to work in one piece. So did my bike.

The afternoon ride home was warmer. At first. As I got closer to home, the sun started to fade away...

I made my last big descent, which opened up to the valley, and just like that, the cold hit again! I rode without gloves to that point, but I had to stop and re-don my gloves to finish up the ride.

All in all, it was good to bike commute again. I had some muscle soreness for a few days, but I can't wait until I can ride again.

 

Bike To Work Day is coming

Bike to Work Day is this Friday May 18 in San Diego (and elsewhere). I am planning to break a long layoff from my bike commute. I will try to hit up a couple of the pit rest stops on my way in. Remember to say thanks to the volunteers! Hope you get out there, whether you ride daily, or if it's your first ride ever, or first of the year (like me).

A Quick Tip

It's like that whole Best of San Diego business was a death knell for both my blogging and bike commuting. I must admit that I'm still a bit confused by it. San Diego Magazine never even notified me of my inclusion in the issue. That's weird, right? If not for Paul from sdurban.com, I would never have known about it. At. All. (so thanks, again, Paul!)


Anyway...

I haven't biked to work since October, I think, and I still have not done a bike commute in 2012. I did, however, get on the saddle the other day for a nice little 20 miler. Now that spring is upon us, and I'm seeing more and more cyclists out on the road, I just wanted to share this link that I saw on Twitter last week.

Michael Bluejay's "How Not To Get Hit By Cars" bicyclesafe.com contains a lot of good, practical advice.
— Kent Peterson (@kentsbike) March 27, 2012

Also, I just saw that Bike Snob NYC has a new book out...