My First Bike Commute

All last summer when I -- actually, we -- essentially spent weekdays at the Eden Prairie house, four miles from where I work, and spent weekends at the Uptown apartment, I said to myself that I should bike to work. Just once, at least. It's four miles for cripes sake. How hard can it be? We have pretty nice facilities at work (which no one else uses) so if I want to take a shower and go the whole nine, I can.

I never did it last summer. But I did it today! This week is Bike Walk to Work Week in the Twin Cities. A lot of the festivities are focused around the downtowns, and while we have great trails all across the metro, the infrastructure is a little better closer in. But, like I said, I live four miles from work.

One of my co-workers is an avid biker. He bikes to work nearly year round. Only the most extreme weather and the possibility of having to go to our other building 20 miles away keep him from biking in. His route to work takes him near where I live, and he's pretty familiar with this whole area. He recommended a route, and I took a dry run Monday evening after work.

So this morning I suited up and... I just did it. I told Missy last night that it didn't really seem to be a big deal, but there were a bunch of little things that added up to overwhelming. One was not having a route, which I took care of. One was the fact that it's not that easy of a ride. It's short, but it's not flat. One was riding with traffic, especially since folks out here in the 'burbs are less used to sharing the road. As I listed these off, I totally thought I sounded like I was making excuses.

It came to the point where there's only so much prep I can do and I really needed to just shit or get off the pot. So I rode in this morning.

I got a pair of bike shorts for my birthday that aren't spandex (they kind of look like hiking shorts), so I wore those with a long sleeve shirt. The shirt was a cotton blend, not a tech fabric, so it was a tad warmer. It'll probably be hot when I ride home. Yeah, I didn't layer. Oops. My fingers were chilled at the beginning (it was about 50 degrees this morning), but they were fine by halfway through the trip. I packed my work clothes in a backpack. I kept my same shoes and socks on, since I don't have clips and special shoes and just wore sneakers. I had my bike bottle in its holster, and I brought my morning coffee in a thermos.

It's certainly different from quiet car time with my podcasts and coffee. I left the house about 10 minutes earlier than usual and got to work at about the same time. No calm ease into the morning. But also no traffic frustration. In fact, car traffic along my route was much less than I thought it would be. I was pretty jazzed by the time I got to work. A little bit from accomplishment and a little bit from adrenaline. When I sat down at my desk I didn't really know what to do with the energy.

So that went really well and, you know, maybe I'll try it again tomorrow. Here's what went well this morning:

• The shorts are awesome.
• Drank some water before I left and while I rode.
• Putting the coffee in the thermos kept it nice and hot and I don't have to worry about a mug spilling.
• I got my stuff together the night before and got out the door in a timely fashion. This may not happen as much as I get used to it and the novelty wears off.

Here's what I'll do differently going forward:

• Find a different solution for carrying my gear. At the very least, I could take a smaller backpack, but it's the backpack that gets me all sweaty so if I stick with this I'll look into getting something to strap onto the bike.
• Remember that I'm just trying to get to work and back, not do my big workout of the day. Especially on the way in. My instinct was to really push it, and I don't need to do that. At least not yet, since I'm not accustomed to that much riding.
• Layers. I know this. I'm used to doing it for running. I just need to actually do it.
• Investigate the shortcuts. There are a few spots where I could be cutting through someone's parking lot.
• ADDED: If my clothes are damp when I take them off in the morning and I stuff them into my bag and then stuff the bag into my cube closet, they'll still be a little damp when I go to put them back on in the afternoon.
• ADDED: Must remember about lunch. Can't just run across town for eats with no car. Plan for Co-worker Lunch Friday or remember to bring something.

I also signed up for Bike2Benefits, a Metro Transit program encouraging and supporting bike commuting. They've got a little tracker thing, and lord knows I loves me a good chart and some calculations. Any little bit of encouragement helps.

I declare my first bike commute a success! Assuming I don't die or bust a tire or bite it or something on the way home.