From the Bicycle

Today marks Day 4 of my effort to ride my two-wheeler to work. This week has been Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I love it. What follows are tidbits I’ve seen or discovered while riding.

1) I have a bike lane for roughly 70% of the ride, and cars respect that lane much more than I thought. Usually, drivers stay in their lane and I stay in mine. I still have to be very careful, though, because usually, there are parked cars to my right. Their doors are as dangerous as the cars to my left. Even though I think I’m largely ignored/not noticed (which isn’t good), the vehicles are much better than I figured. Usually.

2) I said usually, people. Crossing into and stopping in the bike lane are bad ideas. Very bad. And the drivers going through in the “car lane” don’t like when I have to cut into their lane to go around the jerks in the bike lane. But they’re usually understanding… although sometimes they honk… I just tell myself they’re honking at the person stopped where they shouldn’t be stopped.

3) I really dislike the drivers who drive past me only to cut in front of me to make a right turn. But I really loved the van driver today who I could hear behind me, going slower than he normally would be, not racing around me just to cut me off to make a right. If there were an easy way to do so, I would’ve waved a thank you while he turned right. He probably lost 20-30 seconds on his drive. I can see why the other cars feel it’s so important to go around me… NOT.

4) My route has worked really well. None of the intersections are a big problem, although some are a nuissance (like the Damen/Fullerton/Elston “intersection” [you can zoom in more, but you lose the street names]). There are a couple pretty good inclines, but they’re manageable. And Milwaukee is a bit rough, but also manageable.

5) Speaking of good route, it took 40-45 minutes door to door today. I park my bike about a block from work (safer spot), and it definitely took 40 minutes from the time I walked out the door at home to the time I was walking down to work.

6) I am now consistently in a “harder to pedal” gear. I don’t know for sure if this means higher or lower gear. I’ve read how that all works and I don’t remember much, except that when I’m geared with a bigger chain wheel on the front and a smaller chain wheel on the back I can go faster. Anyhow, this means two things: 1) I have a bit more leg strength already, and 2) it helps make the ride as fast as the El. Maybe 30 minutes is a realistic goal – which would be slightly slower than driving but definitely faster than the El.

7) Even though I’m using the same route, it’s never boring. The sights and sounds vary each day. And the benefit of the same route is that I’m really learning those roads, and I know when/where I have to avoid certain things.

8) There’s a park just north of Comiskey that had a bunch old Asian guys doing their version of yoga. Maybe Tai-Chi? I don’t know, but it was slow moving and making poses. And one guy was all Mr. Miyagi, but with an Asian girl instead of a white boy. Cool though to see the playground turned into morning exercise for the Asian population.

9) I do sweat while riding, but the moisture-wicking apparel seems to help and I don’t sweat as much as I thought I would. I put on scrubs at work; nobody can tell I rode 10 miles to get to work (at least not by smell!). By the time I get home, though, I’m ready for a shower.

10) I always bring a water bottle, but I never seem to take a drink until I reach work or home. But from when I park my bike in the morning to the time I reach my desk, I’ve usually finished the bottle and fill it up again – and finish that soon after. That’s gotta be good for me too. Although I expect this to change when it gets hotter out (same with #9, for that matter!).

11) Last, but certainly not least, what I learned on Wednesday. Riding in hail isn’t as bad as you might think. But I don’t recommend it, either.

That’s all I got, except for two more quick notes. I’m hoping I can make this a regular (and shorter) “feature” of the blog, giving updates and notes about my rides. If anybody has a suggestion for what to title them, let me know.

And last, according to the website (I didn’t count), this is Post #100! Woo hoo! rIAm and I made it through our first 100 posts, and hopefully the next 100 won’t take so long to write. Thanks for reading!