https://vimeo.com/11581665


I’d always thought about biking to work. I’m lucky in that my commute is only 10-12 miles roundtrip, so physically it’s very doable. However, I’d never actually gotten beyond just daydreaming about biking because I knew my regular car commute involved some very non-bike friendly streets with lots of traffic.

Recently I discovered Google had added bicycle routes to Google Maps. For fun I popped in my home and work addresses and was greeted with a much more bike friendly route I hadn’t considered before.

“Hmmm. This looks very doable,” I thought. I tweaked the suggested route with a bit of dragging and dropping and soon had the best possible bike route to my work.

“Man, I think this could work!” I said to a nearby (and nearly comatose) Wubert (my Siamese cat). He breathed in and out a bit in agreement.

“Now all I need is a bike.”

So I spent some time doing bike research. I went to half a dozen shops. I test-drove 6-8 bikes, and finally picked one up last week. I spent the past week doing a little riding around the neighborhood to get used to the bike. I also used the time to figure out what I’d need to make the bike (and me) ready for an actual work commute. Some of the extra stuff I picked up:

ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED

• Side Handlebar Mirror (I realized I needed this the first minute I rode the bike)
• Rear Rack (My work backpack would be heavy with a laptop, notebooks, gym bag, bike stuff, etc., and my research had turned up lots of backpack wearing bicyclists with back problems)
• Milk Crate (w/ a cargo net the cheapest, easiest way to hold lots of stuff on a rear rack)
• Helmet
• Safety Vest (‘cuz I needed something to make me look awesome)
• Patch Kit, Pump, Lock, Spare Tube, Multi-Tool (some of this stuff I already had)

NOT ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED (BUT I GOT ‘EM ANYWAY!)

• Bike Computer (about the size of a pack of matches, displays speed, distance, elapsed time, clock)
• Lights (though I don’t plan on riding at night, I wanted them in my backpack just in case)
• Friday was my first commute (I figured there’d be less traffic). I even strapped my pocket camcorder to the back of my milk crate and shot some video (see above).

The ride went pretty well and was actually fun in spots, though I’m already looking for ways to lighten my 17+ pound backpack. I have a goal of putting a minimum of 500 miles on the bike by the end of the year (that’s how I justified getting the bike computer—to keep track of my miles.) I think I can do it. Wubert snores behind me in support.

Music Used:

“Aerial Boundaries” from Aerial Boundaries by Michael Hedges