Took my 2nd commute today. Went a little worse than the first one but that was not unexpected; I chose the first one to occur on a day with optimal weather so I could eliminate that as a concern and focus on the pure logistics of the ride. Today was much hotter, and much more humid. When I woke up weather.com literally said 95% humidity. Walking outside was like walking into a very hot pool of lightweight water... but I already had everything set up, so I figured why not try a mile or two and see how I like it. I left at 6:30 so if it wasn't going to happen I had plenty of time to change my mind, turn back, and drive.

After 5 miles I still felt ok so I decided to keep on going (19 mile route). The entire morning part of the trip was great; arrived just 2 minutes later than my first trip (had less of a tailwind today), so I went up to work changed clothes, and watched the TDF before everyone else in the office started showing up. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/100260148 It's somewhat amusing to arrive at work... on a bike... having twice the commute of everyone else... and still being there an hour before everyone else.


Felt less lightheaded during the day than last time. Ate 2 slices of pizza for lunch but that was a mistake, I felt sick to my stomach for a few hours; I keep forgetting my stomach has shrunken ever since I started eating less, so even one large slice is enough to make me feel stuffed. 4pm rolls around, I pack up, swap my clothes, and head out again. Unfortunately the temperature had turned brutal since this morning, and the humidity was just as bad. Started off just going slow to see how my body would handle the much warmer weather... and didn't really get a chance to go fast at all on the return. Just tried to keep a slow and steady pace to avoid over exerting myself. Saddle started getting uncomfortable around mile 13 on the way back, which made me lean on my hands more, which made my hands numb. Really mostly uneventful; uphill into a 12mph headwind on a very hot and humid day... not fun. Near the end a ****ing tractor trailer veered into the shoulder where I was currently existing, came within half a foot of killing me in my estimation. I was too in shock to even react however, just kept pedalling and somehow he managed to not hit me. Shouted Hallelujah when I finally got home. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/100384022


A funny thought hit me as I was picking up my mail. A year ago I only went out to pick up my mail once a week because I hated walking that far (... embarrassed to admit it's only 50 feet from my door). And now for the 2nd time in less than 7 days I biked 19 miles to work, and 19 miles back. God damn I feel great, even if that was a crappy ride, I feel great.


For the foreseeable future I am going to keep picking one day a week to bike to work. When I get to a point where I don't feel like crap on the ride home I will increase that to 2, logistics permitting.