Very long commute for me yesterday, but it was a beautiful spring day in NC. The temperature hovered around 60F all day, morning and afternoon. Spring flowers are blooming everywhere, and the rain we had last weekend really greened things up. It also brought out the pollen, and my tires were coated yellow with it.

After riding to work in the morning, I headed to a meeting on the other side of town about the city's new bike transportation plan. I thought it was important to show up on a bike, as did some other commuters. I had to take some new routes to get there and got lost several times trying to follow unmarked greenways and bike routes -- so that gave me some good feedback to relay to the planners. Spent a while talking to the planners showing them improvements that could be made to the regular routes I ride, and they seemed to appreciate the comments and said that was exactly the sort of feedback they were seeking. So maybe some good will come of it eventually.

Rode home on a different route, following greenbelts and bike paths most of the way, something I rarely do on my regular routes. That was fun for a change, but I had to ride very slow and cautious to avoid all of the joggers and strollers wearing i-Pods. Ended up with 35 miles commuting for the day, my second-longest bike commute.