that's a really great idea. i hope you don't mind if i copy you!

my commute today was full of the unexpected. humid, hot morning, starting out on the bus at 7:30, 15 minutes to Northampton from Holyoke, MA. i was thinking about getting off the bus a little sooner than usual and enjoying a little more of the morning on the bike. "naw," says i to myself. "yer knees been botherin ya. just take it easy."

well wouldn't you know it, but right at the point where i had been thinking of getting out early there was a detour due to some construction in the road. a long detour. i took that as a sign that i was meant to get the extra mileage after all. (hey-- i should probably read my horrorscope!) turns out they were replacing a railroad crossing, but i managed to get around it through grass and someone's driveway. i was wishing i had a CX right about then. the rest of the ride was pretty uneventful, save for the stopping and the sweating of buckets that had to be done before the final push up the hill right before the office.

the way home actually felt cooler. now, normally i would ride the 7 mi to northampton, catch the bus, throw the bike on the rack (there's space for 2) and have a nice restful 20 minute ride home. as it happens there was one other fella there before me waiting for the bus with HIS bike, and the bus had one on the rack, so i was S.O.L. but i decided that rather than wait the hour for the next bus i would ride the extra 6, maybe 7 miles home but try to take it easy. its all uphill from Noho to Holyoke, which is one of the reasons i take the bus in the first place. it turns out that my bike and i handled it pretty well. there's one 1.5, maybe 2 mile stretch near the end that is rather steeper than the rest, so that kinda kills. but all in all my commute today was the most fun i have had in quite awhile. so total mileage of about 13 miles, i think.

thank god we have a pool!