Biked to work for the first time. Woo Hoo!
06-30-10 | 04:41 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 62
Likes: 0
Biked to work for the first time. Woo Hoo!
Well, not exactly. I usually drive a few miles to the park and pick up the bike trail. That's about 8 miles, then three or four miles to pick up lunch, and then 8 miles back to my car. An acceptable 20 miles or so. I'm a beginner, and it's a pretty hilly trail, so I'll take it!
Today I went from my house to work and back. With lunch, it ended up being about 35 miles, however the last few miles going home is quite steep and uphill the whole way. VERY intimidating to me. I almost called my wife to have her pick me up at the park, but I figured I'll go a bit more....and then a bit more. I get to Highland Park Market, and maybe I should call her now? Nah, I can go a few more feet. I conquered that boogeyman 10 feet at a time. Take that!
I wish I'd done this YEARS ago. I just didn't really think it was really possible I guess, but everyday it seems like I can go just a little longer or a little faster. I guess I wasn't expecting how quickly the improvements in the beginning really happen and I had this idea in my head that it would take years to build up the conditioning to do this, so why bother, right? Now I know.
Today I went from my house to work and back. With lunch, it ended up being about 35 miles, however the last few miles going home is quite steep and uphill the whole way. VERY intimidating to me. I almost called my wife to have her pick me up at the park, but I figured I'll go a bit more....and then a bit more. I get to Highland Park Market, and maybe I should call her now? Nah, I can go a few more feet. I conquered that boogeyman 10 feet at a time. Take that!
I wish I'd done this YEARS ago. I just didn't really think it was really possible I guess, but everyday it seems like I can go just a little longer or a little faster. I guess I wasn't expecting how quickly the improvements in the beginning really happen and I had this idea in my head that it would take years to build up the conditioning to do this, so why bother, right? Now I know.
06-30-10 | 11:26 PM
#4
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 270
Likes: 0
From: Sun Valley, Nevada
Bikes: 1999 RANS Rocket Saturn V; K2 Attack FS MTB
Turned the Corner
Congratulations! You sound almost exactly like me when I tried my first work commute a couple of years ago. You got me way beat though, I felt like you with only a 12 mile commute (though I do have a very steep hill up to my house). You should be very proud, and for heaven's sake, thank the wife too. Without a supportive spouse, the extra time commuting could be a problem.
For me, a helpful next step was to sign up with a commuting thread to listen to others who do this regularly. I know there's one on this forum, but on BikeJournal.com, there's a commuter cycle century thread where people sign up with a goal of riding to work 100 times a year.
That gave me a journal to log my trips and compare to others and myself. I'm on my 79th commute of the year this year, trying to pass my 148 trips from last year. Even if you can't make the century goal, the environment of attempting a goal is a help when you do commutes, I think.
For me, a helpful next step was to sign up with a commuting thread to listen to others who do this regularly. I know there's one on this forum, but on BikeJournal.com, there's a commuter cycle century thread where people sign up with a goal of riding to work 100 times a year.
That gave me a journal to log my trips and compare to others and myself. I'm on my 79th commute of the year this year, trying to pass my 148 trips from last year. Even if you can't make the century goal, the environment of attempting a goal is a help when you do commutes, I think.
