3 posts tagged “commute”
With the switch to DST, I now race the darkness back home on my evening bike commute. Riding in the dark for the first time is kind of like riding with traffic for the first time in a while - a bit scary. Of course, I have some lights going but I still feel invisible sometimes.
Plus, I have a jacket with a light-up fiber optic thing on the back:
You can even make it blink!
Since starting in spring I have now logged over 900 miles. I don't think I'll invest in snow tires this year. I do want to ride far enough into November to get to 1,000 miles. It's about 6 miles each way, so I need to commute 8 more days (or spread it out over half trips, etc.).
The cold hasn't been a problem as my metabolism generally runs warm, but the coldest morning so far has only been about 33 degrees F. My regular gloves seem to work fine so far. The jacket pictured has been ample to keep me quite warm once I get going but that first mile or so can be chilly!
I had so much fun making the bikr stickr, I ended up making a few more bike stickers. I've set up a sticker shop for them, and I'll be adding more designs as I think of them. Feedback welcome.
In related bike news, I've just passed the 500 mile mark for biking since rescuing the bike from the basement this summer and using it to commute to work. Feels good! Next summer I'm going to try one of those charity rides where you do 60 miles per day, so I have to start exploring some longer routes.
Here is a (fuzzy cameraphone) shot of my daily commute bike. This is a 1998 Marin Larkspur (hybrid), which I picked up when I moved to California. Since I have resurrected it for commuting here in Maine, I've added fenders (because we do get some weather here compared to Menlo Park), and an orange LL Bean lunchbox to carry basic gear. I'll probably add another lunchbox on the other side.
So if you are local to the Portland Maine area and see me riding down Brighton Ave, don't run me over plskthx.
