first bike commute in a long time: Sprockets forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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June 6, 2011 8:45 a.m. AngryCorvair SuperDork

today i pedaled to work instead of driving. got out of bed at the normal time, got to my desk at the normal time. instead of a 30-minute shower to wake myself up, i jumped on the bike for a 60-minute ride. we've got a nice locker/shower room at work, so i get to my desk clean and stink-free.

my commute

for those of you who haven't been to the Detroit area, it's very flat. my 13-mile ride features 250 feet of climbing, with a net elevation gain of 200 feet. definitely not steep enough for me to coast all the way home, LOL.

it looks like my schedule will allow me to bike commute 2 days per week. the mazda6 gets about 24 mpg so at the current $4.09 for regular the daily save is less than $5 and will almost certainly be consumed by my tapeworm.
June 6, 2011 9:24 a.m. 1988RedT2 Dork

Nice! The best part is that you will be in better shape in just a few weeks, and women will look at you like a piece of meat.

Happens to me all the time!
June 6, 2011 9:54 p.m. bastomatic Dork

It's certainly a good way to start the day. You're lucky to have a doable route and a shower at work. I miss biking to work, but biking 15 miles up Woodward Ave seems borderline suicidal.
June 7, 2011 8:58 a.m. AngryCorvair SuperDork

bike commute, day 2. i got out of the house about 15 minutes earlier today, but lost 4 minutes when i had to turn around and grab my helmet. WTF? i never ride without my helmet. i'm surprised it took me 2 minutes to notice.

anyway, i was about 12 minutes earlier when i got to the shoulderless death-sprint on Haggerty, and it was much less crowded. looks like 6:40 is about the perfect time to leave the house.

on a sad note, when i got to work and went to turn off my taillight, it wasn't there. the bracket that holds it to the trunk rack broke somewhere along the route. i'm going to pick up a replacement at lunchtime because i really don't like riding without a flashing light on the back of the bike.

bastomatic, i agree with your assessment of riding on Woodward. i would not do that.
June 8, 2011 9:55 a.m. MadScientistMatt Dork

Nice to be back on the bike! Yesterday was my first bike commute in a while; I'd let the carbs on my GS500F get clogged up and finally got them clean and a new battery. (Yeah, you'd think I'd have Microsquirted it a while ago. Got too many irons in the fire.)