The daily commute: week two

Mon: 53 minutes, back on my original route. What made it easier: I bought a tidy Trek saddle bag to replace my jury-rigged camera case full of crap. This way I wasn't adjusting it the whole ride and bobbling it between my knees when it came loose. Much improvement in the quality of my commute. The bag is holding my spare tube, CO2 pump, tire levers, a couple of allen wrenches, and a big ol' wrench for removing my rear tire if I get a flat.

Tues: A couple of "a-ha" moments today, plus a quick stop at County Cycle to buy a multi-tool, spoke wrench and chain tool. A few miles later, I thought, "I need to tighten up the low limiting screw on my front derailleur when I get home--a-ha!--I can do it right now with the multi tool I just bought!" Total independence.

Later, I realized that my legs were no longer my only limiting factor. I was pushing as hard as I could and everything felt much easier than it did this at time last week, except that my stomach was hurting. Suddenly--a-ha!--excruciating pain in my right side! I pulled over for a while until it subsided and finished the ride without exerting myself. I guess I'll have to be careful to take it easy tomorrow.

Wed: Who cares about the wind and rain when I got to see a big old great blue heron perched on somebody's dock in Lake McCarron this morning.

Thurs: I can almost watch my muscles growing from all this exercize. I cranked up my saddle to get maximum use of my legs today and hit the hills hard and slow instead of spinning up. I was feeling great. Then I put my left leg down at a stoplight, oops, a little too far, and felt my calf tighten. When the light changed I tried to push down with my left foot and the leg just seized up. I limped through the intersection. After that it was another ten-minute break and careful ride home but I still got to my front door about 70 minutes after leaving the office.

Another cycler was pulling an empty trailer and I wanted to catch up and ask him what he used it for. But he snuck through a yellow light that turned into a red that I had to stop for a second later, and got away from me. Um, I guess that was a lame story.

Fri: Took about 64 minutes, favored my right leg, slipped the chain once, and still managed to kill the hill that always beat me before. Victory!

(Fri part deux update:) The weather was so nice, and I felt so good, that I rode my bike home again. I was stopped behind a motorcyclist while we waited for a long freight train runnin' by. I drank some squirts of water. After about a minute, he put the kickstand down, turned off the engine, and walked back to talk with me. He was a really cool guy. He told me that day was the epitome of perfect Minnesota weather and I agreed that it was a great day for a ride.

Being stuck at that stoplight on my bicycle was a hundred times better than driving 75 on the 55-mph speed limit higway with traffic zipping suicidally by at 90+. Having fun and being happy on my commute instead of getting angry and vengeful every day? I never want to drive my car again.