Transportation to & from work

Today the forecast was to have really good spring weather. :) I was SO excited that I decided I was going to ride my bike home from work (11.0 miles). I took the train in to Salt Lake and then rode the couple of blocks from the train to work.

Because I have windows right in front of my desk, the blinds are usually closed because the sun shines right on my computer and it puts a horrible glare, etc., so I hadn't been keeping tabs on what the weather was like outside. The further in to the afternoon it got, we were able to open the blinds and it looked a little over cast outside, but that didn't bother me. I was still quite excited to be riding my bike home. I thought that if it was overcast, it would at least mean a cooler ride home. Right before I left work, I noticed that the wind was blowing pretty hard and that made me a little concerned. I mean, obviously, riding your bike in to the wind isn't easy.

I easily could've called home and had someone come in and pick me up, but I was determined to ride my bike home.

Now, just a little side note, last year, during the summer I decided to ride my bike home from work. Now, this was not too long after I'd gotten my bike. But I thought I'd be able to do it. It was one of the hardest bike ride's I had been on in my life. It took me like 2 hours to get home. I think I had picked the hottest day of the year to ride my bike, which didn't help. Plus, since my bike was pretty new, I wasn't used to the gears. I knew how to shift in to an easier gear, but I didn't know how to get back to a harder gear. Obviously, since then I've learned. Haha.

But, today, when I rode my bike home, I was able to make it home in a little less than 1 hour. As soon as I stepped outside of work, I wasn't sure if I would need to wear my sweatshirt for the ride or not, so I decided to go ahead and wear it. If all else failed, I could stop and take it off...which I ended up doing. :) The wind was actually nice, because it cooled me down and at points, I think it helped me, 'cause it would push me. But, I had no problems going up the hills or anything.

The only thing that concerns me when riding my bike home, is there are parts of ride that there is no bike lane on the highway, so I'm riding with regular traffic, and regular traffic doesn't pay enough attention to the cyclists. It scares me. Plus, it's a very gravely ride. With how small of tires that are on racing bikes, one little rock or pebble and you're done for. It just makes me nervous. Otherwise, it was awesome.

I only ran in to one trouble on the way home, and I came upon a red light and right there at the corner was an Atlantis Burger restaurant. It smelled soooooooooooooo good! Haha. Otherwise, I had no trouble at all.

Once Daylight Savings Time hits (3/14/10), as long as it's good weather, that is now going to be my transportation home from work. I just wish I kind of lived a little further away so that I could ride longer. I'll just have to ride past my house and then double back so that I can get in more miles. :) I LOVE riding a bike.