planetdanika

Yesterday was my first day as a bike commuter. I insisted on G riding with me from door to door both ways as Im not the most confident on my bike. He grumbled about leaving early but we set off around 8 am and cruised in hassle-free to my office. It took about 40 minutes and was relatively easy.

The guys that I work with were extremely excited to hear Id ridden my bike to work. It was the talk of the office for hours and they each stopped by my office to ask about my ride. They were eager to know:
-What route did we take? 17th Ave, Ballard Bridge, Myrtle Edwards Park,
-How far is it? About 7 miles each way,
-How many calories did I burn? (theyre as obsessed with the Heart Rate Monitor data as I am!) 371 on the ride in (less on the way home),
-What did I wear and was I cold? and so on.

Surprisingly, the ride home was easier (physically) than the way in, despite it being mostly uphill. It turned out to be a pleasant evening and the rain held off so I was happy. All in all, it was a most successful experience. I dont think Ill do it every day. It actually took me longer than the bus. But Id like to ride in a couple times a week. Tomorrow, G and I are planning to ride in together again, but take a different route. Myrtle Edwards is lovely, but the worst part of the ride is getting from the waterfront up to my office on 5th Ave. The Burke Gilman-Dexter route were planning tomorrow should take me more or less to the front door.

Oh, and an interesting observation: there are tons of men who bike to work in my building (in my office of 30 people there are 4 guys who regularly bike to work). After doing it yesterday, Im not so sure there are ANY other women. I took my shower around 9 am and it was clear no one else had used the locker room yet. And don’t even get me started on the big debate G and I had about wearing my bike shoes all day in the office!