No, I'm not a crunchy, granola fed, vegan. No, I'm not an environmental extremist. I am however, someone looking to get a little more physically fit, and save some money.
So, I bought a bicycle. Before I get assaulted, I bought it at a Target store, not a local bike shop (LBS). I need to dip a toe in before plunging head first into a $500+ bicycle.
The past couple of weeks, I've been working up mileage to a point where I was sure I could in fact, do the commute (Well, half-commute. More on that). So, I've been putting in 10+ miles on Saturdays and Sundays, and during the week, I do short runs around the neighborhood (To the store, bank, etc).
Today, I jumped into it. I rode from my house, to University Station, then took a bus from there to work. I've been bus commuting for a while, and I enjoy it (I get more reading time in, and more Netflix watching).
It's a 4 mile trek, 20 minutes or so, all uphill I discovered, into the bus station. Then a 20 minute ride on the bus to work.
I have to say, the bike racks are rather nice. I jostled around inside of the bus more than my bike moved on the rack. It doesn't look like it would be secure, but it is. The bus driver was happy to assist when I couldn't figure out the front wheel latch.
The racks are easy to use once you see it done. You pull the handle up, drop the cage. Plunk your bike down in the rack. Pull out the handle (yes, it extends outwards), and drop it over your front wheel. Ch-ching! Ready to go.
Hopefully, I'll get to do the whole commute, but the first leg was killer (165 ft in climbing over 4 miles). I think the rest of the trip is mostly flat though.
I'm hopeful, after keeping an eye out on my afternoon buses, that there will be a rack on the front. We'll see though. It's hit or miss, but 95% of the buses do in fact have racks on them. I know my second bus most likely WONT have one. Seems the 5 bus rarely has one, but seeing it's a core route, it's understandable to put them on the suburban feeder routes when possible.
So, at the end of the day, I'll have 8 miles under my belt in cycling. That's enough to settle my "mandatory exercise" for each day. Everything over and above is just gravy. And, I get a "warm fuzzy" from burning just a little less gasoline. And, I get to spend even less on vehicle maintenance, which means the car lasts longer in between replacements.
I see it as a win-win. Now, if only we can get Kenmore avenue worked on to be a little less broken. Literally, it's so bad, a mountain bike would be more appropriate than a road bike for much of the trip.
