{"id":4032,"date":"2010-05-17T08:46:38","date_gmt":"2010-05-17T13:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/?p=4032"},"modified":"2010-05-17T08:48:19","modified_gmt":"2010-05-17T13:48:19","slug":"the-one-where-she-rides-her-bike-to-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/2010\/05\/17\/the-one-where-she-rides-her-bike-to-work\/","title":{"rendered":"The one where she rides her bike to work"},"content":{"rendered":"

T<\/span>he very first day I started working at this office back in November, as I drove the short jaunt to work I thought to myself, “And hey, maybe I can even ride my bike to work in the summer.” Even as I thought it, though, it was in that “ha ha, not likely” kind of way. Once you get to a certain age, you begin to intimately understand your own peccadilloes, and begin to get a little cynical about your own optimism. (How’s that for a complex personality?)<\/p>\n

But as winter gave way to spring, I’d drive along the route to work imagining what it would be like to be coasting along on my bike. It’s not a long ride, just a little bit shy of ten kilometers. It’s flat, which is nice. Despite the fact that the road is busy and crowded with fast-moving and frankly terrifying traffic the whole way, you can traverse just about the entire distance on either a bike path well removed from the road or through an idyllic little suburb of tree-lined, sidewalkless streets where cars are not welcome during the morning rush.<\/p>\n

So as April gave way to May, I began to collect what I’d need to actually ride my bike to work instead of just spend inordinate amounts of time thinking about it. I acquired an extra-large thermos, because the need for hot coffee is fundamental. I got a shiny new red bike with commuter tires to replace the 15-year-old mountain bike with knobby tires that slow you down. I got a rack and some panniers for the back, so I could transport my coffee, and my camera, because I won’t leave home without either. I got a new lock, and I upgraded the seat on my bike. I planned the route, and took a couple of test rides through the neighbourhood to see if my 40-year-old ass was going to survive a 10 km bike ride after almost a decade of non-riding. And then the weather turned crappy and cold and rainy and I had a good excuse not to ride.<\/p>\n

This morning, though, the skies were brilliant, the forecast was fair, and I had no excuses left. I made arrangements for Beloved to pick up the kids from daycare in the afternoon. I packed my gear and a set of dress clothes in my panniers, brewed a pot of coffee while I showered, and filled my thermos. And, with a giddy sense of broken routine, I took off into the early morning sunshine on my shiny new red bike.<\/p>\n

I was just getting into a nice rhythm when I hit a moderate bump and something went SPROING and nearly yanked me off my bike. The hook that is supposed to hold the pannier in place somehow came loose and got wrapped around the axle of the rear tire. I managed to pull it out, but I think I’ll be taking that one back to the store. I’m just glad I didn’t go ass-over-teakettle, or I would have never convinced myself to get back on the bike again.<\/p>\n

The rest of the ride was idyllic, I have to admit. I love early mornings, and riding through the perfectly still but brilliantly sunny morning was heavenly. I cruised past the horses in their paddock that I admire from my car each morning, and could smell the earthy, grassy smell of the pasture. I kept a moderate but steady pace, and the hard core cyclists flew past me. <\/p>\n

I was about half way when I realized that I’d forgotten my dress shoes at home and would have to wear my gym shoes with my dress pants for the rest of the day. Oops. That’s always a classy look.<\/p>\n

I made it the rest of the way in without incident. It took me a little more than 30 minutes, including the time it took to pry the pannier hook out of the axle and wash the axle grease off my fingers in the dew-soaked clover. I had another issue trying to lock my bike in the warehouse of our office when I could not force my key into the new U lock I’d bought, and it was a good half-hour later that I realized the reason the key wasn’t fitting into the lock was because I was trying to fit my filing cabinet key into my bike lock. Small details. And I realized that if I’m going to be riding through shady, tree-lined streets in the early morning, I should learn to breathe with my mouth closed. I ate my first bug this morning, too.<\/p>\n

So, in the end, the actual experience of riding my bike to work was extremely pleasant, while the details of getting myself to work in presentable condition for work were a little more challenging. Did I mention I also forgot to put on deodorant this morning? Bad day to forget that one. But my butt only aches a little bit. That’s a good start, right? <\/p>\n

And let me tell you, even with the breakfast bug and the sore butt and having to wear my gym shoes with black pants all day? Still a million times better than riding the bus to work. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The very first day I started working at this office back in November, as I drove the short jaunt to work I thought to myself, “And hey, maybe I can even ride my bike to work in the summer.” Even as I thought it, though, it was in that “ha ha, not likely” kind of … Continue reading “The one where she rides her bike to work”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-it-is-all-about-me"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4032"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4032\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4035,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4032\/revisions\/4035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danigirl.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}