View of the Day

To all 5 of my BLOG followers, here is your daily update:

Number of Miles completed on bike today- 23.3
Time I got up- 5:05 A.M
Time I left the house- 5:46
Time I almost missed the bus- 6:18
Number of times I embarrassed myself- 2
Length of time it took me to get home- 1.5 hours
Number of beers- 3
Number of times I second guessed my challenge- none

As you see to the right, this was the best view of my day. You gotta love a little VISION with Nelson Mandela and the Rocky Mountain solo. That might also be an IQ test sitting on my desk- ok, coming out part two- I'm a geek. If you can't read it, Mandela says, "There is No Easy Walk to Freedom Anywhere." Oh how true that is......

Funny story of the morning ride in- I am, on ONE cup of coffee, pedaling into the wind to the bus stop in the dark. I'm pedalling and going nowhere. I'm winded. I'm cold. Need better gloves and ear muffs. I'm holding my lane, lights flashing, and realize I under-estimated my time by 10 minutes. I pedal faster, but go no faster. I'm cold. If it weren't for my brain, the wind would blow right through one ear to the other. I'm getting a headache from the wind. Need coffee. I approach the turn and see a bus pulling in ..... and around. Shit. There it is. I'm now chasing the bus. Pedaling.... my heart hurts. I'm going to miss the bus. My ONE goal today is to make this bus. I'm going to miss it. I plan out my blog- missed bus. I keep pedaling. I see it across the way, I want to scream.... WAIT!!!!!!!! It keeps going. I turn the corner and see the bus stop. Another car awaits. "Did I miss it?" I ask. "That was the Super Shuttle. The 34 Xpress hasn't come yet." What? I'm chasing the wrong bus. So I breathe...and get cold. The bus is 10 minutes late. It finally arives and another person got on. I look at the rack on the front. Huh? I have no idea. Imagine a woman, staring down at you, motioning and mouthing something you don't understand, I motion back to her in confusion. I just don't know. She gets up, pushes a lot of buttons that sound like 'shhhh' and 'psssst' and she exits the bus. Oh now I've done it. I've pissed off the bus driver on my first day. I stand back. She man-handles the bike- I cringe- and she puts it up and slams the bar down. "Let's go," she says. "Um, is that going to stay?" I ask. "I haven't lost one yet!" she replied. Good to know.

Observation of the day- Office is a little crowded with the bike.

Thought of the day- I need to either friend a psychic or a meteorologist- still not sure.

Moment of clarity for the day- I'm a lone minnow in a sea of sharks.

Statement of the day- (from bus driver) I've been driving this route since it started, and you are the second person I picked up from this bus stop.

Again, to all 5 of my blog followers.............

Thanks and Cheers to the 34solo Experience!

The Panic.

I suppose it's a bad start to your journey when you have to borrow the $2 bus fare. I'm not letting that get me down though. I'm plugging along and right on schedule. Tomorrow is the test run for leaving my SUV at home in the driveway while I head off to work. I will need to be on my bike and on the road by 5:45 A.M to catch the 6:15 A.M bus into Greeley. (Yes, I'm taking the bus in my trial run.) I've done a lot of planning for this so far, but I seem to have overlooked one of the most important details- Where IS the early morning Bus Stop? And, How the hell do I get the bike on the rack when it stops? I'm banking on an empty bus with an incredibly bored driver.

Some of these details are getting me down a bit. Perhaps this is a time where I need to come out in my Blog. So, here goes...... I happen to like pressed pants. It's true- I don't like to be wrinkled.

Whew. I feel better. I'm really being vulnerable here, I just ironed a pair of dress pants, and tucked them away ever so neatly in my backpack. The odds of them staying that way are slim to none. I'm working through it. I also pulled out two left shoes to pack, and THANK the high heavens I caught it in time b/c that would have been what we 'in the Biz' call a sick day.

So, let's recap. I have my $2 bus fare. I've just come out to all my bloggers- I prefer wrinkle free. I don't know exactly where I'm headed or how exactly to put the bike on the bus. I have an 8:00 a.m meeting. Did I mention that?

I still have to pump up my tires and get my water bottles ready- what about breakfast? Do my lights work? I should take a lock- oh that's heavy. What am I going to lock my bike too- A chair in my office? That's silly, but think about it, how silly would it look for someone to be riding a bike dragging a chair behind them? I think I need a night cap. I have to be up and ready by 5:30, give or take 15 minutes to walk in circles. I should definitely limit myself to ONE nightcap.

In the midst of panic, I say Cheers to the 34solo experience!

The Logistics of Going GREEN

Today I scoped out ....ok stalked..... a bus transit called the 34 Xpress. Who knew a bus runs the east/west route from Greeley to Loveland? This is excellent news for me because I've just incorporated a whole new level of creative commuting. This could be a nice feature in the rare case of torrential downpours when I'm just...... not that committed. So the best part of this transit system is that, while it doesn't go the entire way, it covers a bulk of the journey. Essentially, I could ride my bike (in an unmotivated, ill, or weather battered state) to the bus stop about 5 miles away. I could theoretically pay $2.00 for a ride to a bus stop just a few miles away from work. And on the way home, if I happen to find myself bellied up to a bar for happy hour, rather than risking life and limb, I could get a partial ride home. Now, there is STILL riding here people, I'm NOT slacking before I even get started. I'm just tickled that I have options.

So in researching this transit, I find out it's at risk for being shut down. Why? Lack of commutters. I can verify this because I actually stalked the bus stop this morning to check it's scheduled stop time. After being a few minutes late, this 34 Xpress transit bus went scurrying by.... EMPTY. Later in the day, I called the Transit, because clearly I had nothing else better to do. I asked the guy how long the 34 Xpress was going to be around. He said it's a government project and they re-evaluate it every year to determine if they have enough interest to keep the contract. The 34 Xpress is due for its yearly review next month. I asked him how busy they were and he said it depends on who you talk to- that some people ride every day while others think it's a waste of time, money, and gas to drive around empty buses. But, on the bright side, he guaranteed it would run until July 31st. But that was it. In fact, he discouraged me from getting the monthly pass. In his words, "I'd hate for you to be sitting there looking at a pretty piece of paper that's useless."

In my efforts to enlighten him, I shared with him my upcoming adventure and told him about the Blog. His mood lifted ever so lightly. So I told him I would give a shout out to the 34 Xpress Transit tonight in my blog. Shout Out! So now I feel obligated to get a ride every so often.... you know...just to keep the poor thing running.....

Tonight, I put the front/rear lights and extra water bottle cage on my bike. Lost patience with the computer.... tomorrow is a new day though. Swore only once. Didn't throw any parts. Leaving the car home on Wednesday for a partial commute test run- try out the bus on the way to work and ride solo home.

Cheers to the 34solo Experience!

Show me the Money!

Purchased Today at Performance in Fort Collins:

Riding Tights (for those crappy days) $89 / less 15% CLEARANCE yea! $59.00
Reflecting Tape (for backpack) $5.99
Wireless Computer for $39.99 (no cadence but also on CLEARANCE) $19.99
Lights $19.99
Pedals (platform w/clips) $ 39.99
Water Bottle Cage (silver) $9.99
Grand Total: $ 155.89

Random Thoughts today:

It's expensive to ride.
You shouldn't take pictures WHILE you ride.
People who don't ride think you are crazy when you do ride.
You should be careful when packing your bag so that you don't accidentally puncture one of your CO2 cylinder cartridges. That sucked.
How do I run errands? How do I stop to get dog food on the way home?
How do I get people to read this stupid BLOG?

For those of you who do- thanks!

Cheers to the 34solo experience!

Test Run

Great Ride today! 17 miles in a little over an hour. Not bad for an easily distracted novice. It's a bit sketchy at times with intense traffic volume and passing semi trailers. Felt the smog fill my lungs as traffic got heavier. No bike problems, beautiful sunny day, ready to get started! As you can see, had a Shel Silverstein moment- found a place where the sidewalk really does end.

Lesson One: Know what you have.

I suppose when I originally bought my first road bike, I never anticipated that I would have the urge to commute to work. Otherwise, I would have purchased a steel frame that had bike rack options. Apparently, while standing in the bike shop all of those months ago, my eyes glassed over with the thought of carbon fiber parts. So that is what I have. And that is why I can't put a rack on my bike. Carbon fiber can't hold the extra weight, which means No extra shoes.... no extra food..... no extra....ANYTHING. Unless I wear a back pack. Well.....shit. I spent most of my day today shopping for rack systems that would help me with this crazy idea. Now that I know what I have, I need to drop back and punt.

Backpack it is.

Tomorrow- First ride ONE way, travelling East to West. If the winds are anything like they were today, I'll probably fly away like the Balloon Boy. I better bring a flashlight- who knows how long it will take.

The BIG idea.

I am not entirely crazy. I am only moderately so. I'm what you call 'a BIG idea person'. BIG ideas come to me as readily as apples on an apple tree or waves in an ocean or beer from a brewery. These BIG ideas are essentially a non-stop flood of random thoughts that prevent me from concentrating on any one thing for too long. Some people don't have them. They have what you call the 'How are you going to do that?' kind of brain. They ask the detail questions. I usually don't hang out much with those kind of people. They make me nervous.

So what's the story behind this Blog? Well, I had a BIG idea the other day as I was sitting in my office that I wanted to just ride my bike home. I had been sitting most of the day and with waves of stress flowing into my office, had this sudden urge to just bolt. I had this feeling of needing fresh air and feeling a breeze on my face. I had this desire to just ride toward the mountains. But I couldn't bolt because I need my job. I actually like my job. It's a job that I will probably be at for the next...oh... 20 + years. This is a depressing thought actually. So the idea came to me that I need to change the landscape of my day. I mean, I can't NOT work. But maybe I could incorporate riding into my day, and maybe- JUST MAYBE- I could leave my gas-guzzling SUV at home.

Is it possible? Is it possible to leave my house in the early morning on a bike, and come home in the late afternoon on a bike? All the while........ keeping my day job? As I thought of this, visions of flat tires and rain and helmet hair danced through my head. Work starts early- 7:15. I live 17.3 miles from work. The single, most direct path between home and work is a highway. Highway 34 to be exact. For the past 6 months, I've periodically seen a lone rider making the commute from west to east. I'd see him at different points along the way, and admire his stamina and courage. I often wondered where he lived, and where his final destination was. I haven't seen him in a while, but if you are HIM and have discovered this blog, shoot me an email. Would love to chat....

Anyway, let's take a closer look at the challenge.

I live in Loveland, Colorado and work in Greeley. The total one way distance is 17.30 miles. There is one direct route- U.S Route 34. This is an east-west highway that runs for 1,222 miles from the western suburbs of Chicago to north-central Colorado. It runs through Rocky Mountain National Park, where it is known as Trail Ridge Road and reaches a whopping 12,183 feet, making it the highest paved through highway in the United States. Very cool.
It's a pretty commute really because you drive toward the sunrise every morning, and head home to spectacular mountain views. Now let's look at the negatives here.

U.S Route 34 doesn't have a designated bike lane. There is a short stretch of a bike trail and maybe a half mile bike lane just out of Loveland. But for the bulk of the ride, no bike lane. It crosses over U.S Route 25, which is the major corridor running north and south, indicating a potentially large volume of traffic. Colorado is known for erradic weather. On any given day you could have fog, rain, sleet, or snow. On any given ride, a goat head could poke through your tire causing a flat. I don't know how to change a tube. I don't really want to learn how to change a tube. But it is inevitable. I will have to do it. There is the hygiene factor. I can't smell at work, that's just bad form. Then there is the GEAR factor. This is where the money hits the pavement. I have the bike- a Rocky Mountain Solo- that I like. I have your basic riding gear. And while I'll need to pick up a few extra pieces of bike gear, what I won't need is GAS.

So, in summary, this is the challenge- 30 days of a car-free commute to work. Beginning April 12th and ending May 21st, I will leave my SUV in the driveway and ride my bike to and from work. 34.6 miles round trip per day times 30 Days......... for a grand total of 1,038 miles.

I need a lot of things to make this work. I need to re-configure my entire morning routine. I need to BLOG consistently so others can share in my misery. I probably even need a psychologist- oh wait, I am one.

Cheers to the 34solo experience!