Bike-to-Work Week
Due to the rising prices in gas, I have decided to revert to old school transportation, at least for part of the day. I decided to ride to school today, a distance of 15 kilometers (15.01 to be exact). The way to school was nice and easy. There are a couple half-rollers. You don't have to really get out of the saddle to climb, but you can if you want. Other than that, it's flat on paved trail and then into some urban junk. So, the way there was nice and easy. One of my friends was going into school and offered to take my bag. Less weight, no prob (and let's be serious 15K hardly breaks a sweat on the bike.) Weather: right at 50 F, which should be around 9 C or so, give or take. No problem, threw on a long sleeve base layer and a short sleeve jersey and hit the road. I did almost get smoked by a truck in town. I was going to blow a stop sign and didn't quite get there in time to beat a Ram 2500. (I almost did an endo. That was real pretty.) If I would have gone, I would still be picking up my teeth right now. Not to mention having a couple other war wounds. But, situation avoided.
Fast forward to the ride home. It was about 17:00ish when I left school. (Surprisingly little rush hour traffic.) Although, with the gigantic population of fast food engineers in town, the peak hours might be more like 15:00 due to shift change. So, I headed out, with my bag this time. I tried to empty most of it out, but to little avail. It still weighed in at a good 30+ pounds. Not real heavy, but when you're used to cycling with nothing on your back, it makes a difference. So, I got about 10K into the ride and noticed that my left trapezius area hurt like a son-of-a-bitch. My messenger bag was digging the shnikees out of my trap. Over the next K or so my arm started to feel a bit numb and was a touch weak. Adjusting was no help. It only added in destabilizing me on the bike. I felt like my entire left brachial plexus was being pinched off, and let's be honest, it was. That and the f-ing thing was digging into my spine while I was on the down bars. I just thank God there wasn't a strong breeze. Although, doesn't it seem like the last mile or so going home is always the windiest?
So anyways, to the actual point of my post other than my ramblings. The reason that I rode to school today was to prep for National Bike-to-Work Week, which is May 15-19. In fact, the month of May is National Bike Month. I encourage everyone to ride to work. Yes, I only live 15K from school, so it's easier for me. Here is an interesting bit of knowledge to chew on: on average there are something like 120,000 cyclist in the New York area per day. During the transportation strike that number increased 500%. Pretty impressive. I think I am quoting those numbers correctly. If someone finds different please enlighten me, as I am in need of it.
Fast forward to the ride home. It was about 17:00ish when I left school. (Surprisingly little rush hour traffic.) Although, with the gigantic population of fast food engineers in town, the peak hours might be more like 15:00 due to shift change. So, I headed out, with my bag this time. I tried to empty most of it out, but to little avail. It still weighed in at a good 30+ pounds. Not real heavy, but when you're used to cycling with nothing on your back, it makes a difference. So, I got about 10K into the ride and noticed that my left trapezius area hurt like a son-of-a-bitch. My messenger bag was digging the shnikees out of my trap. Over the next K or so my arm started to feel a bit numb and was a touch weak. Adjusting was no help. It only added in destabilizing me on the bike. I felt like my entire left brachial plexus was being pinched off, and let's be honest, it was. That and the f-ing thing was digging into my spine while I was on the down bars. I just thank God there wasn't a strong breeze. Although, doesn't it seem like the last mile or so going home is always the windiest?
So anyways, to the actual point of my post other than my ramblings. The reason that I rode to school today was to prep for National Bike-to-Work Week, which is May 15-19. In fact, the month of May is National Bike Month. I encourage everyone to ride to work. Yes, I only live 15K from school, so it's easier for me. Here is an interesting bit of knowledge to chew on: on average there are something like 120,000 cyclist in the New York area per day. During the transportation strike that number increased 500%. Pretty impressive. I think I am quoting those numbers correctly. If someone finds different please enlighten me, as I am in need of it.
posted by runrMD08 at 5:35 PM
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