Break Even Day

Today is the day that I would have spent the equivalent in gas as I have on my bus pass. After today, I begin to MAKE money. Okay...SAVE money.

Now that I have been doing this for a week, I'm beginning to break down my morning ride into little segments.

The first half mile is level with just a slight downhill incline. I try to peddle at a pretty good pace. At three quarters of a mile I hit my first and only hill heading downtown. The steep part is only a block long so I try to power through that as best I can. I notice that I'm getting faster.

After the hill, it all levels out again and I go through a neighborhood I call Blight Street. Old beat up houses. Garbage and crap on porches and in yards. Nobody cares there.

Blight Street brings me right out to the Arena. There is a good downhill grade that leads right to the park. I try to see how much speed I can gather and then how far into the park I can coast. I'll get a distance tomorrow when I remember. I think it's a good quarter mile into the park before I run out of steam at the YMCA.

From there, it's a wonderful ride through beautiful Riverfront Park. In the morning, it's nice and cool and quiet and empty. It's a very easy ride to the Bus Plaza where I catch my ride to work. The distance is 2 miles.

When I get off the bus at Liberty Lake, I have read the paper and am refreshed and ready to face the day. I cycle another half mile to the office and I have commuted.

Three Day Weekend Hangover

It was a tough ride this morning. My legs really feel drained. I have one hill to go up during my ride downtown. It is not big and no more than a block long. But I really had a difficult time getting up it this morning. My legs were aching as I peddled along in my highest gear. I felt the ssame way when I got off the bus for my short ride to the office.

What a wimp!

Pre-Independance Day

I felt just a tingle of sprinkle as I rode to the bus this morning. I thought it might have been dew or sap falling from a tree until I felt it downtown waiting for the bus.

I got a bit of a late start this morning so I was really rushing to get downtown. But there was nothing to worry about. I still made it with 5 minutes to spare. That means I can stay in bed until six if I want. Or it gives me more time in the morning to do some things around the house. For example, the bird feeder (also known as the cat feeder) went empty this morning. The birds are gonna be pissed. The cats are going to be livid.

I left work last night at 4:15 rather than 4:30. That 15 minutes makes a huge difference in my commute home. First, the bus is empty so there is no competition for space on the bike rack. Secondly, I got home about 40 minutes sooner. I am hoping my boss will be understanding and allow me to keep leaving at 4:15.

Good Luck with that!

Rack Competition

I had an uneventful trip home last night but I can see that there is going to soon be an issue of too many bikes and not enough racks on the buses. Thankfully, they run two different routes out to Liberty Lake at about the same time. The first bus usually has a full rack but there is room on the second.

I have been trying to remember to take a bottle of water with me but I tend to forget it. I had one ready to go last night and I forgot it. I had one ready to go this morning and I forgot it. I seem to remember it just as soon as I want some water.

It is Day Three of my Month of Riding. By Day Six, I will begin saving money. It takes 5 1/2 days of riding the bus to pay for the Monthly Pass. There will be a big celebration on Tuesday.

I suppose I should make some mention to the local bike shop. The guy that owns it looks like Lance Armstrong. I took my bike back there yesterday and told him that the service he had performed on the bike did not fix the problem. I frankly do not believe that he did anything to it and neither does my Bike Consultant, Don.

I left it with him and he was going to again do a thorough cleaning or replace the bracket if needed. When I returned after work, he had not gotten to it yet.

So, I will try to take it in again today and see if he can "git r'dun" today.

The F.U.B.A.R. Ride Home*

The temperature was well into the 90's yesterday. That makes for a lovely ride to work but a very hot ride home. I didn't make it any easier on myself.

Last Friday, I took my bike over to the local bike shop to have a critical portion of the bike repaired. I needed a new lower bracket which is the bearing assembly that the peddles turn around.

I drove to work on Friday with the bike in back. I dropped the bike off and told the guy I would be back at 4:30.

Upon returning at 4:35, the guy had me stand around for a few minutes before telling me it wasn't ready. I said I had a quick errand and would it be done in half an hour. He said yes and off I went.

I returned and the bike was sitting out on the floor. I paid the $15.00 and wheeled it out to the car.

When I rode it to work yesterday, it did not feel like it was any better. Don, who is my Bicycle Consultant at work, said it had not been replaced. The bike store was of course, closed on Monday.

I left work at 4:30 yesterday when my office thermometer had to be hitting 98 degrees. I had every intention of waiting the 15 minutes at the stop for the bus, but decided at the last minute to try and ride the six or so miles to the bus's next stop. I'm riding the bike in part for exercise and here was a perfect (if not sweltering) opportunity.

It was a very nice ride, paralleling the Spokane River the whole way. When I reached Sullivan Road, which was close to my goal, it was also very close to the time the bus would be getting there.

I was riding down Indiana keeping an eye on my rear view mirror for the bus. It wasn't long before I saw the bus coming up on me and I was still a good mile from the Park and Ride spot where the bus would pick me up.

I stepped up my peddling and as the bus came along side me I waved at the driver and he pointed to the next stop up ahead.

I had made it! I was sweaty and out of breath, but I made it.

I sat back in the coolness of the air conditioned bus and congratulated myself as the bus turned onto a street it was not supposed to turn on.

It went up the the YMCA and turned around and headed back towards the Park and Ride. It began to dawn on me that I should have checked the number on the bus. Was this Bus Number Se7enty-Four? There was nothing in the cabin of the bus to indicate what the route was. I noticed the schedules and didn't see one for Se7enty-Four.

As we pulled out of the Park and Ride, I saw Bus Number Se7enty-Four pulling in. I pulled the stop cord, got a transfer and got off.

Bus Number Se7enty-Four was right behind the bus I got off. As I stood there with my bike, proudly pleased with myself for having figured out the system, I noticed that the bike rack was full. The driver slowed and kind of shrugged at me.

One of the things I have been concerned about riding the bus is the availability of open bike racks. I figured I would run into the problem. I just didn't expect it on my first day. I'm sure that as the price of gas goes up, it is going to become more of an issue.

The bus passed on by and I was struggling with the despair of the system failing me. Suddenly, the bus stopped and a guy hopped off. He was one stop short of his goal but since he had a bike, it didn't matter. He jumped off and gave his space to me.

Finally, as the bus pulled onto the Freeway, I was able to congratulate myself in the air conditioned coolness of Bus Number Se7enty-Four.

*that turned out okay

Pre-July Training

I am off and running on my quest to ride my bike to work for the rest of the summer. It was a little tough getting up this morning as I had a busy weekend. I cut down three trees yesterday.

So far, I'm into this thing for a dollar. There will be an additional dollar this afternoon. When I get downtown, I'll buy a monthly pass.

It was a nice morning and I have nothing of consequence to report.

New Adventures in Phatness

My running efforts since Bloomsday have been less than stellar. I started out okay but then I went on vacation in Iowa and ran head-on into pollen. I have never suffered from allergies before but I got a good taste of it in Iowa. They must have industrial strength farm pollen cuz it got to me. I would go for a run and not even make it a half mile before I had to stop and wheeze my way back. My eyes got a little puffy and I was coughing like a smoker.

So I got way out of the routine of running and have only run a mile a couple of times in the last month.

Monday will mark the commencement of a next phase in my fitness life. There are 22 work days in the month of July. I am going to attempt to ride my bike every one of those work days. Part of it is for exercise and part of it is to see how much money I save on gas. It is currently at $4.00 per gallon...and still rising...for no apparent reason...other than we will pay it. My calculations indicate I can save well over $100.00.

Now, this is not as quite as ambitious an effort as it may sound. While my ride to work is about 18 miles, I am peddling only a small portion of that. I will ride downtown and catch the bus. The buses are equipped with bike racks. Then I can ride the two blocks to work from where the bus drops me off.

The challenge is to re-arrange my life so I don't need the car. If I can do it in July, there is no reason I can't do it in August. Then I'll see if I'm up to the challenge of doing it into the Fall. And of course, I am not! But money is a strong motivating factor and if I actually lose some weight and firm up my flabbiness, that too will motivate me.

And so, let the month long bicycle extravaganza begin. And pray for me.