For a few months, James and I had been talking about biking in together. We live a few blocks away from each other and both work in downtown Minneapolis (usually). Bike to Work Day on May 14th provided an excellent trial run for me as I’ve never done this before. It’s about a four mile trip in. I learned a lot. For instance:
- When your friend invites you to use his road bike instead of your junkie “mountain bike” take him up on it. I can’t imagine what type of biking my bike is built for, but it isn’t road biking. James pedaled approximately once for every 20 of mine often coasting for long stretches as if he were cruising downhill. I was working hard. I think I got passed by an elderly couple out for their morning walk.
- Dress as if it were winter, even if it is spring. I was concerned about getting too hot and sweaty and smelling bad at work all day. Au contraire. I dressed light. It was windy and cold. When I arrived at James’ house he gave me a pair of gloves. I treasure those gloves. My hands would have frozen to the handlebars without them.
- Even if you normally eat your first meal around 10am, get some food and water in your system before heading out. At the very least, I should have had some water with me for the ride. Fortunately, about half way there, a restaurant had opened it’s doors for some free breakfast for bicyclists. I ate some apples, drank some water, laid down in a booth for about 5 minutes (I was dizzy) and felt as good as new.
- Don’t get discouraged and swear off biking before the ride home. I was a little nervous that I would end up having to call my wife to pick me up in the van on the way home. Humiliating! I was still tired from the ride in at the end of the day and James wouldn’t be there to encourage me and keep me on the right path. I joked that he would probably pass me around the third mile even though he was leaving an hour later. However, the ride home was much better. It was warmer and took about half the time. No laying down or stopping was necessary. Success!
Also, I shouldn’t forget to mention that we were greeted with more free food, music and lots of information booths when we got downtown. Thank you city of Minneapolis!
Check out another guest post written by Brent on Jenna's (his wife) blog
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5 comments:
thanks for having him do this. i should put him to work more often!!!
sounds like the bike i bought for $10 from my neighbor's garage sale - stripes, kickstand, upright handle bars, big blue seat. it's a bike you could picture mr. rogers riding. and it's old - 70's. it's like riding a stationary bike. it'll get you in shape twice as fast even if it takes twice as long to get anywhere.
brent getting schooled by old people. now THAT is some funny shite.
I love this! I wish I could bike to work. Maybe I should park my bike by my bedroom "door" and bike into the kitchen some morning?
KAK, sounds like a sweet ride that could rival my $30 Craiglist Raleigh 3 spd, or the $15 Garage-sale Sears 6 spd.
dang - sounds as though you're like some kind of secondhand bike connoisseur/collector or something.
hey, i've got this really great bike i know you'd love. tell you what. i'll cut you deal. $15 and it's yours.
cycling public accountants are cool
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