Week 39 (August 17-21) and a grocery run

Summary:

Week 39
Monday - Bicycle
Tuesday - Bicycle
Wednesday - Car (AM & PM Carpool)
Thursday - Bicycle
Friday - Car & LRT (AM Carpool)

I started off the week on the Greenspeed, but the Drifter was called to duty on Tuesday and Thursday. I've spent so much time on the Greenspeed lately that I'd forgotten how much I love this bike. The only real drawback is that I feel somewhat strange dressing like an accountant when I ride, so I usually end up changing at work. But the slight inconvenience was well worth it this week.

It even got some extra miles this weekend on a couple of grocery runs: one to Trader Joe's in St. Louis Park and the other to the Rainbow in our neighborhood. We're only a mile or from Rainbow so I decided to push the envelope and see how much I could get on the Drifter. I'll let the picture and a receipt highlights speak for themselves:



Highlights include:
Lunch meat
A gallon of milk
Fresh fruit & veggies
Five 12 packs of coke products

I honestly wasn't sure it was going to work out, but I figured I'd grab the bungee cords and give it a shot. No cans were injured during the trip from the store, and I think Pati was happy that I took a chance:

Week 21 (April 13 - 17)

Summary
Monday - Car & Bicycle (AM Carpool)
Tuesday - Car & Bicycle (AM Carpool)
Wednesday - vacation (more cycling than accounting)
Thursday - Car & Bicycle (AM Carpool)
Friday - Carpool

This week I discovered a great way to get more bike commutes in, even if I'm not feeling up to it in the morning. Pati's work is on the fringe of downtown, so I've been throwing the bike rack on the car in the morning, and then riding the mile or so to the office on the bike. It's been nice to spend the commute in with Pati, and then still have the opportunity to ride the bike home.

I took Wednesday off to file the one tax return I do all year. Plus I spent some time at Turtle Bread Company and ran a bunch of errands on the Raleigh. It was probably the best week day I've had so far in 2009.

Week 19 (March 30 - April 4)

Monday - car (AM & PM Carpool)
Tuesday - car (AM & PM Carpool)
Wednesday - car (AM & PM Carpool)
Thursday - car & LRT (AM Carpool)
Friday - bicycle
Saturday - bicycle

Random bicycle related insights from the week:

1. The Long Haul Trucker is just quick enough that I can hit the lights in sequence much better than I did on the Raleigh mountain bike.
2. We checked out the Artcrank Poster Party on Saturday, and I've gotta say the warehouse district is pretty cool (other than smut sections which are just sad). I'm guessing the Warehouse District will be packed for Twins games next year.
3. I'm glad I had the wind at my back coming home with two gallons of milk on my grocery run Sunday.

Temps are expected to hover in the mid 50s this week, so I'm hoping to get some work rides in.

Week 18 (March 23 - 27)

Monday - car (single occupant)
Tuesday - car (single occupant)
Wednesday - car (single occupant)
Thursday - car (single occupant)
Friday - car (single occupant)

The last week of busy season, and I wasn't able to (cue Kenny Loggins track) keep the fire burning (fade out). I was a little disappointed, but as I look back on the past several months I must say that I ended up logging (no pun intended) more winter miles than I would have imagined just a year ago.

On a positive note, I did ride to get my license renewed in St Paul on Saturday, and then to the Hopkins/Minnetonka area to pick up a few things for our Feijoada party that night. The license renewal station was a stone's throw from the Capitol, and I rode back across St. Paul, over the river to the eastern edge of Minneapolis and across its mid-section on the Midtown Greenway, past the lakes and into the first ring of the western suburbs. I ended just shy of 40 miles round trip and felt good about my overall bicycle usage for the week. It was the first relatively long ride of the year, so my knee required some icing. (Or perhaps that was just the old age and decrepitude settling into these 30 year-old bones)

In other news, the mountain bike is still on blocks in the front yard (figuratively speaking) as I didn't pull the trigger on street tires for it yet. We'll see what this week brings and whether or not it emerges from the basement with new life, and if the weather cooperates for some bike commutes to the office.