radiopeter

That’s a new personal best for biking to work. Given that we’re post-July 4th, a lot of folks are on vacation. Or at least it seems that way because the roads have been pretty quiet these last two mornings.

I rode Halsted-Lincoln-Wells today and I literally flew, averaging around 15mph, far quicker than usual. And for some reason the stoplights were with me on my travels, because each seemed to magically turn green as I approached. I was moving nearly the entire trip, hence a seven minute gain on my usual 24 minute ride.

I’ve decided I’m at the point where I don’t feel right if I don’t bike every day. My legs aren’t always sore these days, but I need to ride to keep them flexible. Returning from NYC after not riding for five days was hard, and I’m over the hump of inaction.

I’m leaving for London in just over a week and I’m a little nervous about not having the chance to bike while I’m there. I shall have to jog as much as I can.

Jogging. How… common.

More pictures of Dexter the bicycle.

Last weekend I biked to the North Branch trail to capture some periodical cicada pictures. The woods were absolutely crawling with them and the sound was deafening. I loved every moment of it.

Click the photo for my full Flickr photoset.

It’s now become a ritual. I enter my building here in downtown Chicago holding my helmet, my backpack, and sometimes my bike seat. I ride the elevator up to the floor where I work and head right to the bathroom to change.

My new friend is the handicapped stall.

It’s roomy. There’s loads of space to unpack my fresh clothes and pack up the sweaty stuff. Plus, the assist bars make a great place to hang things. Who wants to put on a pair of clean underwear that were just lying on the bathroom floor at work? Eww.

However, the oddest thing struck me this morning. There I was, removing my manties to exchange them for a fresh pair (my taint sweats like you would NOT believe) and I realized I was buck naked at work. I froze like a deer in the headlights.

OK, maybe I had socks on. But nothing else.

This isn’t a new thing. I’ve been changing at work for the last three weeks, and will continue to do so. But today for some reason I kind of stepped outside the situation and really saw what was going on; Me, standing there naked (with socks) in a handicapped stall at work.

What I’m doing isn’t perverse. It’s perfectly normal for bike riders to do such things, and I’ve seen a dozen websites where people say the same thing; bring a change or two of clothes to work and change out of your riding gear into the fresh clothes in the bathroom.

Nonetheless, it still strikes me as odd.

I enjoy driving. I’ve always enjoyed it and I think someday I might even own a car again. But right now, in the heart of the gayborhood in Chicago, a car and I aren’t exactly a matched pair.

But now I own a bicycle.

I’ve been thinking and reading a lot lately about touring on my bike. It feels like I’m always on the ‘Net trying to soak up as much advice as I can on the subject.

I’m determined to do it. But there’s a few hurdles.

1) The mechanical

I don’t know how to change a bike tire. I don’t know a hell of a lot about my bike aside from adjusting the brake pads and tightening some bolts. Nor do I have a set of tools appropriate for travel that could potentially help with any troubles I might encounter. This all can be fixed with some research and some practice. But it needs to be done. I need to be able to take my bike apart and put it back together again. Not all of it mind you, but some of it.

2) The physical

Yes, it’s true, I’ve been riding about 50 miles per week for the last few weeks. My body is still changing as it’s adjusting to this new way of living, but I’m by no means ready to travel a few hundred miles by bicycle. This will get better in time, but I’m going to have to work hard at it. Somehow I’ve got to get more than 50 miles under my belt every week. When the hell I’ll get that done, I’m not sure. But it needs to be done.

3) The mental

Vacations, in my mind, work best with a handful of planning mixed with a handful of spontaneity. And while I can think of many ways to PLAN a 100% bike trip, it’s the handful of spontaneity that scares the shit out of me. The only way to stay that fear will be to get out there and do it. I can’t lie. It’s scary. I can almost taste it. Prepare, prepare, prepare is my mantra. But you can prepare for only so much. Then you just have to react.

So it’s not like I don’t know what it’s going to take. I think I do know a bit at this point. But it’s going to take a while to get around to it. In the mean time, I’ve decide to create a category called bicycling. Wonder what I’ll be posting under that category a year from now…