Back in February I bought a bike through
Craigslist. It's been a lot of fun getting back into riding, and with gas prices pinching my wallet, I've been thinking about using it to commute to work. I'm only about 5 miles from the nearest Park and Ride bus station, so I think it should be feasible to bicycle commute regularly.
The major hurdle has been that the only available route is down a 6 lane stretch of state highway. On Saturday morning I got up and did a trial run, just to see how comfortable I felt on the ride and get an estimate of how long it takes to get to the bus station. I stuck to the shoulder and then rode off-road in the grass for most of the trip down. It took me about 20 minutes, but it was pretty rough going. On the way back, I stuck to the highway and stayed in the far right lane. I felt pretty safe and all cars gave me plenty of room when passing.
Back at the house I started planning out equipment needs. The person I bought the bike from was a lightness freak, so he pulled every reflector off the bike. I new that at the bare minimum I would need to get some reflectors and a tire repair kit in case of a breakdown. Online I found a great bicycling website:
Bicycling Life. From them I got a few more key items I need to add to my equipment list:
- fenders for the tires - especially in case of rain
- lights - so I can see if it's dark and I can easily be seen
- bike bags - for holding repair tools, keys, misc.
- more water bottles - in case I get stranded in the summer heat
I brought extra business attire to work over the last few days and made plans to shower at the gym. This morning I packed a backpack with my laptop and my lunch, filled my water bottle and headed out on the open road for my first commuter ride.
Riding on the highway was not too bad. School's out, so the traffic isn't too heavy and everyone left me plenty of space when passing. It's also nice and flat, so I can really gear up and crank flat out. Traffic was backed up at the intersection for the Park and Ride and I smirked a bit as I cranked past several cars on the shoulder. As I closed on the intersection, I needed to turn left, so I figured I'd stay right and cross at the crosswalk. There's a gas station on the corner, so I attempted to pull in and head toward the crosswalk. The driveway had a bit of a ridge, so I popped my front tire over it (trying to be all fancy), but I wasn't at a sharp enough angle, so my back wheel slid out and I ended up on my butt on the pavement with some nice road rash on my knee and hands. (Need to add biking gloves to my list) I imagine that all the cars I had passed had a nice chuckle at that one.
Anyway, tonight I've got to suit back up and see how the return trip goes. If anyone else takes Hwy 6 to the Addicks Park and Ride and wants to join me on the ride in, just say so in the comments.
Labels: bicycling, commute, gas
