Bike Commute 2011 - Week 16

I'm behind so I'm going to hit this whole week in one post.


This is week 16. I had planned on 22 weeks to get to 75 bike commutes by October. I'm a bit behind (blame the break down). 16/22 is 72% and I finished 49 rides this week (65%).

I'm driving in on Thursday and Friday because I have Old Boys this weekend and I want to rest my legs. We'll see how that works.

Day 47 - 22 Aug 11 - Papa and Boushette's 47th anniversary
IN -


Very clear and cool, a nice morning. The stars were bright and beautiful.

I think I figured out one of the main reasons my glasses have been fogging up so badly lately, I've been looking up.

When I look up my breath goes onto the glasses and fogs them up. Since I've been star gaping quite a bit lately I've been looking up more, and getting more fog.

It was fairly humid today too. I actually saw fog near Libertyville High School and again when I first got on Abbott campus.

I also got to work just as they were opening the gates.

HOME -

Speedy! I went for speed today and I got it. I made it home in 41 minutes which ties a record for me.

Funny thing is, the other time I made it home in 41 minutes I made no big deal about it. I actually stopped and took some pictures that day. I wonder if I really made it in 41 and not 51 since today I was booking it.

Day 48 - 23 Aug 11

IN -

Cool, clear and dark. I saw ground fog covering the field by Sandburg Middle School.

Orion is rising. When I first spotted him a couple of weeks ago he was laying on his back in the east. Now every morning he's a little more upright. That's very cool.

A mouse ran across the street in front of me this morning in Oak Grove (a town by the sign of it).

HOME -

Argh, headwind today. I intended to make this a nice easy ride, something pleasant and unhurried. Instead I was fighting the whole way.

I knew I didn't have to beat any clocks so I didn't fight too hard, but it's still disheartening to pedal yourself sweaty and see the landscape creep by at a frustratingly slow pace.

I rode past two groups of runners from Carmel High School too.

When I do that sort of thing I can't look like I'm struggling, so that slows me down too.

It ended up taking ten minutes longer to get home today than yesterday (and I didn't stop for pictures).

Day 49 - 24 Aug 11 - Volcano Day (Vesuvius erupted 24 Aug 79)

IN -

Remember the mouse I saw yesterday? In about the same area a woodchuck (or groundhog) ran across the road in front of me.

That was about the most interesting thing this morning. It was foggy again, and this time the sky was hazy too. I ultimately took my glasses off in order to actually see, even though I tried not to spend too much time looking at the sky (especially since it was too hazy to see anything well anyway).

HOME -

The race was on.

I wanted to see if I could beat my 41 minute time.

As soon as I got out the door I knew I had problems, it was much hotter than Monday had been. Then there was the headwind. It had to have been at least 15mph from the west, if not WSW. I could see the tops of trees swaying, the grass leaning and the big electric turbine spinning.

I put my shoulders down and pedaled.

I didn't put my head down. I have a tendency to look down at my feet to see if they're set right on the pedals, at the gears to see if they are the ones I really want, at the gear selectors, etc.

I'm trying to break that habit. I had been telling myself, "Don't look down, keep your head up, no keep looking forward, not up, out, keep looking out."

I pedaled and hedged stop signs at intersections with no one else there. I pedaled when I approached redlights, picking up my speed to try to catch one green cycle earlier.

I dug in up hills, I raced down hills. I hugged the turns. I pedaled right up to stops and braked at the last moment, putting more on the brakes and less on slowing down.

I made it in 45 minutes.