Commuter Miles

Only around six miles today on the bike, but they were risking-my-life-in-lunchtime-traffic miles. The temps were in the low 80s today, so I swapped out my loafers for SPDs and headed out for errands and meeting in street clothes. Rolled up my left pant leg, tossed my cardigan in the backpack with the items destined for UPS, and headed out.

I'm so used to making trips around Sandy Springs on my heavy, slow hybrid. It was really nice to take the hills on Bloo. (Blooregard Q. Kazoo, named by my children for Bloo of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.)

The drivers around me didn't give me quite the space they do on Patty (Peppermint Patty, also named by children.) I guess the lack of a front-mount basket helped me look a bit more... competent? Less accident prone? It's also possible I just looked like a serious commuter today, just a regular part of traffic.

My only complaint was the complete lack of bicycle racks. Or anything suitable for locking up Bloo. I don't mind using something other than a rack. But the 4-6' wide brick pillar is a bit beyond the stretch of my cable or chain. It wasn't all that bad; both the UPS Store and Starbucks (meeting location) were quite friendly when I wheeled my buddy through the door.

I attempted to catch a picture using the self-timer feature. It's not easy to get situated in 5 seconds when a bike's involved, so I'm not sure if any of the shots are useful. If I did get something decent, I'll post. Hopefully, I didn't cut myself in half while running across the carport each time.

Edit: this will have to do. I look like a complete dork, but at least I'm not sticking out my tongue, closing my eyes, or midway through swinging my leg over the seat. And, my goodness, the angle on the bike adds about 15 lbs. - I suddenly like all those horrible running photos from races a whole lot more.

And, I'm really glad I had the cardigan for the meeting. The air conditioning was extra chilly after the ride. (That, and I'm not one to run around in just a camisole top, generally speaking.)