Commuting

Well, I am back to it. During the summer I was pretty good about riding to work and back. Once it got close to Bridget's due date I started driving more. Then after the birth I stopped riding to work all together so that I could leave later and get home sooner. But things are more or less on a schedule and it is time to once again start riding to work and back, at least most days.

The commute there is not too bad, it takes about 45 minutes to get 13 miles. But on the way back it takes longer since there are hills to climb to get back to home. Plus I don't like to ride as fast since it is dark. I have a light but I don't feel confident riding 20+ mph in many of the areas that don't have street lights. And even in areas that do I often don't go as fast as I could. So on the way back it takes about 10 minutes longer. But basically I get in two cyclocross length rides in every day that I ride to work and back. I think that will be a good thing long term, but for now I can tell that after a couple of days of this I am going to be a little worn out. I am just not used the work load of riding 25+ miles a day 4 or 5 days in a row. I expect that my legs will be a little toasted for the next cross race or two. Oh well.

Riding at night is interesting. Sort of scary, but not overly so. I don't have to ride through any horrible areas, unless you think downtown Beaverton is a bad part of town. The scary part comes from not really knowing what is on the road more than 30 feet in front of you many times. Or from wondering if my tail light is doing a good job of letting an unattentive driver that I am on the road. Yeah, that stuff worries me. But I do feel good riding and I like that fact that when I get home I can eat whatever the heck I want. Truly a bonus.

In other news today I finished gluing my 7th tubular tire in the past 3 weeks. This time it was for a customer and not a fellow employee or myself. The wheel was a Zipp disc wheel and the tire a spendy Tufo. I felt a little pressure to do a good job obviously and dang if I didn't get that tire pretty close to perfect. My best glue job yet. Road tires definitely are easier to get straight that a cyclocross tire. I don't know what the shop is going to charge this guy but it will be worth it, even if I do say so myself.