Bike Commute!

I am very, very lucky in that I can ride my bike on greenway trails to work, almost door to door. I do drive about a mile to the greenway entrance nearest my house, because otherwise I'd have to ride on a very busy (45 mph) road, which is still a little much for me at this point. The area is safe to park my car, though, and then from that point it is a gorgeous, easy ride the entire 9 miles to my office.

I usually only ride in the spring & fall, because summers are too hot and winters are too dark, but as a result of having the most weirdly cool summer I can remember in my life, I was able to ride one day last week and I took some pictures of the trip.

Bike! I had to pump up the tires before I left, since it's been in storage for a few months.

This is the beginning of the trail near my house, a little messy from recent rains.

Chipper, thanks to iced coffee and the prospect of not sitting in traffic.

This long wooden bridge is one of my favorite parts.

Most of the trail is paved, though, like this part at Shelley Lake.

The last bit near my work is a long series (maybe a half mile or so) of wooden paths that go up and down and around corners - very fun! Except there are a lot of bees here in the spring. I have nearly killed myself trying to avoid running into them before.

By the time I got back to Shelley Lake (about 2 miles from home) in the afternoon I was decidedly NOT chipper. The only flaw in this whole bike commute plan is that the last few miles are steadily uphill going home. It's not terrible, but after 3 months of being off a bike I was hurting for miles 16-18.

Still, it only takes a time or two to get used to it again! I'm glad summer is starting to wrap up so I can get some more bike commuting in before the time changes.