Week 6

November 14 - 18
Week 6 went by without a hitch.  Commuting was a mixed bag this week, as the weather changed daily (even hourly), as it tends to do through the Texas Fall.  The only bit of excitement (nausea?) came on Thursday when my route took me right by a roadkill deer.  Growing up in Texas, I've seen plenty of these on the road, but somehow biking over the blood stained sidewalk was a bit much for me at 6:00 am.  Luckily, someone cleaned up the mess quickly, before the thing started to decay.

We joined Thursday Night Social Ride again this week, for the first time in about a month.  The cooler weather made for a smaller ride, which I prefer to the masses that gather in the summer months.  We tried out our new Bose portable speaker.  It's only a little louder than the Altec Lansing I've had for the past 4 years or so, but the sound is so much better.  It was a nice little treat for our ride.  Of course, when dude on 10ft tall bike with 12" sub rolled anywhere within a block of us, we couldn't hear a thing, but it was all good.  The amusement of riding alongside a guy perched atop a bike so tall you need a ladder (but don't actually use one) to mount, sporting a sweet ass 'stash and red cape is worth the sacrifice of missing a song or two from my play list along the way.  It's actually one of the reasons why I stay out too late on Thursday, and pay for it all day Friday.  

By the time Friday morning rolled around, I was super exhausted.  It's tough getting up early and biking up the hill to work the morning after TNSR.  Too little sleep + tired legs = challenging morning commute.  Hopefully, I'll have enough energy to roll downtown later for the Ghostland Observatory show at ACL Moody Theater.  The hubby bought tickets to the show for our 1 year anniversary, and I want to have plenty of energy to dance my ass off for a few hours. 

Still loving life on 2 wheels.

Week 5

November 7 - 11
I guess I've become a real bike commuter now.  It's been 5 weeks, and I'm still at it.  I've had a couple of close calls with rain, but haven't had to ride through any storms yet.  I've got my route perfected, and my daily work preparation packing is down to a science.  The weeks are really flying by, and before you know it 2012 will be here, and with it comes the option of a car for me.  My husband will get a work truck in January, so I'll be able to use our xB whenever I want.  Will I want to?  January and February can be pretty cold here in Austin (at least it feels that way to this South Texas girl).  I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Anyway...we made it over to Mohawk this week to see Phantogram.  I love how they have an abundance of bike parking out front.  I wish more places downtown were like this:

After a few drinks, I said hello to my old friend Bear.

Phantogram put on a great show, as always.  And, I left the show with serious hair envy (again).



What Would They Think?

Sure, everyone thinks it's cool that I ride my bike to work every day. I'm exercising, saving gas money, etc. But...how would they feel if they knew that I didn't have a car? Specifically, how would this fact be viewed by upper management? For some reason, I think it would be viewed as a limitation. I guess that's the reason that I'm going on my 6th week commuting to work, but haven't told my boss or really anyone here that I don't actually have a car.

It's not about the money. Sure, I got rid of $11k worth of debt when we sold the Volkswagen, but the decision wasn't made solely for financial reasons. My husband and I are in the best financial shape we've ever been in, and could have kept the car. (It would have taken us longer to become debt free, but we could have done it).

The main reason I'm doing this is...I just wanted to see if I could live without a car, even if it's only for a few months. In fact, living a car-free life is one of the items on my "life list." You know, the list of things you want to do before you die? There are 29 items on my list, and when we sold our car a few weeks ago, I was able to put a big check mark beside the words "live without a car for a period of time - just to see if I can do it." 

The decision has made me so happy.  I find true happiness in riding my bike each and every day.  Yet, there's still this underlying feeling that people would think less of me here in the corporate world if they knew the whole story.  I don't know why.

Week 4 - Frogger, Plus: A New Direction

October 31st - November 4th

Monday - Day off. No riding or Car 2 Going for me today.

Tuesday - Routine. Had a great run in the morning with Pacer, then hopped on the bike to get to work.

Wednesday - Super close to smashing a frog on the way in. Got to work, hit the gym, then realized I didn't bring dress shoes with me. Opted for my worn out red Tom's over black flip flops (shower shoes) to wear with my tailored dress and blazer. Looking good!

Thursday - Cold front blowing in throughout the early morning.  Super cold and windy, but I had just the right amount of layers on. As I was riding in, I noticed another commuter taking a different route through the park. I'm going to try it out tomorrow and see where it leads.

Friday - New route through the park is SO MUCH BETTER! I'm going to take this route from now on.  Less sidewalk, less proximity to motor vehicles. 

I've been at this for several weeks now, and it's starting to become second nature.  I keep asking myself why I didn't do this sooner.

A Long, Healthy Life

I read an article about a study on the impact of taking your bike instead of driving for 1/2 of the errands you run that are close by. The results were pretty amazing. Billions of dollars could be saved in health care costs, and about 1,100 deaths avoided each year...and that's just from taking your bike on half of your long errands (2.5 miles each way...which is about how far I commute to work each day). It made me realize that there are so many benefits to riding my bike to work every day. I'm saving money, getting more exercise, reducing pollution, and spending more time outdoors (which is undoubtedly good for the mental health for someone who spends about 9 hours a day stuck in an office in front of a computer). Not to mention the social aspects of biking. Over the past few years, I've had so many wonderful biking experiences with friends. It's allowed me to see my world from a different point of view...to really take notice of my surroundings. All this while improving my health and the health of others. :)

Week 3 - Ups and Downs

October 24 - 28, 2011

Monday and Tuesday I was on a work trip to El Paso, so I didn't use my bike at all. The challenge for these two days was figuring out the best way to get to and from the airport without a car. By planning ahead, I was able to do so without spending any extra money. Jason dropped me at the airport on his way to work Monday morning. I was there about an hour earlier than I needed to be, but used the time to catch up on some reading. On Tuesday, I carpooled back to the office with my boss...it worked out perfectly! I used the excuse that my car was in the shop because I didn't want to bring to light the fact that I don't have a car...not just yet, anyway. I don't want it to be viewed as a limitation by people in the corporate world that don't understand. But, more on that later.

Wednesday was tough. I guess I didn't learn my lesson last week, because...I had to ride to work with the worst hangover imaginable. Tuesday night was spent at Stubb's for the Snoop Dogg concert, which was completely awesome. I guess I had a little too much fun because Wednesday morning I felt horrible. There was no getting out of it, though...it was a busy week at work, so I had to suck it up! I rode into work slowly, and cursed myself all the way up the hills. It was a rough day.

Thursday was pretty uneventful. I was feeling so much better than the day before, that I was super happy all day, despite it being a pretty stressful work day. It's so much better riding into work when you've had the proper amount of sleep the night before (and you've laid off the booze for a night).

The Friday morning ride was pretty cold and windy after a front blew in overnight. I had to break out my gloves for the first time. At some point, I'll need to invest in some better winter riding clothes. But, for now I think what I've got will work.

Saturday morning Jason and I were supposed to kick off our anniversary weekend by riding in the Pedal for Puppies urban ride, which raised money for Austin Pets Alive. We were way too tired from a surprise super hero costume party the night before, so we opted to sleep in. We headed out around mid morning for a downtown bike adventure instead. We spent some time at the Farmer's Market, then did a little shopping at Mellow Johnny's and Urban Outfitters.

All in all, it was a good week in riding. Sure, I had my ups and downs, but I'm still in love and committed to my life on 2 wheels.

Week 2 - This Is How We Do It

It's week 2 of bike adventures, and I'm really starting to love it!  I don't miss the car at all, and I've enjoyed the extra bit of exercise I get each day.  Here's a quick recap of the week:

Monday was a lazy day.  I took the car to work since Jason had his work truck for the day. It worked out okay, though, because it allowed me to bring packing boxes home from work, and take more lunches to store in the break room fridge.

On Tuesday, I got to try out my new bike panniers! I was a little nervous about using them the first time because it was really windy as a cold front blew in.  I was worried that the bags would provide too much wind resistance.  They were awesome, though!  It was so great to ride in without a heavy bag over my shoulder.  Even though I was probably carrying more weight overall, the ride to work felt lighter.  There were a couple times on the ride home when I felt like I might blow over because of the wind, but I just tried to be extra careful. Here's a pic of my bike all loaded up with the panniers I bought from Performance Bikes:

Wednesday I survived my first bike commuting with hangover adventure. I had spent Tuesday night at a new book club, and had a little too much to drink. It was pretty tough to get on my bike Wednesday morning, but I had no choice. Wednesday night was girls' night at Paggi House (for a little hair of the dog).  Ginny and I had a nice ride from work, just down the street to 1/2 price apps and wine. Wednesday was also "talk to Lindsey about bike commuting day" at work (or so it seemed).  At least 4 people came into my office to ask about my route, how far I go, why is there a green wheel on the front of my bike, etc.  I guess now that I've been doing this for a week, people are starting to notice.  As Ginny likes to put it, "we're heroes, Lindsey; bike commuting heroes."  I don't know about all that, but...

The Thursday morning commute was pretty uneventful, although the weather was in the 50s, and I should have opted for a wind breaker instead of my hoodie.  It took a few hours at work to finally get the chill out of my system.  I did a little planning for next week to figure out how I'm going to get to and from the airport for my work trip to El Paso.  Not having a car requires me to plan ahead a little more, but hasn't posed any major problems yet.  It's actually exciting to have to think about transportation in a different way!

The Friday morning ride was pretty routine, but Ginny had a small crash on the way home (we rode to my condo to carpool up to a company bowling event). Her wheel got caught in a crevice in the sidewalk, which caused her to tip over.  Luckily, we weren't going too fast and she only got a little bit of road rash on her shoulder.  Of course this had to happen close to a stoplight where there were several cars waiting for the light to change.  Oops!

Saturday was super fun!  It was my 3rd Tour de Fat to attend in Austin. This event is put on by New Belgium brewing, and it's basically a bike carnival.  Live music, good beer, interesting bikes, and a few sideshows make for an interesting day at the park. In the past, I volunteered to pour beer at the beer tent, so this was my first time to attend without volunteering. We got there late but still had enough time to enjoy the last hour of the event. 

So far, it's been really great not having a car.  I feel better when I get to work each day...I really love being out on my bike!