Bike Commuting: Part Five

Pushing Myself

I'm so close to feeling ready to commute to work! Today, I did 6.5 miles! I rode back to the Big Four Bridge, but this time I rode the entire bridge! I rode accross the bridge and made it to the other side, this time. That added some difficulty, just because of the length of the slope coming up the Indiana side of the bridge.

My Bike near the water.

Here is my bike with the slope on the Indiana side in the background! You can see I have some upgrades, which I'll talk about in just a second. The goal today was to keep riding. I, in my previous rides, just stopped and never really pushed myself.

I'm not ready, I don't think to ride all the way to work, and then to have to ride back, just yet. My legs feel like mush right now. I'm exhausted. Now that might be different if I'm coming in at 7:30 compared to 12:30 as I'm riding after having sat all day. We'll see what it's like when I just wake up and jump on the bike.

Bike Upgrades

My View on the bike.

Here's my view with the bike right now. Here you can see two new upgrades! You can see the bike bag right behind my handlebars, and my water bottle holder! These were necessities to help me stay hydrated and hold onto my things.

My Bike setup.

Here is the full setup! I've added a back rack to the back of the bike so that I can hold my backpack and lunchbox. I added this on there so that I didn't have to wear my backpack and get drenched in even more sweat, which I'll talk more about in just a second.

You can see a good view of the single water bottle holder, most bikes, with this bike included can have two water bottle holders. Now, I need to get a little bit more stable on the bike, and I'll be able to drink more water while I ride, like those riders in the Tour De France! But I'll get there.

Again that bag on the front, behind the handlebars. It gives me quick access to a repair kit (which I don't yet have), and snacks.

Sweat

Let's talk sweat! I am a Bramer, so I sweat! All the time. So, riding a bike in the heat does not help that very much. So, to cope with that, I bring a second shirt and a hat to work! I luckily can wear a hat to work, so with the helmet hair that I get from safely wearing my helmet, I need to wear something else to keep my hair in check. The hat does the trick.

Next Ride

What's next? More riding! Probably going to ride more tomorrow. I don't want to push myself too much during my lunch break, but I want to build my stamina too. I also have a limited time for my lunch break. So, I get to find the happy medium between pushing myself, riding a safe route, and being back to work ready to work!

I've also got some coworkers very interested in biking soon, so the next blog might have some pictures of some other people with me too!