Biking to work

This past week has been fantastic weather. Hovering in the upper 30s in the morning and peaking around 65 in the afternoon. I just couldn't take it anymore and hopped on my bike this morning. My coworker was going to ride in with me... if I could meet him at our "spot" on the B&A at 5:30am. So as I meandered past there at about 6:15 I didn't even pause to see if he stuck around.

I made poor time. Considering I couldn't see my feet in the near new moon lit path, I took it slow. I finished the B&A and took a little break to grab a photo...



Heading over the bridge I stopped again. I could tell sunrise was going to be happening soon... but I new I couldn't stick around for it. This is the Naval Acadamy from the... Naval Academy bridge. You can just make out the Maryland State House as the lit up white top on the right.


Anyways, I rolled into work at about 7:15. Not too bad for a 12.82 miler after not riding for so long. This will be my first "counted" ride for the year.

Miles: 25.64 (doubled for ride home)
Weight: 155.8

Nice weather!

Yesterday we opened the windows to our townhouse and realized it was a beautiful day. Not wanting to miss out, I grabbed my bike, donned my new bike shorts I got for christmas from the wife and went out for a quick little 7 mile ride around the neighborhood. The ride is a loop from my house to the Baltimore and Annapolis Trail a few miles on that, then back along another road home. The trail was cleared of snow (finally) but I had to carry my bike a few hundred yards to get from one street to the next on my return home. That was through some cruddy wet mud which got my shoes all gunked up.

It felt great to be back out on the bike. Even though it was only 7 miles, I simply felt better after riding. I can tell the winter has destroyed my leg muscles... they were straining for the first few miles but eventually warmed up.

It was my first time riding "bicycle shorts". Or rather, -my- form of bicycling shorts. I can't stand the pads in the crotch of real shorts... feels like a diaper, but the spandex did make the ride much more comfortable and reduced the constant scraping of my usually shorts against my legs.

I wanted to ride in to work today, but I was in training all last week and had to bring my computer in. The weather looks to be holding up in the 30s and 40s this week so I should be set to ride in tomorrow!

Too much snow, started something new

A completely non-biking post... but I just started a secondary blog that I promise will get more updates than this one (at least until the spring hits and starts melting these 4 feet of snow).

I have been trying to learn Scot's Gaelic over the past couple of years. It is quite difficult, seeing as how the resources to learn it are so sparse. So, in an effort to actually accomplish this, I started a blog that will teach me (and you if you so choose) a word, sentence, saying, or something Scottish Gaelic each day. I started the blog yesterday and thus far you can already learn how to say:

Hello, my name is [name]. What is your name? How are you doing? I am well!

So, if you want to have a read and perhaps learn a new language head on over to Daily Gaelic!

Ride across the world

Saw this over on reddit and hopefully the guy that did it will start answering questions there, but it is absolutely amazing. Quite long but filled with many many pictures.

The ride across the world.

Check it out. Read it. Be envious.

My poor B&A

It appears the Baltimore & Annapolis trail has washed out in a key place during the last few weeks of rain and snow.

Sponsored Bike Commuting

I was reading through my daily reddit bicycling posts and came across something quite interesting. Apparently a law in the US, which was originally supposed to increase users of public transportation by allowing companies to pay each person (tax free) $20 a month, has been updated to include bicycle commuters. You can read about it here.

The one huge catch is this isn't a requirement by companies. Under no circumstance can you simply say "I bike to work, give me $20". But, there are many reasons why your company might want you to. First off, a healthy employee is a happy employee. Biking, as we all know, helps keep people fit, which in turn, should lower your chances of getting sick. It will also help our environment by keeping people out of cars and using up gas.

Both of those are probably not enough for a company to hand over the $20. But, for me, I think I know what could. Parking spaces. The company I work for has a lot of employees. We have 6 buildings to occupy and the parking spaces are simply not enough. People park illegally every day, blocking fire lanes and basically parking anywhere they can. We do have a lot of bike commuters... but I know of quite a few who are on the brink of deciding whether or not to do it. I am certain that if they were given $20 to keep their bike maintained (or even to buy a bike) the number of commuters would triple. Hell, even more!

And Kungfoo - They even have something similar to this over in the UK. Check it out!

As for me and my biking to work... hasn't happened in quite some time. I did it once back in December, but the cold was too much. I simply don't know how MNBicycleCommuter and ArcticGlass can manage it! Perhaps if my company starts this incentive, I will join the hardened ranks of winter bikers!

Revolution Kids

Annapolis is taking part in a national contest by Brighter Planet to help make our planet more green. Annapolis submitted their idea of "Revolution Kids" which teaches elementary and middle school children about biking and bike safety while allowing children from low income families to earn bikes. It is a great cause and something that, if they win, I would love to assist in. You need to register on the Brighter Planet website and you can each vote three times. Take a look at the Contest Page and cast your vote!

Even if you don't decide Revolution Kids is the best choice, anything that helps keep our planet healthy is a good thing in my book!