Tuesday morning did the first commute of the year. Tried a new route that utilized some roads, and that cut the distance down to about 21 miles.
Funny to me how that all came down. It struck me as I passed the bus station at 9 mile that I could cut through the bus station, cross Parker road at Peoria, and just head up Peoria and wiggle through side streets over to work. While I wasn’t sure exactly how I would get through, I was positive that I would be able to find a route.
So I left the quiet trail, and headed up the street, assuming that it would save me some time, albeit at the cost of dodging a little traffic.
Well, the traffic wasn’t all that bad, as it was a little past rush hour. I did follow a bike path for half a mile or so, and had to walk across some icy spots. As I was doing that, I was happy I had gone that way, not sure if my normal route that utilized so much bike path might be pretty icy in spots.
My toes got pretty cold, but the rest of me stayed nice and toasty. Temp was about 25 – maybe a little lower in spots.
So here’s the interesting part: Thinking about the route at work, I felt I had cheated myself just a bit. Dealing with traffic and exhaust just felt like too high a price to pay for the shorter route. Plus, while I am OK with the shorter route right now, as the season progresses, it is really miles in the saddle that I need anyway. It became really clear that while I had found an acceptable route, I would probably want to use it only in emergency.
Of course, a meeting ran long in the afternoon, and I got away later than I wanted, I was worried that I would be overtaken by the dark before I got home, so I took the same route back home. It was rush hour by then, and the traffic was a pain. And in fact, I was still overtaken by dark, so I am really glad that I took the shorter route to reduce the amount of time in the dark.
Interesting observation: Drivers seem to be more tolerant and cordial to bicycles when it is really cold – they must feel sorry for us?
Note to self: Get better lights!
