When I awoke this morning, I decided that I would make today's ride in a day of signs. Well, at least a day of photographing signs. But the rain came falling down, which meant the camera went staright into my bag; I was able to snap a few before the torrent.
Also, Brain and I were graced with the presence of another rider this morning, Matt B. He was also gracious enough to write a little bit about his first commute this year. Enjoy!
{words by matt b & photos by carey}
The first commute...
It's never an easy thing to get back into. Bike-commuting used to be easy for me. Wear an extra layer, toss some shoes in my bag, and I was out the door about ten minutes early for a 4 mile ride, tops.
Easy....but that was then, this is now.
I've moved and changed jobs. Now a commute that used to take 20 minutes by bike now takes me a half-hour by CAR. I gave in and started driving to work, and it got harder and harder to think about riding in.
Fast forward 7 months.
Bike to Work Month hits and here comes the self-guilt. All the "I should'ves" in the world don't change the fact that Matty's bike computer only says 170 miles for the YEAR. So time to "Man Up" and get my fat butt in the saddle.
Get up an hour early, ride to meet Carey and Brian for coffee, and then ride in from there, Carey snapping photos of fun signs along the way. Sounds easy enough. The coffee wakes me up, we talk as we unlock our bikes and off we go.
Why haven't I been doing this the whole time? Then the sprinkling starts. No worries, this is Seattle; if you can't deal with a little drizzle then you would NEVER get out for a ride.
Never mind the fact that only Carey thought to have fenders on her bike. We continue being gently rained on...then not so gently rained on. By the time we were half-way to Raleigh, we were officially in the middle of a rain storm. I picked a great day to start this up again...
We keep up the pace and then Brian points out that a mean-spirited little rain cloud seems to be trailing us. Of course, the Sun was out behind us and we could see clear skies in front of us. In retrospect, if we had stopped for five minutes, the rain would have passed us by... but we aren't that smart.
We finally roll into Raleigh, completely soaked, cold and happy. A hot cup of French-Press coffee seldom tastes as good as after a wet morning ride.
It's never easy to start riding again, but I'm glad I did; honestly, it isn't that hard to get back into the rhythm. Now all I have to do is KEEP doing it.
Tonight, pray for clear skies.....
Also, Brain and I were graced with the presence of another rider this morning, Matt B. He was also gracious enough to write a little bit about his first commute this year. Enjoy!
{words by matt b & photos by carey}
The first commute...
It's never an easy thing to get back into. Bike-commuting used to be easy for me. Wear an extra layer, toss some shoes in my bag, and I was out the door about ten minutes early for a 4 mile ride, tops.
Easy....but that was then, this is now.
I've moved and changed jobs. Now a commute that used to take 20 minutes by bike now takes me a half-hour by CAR. I gave in and started driving to work, and it got harder and harder to think about riding in.
Fast forward 7 months.
Bike to Work Month hits and here comes the self-guilt. All the "I should'ves" in the world don't change the fact that Matty's bike computer only says 170 miles for the YEAR. So time to "Man Up" and get my fat butt in the saddle.
Get up an hour early, ride to meet Carey and Brian for coffee, and then ride in from there, Carey snapping photos of fun signs along the way. Sounds easy enough. The coffee wakes me up, we talk as we unlock our bikes and off we go.
Why haven't I been doing this the whole time? Then the sprinkling starts. No worries, this is Seattle; if you can't deal with a little drizzle then you would NEVER get out for a ride.
Never mind the fact that only Carey thought to have fenders on her bike. We continue being gently rained on...then not so gently rained on. By the time we were half-way to Raleigh, we were officially in the middle of a rain storm. I picked a great day to start this up again...
We keep up the pace and then Brian points out that a mean-spirited little rain cloud seems to be trailing us. Of course, the Sun was out behind us and we could see clear skies in front of us. In retrospect, if we had stopped for five minutes, the rain would have passed us by... but we aren't that smart.
We finally roll into Raleigh, completely soaked, cold and happy. A hot cup of French-Press coffee seldom tastes as good as after a wet morning ride.
It's never easy to start riding again, but I'm glad I did; honestly, it isn't that hard to get back into the rhythm. Now all I have to do is KEEP doing it.
Tonight, pray for clear skies.....
{georgetown records and fantagraphics}
{this sign is huge & we pass by it at about 7am - which turns my stomach every time}
{matt b's bag, posted twice because it's so cool,)& a scooter shop - click to get close.}
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2 comments:
Little bit of rain this morning, but then things cleared up and the weather became gorgeous. I heard you all even got some hail on Friday.
Yes, about 4 of us were up mountain biking on Friday night and when we hit the summit, hail started coming down. It has been a very interesting spring.
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