Biked to Work, and to Shop

Okay, that was a lovely trip I took this morning.  This is not sarcasm, but instead insight – biking to work is beautiful and fun and lovely on a gorgeous spring day, through nice tree-lined neighborhoods, downhill, with other bikers saying good morning, behind a fuming bus… (okay that last part is sarcasm.)   But most of all, it was incredibly fast and easy:  I have found a new, preferred commute for sunny days.

Room 11 and the Paisley Fig – a tempting bar/pastry place on the right….

The only problem is that I will be using bikes through the Capital BikeShare program (see a previous post), and although today was the day before a long weekend, still all the bikes in the two stands closest to my house disappeared between 8 and 9 am, according to the app Spotcycle.  That was 20 bikes.  But there were plenty still at the third stand about five more blocks away, so I was fine, and could meet the adventure I had designated for this week.  And my office building is surrounded by multiple stands, so it is easy to just drop the bike off.

Getting close. I’m lucky that it’s pretty much a straight shot.

However, I am taking the bus back – uphill.  I’m not quite that in shape, yet.

What else?  Oh, as I often take the bus to and from work, I have worried about how buses interact with bicyclists, as I see them apparently cutting bicyclists off when they pull over.  But really it wasn’t bad from the biking perspective.  The buses are very predictable behemoths, and you can tell early on what they will do.  They move slowly when pulling over, relative to the bike.  The one I paralleled with half the trip down even paused once to make sure I wasn’t passing it before pulling over.  So sweet!   But I plan to avoid the buses if possible, because nothing is worse than getting a lungful of diesel fumes.

Following the 64, until a lucky light let me get ahead.

I also used the bikeshare to go shopping yesterday.  I had to return some things to a store, so just checked out a bike (putting the stuff in a “basket” in the front of the bike), headed about a mile away slightly uphill, lost my reading glasses on the way, then checked in the bike at a stand right next to Target, returned my stuff, bought even more stuff, then picked up another bike and headed home, looking for my glasses along the path.  So, so much easier than getting in the car and finding parking, or walking there and back.  The latter can be nice, but this was much better for carrying heavy items, as long as I secure my small items as well apparently.

I am sold. I feel like a whole potential realm of getting around town has opened up.  I especially see the potential in the evening, for heading to various restaurants around town.  Here’s hoping the remainder of spring and summer stay this beautiful, though.  🙂

Now to choose a really chic helmet….