Bike To Work Day

05-19-06_0723.jpg
Originally uploaded by cbnystrom.


Today is National Bike To Work Day.

I got my stuff together last night so that I could roll out of bed and hop right on the bike. When I awoke and entered the bathroom to brush my teeth I could hear the sound of steady rain hitting the roof and gutters. Not that I'm afraid of riding in the rain but I was happy when I checked the radar and saw that the showers would be ending soon.

After getting dressed and grabbing the rain cape I fired up the Gaggia for a shot of espresso and headed out the door. The rain had stopped, but the roads were wet. Heading down Ilchester I can hit 50mph without much pedalling, but I took it a little easier this morning.
Wet roads and slick manhole covers on the curves can be scary at that speed.

Thistle is always a great climb and moreso early in the morning. It's long enough to get into a rhythm and never steep enough to reallly hurt. Plus, it feels and looks rugged with trees, rocks, and a tumbling stream being the only things lining the road.

At the top I headed over to Oella and worked my way to the No. 9 Trolley Line bike path. This is a cool little rail-to-trail path that climbs from old town Ellicott City up the bluff to Edmondson Ave.

Edmondson is a good road for commuting. It has a wide shoulder and pretty light traffic.
I cruised down Edmondson for a ways and then hung a right on Overbrook to cut over to Frederick Rd. Frederick takes a more direct route into the City. It gets a bit gritty, but is not bad until it becomes Pratt St. just West of downtown.

I usually hop on the Gwynns Falls trail before getting to the hood, but today I was running a few minutes late so I stayed on Pratt. It's a pretty nasty area with trash all over the place, potholes, boarded up homes, and junkies on the streets. Depressing stuff. There are plenty of people out and about so I feel safe, but I wouldn't want to stop and hang out.

Getting closer to downtown and the accompanying traffic I slotted into the flow of cars and rolled across town. Instead of heading directly to work I pedalled over to City Hall for the Bike To Work Day Rally.

The Rally was well done with plenty of volunteers and a lot of bike commuters milling about. There were T-shirts and other swag for everyone and a drawing for some kind of stuff. Caribou Coffee provided some damn good product and Whole Foods had a nice spread of pastry, bagels, and fruit. It gave me warm fuzzies to see all of the bike freaks out in a display of solidarity in our car-centric society.

I couldn't stay for the entire rally as I had to get over to the veggie-bacon factory where I work (at least that's what I tell Thor). I got the expected comments from my lazy colleagues as I walked onto the trading floor. Actually, I can't blame them for making fun of the lycra monkey suit. They're good people, but many of 'em are still fat, lazy, and completely fucking clueless with respect to the benefits of riding a bicycle. I can at least hope that they'll show some respect to cyclists knowing that it might be me out there on the road.

Well, it's time to get back to bacon production and mapping out a better route for the ride home.

Today is National Bike To Work Day.

I got my stuff together last night so that I could roll out of bed and hop right on the bike. When I awoke and entered the bathroom to brush my teeth I could hear the sound of steady rain hitting the roof and gutters. Not that I'm afraid of riding in the rain but I was happy when I checked the radar and saw that the showers would be ending soon.

After getting dressed and grabbing the rain cape I fired up the Gaggia for a shot of espresso and headed out the door. The rain had stopped, but the roads were wet. Heading down Ilchester I can hit 50mph without much pedalling, but I took it a little easier this morning.
Wet roads and slick manhole covers on the curves can be scary at that speed.

Thistle is always a great climb and moreso early in the morning. It's long enough to get into a rhythm and never steep enough to reallly hurt. Plus, it feels and looks rugged with trees, rocks, and a tumbling stream being the only things lining the road.

At the top I headed over to Oella and worked my way to the No. 9 Trolley Line bike path. This is a cool little rail-to-trail path that climbs from old town Ellicott City up the bluff to Edmondson Ave.

Edmondson is a good road for commuting. It has a wide shoulder and pretty light traffic.
I cruised down Edmondson for a ways and then hung a right on Overbrook to cut over to Frederick Rd. Frederick takes a more direct route into the City. It gets a bit gritty, but is not bad until it becomes Pratt St. just West of downtown.

I usually hop on the Gwynns Falls trail before getting to the hood, but today I was running a few minutes late so I stayed on Pratt. It's a pretty nasty area with trash all over the place, potholes, boarded up homes, and junkies on the streets. Depressing stuff. There are plenty of people out and about so I feel safe, but I wouldn't want to stop and hang out.

Getting closer to downtown and the accompanying traffic I slotted into the flow of cars and rolled across town. Instead of heading directly to work I pedalled over to City Hall for the Bike To Work Day Rally.

The Rally was well done with plenty of volunteers and a lot of bike commuters milling about. There were T-shirts and other swag for everyone and a drawing for some kind of stuff. Caribou Coffee provided some damn good product and Whole Foods had a nice spread of pastry, bagels, and fruit. It gave me warm fuzzies to see all of the bike freaks out in a display of solidarity in our car-centric society.

I couldn't stay for the entire rally as I had to get over to the veggie-bacon factory where I work (at least that's what I tell Thor). I got the expected comments from my lazy colleagues as I walked onto the trading floor. Actually, I can't blame them for making fun of the lycra monkey suit. They're good people, but many of 'em are still fat, lazy, and completely fucking clueless with respect to the benefits of riding a bicycle. I can at least hope that they'll show some respect to cyclists knowing that it might be me out there on the road.

Well, it's time to get back to bacon production and mapping out a better route for the ride home.