Riding to work

Hello,

Yesterday morning, because of the cloud covered sky, I was undecided about riding the bike the 12 miles to work. At 7:15 the sun was visible so I strapped on fortitude and gathering speed to get ready to leave the house an hour and a half before opening time of 9:00. The air was cool, but tolerable and I was grateful for little traffic on First Avenue as I zipped across without a stoplight at the intersection. Approaching downtown and the spot where I get on the bike trail, I realized that it was farmer’s market day so no getting on there. I went down to the next one-way street planning to use the sidewalk. It was a question of which illegal thing to do; ride the wrong way on the street or be on the sidewalk. Unfortunately the sidewalk was only good for a while as there were some pedestrians ahead of me. No cars were in sight so I rode wrong way on the street for about a block when I could get on the sidewalk and finally get on the bike trail. All went well until I found a walking family group, with their backs to me, strung out the width of the trail, all intent on something. As I was wondering what to do, a biker came from the opposite direction and they moved over. I told them I was passing on the left and went by as a teenage gosling fluttered away from them.

Surprisingly there were very few bikers on the trail. Perhaps it was the serious looking intermittent clouds that kept coming past. I was pleased with myself because I made the trip in just a few minutes more than an hour, I remembered all the clothes that I needed to change into, I had brought my lunch, and a snack besides. It was only the second time this spring to ride this far and I physically felt semi strong. Life was good.

Paula