Badass Bike Commuting

I have begun a new daily adventure which I absolutely love. (It's amazing, actually, how many things I try that I end up loving.)

I get up in the morning, and I go to fitcamp or to the gym or to the pool to swim or whatever. I bike to get there, in the dark, with my flashing red safety light on the back of my bike and my regular head-lamp wrapped around the front handlebars since I haven't invested in a front light yet. (That will be taken care of this weekend.)

After whatever workout I'm doing that morning (or, in yesterday's case, my extra hour of sleep!), I have a shower. Then I don what have become my spring biking clothes. These are the things I've discovered I like to ride my bike in - my long running/workout tights and a t-shirt with my yellow light-weight LLBean anorak that I've had for a million years, and my Keens. (A word on Keens. They are the bomb. If you don't know what I'm talking about - check them out here. I got them years ago when they first hit the scene. My mother bought them for me for my birthday, saying "You want ugly shoes for your birthday?" Yup! Yesterday afternoon, a woman who I passed caught up to me at a light. She said, "Aren't they the best shoes to bike in?" as she glanced down at her own Keens. Totally.)

Then I pack my courier bag, which I've also had for years. (I got a stupid gift once at Gettysburg from my boss and was able to return it to the bookstore on the sly and get this bag instead. I've used it intermittently over the years and am thrilled that I own it now.) In the bag goes my regular purse stuff (wallet, keys, lip stuff, phone, vitamins, planner) and whatever clothes I'm going to wear at work (this week - a dress or skirt and top). Also packed is deoderant (although I need to get one of those to just leave at work) and make up (which for me is just base, mascara and an eye pencil). All of this doesn't weigh very much. (The first day I also had shoes, but I'm pretty much going to leave those at work from now on.)

I refill my water bottle, put on my helmet, and drag the bike from the front hall of my house (where it lives now, my upstairs neighbors finally giving me enough space to store it there so it doesn't have to live in my bedroom anymore). Pick it up, walk it down the front steps, and off I go.

The route is pretty great. I follow the Jamaicaway out of my 'hood and pick up the bike path that takes me through JP and Brookline and the Fenway along the Riverway, but in the woods. It dumps out at Park Drive/Landmark Center right by the Fenway T-stop. I turn left here and get on the road. Cross Beacon Street and around the corner to get into traffic to get to the BU Bridge. I'm about 15 minutes into the trip at this point.

The major intersection at Comm Ave by the BU Bridge is pretty crazy at rush hour, but there are always cops there. And the best part is that usually, we bikers can get in the front of all the cars at red lights, so when the light turns, we are the first across the whole mess. This takes some paying attention to start moving AS SOON as the light turns and to pedal hard to get through the intersection and not annoy too many cars. The BU Bridge is under perpetual construction and there are huge signs that say BIKES MAY USE ENTIRE LANE. So, I just join the line of cars as if I was one. Stop, start, stop, start. Then hang out at the red light afterwards, trying to get across Mem Drive to head into Cambridgeport.

I follow along for a short time and then take this awesome road called Putnam which a former boyfriend showed me a long time ago. I don't really know Cambridge all that well, but I'm pretty pleased I know about this road. First of all, hardly anyone is on it (I think they are all fighting it out on Mass Ave, which runs parallel a bit north of Putnam.) Secondly, it's quiet and pretty. There are a bunch of lights, but when you are a bike, you can cross a red if the pedestrian crossing light is on in your favor while the cars just sit there. There's a school along the way, and I love watching all the kiddies arriving - some in cars, some on bikes themselves, some walking along with Mom or Dad or whoever.

Putnam dumps out on Mass Ave just shy of Harvard Square. I am LOVING biking through Harvard Square. It's busy, but not crazy busy. I love that once again, I get to go to the front of the line of cars and then book it when the light turns to get around the little fake-rotary thing and off to the right to get back on Mass Ave. And GOD BLESS Cambridge, which has the best bike lanes ever. Clearly marked, and well positioned all along Mass Ave. So GREAT!

So onwards down Mass Ave and through Porter Square and then turn right to get to Elm and into Davis Square. Around the Square and up College Ave towards Tufts. Powderhouse Rotary is another awesome bit, as again I become like a car and enter the rotary like any of them and make my way around to the other side. (I love the looks I get from some of the cars - surprise that I'm actually riding in a rotary makes some of them just stop and wait for me - others just treat me like a car, looking for my signal of where I'm going to exit.)

The last bit sucks. A long, slow hill along Broadway until I hit Packard and then a more steep hill, albeit only for about 500 yards to the house I work in. Both directions of this commute involve hills right at the end, when I'm most tired and almost there. Ah, well. I have the motivation of almost being there to get me through the hills.

The whole trip is about 8.8 miles. Has consistently taken me 50 minutes, only 10 minutes more than my car commute. So far, the mornings have been cool and I arrive at work barely sweaty. A little bit, but nothing requiring a shower. Eventually, I'll need to shower when I get to work, which is fine - since I work in a house with a full bath on the third floor. Very convenient.

There are moments in the ride where my thighs are burning because of the effort required to get up a hill. Most of the hills I encounter are long rather than steep. I have no idea, being a new biker, which is harder. And there are moments when I have to stop for something and I take one leg off the pedal and place it on the ground to balance and I realize I'm shaking with exertion. And there are moments where I am totally out of breath. But this isn't a race, so I just take it easier for a short bit until I can breathe normally again. I am consistently passed by men. Sometimes I catch back up to them at a light or intersection, but they then blow me away again. There is no way for me to keep up with any man I've encountered so far. But other women? Them I usually pass.

This morning, when I arrived at work, a bunch of dudes were doing the landscaping around the house. I greeted them with "Buen dia!" and they responded in kind. I was out of breath from that aforementioned last hill and as I carried my bike up the stairs to the front porch to lock it up, one of the guys said "Cuanta millas?' ("How many miles?") And I said "Nueve" (9) and he said, "Nueve?!" And I felt like a badass.

Because you know what? I'm a badass. Let's just call a duck a duck, shall we? I-AM-A-BADASS. That's how I feel all the time now. Fitcamp makes me feel great and I love that I consistently work out and gain strength. But it doesn't really make me feel like a badass. But biking across the city, through 8 neighborhoods and towns for 50 minutes makes me feel badass. And I look forward to the ride home all day long. I can't wait to get back on my bike for the return trip. In the afternoon my muscles are tighter, not having had some pre-workout to warm me up, so the first mile or so is tough. But once I'm all warmed up, about when I get to the far side of Davis Square and make the turn to head out to Mass Ave, I'm good to go.

The plan is to ride to work as often as humanly possible from now until it's snowing or so cold that I'm shivering on the bike. There are a lot of people in Boston who commute year round on their bikes. I'm not sure I'm one of them. I suspect I'm not. But we shall see. There are days that I won't be able to bike to work - days when I have night commitments or somewhere to be right after work that's too far to bike to. This week, today is my last day biking because I have to work until 9p on Thursday and until 10p on Friday. I suppose I could ride home that late on my bike, but those are going to be long work days and I need the car for things happening on those days. And so. But next week, it's on again.

I cannot wait.