First (official) bike to work day!

I've known that I wasn't in a position to bike to work daily - it's just not practical sometimes given meetings, after work activities, etc. - but it felt so good to ride in today. I've been wanting to ride in all week, and finally today weather and my schedule accommodated!

On Sunday I tried biking along the Burke-Gilman to Fremont and then taking the Dexter bike lane towards Seattle Center. The route was nice, flat, and I felt very safe. However, the ride took almost an hour. I played around on Google maps and discovered that the route was almost 6 miles. I compared with coming down Roosevelt Way, across the University Bridge, down Eastlake and Fairview, and up Broad. That route is just over 4 miles. Sadly, there are more cars along the shorter route, but I decided it was worth a try.

This morning I was determined to go, but also still nervous about the cars. I gave myself a little pep talk (yes, literally) about how I need to get used to this and I need the extra training miles/time. I was proud of myself as I made a left onto Roosevelt (such a little thing to be scared of, but I was) and biked along in the right lane. I tried to watch the other bikers and follow their lead, which worked well. I was happy to discover that I was faster than one person and on par with two others...and we won't discuss my speed relative to the experienced bike to workers! Broad wasn't even as bad as I thought because the distance passed so quickly on a bike.

While it's a small thing, riding into the garage and locking my my bike made me feel like that person I also want to be (and usually just admire). Of course the distance to work is way too short to be significant training for Climate Ride, but even being a fair-weather-bike commuter is a step towards simple, and green, living. Now I have 8 hours to get pumped up for the ride home - I think I'll stick with the flat trail on the Burke-Gilman (no 3 mile hills just yet!).