Bike Commute Update

I’ve done pretty well this week. I have ridden three out of four days; both directions. Whew!

I got a new seat for my bike, which is wonderful. It’s all wide and puffy and gel-filled (I’d say, just like my butt, except that I have a rather flat bottom – so, it’s more like my hips…). It makes a big difference. The next bike gadgets I will purchase are: a blinking reflector and a headlight. I had a headlight, the kind that has a little wheel that flips down onto your bike wheel and spins something inside and makes the lamp light up. I don’t know where it is, but if I can find it this weekend I’ll use it. Some things I would like to have but probably won’t invest in are: a bell, a rear view mirror and a basket. I’m leery of putting any money into a bike since I have had so many stolen. But, I’m going to a bike shop this weekend and who knows what I’ll leave with.

So, I’m pedaling along pretty steadily, but I have yet to pass another bicyclist. I probably never will. Sometimes I’m hard pressed to pass runners. Sometimes I see other riders like myself, you know, old, fat, out of shape, and they are cruising along at a much faster clip. I think it might be that the bike I’m riding is a “mountain” bike and might be geared lower. At least, I comfort myself with that thought. Yesterday, riding along the waterfront, there was a pretty good headwind blowing and I could really tell the difference. I was going slower than ever!

It’s still taking about the same amount of time to get home. I did figure out the time discrepancy that was bothering me last week though. It’s the danged Tram! Well, it’s the walk from my office to the Tram, waiting for the Tram, riding down the Tram, and then finally getting on my bike. It can easily be 15 or 20 minutes from my office to the street. I haven’t had the nerve yet to ride down the Hill. It’s really steep! I’m going to do it one of these days just to see if it is terrifying and to see how it affects my time. I’ll keep you posted!

One last thing: one morning this week I was just approaching the Steel bridge from the east side when the alarm sounded and the lights started flashing. The gates clanged shut and the lower section, the train track section, started going up. Ok, that’s not unexpected around here. There is plenty of shipping traffic on the Willamette. So I waited, and waited, and waited… a couple other bicyclists and pedestrians were waiting too. Eventually, all of the bike riders turned around and headed down the east bank to the Hawthorne bridge. As I was passing the Morrison a dredging barge came motoring down the river. It must have been up past the Ross Island bridge when they raised the Steel. Ridiculous! I was almost late for work! But, it did give me a chance to try out the east bank and the Hawthorne. I’m going to stick with the waterfront because it’s flatter.

Ok, that’s it for the bike update. A little long, thanks for bearing with me. In other news, the self defense class at Linfield College has started back up again and I have another great group of women. They are all very enthusiastic and willing to try stuff and are already hitting HARD! It’s going to be a great term.

Please feel free to comment… please!

Weekend Round-up

I took Friday off so that I had a four day weekend instead of just three. Greedy? No. Just needed a break. But it wasn’t all spent lying on the couch ignoring the world. Here’s what went down:

Friday ~ errands and a little shopping. My friend Peg came over and did some errands with me. Mostly just so that we could chat. T’s friend Chris came over and installed a printer. I went out to Lewis and Clark with Katherine, Abi and Annie. We were teaching a self defense course there on Sunday and wanted to see the room and figure stuff out ahead of time.

Saturday ~ No classes! The school was closed for the weekend. So instead I did a bunch of laundry and various household chores. Didn’t feel obligated to get anything done, which is a rarity. Watched a couple of movies. Mall Cop, which was silly and innocent and Fight Night, which was poorly written and woodenly acted. Bought a new seat for the bike and T put it on for me. Super comfy!

Sunday ~ Futzed around during the morning. Went back to Lewis and Clark to teach from 2 to 5. We were supposed to have 100 incoming freshmen women but only got 35 signed up. Of those, about half showed up for the course. Our goal is that next year it will be a requirement for all incoming fresh(wo)men.

Monday ~ went to Home Depot for supplies and then came home and insulated the floor of the sun porch – where the hot tub lives. Yeah, that’s a lot of fun, crawling around under a building with fiberglass insulation. OK, I’m not complaining because T did most of the crawling and I did most of the cutting. It felt good to get it done before the temperatures drop. We also got some Tyvek up on the outside of the porch. We hope to have the siding completed within a couple of weeks. I want it to blend into the rest of the house and not stick out like a sore thumb… as it is currently doing.

Now I’m back at work. Almost done for the day and I haven’t even caught up on my blog reading! Z has started a new blog about buying a house, and my good friend RR has started yet another “pop culture” blog. I’ve got to add those to my list.

Tonight I am teaching a class about Intimate Partner Violence. Also known as domestic violence, spouse abuse, etc. It’s pretty grim, but if people have information about it maybe, just maybe it will help them recognize it and strategize ways of escaping. The class I’m teaching tonight is at my martial art school so we have a captive audience there. This is part of my apprenticeship. We reach more people when we teach in the community. It’s good practice, though. I am wishing that I had more time to prepare, but I'm sure it'll go just fine. Send me some luck!