Biked to work

[dmaze]

Finally got around to biking to work today. On the one hand, it seems like there should be a good way to do it that doesn't involve McGrath Highway; on the other, that really does feel optimal to minimize the cumulative change in height. I wonder how I get home. And if I'm being too paranoid about bike parking; I took off the front light and brought my helmet inside, since that seemed to be what everyone else was doing. "If I do this a lot, it'll be good for me."

Comments

[jadia.livejournal.com]

I usually lock my helmet to the bike, because my helmet has these air gaps or whatever at the top that I can just slide my lock through. Dunno about front lights. Yay, 20 minutes!

Incidentally, my biker friend (who once biked cross country) tells me that biking in all weather isn't so bad when you prepare for it adequately and just do it.

[76trombones.livejournal.com]

I think it's the adequate preparation that is hard... I'd need, for example, a bag that could protect all my crap (including, sometimes, a laptop) from rain. Then I'd need a way to carry that bag on the bike. Or I could carry it on myself, assuming I could do so non-annoyingly. People seem to like messenger bags, but I think the asymmetry would annoy me. But maybe it wouldn't; I should find out, because rain happens sometimes, even though I don't tend to bike in it. (Funny, that.)

[cfox.livejournal.com]

A day-pack size knapsack with a padded hip strap works out well for me; it's stable and comfortable even when loaded with 20lbs of groceries. The weight is carried higher than is considered ideal for biking, but the messenger bags look like an awful idea to me, and I had the added constraint that I want to go on outings for which I'll lock the bike and take the stuff with me, for which bags affixed to the bike look too clumsy.

The only time I've gotten things soggy in it is when I've taken off the bag and placed it on a wet surface; I do keep small things in ziplocks, and add a grocery bag around my laptop if it's actually raining. (My clothing's a different story; I either wear fleece and drip-dry when I get there, or I carry a change of clothing.)

[jadia.livejournal.com]

The only thing about biking in the rain is that a lot of mud can get splattered on your clothes. I think a mud-guard on the rear tire would have helped me a lot, but still.