It’s been a busy summer on and off the bike, but I’ve spent enough time riding around to get a biker’s tan. I’ve recorded over 1000 miles this year with the miles mainly from commuting. Here’s some highlights of this past summer.
2016 Active Transporation Alliance’s Bike Commuter Challenge
I was the sole captain this year as the co-captain from last year opted out of organizing. Overall, it was a very fun and successful event – this time my company had 17 participants (new record), and we finished within the top 25 of companies Chicagoland in terms of mileage. I think since word got out much earlier this year, people were interested. I made some flyers and had emails sent out to the company starting a month before the event. As captain, the event website made it difficult to find stats or manage the team. Active Transportation did admit they they were rolling out a new backend system so some user-friendly features from last year were not available – such as sending out daily messages to my entire team through the website. Me and other team members also encountered were some minor technical difficulties with their bike app in terms of uploading miles, but that was resolved by just restarting the program.
I was able to bike every single day of the challenge, and the first day I had an interoffice commute which I’ve never done before. I even tried a new route from another coworker who lives nearby. I’ve since used that route on my commutes to mix things up a bit. Some days were hot, but luckily, kids still run lemonade stands and I was able to take a short break on my rides home.
I definitely met a lot of new people and have new biking friends. It’s always nice to have camaraderie around non-work related stuff. I’ve ridden to work with two ladies in a different department who take one of the early morning Metra trains. As someone who’s commuted for many years, it’s great to see new commuters giving biking a try, using whatever bikes they have. A few weeks after the event, we took a group photo and it was included in our company newsletter. People said they had lots of fun and it motivated them to be healthier and consider alternatives to driving.
Upgraded some bike items:
I treated myself to some new bike lights, bags and other bike supplies to replace what I’ve been using. My equipment will be discussed in later posts.
Biked to work in a downpour:
One morning the radar showed red and I thought I would get to work before the worst of it hit. I was wrong and ended up in a really awful downpour about 15 minutes in my commute. There was no lightning in the sky, but the thunder was really serious. Thankfully, I always have all of my lights with me and I kept to the quieter streets. At times, the rain actually hurt as it hit my skin. When my husband texted me if I was OK, I said that I was putting my phone in a plastic bag and I turned on the Beacon feature so that he could track my route. I remember pedaling so hard through some standing water and telling myself not to stop since I didn’t want my bike to fall over. The water came up to my bottom chain but it required a lot of force to pedal through. It was such a weird sensation to be pedaling through water, but not as crazy as underwater cycling. It was terrifying at times, but luckily I made it to work safe and was actually the first one to arrive. I was reminded by my boss that one day I will show up looking like an electrified kitty on a bike.
On Labor Day, rode 75 miles in preparation for the North Shore Century.
I signed up to do my first century ride since I’ve always wanted to do this event and my other coworkers are doing it too. My only training for a century is biking two times a week commuting to work (50 miles). On my Monday off, I got up at the usual time for my bike commutes, but I wanted to see how I felt after riding a long distance. I decided to enjoy the lakefront path which kept my speed slow at about 12 mph. I tried eating something about every hour- some energy goo or food I had packed. I think I did not eat enough for breakfast – I only had oatmeal and some fruit and a cup of coffee. My feet felt fatigued but that was expected since I use platform pedals and have regular gym shoes. I may consider swapping in harder insoles, or purchasing bike specific insoles to put in my gym shoes. Otherwise, I feel I am ready to bike 100 + miles. Even a day after riding, I am not really in pain, but seem a bit dehydrated – I blame that on the two beers I had the night before and two beers the night after my ride. More on my first century ride in a future post.
