bike commute update, and a couple more reviews

I did it! The entire trip took 54 minutes, and it took 12 of those to go the first mile and a half. I didn't get honked at a single time, though I had to "Hey!" a truck that was about to pull out in front of me. The weather was perfect, and I really enjoyed it. A couple observations to file for next time:

-Leave the house earlier. Any kind of traffic is going to set me back, and I can't count on making up time with faster speeds on the empty roads (though I was able to maintain 18 mph for about 3 miles). Ideally, I want to be on the bike by 7:30. It was closer to 7:45 today, and that cut my showering time a little close. I was still in my office before 9:00, but there was some mad blow-drying goin' on.

-The first road on my route is much busier at 7:30 am than it is at 8:30 (when I was driving it). I parked on the opposite side of the road from where I had originally planned, thinking that it would be easier to turn left in the morning than in the evening. I think that I may go back to my first draft on this one...left in the evening looks like the way to go.

-That road also has a lot of storm sewer drains (oh, the things you don't notice in a car), so riding at least 3 feet from the curb is a Good Idea, even if it does irritate the drivers. It's a good time to recite the "My bike is a vehicle" mantra under my breath.

-The sidewalk on the second busy road is almost unrideable. I had planned to slow to a crawl on it anyway, but it was so torn up that it was all I could do to coast and stay upright. I'm better off taking the road in the mornings, and walking the bike on the sidewalk in the evenings (when a crappy sidewalk still beats the dangers of a left turn onto a 4-lane throughway at an uncontrolled intersection).

-The last left turn is really dangerous if there's anyone at all coming the other direction on the street I'm turning from (WNW street)...that's where I was almost hit by the truck. It's another uncontrolled intersection, and since the road I'm turning onto (SSE street) is steadily trafficked all day long, it's one of those places where you have to be quick if you want to get across. I thought I'd be okay because WNW is a low-traffic street, but today there were 3 cars coming the other way and none of us really knew what to do with each other. So I think I'll be safer going straight across SSE, and either doubling around to make a right turn instead or coming through the parking lot of the warehouse behind my office building.

-My cleat was not positioned correctly on my right shoe. I recently put the Frog pedals back on my bike and moved the cleats to my road shoes, and I don't think I put the right one far enough back. I feel like I'm pointing my toe, and my right knee is aching a bit at the moment. I moved the cleat back as far as it would go this afternoon, so we'll see if that helps.

So, yeah...except for these things, it was a really good ride. I'm glad I did it, and I plan to do it again. Once school's out, I think I'll try 3-4 times per week.

Now, those reviews:

Larabar Apple Pie - You know how, when you're in the first phase of some low-carb/South Beach-y kind of diet, and the day comes when you just want to swim in a vat of mashed potatoes, so you go looking for alternatives and someone gives you a recipe for mashed cauliflower and says it tastes JUST LIKE mashed potatoes? And then you decide to try it and feel totally cheated because it SO doesn't, and it's just a poor, sad substitute for the real thing? So then you start craving pie?

Put down the pie and buy this instead. (Well, not if you're on South Beach or some other low-carby diet...with the bar's 19 (23g/4g fiber) net carbs, you probably couldn't have it either.) It really does taste like apple pie, I swear. Stick it in the microwave for a few seconds and add a scoop of ice cream, and you've got yourself an a la mode. Of course, the entire Larabar staff would probably faint dead away, since the bars are all vegan and raw foods and rah-rah-rah. Whatever...my point is, they're good stuff. You should try one.

Brilliant Brunette shampoo & conditioner - Not only do they make my hair all shiny and smooth, but they make it smell like summer. The conditioner smells like that old-school cocoa butter tanning lotion my mom used to use, and the shampoo smells vaguely of insect repellent. When I use them together, I shake my head and suddenly feel like going to the beach. :)

Am I the only one that doesn't know what WNW street and SSE street mean?

probably not. :) West-Northwest, South-Southeast. I didn't want to say the street names, so I tried to approximate cardinal directions for them. Though I probably got those wrong too...I'm terrible with a compass.