Playing in traffic

Oh, you think I should say "riding with traffic"? I suppose you're right, but doesn't "playing in traffic" have a more interesting ring?

Today's weather forecast sounded perfect to support my earliest ever (in the year, that is) commute to work by bike. Temperatures started the day in the 50s with the prediction that the high would be somewhere in the 80s. Calm winds in the morning were to increase to a pretty serious force by the afternoon, but the wind direction was supposed to be out of the south and west. Given that my ride home is to the north and east, I chose to believe that the wind wouldn't cause a problem for me. Yes, it was time for my first ride to work for 2007.

I first rolled out of the door at 6 AM. Oops! Just a half of a mile down the road I realized I wasn't wearing my RoadID. Yes, I had identification & my health insurance card with me, but that's just not enough - so I looped back home to retrieve my missing security blanket. It's funny, last night I thought about dropping it on top of my pannier so I wouldn't forget it, but it's so close to second nature that I didn't. Hmmm... next time!

Two rides today, and it felt like I was playing in two different seasons. Luckily wearing layers of clothes in the morning meant that I was warm and that I had the right summer attire for my commute home. What a difference from my normal rides... while I often travel on narrow roads with very little traffic, my commute to work rolls down the same roads that other people traverse in their cars as they (also) head to work. The constant sound of motorized vehicles accompanied me on my ride, but that's a small price to pay for the ability to ride to work.

And the wind? I was very glad that it was coming mostly from the side as I headed home at the end of the day. A tailwind would have been preferable, but sidewinds were much easier to deal with than the mile or two that I rode against the wind. (Yes, I do live northeast of my office, but I start my commute home in the opposite direction in order to avoid some "too busy" roads.)

First commute of the year complete, many more to come. That's a good feeling.