Bike Bus Bike Commute

Transit Option

In looking at going to Transportation Advocacy Day, I realized that I had an option to commute to work by adding the bus into my transportation tool kit. Seems obvious, but I hadn't realized it was an option.

Years ago, I biked, walked and rode the bus all the time. I didn't own a car. That wasn't an option to get around. Other than renting a car for vacations, I didn't drive. Then we got a car and driving became the rule. In fact, hardly a day passes when I don't spend time in the car! 

Time in the car gets you where you're going. That's about it. I know some people listen to talking books, I tend to tune those out. Mostly, time in the car is sedentary, maybe enjoying the scenery, except it passes by so fast. And you're isolated from it, enclosed in the car.

Riding to work means a ~17-20 mile ride each way depending on the route I take. Ten miles down the Yelm-Tenino trail, and then another ten down old highway 99. Or head down the Chehalis-Western trail and then over on Waldrick to 99 again, or down the CW trail to Yelm Highway and over. Nice rides. Except then after work I have to turn around and do it again, and it's uphill going home!

That's a harder distance to ride. I've been building up my strength, but riding back from Olympia the other day wore me out, and that was only one way!

Finding out that the Yelm transit route ran more than I thought, however, opened up another possibility. Ride to Yelm (which is weird, because I'm going away from work) ~4.96 mi, catch the bus (bike on the rack) and ride it down to Boulevard in Olympia (closest stop to work), and then ride to work ~3.7 mi. In all it adds up to about 17.47 miles, as tracked by my Endomondo app. About the same distance as it'd take to ride one way.

As far as the time it takes, well, it works out essentially the same as if I had ridden to work. That is, the time it takes to ride to Yelm, catch the bus, ride the bus to the nearest stop, then ride to work, is pretty much the same amount of time it would take for me to ride all the way to work from home. There's no time savings there. 

Yet, it cuts the daily mileage down to ~17 miles instead of ~34-40 miles. And the mileage is broken up into four shorter segments that pass quickly. 

Added bonus, on the bus ride I can read! That's at least 30 minutes each way when I have time to read. Between work, writing and everything else, it can be a challenge finding time to read. So I spend an hour and a half riding the bike, and at least an hour reading each day. 

Cost savings

I'm considering getting a monthly bus pass next month. Each day I don't drive the car saves ~$4, just in gas costs. If I was getting mileage reimbursements for driving it'd be more like $23 a day. Just figuring the $4 in gas, though, means $20 per week, up to $80-$100 per month. A bus pass is $36, a savings of $44-$64 dollars a month if I didn't drive to work.

Taking that out further, considering mileage reimbursements. That's not only for gas, but overall operating costs of the vehicle. If I'm driving the car less, that reduces our other expenses related to that also. I'll still drive it for errands, but that's usually one trip a week instead of the six days a week I've been driving.

What about health? We're talking about making health a priority in our state DOT policies, shouldn't it be a priority in our own personal transportation policies too? If I'm riding to work, with or without the bus, I'm going to be healthier and in better shape, and hopefully then less healthcare expenses. 

Moving forward

At least looking at the option of combining bike-bus transportation gives me another option when looking at how I get to work. It isn't that I have to ride the entire distance each way. If I'm tired, if I want to read, I can take the bus. If I'm just in a mood to ride, I can ride the whole distance. Or take the bus in the morning and ride back in the evening. Or the other way around. It just gives me another option.

This next week I'll probably do that at least one of the days, maybe more, but it's a short week. A week from today I'm heading down to Oregon for a writing workshop and I'll be off work until March. If I get the bus pass then I'll have that next month and may put in quite a few more miles!

Daily Challenge 8: A River Runs Through It

I rode to work today and couldn't have asked for a nicer day! On the way home I stopped at the mechanic's to see if the car was fixed. It wasn't ready yet, they'd run into a couple snags, so I went on home, changed and walked back up to the mechanic's to get the car. It's fixed! I love riding the bike, but it's nice to have options. It took nearly three hours out of my day to commute by bike. If I did that every day it'd really cut into time spent writing and with my family.

Daily Challenge 7: Bent Rider

Yesterday my car broke down on the way to the store. Fortunately, we hadn't gotten all that far from home, just over two miles. My wife and son (only three), walked on home. While they did that I waited for the tow truck to come. This was all a new experience for me. I've never had a car break down like that before!

When the tow truck arrived we discovered that I didn't have an 'I' ring/screw that hooks to the front of the car for them to pull it up onto the tow truck. I gave the driver permission to do what she could and she got it up there without (I think) any damage to the car. We took it in to a shop right there in Rainier but I won't really know what's wrong until tomorrow since they're closed.

The positives with the experience? The help we got from everyone. A couple strong guys pulled over and helped push the car out of the road. The insurance folks I talked to on the phone were very helpful at getting roadside assistance. The tow truck driver made that whole process easy. Ron, the gentleman that turned around and came back to give me a ride when he saw me walking down the street carrying our car seat. And my mother-in-law who graciously came up a day early so that we could still get shopping done before everyone (except me) goes on a trip to the Oregon coast.

The downside? The expense and the unknown factor. Based on reading I did I think it was probably the plastic shift carrier that broke, but I don't know. Even if that's the case, I don't know how long it'll take to get the parts and get it fixed. I can't do anything about that but wait and see.

With all of that going on I didn't get to the trike yesterday.

Today I got up, worked on editing my latest book, and then when everyone else went out to do the shopping I got to work on the bike and trike.

I installed new clipless pedals on the mountain bike. I cleaned it and lubed the chain. Until the car gets fixed it's going to be my primary means of transportation to and from work. That's ~17 miles each way, starting tomorrow. I like riding and commuting by bike but it does take a lot of time at that distance. Plus I'll still have to deal with the car.

I put the other pedals back on the trike, cleaned and lubed it too. The tires needed air after sitting for over a year. I don't have a floor pump yet that works with presta valves but my hand pump worked well enough to get some air. The pressure wasn't as high as I'd like but enough to ride.

It was lots of fun to get out on the trike! I've missed it. Very different feeling sitting, reclined, inches from the road instead of being perched up on a 29" mountain bike! My muscles told me that they weren't used to riding in that position, so I just took a short ride. I passed another recumbent, a hand-crank recumbent.

My plan, going forward, is to alternate my exercise between the mountain bike, the trike, and running. It'll depend on my mood.

On the other hand, if the car can't be fixed, or is too expensive to fix right now, then I'll be predominantly riding the mountain bike, because I'll have to commute and it's faster than the trike. I might use the trike to ride to the store in Yelm because I've got my plastic tub panniers I made that I could carry groceries. We'll see!

Riding Again

Bike to work day, and this morning I headed out on my bike to ride to work. ~17 miles each way, I wasn't sure how my knee would do but I felt good heading down the road. I was several miles from home when all of a sudden I heard a pop and a loud hissing noise.

Flat.

I stopped and by the time I did the rear tire was completely flat. I looked for a cause, didn't see anything and walked the bike down to a place I could get off the road to work on it. Luckily I had my tools and a spare tube. Swapping tubes actually went pretty easily and then I was on my way!

Fixin' Flat

The rest of the ride went fine. I took the new Yelm Highway route that they've been working on for a long time. They just finished paving and were doing some finishing work, so a couple sections were blocked off with cones, but it's mostly done. Nice bike lanes the whole way.

I felt pretty tired on the ride home, but my knee seems to be holding up so far. Hopefully it continues to hold up!

Timberland Regional Library: Olympia

This week saw the start of the Thurston County Bicycle Commuter Contest and the National Bike Challenge. I've had a great week! I kicked it off riding to work, even with the questionable weather conditions and was greeted with some fantastic mornings.

Morning Field

Spots of rain on the first couple days but it wasn't bad at all. I felt really strong the first day riding to work. It's about 17 miles to work, 16 on the way back (I take a bit longer on the way to work to avoid a difficult left turn and a busy intersection).

Deschutes River

The second morning was a lot like the first. Both mornings I took the route I usually drive, which runs along Rich Rd. No shoulder, tight corners, but the drivers were considerate. It's still a bit nerve-wracking. In a few weeks construction begins to widen the road, adding bike lanes and making the corners more gradual. That'll be nice when it's done, but it's going to mean taking a different route until then.

By the third day I was tired, it was raining hard, so took an easy day, running errands in town and then back home.

Yesterday I undertook my most ambitious commute yet! I headed down the Yelm-Tenino trail to Tenino and then took 99 over Chein Hill. Although it's longer than the Rich Rd route, there's a shoulder the whole way so I felt much safer.

Then, after a few hours working in Tumwater I got back on the bike and rode down to Olympia to help with their Overdrive event.

Olympia Timberland Library

This marks the first time I've ridden to the Olympia Timberland Library on my Trek Marlin, so I can check the last Thurston county library off my list! Nice ride from Tumwater down to Olympia with bike lanes almost the whole way and even on 8th there wasn't much traffic. Plus the speed limit in Olympia is only 25 MPH, so it's a nicer city to ride in than some others.

Overdrive's Digital Bookmobile

Overdrive had provided their digital bookmobile to showcase our ebook collection and demonstrate various devices. I was on hand to talk to patrons about what we offer, and answer questions. I had a good conversation with local children's author Alan Shue about the challenges with digital publishing in this new world, and the difficulties independent authors face getting their work in libraries.

After working at the event I headed back out on the bike for the long ride home, taking the Woodland trail out to Lacey to join up with the Chehalis-Western trail. Along the way I saw lots of fallen trees from the snow and ice damage this winter, but the trail was clear and well-maintained. It's been a long time since I rode this trail and I noticed more walking/horse trails off the main trail.

It's nice seeing how improved the trail has become too. Last time I rode this way there was talk about painting one of the industrial buildings along the way — and now it's actually done!

Mural

That's only a part of the mural, but it looks good. The landscaping is coming along too. So much different than the stark scrub and dingy look it had before!

Shortly past the mural I turned up the Chehalis-Western trail and rode home, taking the Yelm-Tenino trail again at the end.

Long commute! 49.37 miles by bike today. I'm actually a bit surprised I managed to ride that far, it sets a new personal best for me. I need to work on building my mileage. It amazes me that riders on the Tour Divide do 120+ miles per day, for weeks, under much harder conditions! I dream about doing it, but sometimes it's hard to imagine being in that kind of shape. I'm working on it.

Day 2: 30 Days of Biking

On Monday I looked out at a partly cloudy sky, some wind, and a forecast that the high would hit 60°F! How could I resist?

I got everything together and headed out. A bit chilly, but I was thinking about that forecast.

Sun Rising

The ride to work went well, I felt pretty good even though I haven't been riding these kind of distances often. I was tired when I arrived, but not too bad.

After a long day of work I headed out into a much warmer day. Instead of layers I just wore my cycling shorts and short-sleeved jersey. I felt pretty good heading out, but I could feel I was tired. Even so, a great day to ride.

Grayish Day

My energy reserves sapped away the last few miles. I was hungry and feeling like I might totally bonk, but what was the point in stopping? It wouldn't get me home any faster so I kept moving at a slower pace. The last steep little hill at our road was tough, but I made it up. Made it home.

Not doing that again tomorrow. I'll try to get out and ride, but a shorter distance.

Timber Land

On Monday I couldn't take it any longer — I needed to get out on my bike and ride! One big question: could I actually get to work on my bike or not?

See back in the middle of January we got a big snow storm.

Snow!

It looked real pretty at first. By the time it was done we had around 14" of snow on the ground. Then the storm turned into an ice storm that coated everything with a quarter of an inch of ice. Trees bent, bent and snapped! The sound of branches and trees breaking was constant. Some of those trees in that picture are now broken in half, most have tons of branches stripped off. Lots of damage.

So back to the biking, the roads are mostly clear by now although the branches and tree trunks still clog many of the shoulders. And I didn't know if the Parks folks had been out to clear the trail system yet. Even if they were working on it, I figured they might not have gotten finished yet.

I decided to go for it anyway and ride to work!

I left early, around 6:30 AM to give myself plenty of time in case I encountered any obstacles. It felt great to get back on the bike, riding off into the dark morning before the sun rise. My helmet headlight illuminated the road ahead. Debris from the storm littered the side of the road but since there wasn't a shoulder it was mostly off the road and didn't interfere. That lasted until I reached the Yelm-Tenino trail. As soon as I got there I encountered my first tree across my path, necessitating a stop to make my way around it.

It wasn't the first. That first stretch of trail had me questioning the wisdom of continuing. It wasn't only trees, but branches ranging from twigs to big branches several inches thick. We're talking piles and piles of branches under any tree overhanging the path. And then, of course, whole trees across the path. Some I could ride around going off the trail but others meant stopping to find a path around, over, or under!

I went down the Chehalis-Western trail and finally stopped counting trees down at two dozen. I didn't count all the rest of the debris. I could see signs that conditions had been even worse, but other trail users had dragged some material off the trail. The 29er tires helped rolling through piles of branches, or going off the trail at times.

Trees down

In some cases my only option was to carry the bike up and over trees in the path because of growth on each side of the trail.

All of this made for an interesting commute but despite the obstacle course I made fairly good time. The storm caused so much destruction, it's really too bad.

Tree Split

Whole trees that are just split apart. Some look like they got stomped on by a giant. You can look at groups of trees and see where they all got their tops broken off. It's going to be a massive effort to clean all of this up. There's already been a lot of work to get the roads somewhat clear, but it's not done yet.

Riding down Old Hwy 99 I was pleased that the shoulder was pretty much clear, giving me a good path for the last stretch to work. I felt tired after ~18 miles, but also energized by the ride.

That evening, when I headed home I just felt tired. I also discovered that the other side of Old Hwy 99 wasn't nearly as clear on my way back. Several times I encountered stretches were I had to dismount and navigate trees and massive debris piles that extended across the shoulder almost into traffic. I don't feel safe riding out in traffic at dusk and night fall when I'm dealing with lots of commuters doing 50+ MPH. The shoulder is usually fine, but in this case it made it very difficult.

Eventually I made it up to Waldrick which lacks shoulders but the speed limit is lower and the lack of shoulders meant that the road at least was clear of debris. I did get chased by dogs at one house which has been a problem before, but otherwise the cars gave me plenty of room. Unfortunately a few other things made the ride home less enjoyable.

For one thing, my batteries were getting lower and the headlight automatically switched to a lower setting that made it a harder to see. Add to that it was getting darker, it was cloudy and raining. Not the best of conditions. Plus by that point I felt pretty worn out. I haven't been riding to work enough. The stationary bike helps, but in the past couple weeks I hadn't done that much either, and even when I have ridden it I've only been doing a half-hour to forty-five minutes. It took me an hour and twenty-seven minutes to get to work. Given conditions, the trees, my fatigue and the fact that the ride home is more uphill (a little) I had figured that the ride home might take two hours.

That was pretty accurate.

So not a fast ride at all. Even as I slogged home, however, I couldn't help but enjoy parts of the ride. Riding along the trail at night is fun. I stopped at one point and listened to coyotes howling, crying, and yipping off in the darkness, a whole chorus of canine celebration. What the fallen trees added in slowing my pace, they also broke up my pace and added interest to the ride. Especially riding home when I had to stay very alert to potential obstacles.

The big question in my mind remains, how do people get in shape to do things like the Tour Divide where they're riding 150 miles each day? I was tired after my commute and it was only ~35 miles. I guess you just need to ride longer and longer, but it's hard. Hard to fit that into everything else. Riding today took over three hours. That's hard to fit in with everything else.

Fall is Here

Fall Trail

The rain let up today, the temperature wasn't that cold, so it turned out to be a nice morning for a commute. With all the rain and storms we've had recently there's a lot of Douglas fir needles, branches and leaves down on the trail. It felt great getting out and riding to work.

Tree Down

Near the lake there was a tree down across the trail (sorry for the blurry picture). I'd was able to go around the tree without any problem. It looked like the Parks folks had been cleaning up this portion of the trail and I think the tree fell when other brush was removed. By the time I came back in the afternoon the tree was already cleaned up and gone.

I'm trying to get out more, build up more mileage but I feel like I'm making slow progress. I need to get out riding more days than I've been doing and I want to build up more distance. This weekend I'm thinking of doing another library ride and head down to Olympia, but we'll see.

Highway Commute

Highway 507

This morning I decided to take the highway instead of the bike trail. There's a few reasons for that:

• More hills! I'm working on my mileage but the Yelm-Tenino trail is a converted railway trail so the grade and hills are mild. There aren't any huge hills on the stretch of the highway either, but it's a bit more hilly than the trail. That's a good thing.
• More traffic! I'd rather not ride with cars around, honestly, but since cars aren't going to vanish and my new commute (switching to a new position and a ~17.3 mi commute) will involve more riding on roads, I need to feel more comfortable with the traffic.
• More visible! I think it's important for drivers to see more cyclists on the roads. The trail is nice, but we shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that cyclists must ride the trail. By being out on the highway it reminds drivers that there are other folks on the roads. Maybe that helps.

Right after I took the blurry picture above (sorry, my phone takes terrible pictures), the rain started. A few drops became many drops and then before long I was soaked. I was wearing bike shorts and a jersey, messenger bag over my shoulder. Helmet, of course. My work clothes were in a handlebar bag. I'd actually put on my fenders this morning in anticipation of the chance of rain. The forecast only said 30%, but clearly we hit that! 

The wind blew, the temperature was cool to cold and felt colder with the rain. I'm sure this might sound odd to some, but I had fun! It was a great ride speeding along the highway with cars zipping past and the rain pouring down. The Marlin took the hills pretty easily. The wide shoulder gave me plenty of room but I also kept an eye on approaching cars with my helmet mirror. The dim conditions emphasized what a difference headlights make! Cars with their lights off were much harder to see. I had my rear blinker on but I hadn't taken batteries for my headlights. I need to start doing that because it wasn't nearly as light as I would have liked and even with my screaming yellow jersey I would have felt better with a headlight.

After work I decided to take the trail back home instead of recreating the morning's ride along the highway. I felt tired and wanted to take it easier without the added stress of cars passing. But I do plan to do much more street riding in the days ahead. I'm already making plans for my next library rides!

Riding Again

I've been riding the trike more, at least in theory. In actual fact the last time I rode before today was three weeks ago! I finished up that week with my highest mileage of the year. Still not anywhere like the distance I need to work up to doing. I try to picture the Tour Divide, doing ~125-150 miles per day, daily, for weeks on end over tough terrain. How am I ever going to get in that kind of shape?

I don't know. Keep riding, I guess.

It was a nice day for a ride to work today.

Easy riding

The air felt slightly cool on the ride, but of course not too cold. But suggesting that maybe we're not really going to see a summer around here. I've already seen a few trees changing their colors.

The other day I asked Kent Peterson on Twitter for his suggestion for a newbie MTBker. 

Trek Marlin

His suggestion, the Trek Marlin, was one of the bikes that I had been considering to get started. It looks nice, and fits my budget. Further down the road, if I'm still pursuing my hope to ride the Divide, I might look at something else. But for now this looks pretty good to me. Now I just need to figure out how to pay for it! I'd like to switch soon and start building my mileage. It'll be strange to get back on a bike after riding the trike the past several years. I need to get down to Bike Tech and check it out.

It felt warmer for the ride home. Lots of people out on the trail. Tons of roller bladers, not sure what was going on with that but they kept coming in groups of two for the most part. Must have been at least a dozen of them, plus assorted other cyclists, dog-walkers and runners. The nice weather really had people out on the trail. When I ride it during other times of the year I tend to have it to myself.

On the ride back I stopped to take a picture of the clouds, which doesn't do it justice.

Clouds

Good day. Need to get out more!

When a Tree Falls

Tree Down Across Trail

Thursday I took a rest day and didn't ride after all, but I headed back out to work on the trike yesterday. I still felt a little tired but actually made good time. About a mile before trail's end I came across a tree down across the trail. A dog walker on the other side and I looked at moving it off the trail but there was no way. I was able to get around the end riding through the brush alongside the trail. Later, after work, the county parks folks had already cleared it away! It made me think how quickly these trails would disappear without someone to maintain them.

This week has already set new mileage records for me. I'm tired this morning, I pushed harder yesterday, but at the moment I still think I'm going to ride. Probably slowly. Or I might change my mind. I guess I'll know after I see how the morning goes.