Morning Mountain Bike Ride

Not a lot to say about the ride this morning. Yesterday we had a bunch of rain and a flood advisory, but this morning the moon and stars peeked through the clouds. A few puddles remained, but not much. It was just a nice cool, dark, morning ride.

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!

Transportation Advocacy Day

Yesterday was Transportation Advocacy Day. I usually feel too busy to volunteer for various causes. Like many people I get so caught up in my daily life that I don't tend to stop and think about this sort of thing. When I heard about this, however, for once I thought about it.

I could take the day off, and spend a day advocating for something I feel is important. Safer streets, health as a priority when we think about our transportation system in this state. Maintenance of our existing transportation structure. It isn't all about riding bikes. It's transit and sidewalks, and road design.

If I was going to spend the day advocating for this sort of thing, I also wanted to see how our current system locally works.

Option A. Ride my bike to and from the event. I wasn't sure I was up for that, so I picked Option B.

Option B. Ride my bike to Yelm, catch the bus down to Olympia and reverse on the way back.

Option C. Drive. I didn't really want to deal with parking and everything else downtown, and I'm trying to use the car less.

I rode the bike to Yelm and got on the bus fine. There was one other bike on the rack, no issues there. After looking at schedules I realized that this might be an option to get to work. Ride to Yelm, bus near work (<4 miles), ride to work, and then reverse going back. It'd be about 16 miles of riding each day. I'd also have time to read on the bus. Something to consider.

The day went well. I went around with two other folks from my district to talk to our representatives and senator, which ended up meaning that we talked to legislative aides and dropped off material. That was fine. The breakout sessions at the event were informative and interesting.

I finished up at around 3:00 PM and went to catch the bus. I'd lost my pass earlier, so I stopped first at the bank to get change. Then I waited for the bus back to Yelm. When it came the bike rack was full already.

That was the flaw in the plan. The next bus was an hour later. It was chilly. I could have killed an hour downtown, except I didn't really want to do that. I decided to ride out to Yelm Highway, and see how much longer it'd be until the bus came along. I headed off, through Olympia, and riding up the Woodland Trail. It was nice to ride the trail again. I haven't done that in a long time. I took it up to the Chehalis-Western Trail, and from there out to Yelm Highway.

When I got there I still had over a half-hour to wait for the bus. If I caught the bus (if the bike rack wasn't full this time), I'd still have a five mile ride home from Yelm, plus it'd take at least a half-hour to get to Yelm. So that'd be another hour, at least, plus the half-hour ride home from Yelm. And Rainier road was right there, just down the street. If I rode I could be home probably before I would get home if I waited for the bus.

That's what I did. Set off riding home. There's quite a few hills. I wasn't sure I could make it, given that I'm still healing from the surgery and haven't ridden this much in months. Of course once I was on my way there wasn't a good bail-out option. No buses to catch on this road. No one to call to get a ride. Pretty much committed at that point.

I kept going. Slowly. Slow does it. I made it home. I'm not sure it was faster than waiting for the bus, but it was fun all the same!

Build Up

First Thing

I want to get back to riding to work at least three days a week. Actually, that's not right because I hadn't been doing that before the surgery. I'd ride one or two days, but inconsistently. So I guess I really want to build up to riding three days a week. That gives me alternate days to rest, run, or do other exercises. 

To help make it happen, I think I need to get out first thing. It's dark, often cold this time of the year, but too easy to put off otherwise. And it is a great way to wake up. This morning that's what I decided to do. I got ready and went out right away.

Recovering

Since going to the doctor's and confirming that, even if it hurts some, I'm not going to create a problem with the surgery site, it's easier to ignore the pain. I'll still watch it and back off if it gets too much but it wasn't that bad this morning.

Distance

My commute is at least 17 miles, possibly 20 miles, depending on the route. One way, meaning that any commute day is ~34-40 miles long. I'll need to build up to that, so going out first thing gives me more freedom to do that too. I can get up, spend the time, and then come back and get ready. It's hard to fit in everything I need to do with exercise and health, but oddly it seems like the more I do it's easier to get focused on getting things done. I've installed the free version of Rescue Time too, just to see what it can do to help. I do a lot of work on my iPad so it'd be better if there was a client there, so that it tracked things while I switched between devices. I believe they're working on that.

In any case, I'll be building the distance until I feel comfortable with being able to go to work and back without feeling too wiped out.

License to Ride

Yesterday I paid a visit to the doctor, to ask if the pain I was feeling from the surgery was normal or not. It was a good news, bad news answer. Yes. I suppose anyone that's had surgery knows that recovery can take quite a while. Nothing's wrong, it's just going to hurt as I increase my activity level. Eventually it'll stop, but not right away.

At least what I'm doing isn't going to mess it up, which was my main concern.

So with that news I'm getting back on the bike. And the trike. And running. And body weight exercises. I'm not, however, going to try to do a streak or any of that. I want to get back up to riding the bike (or trike) to work, so that's my goal. I'd like to get to the point where I'm riding to work more often than driving. If I get too sore, though, I'll have to take rest days off. I'll just see how it goes.

The other good news from today's ride - my business license for Glittering Throng Press came through! The website is being revamped so that we'll be able to sell e-books and print books directly to readers. Stay tuned!

Daily Challenge 9: Proof

I haven't been getting out with the cold weather. Today it was up to 34°F when I got home from work, and the sun was just setting, so I took a quick ride! First time on the bike in almost two weeks. I didn't bother with my bike gear, for the most part. I pulled on my light-weight pants over the pants I was wearing for another layer and wind-break, put on my bike sandals, strapped down the pants legs and got my helmet. Then I was out, getting on the bike and riding up into town. I took a quick run to the post office and picked up the proof of the new edition of Dark Matters, the first book in my Moreau Society series.

I'm happy with the proof. It looks pretty good, I think, and is an improved edition. Soon I'll relaunch the second book — The Gingerbread House — and then the new novel in the series, Past Lives.

Daily Challenge 6: Proof

I went out for a quick ride this morning, just up to the post office. The proof for my book Downland arrived! I actually released this book years ago, but this is a new edition with more fixes, better formatting, and original cover art. The ride itself was cold, windy and dark, and fun!

Daily Challenge 4: Afternoon

I enjoy my early morning rides. Even the dark and the cold. It's nice, however, to get out in the afternoon when I can see the world around me. This was a good afternoon for a ride. Cold, not freezing. Cloudy, not raining. Not exactly a summer day, but still a nice change from most of my recent rides.

I weighed in today, down 2.5 pounds since the last weighing in December. That's a good way to start the year! With my surgery a couple months ago, and the recovery after, I've gained quite a few pounds. Nice to see those start coming off. I'm still a good 25 lbs heavier than I'd like to be. I've been eating better lately, much more leafy greens and vegetables, little junk food. It isn't quite primal/paleo, because I am eating some grains, pasta and bread and it isn't a raw food diet because I do have cooked foods and meat in there too. I'm taking things from both of those approaches, with an emphasis on raw plants, some meat and allowing some degree of grain-based and cooked foods.

Daily Challenge 1: Dusting

First ride of the New Year! Partly cloudy day, but cold. I bundled up and headed down the Yelm Tenino trail. I've gotten terribly out of shape and want to build back up to riding to work. That's twice as far as I rode today, each way! So I only did a quarter of what the commute takes. I can cut that distance down by 3-4 miles, depending on the route taken. It's still a good long day of riding.

I wasn't expecting it, but along the trail were areas that had obviously gotten snow yesterday. It snowed when we were in town but I didn't see it sticking anywhere. I guess it missed us!

I'm starting over with the numbering of the challenge posts. I don't know that I'll go out every day, but I'll be curious to see how many days I get in something this year!

Daily Challenge 35: Foggy Morning

My surgery site still hurts. It isn't bad most of the time, but enough to make it clear that I haven't healed completely yet. I think some of it is the scar tissue stretching. I took off some time but I think this week I'm just going to keep pushing through it and try to get out, alternating exercises.

This morning I rode down the Yelm-Tenino trail on my Trek Marlin. It was a foggy, cold morning, but things were starting to clear up a bit on the way back.

Daily Challenge 33: Self-Portrait

Yesterday I got up and went for a morning ride on the mountain bike. It was cold outside, down to 37°F, so I dressed warmly. Too many layers! It felt okay when I left. Then I started getting warmer the farther I went. I decided that I'd turn around at the intersection with the Chehalis-Western trail and head back. When I did, I stopped and took off some of my extra layers, including my mittens and ninja face/head mask. I also unzipped my outer jacket partway to ventilate more.

I didn't have any problems as far as my surgery site. I got back, realized I hadn't taken a picture, and took a quick self-portrait. Then I used that image as a reference this morning to paint a self-portrait. The result is a bit off, but that's okay. It's all practice. You can't see the whole thing in the small pic above, but it'll appear on the December issue of Exposed Monthly: Raw Creation! That's my magazine/blog where I talk about what's going on each month, indie writing, and publishing.

It's great getting out again. Today I worked outside in the yard, so I'm not posting a challenge post.

Daily Challenge 30: Biking!

This morning was kind of a big deal for me, because I went for a bike ride! The last time I was on the bike was over two months ago. I hadn't yet gone to the doctor, but I was having a few issues. After that I cut back on my activity leading up to the surgery. And since then I haven't felt up to doing much at all. Plus I've been taking it easy, listening to the doctor's instructions.

I wasn't sure how it'd go even getting on the bike. It was fine. No problem. I didn't strain. I didn't push hard. Nothing that would cause a problem. I went for a short, easy ride up to check my post office box and then took the short route home. Short ride, slow speed, and it felt great to get back on the bike!

I tried using a new app on the phone to track the ride. It doesn't pause when I stop (taking pictures, going into the post office) and I can't change the activity from running. I wanted to try it since it posts directly to Dailymile.com, but I don't think it's going to work too well for biking. There are some great iPhone apps out there but I'm stuck on Android for now. Oh well.

I need to remember to put the fenders back on!

Daily Challenge 24: Exposed Monthly

Today I got out on the bike again. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon. I grabbed the bike, didn't bother putting on my bike clothes, and rode up into town to the post office. I took the long loop around since it was so nice out. I picked up the print copy of Exposed Monthly, my monthly behind-the-scenes, 'zine of being an indie writer. Exposed is available for free online and in e-book form. The print copies cost, but it isn't aimed at making money. I just enjoy writing about all of this and each month I update what's going on. As always it features original cover art created by me.

Daily Challenge 23: Cloudy Skies

Cooler weather, cloudy skies, but no rain in the forecast.

Daily Challenge 20: Getting Colder

Still not feeling the greatest this morning. I decided to go for a ride anyway. It's getting colder now. I bundled up more and still felt cold most of the ride.

Daily Challenge 19: Rest Days

After eighteen days of going out every day, I ended up taking a couple rest days and didn't go out on Friday or Saturday for a ride or run. I actually felt sick this weekend. I'm not sure if I'm fighting something or what, but today I decided that I couldn't let it go without getting out. Days of not riding were getting to me. I took a quick spin around town as the sun set. It felt good to get on the bike! Although I'm trying to get out every day, it's okay if I take days off now and then. I just want the days off to be the exception rather than the rule!

Daily Challenge 18: Long Commute

Today I rode the mountain bike to work, taking one of the longer routes into work (21 miles @ 13.37 avg/mph), mostly on the Chehalis-Western Trail. The sculpture in the picture is at the Monarch Contemporary Art Center and Sculpture Park. It was a foggy morning, but not as cold as it seemed at first. I stopped along the way to take off my outer layers.

It was warmer and mostly clear and sunny on the ride home after work. I felt tired from the morning ride so I took a slightly shorter route with more time on the streets before hitting the trail for the last stretch, which cut off about four miles.

Daily Challenge 16: Too Early

Sleepy dog wants to know why I'm up so early riding! I took a quick spin out around town, stopped at the post office and came home.

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!

Daily Challenge 6: Barely Morning & Chased by Dogs

I like riding when the sun is up. I didn't have to go to the day job today, so I was able to get a bit more sleep and go once it was light. Don't get me wrong, riding in the dark with the stars out is nice too. Given the choice, I'd rather ride once the sun comes up. It's warming up fast today. I stopped on my loop and took off a layer because I was getting too warm.

The dogs were out today too. Two ran out into the street after me but their enthusiasm lagged quickly. Several other dogs 'chased' me within the confines of their yards.

If I have time later I'd like to work on the trike, get the new pedals installed and take it out for a test ride.