Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Bike Commuting to Work - YEAH!

I did it again today. Hadn't ridden the road bike to work in a while and can't honestly remember why I haven't. The route to work is pretty easy and not near as scary as Hendersonville Rd.

I take Emmas Grove Rd to Hwy 74 in Fairview down the mountain through Minehole Gap and coast into the parking lot of State Farm only 19 minutes later without breaking a sweat. I've been keeping some spare clothes at work and I feel so much better walking in the door.

If you've never ridden your MTB or road bike to work...DO IT! You walk in happy, confident and awake. I also recommend a blinking LED light on the back of the bike. I have one that I usually only turn on in the late afternoon shadows until I noticed a roadie on Emmas Grove who had his on in broad daylight and I could REALLY spot him from far off. Then when he rode under some shadows on the road, he disappeared but the light was so BRIGHT! I run mine on every ride now.

Oh...and when you ride, DO NOT ride the edge. It only encourages cars from behind to cut tight on you, even with oncoming traffic. You MUST ride in the right wheel track of the pavement about a 1/3 of the way out from the white line. It forces cars to follow you until they can pass you with NO ONCOMING TRAFFIC! I started doing this on road rides 3 weeks ago and haven't been buzzed. It feels much safer now.

1 comment:

My name is Stephen said...

next time, hire me to do all that work and I'll only charge you half as much....