I've taken a couple days off of blogging, but I've still been biking. I commuted by bike two days last week, ran some errands another day and took a fun bike ride on a fourth.

While others bike everyday I'm feeling comfortable with what I've been able to do. I can tell that I'm getting stronger and faster and my endurance is certainly increasing. However, I'm not ready to bike 5 days a week. That's okay, I'll get to that point soon enough.

I had a busy, exhausting weekend (critical mass, rock climbing, hiking, pulling 80 pounds of kid) so I didn't bike today. Wednesday and Friday are going to be this week's commuting days and the weather is looking good.

As for milage, I did about 50 miles of commuting and running errands, so I guess that brings me up to 175.

Errands

On Wednesday it was so windy I knew that I'd have a hard time going straight home on the Lakefront trail so I decided to run some errands and make some purchases.

I went inland and found that it was much less windy. First stop was Chicago Popcorn Works. I got a couple of bags of popcorn and they fit pretty nicely in my pannier. Then I biked over to Target to get some laundry detergent and pick up my prescriptions. I took my panniers in the store. They fit pretty well in a grocery cart. I also got a new bungee cord. This one is pretty cool. It's flat so it doesn't get in the way of my panniers and it keeps things on a little better. I'm a big fan of it. Anyway, I put my purchases in the panniers and bungeed the detergent down, turned on my lights and I was ready to go.

I almost bought some of those Firefly lights that you put on your tire valve, but the ones they had seemed be be kind of crappy. I'll wait untill I can get a better set.

Today, I wimped out on riding. I know, I'm ashamed to admit it. I was out late last night and just needed to sleep in. I know, I'm a bad example. However, the weather is supposed to be nice this weekend, so I'm hoping to take a nice long ride tomorrow to make up for it.

Okay, maybe I'm not as much as a badass as I'd like to be. I wimped out last week and didn't ride at all, except for one Sunday, which really don't even count.

Well, I'll count it anyway cause I had fun doing it. I have a second job as a mentor to kids with special needs. Most of the kids I've worked with have mental health issues, so it makes me a little nervous taking them out on a bike. However, I recently acquired a used trailercycle and I enjoy it a great deal. I love that I can go a lot faster and have all the control when it comes to taking inexperienced kids biking. Also, it's much easier and lighter than a trailer. Yay for trailercycles!

As for my ride today, it was gorgeous!!! I'm certainly getting faster. I made it to the bike station in 50 minutes. And on my way home I was having such a good time that I was wanting to go for a longer ride, but then I changed my mind since I need to do laundry (which I'm not doing...silly me).

I'm also really pleased about the fact that I'm getting stronger. I'm using a higher gear with ease and now that I'm home I'm not even tired. Maybe I am a badass...or at least I'm pre-badass.

Mileage: um...I'm not really sure. I'm doing to say 126...and i'm going to stick with it!

I am officially a BADASS! It's below freezing, windy and there's even a little bit of snow. However, I bundled up, put on my balaclava, my gloves and biked to work anyway. Booya! However, halfway to work I took off my ear warmer and my coat cause i was sweating buckets. I guess I'll save the real warm clothes for when it's closer to zero.

Oh yeah, and I'm getting faster, though that may be because I had a little wind assistance. I left way later than normal because I didn't put together my pannier the night before, so I didn't have my bike out and ready to go until after 7:30. Oh yeah! I made it to the bike station by 7:25. I'm cool.

Of course, it was nice having the wind at my bike and that might have contributed a little to my faster time. I'm not really sure how I'm going to get home this evening. It's really, really windy. I may take the bus when I'm heading west. Naturally, it will be after the cycling workshop that I'm going to tonight.

In addition, I need to profess my undying love for cycling at night. I love being out in the city when its quiet and mellow. Oh, it is my favorite. When I drive at night I just feel lonely, but biking I feel so peaceful and alive. What a wonderful feeling!

My Favorite Weather

I don't know if there's anything that can make cycling more enjoyable than having perfect weather. This morning was a great case in point. The temperature was in the 50s, cool enough that I was able to feel comfortable in my light windbreaker and gloves and headband, and not so cold that I felt like I needed to be wearing more. The sun was shining and glittering off of the lake. So beautiful that it makes me just feel soooo alive.

Some day when I'm faster I'm going to have to take my camera with me and take pictures of my commute. Once I get to the lake, it really is beautiful. Mornings are definitely better than the evenings when the trail is so congested. When the weather is nice I may start taking the streets home instead of the path just to avoid all of the people, but the mornings remain very clear, which I love.

Tonight, I'm going to a Seder, so I'll be taking the streets home. Hopefully my lights will work adaquately, I haven't really had to use them yet.

I also realized that I was a little off in my mileage count, so I'm actually at about 90 miles. Yay!