laceblade

On Wednesday, I biked for the second half of my commute home from work.
Due to construction, west-to-east evening traffic has been abysmal this summer, whether one is traveling by bus or by car.

The b-cycle station is not really conveniently located for getting on to the bike trail, & I had to back-track a couple blocks.
Still, the bike ride portion took about 18 minutes.

Overall, I only saved 5 minutes. But all of the start-and-stop that riding the bus involves - particularly the evening drivers on my route, ugh - usually leave me feeling sick.
Biking doesn't make me feel sick like that, however it did wipe me out for the rest of the evening.
My mind felt good - it was a great way to let things go after work. But my body was exhausted. I'd previously planned to cook dinner that night, & I had to microwave something instead.

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My second ride was this evening. The Boyfriend and I walked took a walk for a few blocks, & then I grabbed a b-cycle & took it to the market to buy a couple food things for the week. It was a nice ride, mostly, but other bikers kept passing really close to me without shouting out, "On your left!" or etc., which made me feel anxious, :/

It's pretty buggy, too.


I'd sort of like my own bike for trips like these. I tried checking out the nearest St. Vincent DePaul's bike sale Saturday morning, but it was a bust.

Should I stop numbering these?! idk.

For ride #6, I took a b-cycle to WisCon last Saturday. It solved my travel dilemmas for that day, helped me cool down when I was too hot, & let me look at one of the lakes. It was especially nice given that I was in a hotel most of the weekend.
This was my second trip using the bike elevator at the Terrace, & it went fine.

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#7 was errand-based.
I re-potted a bunch of stuff this morning, but I still needed 3 additional pots.
I also used up all my soil, & wanted some AA batteries so that I don't have to raid our Wiimote next time I want to use the Swiffer wet-jet.

SO. Got a bike & went to the hardware store at the opposite end of my neighborhood.
This was my first time using the bike lock that's embedded into the basket/handle.
The instructions heinously refer to the "male end" of the bike lock, omg. Anyway, I'm glad it pops out a key, & there's no code to remember!
The bike lock is super convenient. Maybe I'll use it for other things too, like stopping at the comic book store or etc.

Got everything I wanted, & went home.

This bike ride was exhausting for me. I went around 3pm, and it is about 75 F here today. Days like today are what make me hate boobs, people.

THAT SAID, I think I might need to purposely stick to mornings/evenings in the summer, so that I don't overheat.

Lately, whenever I bike lately, there are lots of people on the trail with me!


Ride the Drive is happening tomorrow, so I'm considering checking it out. I typically find this event a nuisance because it always happens when I need to run a car errand & I get trapped in my neighborhood -_-
The "Bike Avenue" stations look interesting.
B-Cycle rentals are free tomorrow, though, so I might not even be able to get a bike.
I've also heard that some hardcore bikers go & get mad at slower bikers :(
We'll see!

Eventually I might become sick of blogging about my bike rides, but they're still exciting to me, so it's still happening for now.

This is one of many ways I'd like to use the bike. I find walking pretty boring, and I am really sick of the walk between my apartment & Capitol Square.
The Square is also close enough that I feel stupid taking my car, even though carrying things home from that distance usually makes my back hurt.
So this is the sort of thing for which I really like b-cycle: I can get to/from someplace in a way that doesn't cost me additional money, & also doesn't hurt my back enough to put me out for the rest of the day.

This was my first time biking in the opposite direction after checking a bike out from the nearest b-cycle station.

I was quickly met with frustration, as the March of Dimes was using the area of the bike path on John Nolen as their starting place. Babies & strollers all over the place. My first experience of self-righteous biker feelings! "This is the BIKE PATH! These people aren't even biking! wtf."
New ways for me to feel indignant rage, :*)

Anyway, from there I went into the bike elevator that's built into the Monona Terrace. I'm glad I was able to find it! Going up to the fifth floor, I set out on the terrace level, which is ground level for Capitol Square/surrounding streets. Yay for getting to a place and cutting out the massive hill!

After walking my bike through the terrace area, I was on MLK Boulevard. My first time biking on real streets! It being a farmer's market Saturday morning, I wasn't too worried because most motorists avoid the area entirely. One block inward until I was on the inner Square, & then halfway around to park at the b-cycle station by the Concourse/my credit union.

One car almost hit me while pulling out without looking.
It was also incredibly windy this morning. A little frightening/hilarious as the wind pushed against my wheels & I felt the bike tip. I think I got more of a workout than usual due to the wind.

After buying a few things, I found a b-cycle station that was closer to the bike elevator than my previous end-point, & went back.
My biking radius is expanding.

OH YEAH. I've also regained the ability to swing my leg over the bar & hop off the bike while it's still moving.
12-year-old me thought this was THE COOLEST THING, lmao.


Farmer's market spoils: a pretty flower called "darla oranga" or diascia. Also a single pot that's a mix of red & green leaf lettuces. The latter is my first edible plant of the year, so I've updated my GrowStuff profile accordingly.
Some ramps (not plants, just a bundle to eat).

Today, I took my second bike ride (since I've started biking again).
This time, The Boyfriend got a 24-hour pass on the community bikeshare program & came with me.

We went one station farther than last time. If you live in-town, this means that we went to the Botanical Gardens & used the station there.
Once we left the bike path & started going through neighborhoods, it was a little rough for me. Going uphill meant breathing harder, which sort of triggered some GERD/chest pains.
I also have a cold right now, so it's a little difficult to tell which is which.

I'm trying not to feel, "ZOMG I can never leave the bike path again!!" and focus more on, "Well, when I'm a little more in shape, it won't be so bad."

Anyway, this time we made it to the video game store a neighborhood away, which I've jokingly said on Twitter is "my dream."
I sold an old video game I wanted, & he gave me $5 in-store credit. The store had a $5 bootleg Ghibli movie pack! So I bought that, haha. It has "Only Yesterday" on it, so I'm really hopeful that it will work!! I love that movie so much.

BUT. BIKING.
To come back, we walked to a closer b-cycle station, skipping the botanical garden one & starting again on the bike path/flat surface.

The way home was much better.

I like riding with The Boyfriend!

I'm still not great at taking corners or doing intersections with cars - I walk the bike through every lighted intersection, ^^;

Google Maps says I went 2.7 miles one way, so I guess that means a little over 5 miles total, although on the way back some of that was walking.

B-Cycle's website tracks mileage, but it seems to overestimate things a bit? I think it estimates based on time, & I am likely going a little slower than others.