My First Bike Commute

Sept. 10th, 9:15 pm: ’He said no spandex. Bike shorts are out, oh well, I can’t find mine anyway. What do I wear?! No jeans. The seams kill me, those shorts are not made for a bike. Ugh. I guess these will have to do. It is supposed to be a bike commute to work anyway, I should probably try to wear what I would normally.’

I choose a pair of longer cargo shorts meant for hiking in, you know, the kind with the zip off bottoms that are a horrible shade of army green. Sometimes I can be incredibly stylish. I realize as I buzz back and forth between bathroom, bedroom, and living room trying to get everything together for tomorrows first ever test run of one of my commutes, that I am a bit nervous. I look down at what I had laid out in front of me. It looked as if I were preparing for a marathon ride, Aquaphor and all.

To me it was going to be a marathon ride. I have ridden 15 miles before, and that was huge for me. I was exhausted by the end and in serious need for some water. That ride was a casual ride with my father in “flatter than anything in Austin” Reno, NV along the riverbank. It would be like doing 15 miles along the hike and bike trail. This? This I have been nervous about doing ever since I tried to make it 2 miles to Opal’s to have some happy hour drinks with friends a few months ago. I nearly vomited from the heat and exhaustion. I also never realized exactly how uphill that route was, but now I know. This one? I had images running through my head of tiny hills that I just could not make it up, traffic getting way too close and me on the side of the road: a bike commute failure.

Nervous would be an understatement. ‘If someone had not agreed to do this ride with me I wouldn’t be doing it at all. Hopefully they aren’t too judgmental.’

Sept. 11th, 8:10am: I am still nervous but going through my mental checklist eases my mind for a while. I have been going over the list and other mental preparations since 6am this morning. I rush but try to be calm and confident about this as I frantically run around the house for the second time in the past 24 hours.

8:15am: ‘Bike light (back/red) on. Helmet on. Camel back is filled with enough water for my roommate, me and Minor to ride all day with. Glasses case and bike lock in the bag. Wallet, keys, phone? Check. Alright, we are off!’

Just riding up the driveway I am struggling to push the pedals and think ‘I am in too low a gear I need to shift up’, I change my gears to a ‘higher’ one and am good to go.

8:30am: Myself and my roommate are waiting at the meeting point of East Side Drive and Oltorf, chatting about how I am nervous about the hills and traffic on the ride, but happy she is there with me for moral support. She is happy to do the ride herself. Riding across town has been a bit daunting for both of us. Minor pulls up, quick introductions are made and I decide I am as ready now as I will ever be and I just need to do this. With that we start.

The Ride: It is downhill at first, nice and easy. Minor goes over some basic safety tips about waiting at lights, traffic in neighborhoods, and we come across our first real road hazard: a squirrel that is testing mortality in front of our bike tires. I chuckle and think to myself ‘this isn’t that bad really, where are those hills?’

On the first hill I stop about halfway up to walk the bike the rest of the way. Minor and Portia are both nice about it, waiting at the top. I am horribly embarrassed. I keep going, though, and we make it to our first substantial road. I am a bit nervous waiting at the light. There are cars all around, going pretty fast and I am in no way confident I can cross the intersection in enough time once the light changes. I’m not sure if the cars behind and next to us are going to go slow enough or if they are going to try to run us off the road like I assumed all cars to do.

We make it across just fine and this is one of the first times I start to gain some confidence in riding around cars. They gave us all the room we needed and we were soon past them easily, back onto side streets unfrequented by the car commuters. ‘But wait, we aren’t supposed to ride on the sidewalk as bikes. This bridge is WAY too narrow to fit two bikes passing each other on! Oh crap that group of pedestrians probably doesn’t know I am going to turn in front of them!’ My mind raced with nervous obstacles that would normally keep me off my bike anywhere near the I-35 bridge over the river. We made it though. I could ride my bike on that narrow pedestrian bridge without hitting the passing bike. I could navigate pedestrian traffic, both walking dogs and running. I could ride on the sidewalk without falling into moving car traffic. I could do this.

After passing the river, we make our way to and up Chicon, an incline that I was never so in tune with just driving North before. I had always considered North Austin to be the flatter area of town, living just off of South Congress. While it is flat in comparison, it was turning into a hell of an incline for me. I fully admit that I walked my bike a few times, and at about 12th and Chicon I really really wished I could have kept going. At this point my knees burn and if I try to keep going I know I am going to just fall over.

The thing is though, it isn’t the end of the world when I have to stop and walk it. I always catch up with Minor and my roommate, or they stop and walk with me. I am still a bit embarrassed but I will make it though that. Also, it turns out I have had gears backwards for a while, they inform me, which is why it always seemed harder to go up a hill on the ‘lowest’ gear and I would instead choose to go at them from the middle gears.

We got to our destination, two yard gardens being put in by the non-profit organization Urban Patchwork, and I feel great. My knees are sore and I am probably sweatier than anything else on that street but I feel very happy I have made it, despite the hills.

Hills aside, the commute by bike was nice. The air was cooler than it had been all summer and I was able to see more of the neighborhood I have done work in, parts that I miss by taking the larger roads I would normally take in a car. We said hello to residents that were outside of their houses. I felt more connected, not only to the terrain and environment I was riding through but also to the people and community.

‘Ah, this is why people do this.’

The choice is made to wind our way through UT, the capitol and downtown for our ride back. I want to get some more experience with different parts of the city, different street etiquette (bike lane versus none, etc) and to hitch a ride up my Everest: South Congress Ave, with Minor who had strategically placed his car downtown with a bike rack. Manor road is a breeze with it’s wide bike lanes and the painted bike crossings under I-35. UT campus is easy as well and I get a feel for being squished between traffic coming up behind me and front-in parked cars to my right. The capital grounds are of course much more pleasant than a lot of the busy downtown one way streets that we could have taken. One of the most empowering feelings I have that morning is “taking a lane” from the cars going towards the river on Congress Avenue from the capitol.

The End: When we get to Jo’s Coffee to refuel with non-fossil derived energy I am feeling a bit ecstatic about the whole thing. I am also exhausted, look like I had peed myself and am very rubber legged, but I feel amazing. Minor’s question about any reflections on the day spurs a quickly corrected “It was great even though I can’t get up the hills”. I can’t yet. Minor suggests riding every other day and then every day, as well as doing things like the Social Rides and riding my bike for everything within 2-miles to help build the muscles that I need to get up those hills. More importantly I realize the lack of the stressed feeling I would have had after driving the route that we rode. I wasn’t angry or frustrated because everyone else on the road obviously doesn’t know how to drive. I wasn’t feeling that Carbon Guilt I have mentioned previously (akin to Catholic Guilt but for Environmentalists). I took over a lane from cars! I didn’t just zip by the people that make up the community that I live and work in. I didn’t shut myself off from the environment and terrain that I live in. I experienced and was a part of all of it. I felt engaged. I felt incredibly empowered.

And after I am not saddle sore I am going to ride again.

Sept. 15th Update: it has been a few days since the ride. I have now ridden my bike downtown and not had to worry about parking (going home was a bit of a mess though, all uphill). Tonight will be my first social ride and I can’t wait!