Return to Bike Commuting!

Even though I'm all about errand/transport riding during the weekends, I have to admit that I hadn't really done any work bike commuting until this week. Long story short, I stopped taking the Metro/shuttle and started driving sometime in January, and I had been driving since. I'd been making noises about getting started with multi-modal commuting again, but I hadn't really committed until recently, when my cousin in Chicago started looking into getting a bike (his first as an adult). He asked my advice, got a bike last week, and was riding everywhere! And it just made me think, I can do it too!--which I knew, but I needed that push.

Though I hadn't been commuting, I was thinking about different routes to work. After a few dry runs, I had three-ish options:

• Short bike commute: Last year I only rode between the Metro and work as part of a multi-modal commute, which is a "short" bike commute in the sense that it's the shortest distance riding (though longest overall in distance and time, if you include the Metro ride). There are actually several ways to go, so I did a lot of experimenting, and settled on a route that I like earlier this year; while it's the longest distance, it's the most pleasant ride, and I don't really lose much time because it has less long lights.
• Long bike commute: I have this dream of riding the whole distance from work (~15.5 miles), so earlier in Spring I did a dry run (chronicled here). While I survived the ride, I'm not quite ready (mentally or physically) to do this during the work week. There's always next year though! 
• Intermediate bike commute: I'd been toying with trying this route as an option that was longer than my "short" commute, but more reasonable than my "long" one. It's also multi-modal, where ~4.5 miles are done on my bike, while the rest is on the shuttle between main campus and the satellite campus where I'm located. I had issues finding the route the first time I tried it, but I worked it out over the weekend (described here). I made some slight modifications to the dry run, so I think this is going to work very well. 

Of course, now that I'm getting back into the game, I've got this hot hot weather to deal with!  

More than an hour after my ride, and it remains sultry out

Although I was worried the past couple of days, I've ridden home during what feels like the peak of the heat, and I've survived! (D laughs at me for being surprised.) I've even figured out the combination of routes that I like for the morning and afternoon. I know it's only been a couple of days, but I'm feeling pretty good, plus it's nice to know that I can change it up in the future if I really want to.

What's funny is that over the weekend, before I actually rode to and from work, I was thinking that none of my options were ideal. I was wishing for a bike-friendly street running parallel to either Wisconsin Ave. or Connecticut Ave., and thinking enviously of those #bikeDC commutes through the monuments or along the Potomac or on the nice bike lanes downtown. But today on the road, I really did feel like I had a great ride. I was surrounded by trees for most of the time, and had long and uninterrupted stretches of road almost to myself. Even the segments of my ride that I shared with cars weren't that bad--I've definitely ridden along worse, even when there was a supposed bike lane.

So, my goal is to keep this up for the summer. There are aspects of the bike commute I enjoy less, but that's for another blog post. Right now I just want to enjoy my bike commute high!

Observation: Riding along six lanes of traffic is never going to be pleasant, irrespective of whether there is a bike path/lane.