Zoom Zoom

Well, I've only been living in California for three years, but today I finally biked to work for the first time.

In fact, it's been almost exactly five years since I started biking to work in Madison - only a few weeks after I started this journal, in fact. I was in much crummier shape then, but I made big strides the next summer.

It's not that I never intended to bike to work while living here, but the situation was never right. When I lived in Campbell, I was often going to do things with friends, and those things were always in the opposite direction from work from my home. Plus, my old bike was, well, not crummy, but not in great shape, and I didn't really want to use it for daily commuting. And I wasn't wild about buying a new bike once I found out how expensive they were, since I was storing my bike outside.

So I spent some time doing morning biking near my home, but never really did anything substantial with it.

Well, that's all changed now: New house, new location, new bike. I live about eight miles from work, but the route is mostly flat, and I made it in in about 40 minutes this morning. It took me slightly longer to get home tonight - but only a few minutes. The evening ride felt easier, too.

The bike lanes on the roads to work are mostly quite wide and friendly, even when the streets are fairly busy. My cow-orker Jim, who is a bike nut (so to speak), says he thinks the South Bay is a great place for bicyclists (though I think many people disagree). My feeling is that it's not bad, but trying to stay off the really major roads (like Sunnyvale/Saratoga Road) is a good idea. And the fact that it's mostly flat is pretty nifty for commuting; if I want a challenge, I can go tackle the hills between here and the ocean.

I have identified some biking issues which I need to figure out, though:

1. Carrying stuff. Besides a change of clothes, I need to bring along whatever I want at work. At a minimum, this means a book (you never know when you'll have time to kill and need a book) and my Handspring. However, I'd also hoped to be able to bring my Powerbook with me, but Jim pointed out that bringing it with me means that a small accident could potentially turn into a $2000 accident if the laptop gets crunched. Which, you know, is an excellent point. So I might start leaving it at home when I bike in. There's not really any way around that.

2. Change of clothes. You probably didn't know this about me, and didn't want to know it, but I sweat a lot when I work out. Which means my clothes get soaked when I bike in. This leaves me with the unsavory option of biking home in wet clothes, bringing two changes of clothes, or drying out my clothes by hanging them in my office during the day. None of these options thrill me, but the last is the one I've typically adopted. Not sure if it's the way I'll go for good.

3. I need a seat pack. I can easily store my patch kit and other necessary bike stuff in my bag which hangs on my bike rack, but that seems like overkill, especially when I'm just going out for a recreational bike ride. So I want to get one of those little packs which fits under my seat to hold that stuff.

4. I need another bag. I can't easily carry a change of clothes and stuff for work in the one bag I have, and biking with a backpack sucks. So I either need to buy a second bag (or a pair of bags), or I need to get bungie cords and strap something to my rack. Not sure which option I'll take here.

Anyway, the folks who checked it out say my bicycle is a pretty nice one. Cool!

Debbi and I went to some bike stores to buy bike gear this weekend, and she brought her bicycle with her as well.

I bought a front light (just the one I wanted, though I had to look around for it), a frame pump, and a spare tube and two patch kits. She exchanged her lock for a new one which can fit on her bike frame. I'm still trying to decide if I want to buy a new helmet. But I was pleased that I could clean up and transfer my old bike rack to my new bike. Easy as pie, actually! Debbi and I spent some time strapping our new gear onto our bicycles, which was fun.

Saturday afternoon I took her out on my morning recreational ride, along the Stevens Creek Trail and through Shoreline Park. We biked slowly, compared to my normal speed (I like to go fast on bikes), and had a good time. We only saw one groundhog, though. (If I haven't mentioned it before, there's a mile-long length of path in Shoreline which is riddled on either side with groundhog burrows. They're cute. Except maybe when they're being carried off by a hawk.)

In the evening I grilled steak and made my rice pilaf dish, which Debbi wanted me to make. And which I'm always happy to whip up! Cooking is fun.

Sunday we made a Costco run, and then we went into the city for a few hours. We went to Union Square, which just re-opened after a year of remodeling. It's quite nice, and was packed with people. We went by the New Balance outlet so Debbi could buy some crosstrainer sneakers for her step class. And after that I dragged her to Rasputin Music (they really need to get their used CDs organized by artist) and to Borderlands Books, where I scored a copy of Sean McMullen's early short story collection, from which I think several of his later novels sprang.

So that's the news here. Worldcon starts Thursday, and apparently Patrick Stewart will be making an appearance Friday night. I hope to be there as much as my endurance lets me, which - considering I can always curl up in a corner and read - should be quite a while.

Debbi has prohibited me from meeting any cute women there, unless they're happily married and not swingers. I think I can (ahem) swing that.