Project Bike to Work: New House

Project Bike to Work: New House at EveryTrail
EveryTrail

For the first time since we moved to Bowie this summer, I broke out the bike and took it to work. It's now too late in the year to do this on a regular work day -- I don't have enough daylight to stay at work late enough. But yesterday was Veterans Day, and I had some hours to make up, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

It actually worked pretty well. The GPS receiver cut out a couple of times on the ride in, but it looked like it took 21 minutes to get there, and 25 to come back. Not bad, since 25 minutes was my old commute by car. It feels like it was more uphill on the way back, but the elevation data I got is a little bit all over the place, so it's hard to tell.

It adds less than half an hour to my round-trip commute, which means, weather permitting, it'll be worth doing on a regular basis. One thing I find funny is that the last 90% of today's trip is the last 20% of my ride from University Park from last year's Bike to Work Day. I hadn't realized that until I looked at the old map.

I also like the route because it's a reasonable one to take by car. It's nice to be on 30-mile-an-hour or less streets for all but a little part near the end, and it saves on gas to take a direct, but lower-speed route. There's an alternate bike-only route I hope to try some time that involves a trail for a few minutes, though -- that could be nice.

It was a bit cold and windy on the ride -- I don't appreciate the burning sensation the cold air produces in my throat. But it was good to do this, and I hope to start exploring more of the area by bike.