Bridge Over Troubled Waters
I live in on the Peninsula and work in Fremont. I have been commuting across the Dumbarton Bridge for over 4 years now. Since I started riding—I have considered trying to make the commute on my bicycle. It is about 50 miles round trip. Now that I have ridden over 60 miles, with much bigger hills, I knew I could make the round trip—and it would be even easier if I spread it out over two days.

I had a couple fears about the ride—I have seen a number  of people fixing flats on the side of the road because of broken glass and the areas of the commute without bike paths makes for a hair raising experience of merging with huge diesel trucks and half awake morning commuters. But, I think my foremost concerned was the amount of stink and bugs from the acres of standing water in the wetland preserve on either side of the bridge. For a few months out the year—driving across the bridge sounds like it is raining because there are so many bugs hitting your windshield—and you get this lovely dusting of bug guts all over the front of your car.

So with the first clear weather pattern in months, I set out to ride home from work on my bike. I left work at 4:30 (sorry boss) and headed out wearing warm weather cycling gear as it had been in the 70’s all day. It was not long into my ride when I noticed a strong headwind working against me. Grinding it out in the wind—my average speed was about 8 miles an hour. I road past a row of car dealerships—their flags were being whipped south east—which meant for a long ride home heading north west for another 22+ miles.

I knew in advance that the frontage road to the bridge was not going to be a pleasant two-mile stretch. The road (I use that term loosely) was so rough that grass was growing in the block long cracks crisscrossing the frontage road. After fighting my seat for two miles on the near cobblestone like road conditions—I was finally at the foot of the bridge. The cars whipping by, going 65+ mph in the opposite direction just a few feet away, were amazingly loud. I could see the famous San Francisco fog crashing over the hills of the peninsula. It is a beautiful site to see the fog rolling in but tonight I was getting a little worried about the rate I was traveling and the amount of time I had to get home before the sun dropped behind the fog.

God Bless The Rich
Once on the western side of the bridge, the taxes of the Palo Alto rich paid for the creation and maintenance of well-defined bike lanes with smooth bike lane surfaces and no bugs. I am not sure how they worked out the no bugs part but I appreciated it. I was excited to be on a smooth path (it is a butt thing) and I was making up some time now that I did not have to weave between a broken Michelob bottle from 1982, half of a Toyota bumper, and countless bolts and screws (probably explains the bumper someone is missing). I rolled into my driveway with plenty of sunlight left, no flats to report and no bug guts.

The Morning After
Leaving my truck at work meant I was committed to riding back in the morning. I had left clothes to change into once I got to work but I realized I forgot to pack the shirt I pulled out the day before. I got dressed with two layers of Day-Glo colored jerseys, lycra shorts and my lycra leg warmers. I folded the shirt up into a roll and tucked it into my center pocket on the back of my jersey. I left my house at about 6:35. I wanted to leave earlier for fear of showing up at the office in my lycra fashion—I did not want to ruin my coworkers appetite for the traditional Virsa Friday morning free doughnuts. However, it was still below 50 degrees at that time in the morning and I was moving a little slow.

GQ Cancelled My Subscription
I pulled out and headed down some familiar roads. Working my way to Woodside Road. Once on Woodside where the speed limit is 45 miles per hour—I realized the added wind from the cars whizzing by me—probably had the wind chill below 40 degrees. I pulled over and grabbed  the shirt I planned to wear at the office from my pocket and put it on. I figured a  third layer couldn’t hurt. I am now wearing a Day-Glo yellow long sleeve jersey, a bright pumpkin orange short sleeve jersey with a green and blue Hawaiian shirt on top (it was Friday morning and that means—a Hawaiian shirt is a must) and to round out the outfit—I had on  red and black shoes with cobalt blue gloves. I looked like a clown. I even had a red nose from the cold morning air.

After surviving the multiple freeway on ramps and off-ramps of the Woodside/101 intersection, I was on my way and making good time. I made it to the office in just about two hours (shaving off about 45 minutes from the night before). I pulled up to the office at about 8:30. Other than looking like a circus clown on a bike—the ride in was actually a lot of fun.

Bike-to-Work Day in on Friday, May 19. No time like the present to get your bike tuned up and brave the lycra world. And no time like the present to make a donation. http://www.active.com/donations/fundraise_public.cfm?key=scott_leatherman

Have a great week

SDL