Bike Challenge, Week 2

I had thought it was going to much more difficult to get back up on my bike after having the weekend off. Happy to admit, I was pleasantly surprised.

My legs no longer feel like wet noodles. I am starting to notice that my arms and abs are getting a good workout now too. My forearms are tight; must have something to do with my grip. I feel like I can actually think about things other than biking, gears and the route now.

'Da stats:

• 17 miles
• Average biking time: 45 minutes (darn sidewalk construction!)
• 1 woman biking with skirt and bonnet sighting
• 1 pimped out Smart Car. By "pimped out" I mean covered in graffiti art. Rather cool actually.
• 1 young boy riding a girl's bike (my guess: his sister got a new bike)
• ROI: $4.50

Yay -- my bike savings at work: I got a new helmet (Bell Faction) so that I cannot be missed. It's bright blue and pretty darn styling. Again an advancement from a previously worn helmet.

Bike Challenge, Day 3

I thought I was going to die on the way to work this morning. Going to bed late coupled with a rich dinner (kudos to Goose Island/Time Out Chicago & Piccolo Sogno), made for a darn good workout. Aside from the fact that I felt like I could have walked faster, I actually made very good time. Must mean my muscles are gaining strength and doing the work, regardless of what my brain thinks.

My note to self today is: Try to go to bed earlier. Riding when tired (plus sore from previous two days) makes for a hard kickoff to the day.

All considering, I had a very smooth (minus one hiccup) ride home. I am starting to feel much more confident on the bike and started to notice that I don't have to work quite as hard to move as I did on Monday.

Today was a huge success -- I discovered the best route (there and back) for keeping off busy streets and gravel paths. These options do add a little more mileage, but don't add more travel time. I am hoping that as I continue biking more and more I can also find some shortcuts options.

Anyway, enough of that. Here's the stats:

• 18 miles
• Average biking time 47 mins
• No bugs eaten, no cat calls. Must be a Monday thing.
• No profanity.
• Number of hiccups: 1 (due to lack of balance)
• Number of new bruises: 1
• Traffic analysis: Congested. Way more traffic when crossing streets today, way more.
• ROI: $4.50

As of right now, I am taking a day off tomorrow. I figure I may occasionally need one day a week to relax & regroup.

step up.

Community. It's been a topic that has been on my mind a lot lately. What is it? How do you get involved in one? Where can you find one?

I am nearing by first year in the Windy City, and pm is just days away from being here for a year. While arguably we haven't completed rooted ourselves in this city, we have tried to partake in as much as we can in our neighborhood. We frequent the local shops, restaurants and bars and always try to take visitors to places close to home. We're building our own community from scratch.

Building a community from scratch isn't always easy. I've come to find that sometimes community finds you. Today on my way home on the EL, I really felt like part of the "Chicago community." Unlike during the summer months, with school back in session, my commute to and from work is packed to the gills. I'm lucky to have (thus far) always gotten a seat on the way to work; on my way home I always get a seat until I switch lines.

Most days it's an annoyance to have no room to move around when standing between stops. The driver slams on the breaks and you slam into everyone around you. Today was no different in that sense. The people were different though. The people in my' standing corner' actually conversed with each other. Real words. Real conversations. Okay, not about anything deep, but still.

This to me is community. Talking to your neighbors. Sharing in similar life experiences. Acknowledging those around you. I'm glad community found me today.

reflecting.

Today is a day of reflections. We are 3/4 the way through 2010, it's my dear sister's birthday, and we are days away from a 3 away weekend. Seems like a culmination of many things, but as the saying goes ... when it rains it pours. And, it did indeed pour this morning.

I've been thinking today about my resolutions for the year. I cannot say that I haven't done many of them, but then again I haven't done them all. Lucky for me I still have 3 months to make up for lost time. I plan to do just that.

Goal #1: Make cards and send out more snail mail. Want to get it? Let me know.

Goal #2: Read more. I spend nearly 2 hours of my day commuting. Therefore, I have time to cozy up on the train and read some good. Have some good leads? Let me know.

Goal #3: Get crafty: Take photos, make stuff and give stuff.

Goal #4: Purge. Reduce the unnecessary and do some spring cleaning this fall.

How are you doing on your resolutions?