The Starting Line

The Starting Line
I have officially begun my personal project as of Monday September 3, 2012. From this point forward my bike will be my sole form of transportation to the places I go throughout the week (the SRSC, the Union, 9Round Kickboxing Fitness-which is where I work, and my friends houses). I actually do not ride my bike to class, but this is only because I enjoy walking to class. It is my me time when I can listen to my ipod and just zone out. Can't really do that safely on a bicycle.



For the times I do need to use my car, it has been almost frustrating for me to stop and think "No, you will have to wait until the weekend when you can do all your trips at once." I will have to use my car to get groceries until I get a basket for my bike. I am currently working on it, and it has been a process since it is a road bike, so I will update you on that in a later post. I do plan on going to the Farmer's Market with my bike and a backpack for the time being to get some delicious peaches. This then requires me to get there when it opens at 8 AM because I work from 9 AM-1 PM on Saturdays. So forcing myself to get up even earlier to bike to buy fruit is going to be interesting.


Capturing Mileage

My start mileage

As you can see on the right, I snapped a picture of my bike computer before I started the project to get an idea of how many miles I will put on my bike by the end of the semester. I could easily have just reset it, but I just like seeing the total miles so I will just subtract my final number by 208.24 and see what I get. Unfortunately, I will have to account for anytime I use my bike not for transportation purposes, such as the Lake Lemon Triathlon on September 22nd (~16 miles). I will do my best to remember those distances and subtract them as well.


My Personal Biking Radius
So when I first decided to make a radius of how far I should be pushing myself to bike I did not expect it to look like this. The inner circle is a 1 mile radius around my apartment. The outer circle is a 2 mile radius. I was actually quite surprised to find that this encompasses pretty much all of Bloomington I would essentially need to get to on a regular basis. The next question is, how easy is it to get there?

Having The Right Pedals
Fortunately, I already have boulevard pedals on my road bike, which means one side of my pedal can be clipped into my shoes and one side can be used when I am not clipped in. So essentially no matter what type of riding I am out to do that day, my pedals are ready for me! For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about see the picture below. I never knew this until I started cycling in college, but cyclists ride with their feet attached to their pedals, much like your feet being attached to a ski. The point is for a more efficient pedal stroke, but when commuting, having to constantly clip in and out at every traffic stop could become a nightmare. The only two times I have ever fell on my bike have come from stopping and not unclipping on time to put my foot down (knock on wood!)Falling on curbs and pavement does not feel good. I have scars to prove it! The bottom side of the pedal clips into my shoe, but the top part is flat, allowing me to wear regular shoes and still ride. So luckily this was an expense I got to avoid!

How my shoes clip in