You call that commuting!

In 2001-2002 while graduate student at the University of Utah, I decided that I wasn't going to buy a parking permit. I was going to stick it to the sharks of the parking lot and go straight to my office. This worked great. I got some nice exercise in, I never had to worry about waiting for a parking spot, but I neglected one thing. Winter in Utah is cold. I toughed it out and biked every day that school year except for snow days. I remember multiple occasions leaving my house with the outside temperature less than 5 degrees. This was also the year of the Olympics in Salt Lake so I would fight the cold, get onto campus and be confronted with soldiers with M-16 patrolling the campus area reserved for the Olympic Village.

Somewhere in the time since I have lost my desire to cycle in the cold. I have been anxiously awaiting moving from my trainer (which I admitedly don't ride as much as I should) to outside on the road biking. It finally cracked the freezing barrier as the low so I started the bike commute to work. For an additional 20-25 minutes of round trip commute time I get in 90 minutes of good exercise. It does come with a cost though. New England roads are narrow, winding, pot-holed and after winter full of sand. This can lead to excitement riding with all of those armored vehicles people drive. I have several friends that had accidents and I count myself lucky that I have never been hit by a car although I have had a few spills. Since moving to New England I have been spill free. That streak is now over. Coming home on Monday I was turning from the main road into my neighborhood. I saw an opening and I took it to get across the road. What I didn't see was some sand. I clipped the edge of the sand pile which torqued my wheel to the left and low and behold I was falling and rolling. I landed on my right shoulder and knee and since I was clipped into my pedals I rolled onto my back with my bike still attached. In the immediate aftermath I was more embarassed than in pain, but the next day I was feeling the bruises. Next time I will have to avoid the sand and if you come across me in the next day or two please don't slap the shoulder!