Sunny-day morning

I didn't get to ride to work as much as I would prefer this past week. Tuesday afternoon, I picked up a trike (while not as fancy as the Team Dual on the web site, still a large, heavy "sociable tandem") that was to be repaired at the shop. Later that evening, another friend dropped off her bike at the house so that I could take it to the shop with me Wednesday as well. So, with a load in the truck, I drove to work--in the rain.

Given my preference for NOT riding in the rain, my timing worked pretty well.

I rode again Thursday, and received quite a few "Weren't you COLD!?!?" comments during the day. In fact, I was not cold at all during my rides to or from work, simply because I've learned to dress fairly well for commuting. Would I have wanted to ride sixty or seventy miles in those conditions? Probably not that day, although I've done centuries at near-freezing (above and below) temps.

Friday (or, as I often spell it, Fried-day) morning was one of those, "Oh, phooey! I can't get going" ones, and I wound up driving. I don't like using the car as a fall-back option, but there it is.

Saturday was a day for other things. Jenn's younger daughter asked us to attend her soccer team banquet at Georgetown College, so we did that, and brought her home with us afterward. She is taking one of the cars back to school with her today for a couple weeks, so any "fall back option" driving will have to be coordinated a bit more than usual. Basically, it means I have to be more disciplined about riding to work.

During the two days I rode to work, however, I had a couple of bothersome incidents with motorists. The more aggravating one was with a tow truck driver who cut me off as I approached a traffic light. As a supposedly-professional driver, he should know better, but as a former wrecker operator in a prior life, I know that many of the drivers don't share my knowledge of road rules and laws. He certainly didn't, although his employer will soon receive a letter (a copy of which will go to the police department) suggesting he learn a bit more.

I find that I get many more such experiences in my commute to Crestwood than I did when I was commuting to N'Awb'ny. I've mentioned this in prior posts, and it is one of the reasons I don't enjoy this commute as much as I did the older one.

I still prefer riding to driving, of course, it's just that the ride is not as much fun.

In those prior posts, I mused on the reasons why I'm not having as much fun. I think the largest one is the perceived animosity from motorists I encounter. This behavior from motorists is in keeping with an observation I've made for some time: there are zones in which motorist attitudes are better than others, and along my corridor I see the demarcation pretty clearly. I'm treated more equitably inside the Watterson than outside, better west of Hurstbourne Parkway than east of it, and generally better inside the Jefferson Freeway (or as some insist on calling it, the Snyder Freeway--although I've also heard it called the "Shameless Political Hack Freeway") than beyond it. Once near Crestwood, I usually don't have any troubles with motorists, although there will be exceptions there as in all my zones.

I won't get to ride today, sadly (or not). I've got family things to do--Jenn wants the seasonal tree-like object assembled (both of her daughters are helping with this, so I get to see them as well), and a cousin is coming through town later today on her way to some westward destination. I'll spend the afternoon with my stepfather, helping diagnose a problem he's having with one of his tractors.

Back to the preparations for all this...