Bike After Work Day

Today was Bike to Work Day - National Bike to Work Day and the East Bay Bike Coalition and the San Francisco Bike Coalition put on a shin-dig to get people out of their cars and on their bikes.

I get a ride (carpool) everyday, so I do my part to be green, but I wasn't quite ready to toss my bike on the front of an AC Transit bus and ride up Market Street, regardless of the day. So, instead of biking to work or from work, I biked after work.

I was reminded of the Bike Away From Work party on Telegraph Avenue between 16th and 20th streets, so I "raced" home AC Transit Style-Y and hopped the bike. What I'm loving more and more about Oakland are all of the bike lanes on the major routes. I rode down Lakeshore and came down Grand Avenue (bike lane) all the way down to Telegraph (turned left), all the while cars were very respectful of my casual bicycling pace, perhaps sensing that I'm a bit of the neophyte.

I got downtown where I soon entered the Bike Zone - a place where cars didn't exist and pedestrians wandered, beers in hand, dreamily thinking, was I back in New Orleans? I smelled the vegetarian foods a fryin' as I wandered the four car-free blocks. Low and behold I happened upon my NBFFs Clay and Glenda from Bay Area Bikes! They were rock stars at this event and I felt privileged to hang out for a few minutes as they enjoyed some of the delectable edibles.




After a brief chat, I carried on my way stopping to sign a petition to create a new bike lane on Broadway and then again to ask a fellow biker the best/safest route back. Another woman chimed in and shared her route. I thanked her and took off, only to find that she and I were on the same path. We created our own "Mini-Mass", the two of us riding together around the lake. "THIS IS GREAT!" I kept saying as we chatted and rode up Grand Avenue, taking advantage of the bike lane. We parted ways at Trestle Glen as she pedaled home to The Glenview District, and me up Lakeshore, both of us enjoying Bike After Work Day.

Gearing Up Part II

Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear, or I appear taller than I am. As I stood with my potential new bike, people kept stopping by and saying my seat was too low--that is until they saw me stand over the bike. "Wow! You're that short?" That was the general consensus. Yeah, duh is what I wanted to say, but I just smiled and said I'm a large person trying to break out of a small body.

Today I decided to drive back down to see my two new BFFs Clay and Glenda at Bay Area Bikes. I walked in the door and was greeted as if I were Norm at Cheers, "WENDY!" "I'm here. Where's MY bike?" I pulled all of the necessary accoutrement together and sped (by car) over to Whole Foods as I waited for my new bike to be all "tricked out".

We strapped it solidly to the new bike rack and away I drove (home), lifted her off the rack, gathered my thoughts (and bike lock), strapped on my helmet and off I rode down Lakeshore for a leisurely Sunday ride around the lake (in traffic), but safely in the bike lane (where there was one). I'm home and typing so the outcome was good. There was only one minor snafu. After picking up a few items at the market, I'll be damned if I couldn't get my bike unlocked from its new Kryptonite U-lock. Thankfully, I flagged a fellow bicyclist and asked for his help. Sure I was embarrassed that I couldn't get my own bike lock open, until he confessed that he had the same problem when he got his. I had also sent out a smoke signal by way of my iPhone to Glenda and Clay to see if I'd done something wrong. Thankfully my knight in fiberglass helmet was able to assist me and I rode off into the warm, Spring afternoon.

Gearing Up

I've discovered that objects in the mirror are closer than they appear and apparently I appear taller than I am. I found this out while spending two hous in the bike shop getting fitted for a bicycle. The first guy I worked with kept trying to put me on small bikes telling me that I just had to lean the bike over to get on and off. Frankly that's exactly what kept me off a bike for the last 20 years. Finally Glenda, the owner stepped in and found a hybrid (all the rage) for me- extra small.

I rode around the block and then Clay, the other owner chimed in and got a different seat for the bike. I rode around the block again feeling the wind on my face, like a dog with his head out of the car window. It felt pretty good. We then started talking acoutrements: rack, lock, grocery bag, bell (anything else? Oh, a rack for the car) and then I did the math in my head and freaked out. I bought a bike map and told Glenda and Clay I was going to "process", and went home (with my new bike map proudly in hand).

I talked about it with Todd & Mike (neighbors) and with John, and then with my mom. Knowing hat my birthday is around the corner with a potential contribution to the "cause" took a little of the stress away (we had just taken a vacation and I've got two more trips coming up). So I slept on it.


-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Broadway,Oakland,United States