No, not my motorcycle, an actual bicycle. With the move last month, I'm now just shy of 10 miles from the office, which is a far more reasonable bicycle commute than the 20+ I was before. Not to say that 20 miles is an incredibly long ride, but more than I'd want to do for a one-way commute. 10 is a lot more reasonable.
My dad graciously donated his old touring bike to the cause, and boy and I out of shape. I've never been a particularly strong person, but I've always been able to exert to my limits and sustain it. Not anymore. Covering the 10 miles is no big deal, but the number of times I have to remind myself to take it easy is annoying. But that'll come down as I get back into it. Fortunately it's cooled down for the past couple weeks after. We'll see how it goes when it gets hot again.
So far, no real muscle aches or anything, which is nice. Definitely can tell I've been working, but I'm still able to bound up the stairs without issue. Sitting at my desk all day has led to some stiffness, but it's not too bad. Need to start doing a better job of stretching and such after riding to help the muscles "clean up".
Most exciting news of all is that I'm getting a new bike next week. Dad's is a solid bike, but after riding it a while, I wanted to change a few things to suit me better. After talking to the guy at the bike shop, it wasn't going to be significantly more to just get a new one compared with upgrading. And while newer isn't always better, getting a fresh set of everything will certainly reduce the amount of maintenance and upkeep required for a while.
With me an my penchant for info porn, I've been logging all kinds of relevant data about rides. Expect to see pretty visual displays of that data with the next "whenever I feel like it" or so. Might even have to break out CFCHART with the public consumption requirement, rather than my usual SVG charts.
Excellent! Feels good to glide down the road. And when you see someone in the distance, you have a target! Whoosh 'em!!
Good for you riding. Enjoy the new bike.
Geez – that's why they invented motorcycles… so you don't have to do all that work :)
I try to ride in everyday on my KLR650. I have a 30+ mile commute – mostly all country back roads :)
I've always been a fan of commuting by bike and cycling in general. I used to have about a 6 mile commute, but now I work at home. I have been getting out 3-4 times a week for rides that last anywhere from 45mins to 2.5 hours (Saturday club rides).
And speaking of ride data, I keep a spreadsheet of my rides, mileage, time, etc. There are a couple of places to do it online even, but I haven't signed up for any of them.
Good for you. Don't get a mtb!
I ride in PDX almost every day. There's some good nooner rides on Mon and Thr if you really get into it.
-Erik