Biked in all the way to work today

I did the entire five mile ride. I now have acquired an exquisitely ugly neon orange vest with reflective tape which goes over my coat. It's definitely a Glamour Don't, but it should help keep me from being hit. The entire ride took forty minutes, with packing and unpacking the bike (and changing clothes) adding a little time at each end.

I am definitely the slowest bike on the road. But I'm still pretty proud of myself. According to Sparkpeople, the ride should have burned about 200 calories.

leiabelle! You rock!

Out of the blue, leiabelle has sent me a gift from my Amazon wish list, a CD I've been pining for but I didn't feel I could spend the cash: Kate Rusby's The Girl Who Couldn't Fly. A personal thank you is on its way to you, but I simply want to tell the friends list that leiabelle does mighty good works and has cheered up me a lot. Thank you for making my day.

Various discoveries

1. I still do not have the finicky knack of adjusting my helmet mirror. It is either over too far for me to easily see in my peripheral vision, or it is at the wrong angle. This is very frustrating. I do have to take it off and switch it from one side of the helmet to the other halfway through the commute, when I switch from a two way street (bike over to the right) to a one way street (bike lane over on the left).

2. I am developing a lovely pattern of greenish bruises on the backs of my calves where they keep hitting the panniers as I push off from the curb.

3. Portland Avenue is a rather busy road.

4. I actually can bike ten miles a day. Wow.

5. It's only Monday, and I have already exceeded my number-of-minutes exercise goal for the week (120).

6. I have never been so aware of or irritated by the fact that I live at the top of a hill.

7. I am still the slowest bicyclist on the road. I hope I will get faster.

(What is good for getting bicycle grease off the hands? I keep daubing myself when locking up.)