Discussion: riding to work

When I lived in Bloomfield I used to ride to work in Hartford on nice summer days, and then go on excursions on the way home. My best time by car was about 20 minutes, but my best bike time was 18. Saved a little by not having to walk in from the parking lot a few blocks away.

Another story. My old friend Al (whom you may have encountered last Monday) is a member of the lycra crowd, and a pretty good rider. Some years back he encountered a fellow named Rich Fargo on the road. PG will remember Rich. He was a very fine trail runner and perennial winner of many local races. Anyway, Rich was on a rusty old beater bike, wearing sneakers, running shorts and a t-shirt, while Al was on a gleaming titanium geeked-out bike and full of enthusiasm. They chatted for a while, and then Rich calmly pulled away into the distance. A good engine is a pretty important accessory.

Fargo's engine is still cranking along pretty well. I think he finished 5th overall at Soapstone a few weeks ago comfortably under 2 hours for the 14.5 miles.

I like to bike to work when I can but I frequently seem to need to run errands or pick up kids and thus don't always have the luxury of the extra time it takes to do the commute by bike. But hopefully with school wrapping up (and after school activities) I'll be able to ride more often over the next 3 months...

I enjoyed Alan Young's account of an AR he ran riding a pink banana-seat girls' bike, complete with pink handlebar tassels and a bell, which he happily rang as he waved to each geared-out MTB team he passed.