Protect Your Pumpkin

This afternoon I decided to head out for a nice casual coffee shop ride (mostly b/c I was hungry for the delicious GF lemon poppy bread at Zoe's Coffee), then decided to go for a cruise around the 'hood.  On my way home, I was turning into my development only to find a truck blocking the intersection and a woman lying on the ground with blood everywhere and an overturned adult-sized tricycle nearby.  My first thought was "oh  no!  The truck hit her!"  The man outside of the truck told me that he was on the phone with 911 because he saw the woman lose control of her trike while taking the turn too fast.  While he was talking to the operator, I rushed over to talk to the woman and try to keep her seated until help arrived.  Needless to say, she wasn't going to sit and relax.  She wanted to go home.  I did my best to delay her by "looking over her bike" to make sure it was ok.  But she insisted she lived nearby and wanted to leave.  This was my first time ever having come across another cyclist who was injured...and I feared it could be severe.  Not wanting to argue with the 68 y/o woman (as I later found out), I walked my bike and hers the 2 blocks to her home.  Trying not to be too harsh, I stressed MANY times that she absolutely MUST have a helmet before she rides again.  I told her that helmets have saved my life twice (or at least...prevented my brains from being too badly scrambled).  When I left, the guy in the truck was still close-by and had given the police her address for her to be looked over.  I really hope she's ok.

While riding home, I  kept thinking how bizarre it is to me that people would hop on a bike and just take off without even thinking of strapping on a helmet, but as my husband reminded me, not too long ago, cyclists were racing without helmets!  The older generations today (and even some of us from the 80s), grew up where you didn't wear a helmet as a kid, so it's not a big stretch to imagine why my neighbor wouldn't think she needed one tonight.  This doesn't make it right though.  I think it would be a shame if everyone had to go through what she did in order to realize the value of a helmet.

In an effort not to be too soap-boxy, I will just say this....always always ALWAYS wear your helmet!!  :-)

Sun glare and bike lights

As I was commuting to work today I thought to myself. "wow it is so light out I don't even need bike lights this morning!" Wrong. I realized today the importance of a blinking back bike light especially in the setting of sun glare in Colorado! Drivers literally cannot see us and that blinking back light at least gives us a better chance to be visible! 

I also have to say my layers are critical for cold morning commutes. If my hands get too cold my braking is compromised and it's just not safe.  I'm so fortunate to have some really great gloves to keep my fingers nice and toasty. I also bought some handwarmers to insert into my lobster mits for really cold riding. Commuting in Colorado this fall has been amazing but I know sooner than later those lobster mits will come out of retirement!

Magical Bike Commute #105

In early 2016, I decided to join the fabulous Bike Ambassadors Team to help leave my car PARKED and ride my bike more. Heck, living in an awesome city like Denver, where riding year round is very possible with the right gear (thanks Champion Systems!), it was a great New Year's Resolution.

Fast forward to last Friday, when my bike commuting took a temporary hiatus due to a running injury. Ouch! Thanks Panorama Orthopedics for patching me up. I'll be boot bound for at least 2-3 weeks, but I'm a firm believer that all things happen for a reason.


With all this time on my hands and trying to stay focused on the positive, I decided to do a formal check in on my New Year's Resolution. I tallied my commutes, and holy cow! I've managed to fit in 104 commutes, despite unexpected family issues, lots of work-related travel and working remotely. Even more fun was revisiting my Instagram highlights reel from my daily commutes:

Now that a walking boot is my reality for the next few weeks, I'm learning the ropes for a new kind of commuting....walking + $2.60 for public transportation! It's a whole new adventure, and will be so helpful to mix in with my bike commuting this winter when the weather is really bad. Can't wait to slip commute #105 under my belt once this boot comes off!

Grateful!

I managed to have myself a pretty amazing summer...

Beautiful views...

Bike commuting...

Running...

Biking...

So many awesome experiences... some good, some bad. I won some, I lost some, I learned a lot. At the end of the day, the best lesson learned is how grateful I am to have been able to have the experience!

Bike Commuting on Vacation

We are back in the lovely town in Madison in the midst of a beautiful fall.  There is no better time to be in the midwest, and driving home meant we could bring our bikes to minimize driving in this commuter-friendly town.

On our first day back, we commuted to and from one of the main reasons for coming back: Esperanza Spalding!!

 Riding through the crisp, night air along the lakefront with Paul.

We've been able to do pretty much every ride from our house, which has made for a lovely, stress-free vacation.

10 miles south of town, all path

Happy commuting!!!

Thank goodness ...

It's been a warm fall! The mornings are cool and crisp, but the afternoons are still warm and sunny. I keep a variety of lights stored in my saddle bag because you never know when you're going to be delayed at work and forced to ride home at 5:30- when the sun is now setting - at least until daylight savings when I'll be waking up in the dark and riding home in the dark. Thank goodness for high visibility clothing and warm evenings. I am not eager for winter and snow like some of you crazy Coloradans - winter sports were only created to keep us busy on those terrible days when we can't ride our bikes outside...