Bike Commuting a Success

Two weeks into the summer and I've been able to ride to work 4 times. That's 64 miles I didn't put on my car and 3.5 gallons of petrol I didn't have to buy.

I'm hoping to ride in 2 days a week but I know that there will be weeks where it doesn't work out. The key is that I picked 2 days to make it my default mode of transportation, Monday's and Thursdays.

It's taking some planning as well, making sure that I bring in extra work clothes on Friday and Wednesday so I don't have to pack and wrinkle it up in a bag. I finally got a permanent locker in the gym so that I can store shoes and toiletries as well.

The other cool thing is that I'm getting 2 extra workouts a week. I decided not to change my running, weights and riding routines so on on the commute days I either run or do weights leaving my legs fresh for the hard core Wednesday and Friday lunch rides.

I'm also trying different paths in. There are only 2 tough spots on my route. The first is having to cross Maynard Road to get from the South Side of the trail to the North Side. There doesn't seem to be any natural way of getting across. Right now I have to go further down the road and do a u-turn (its a divided road) and then get back on the trail on the other side. Going to write the Town of Cary today to find out what their official, recommended route is for that trail. The other spot is getting from the trails and onto SAS campus. One route means I have to be on Harrison Rd for about a mile (4 laner with a lot of high speed traffic) the other is to stay on the trail and pass up the entrance to SAS and then go through a neighborhood that comes out a block from the entrance. Main point here is that the route from the path through the neighborhood is all UPHILL so the going is slow. This route can add 5 to 10 minutes to my 35 minute commute. For now I think I'll brave the traffic to save the time.

Heading to the bike shop today on my commute home. There's just something really cool about riding to the bike shop rather than driving. :)

- moot

Friday SAS ride

Awesome ride today. Was able to totally fly up Morrisville Parkway RR Track hill.

That hill really needs a name. Maybe I need to use a common name like Colin McEnroe did in his Bicycling Magazine article, "Fits & Starts". He called his nemesis Tucker. I might get ridiculed for it though since our hills have cool names like Upchuck, The 3 Sisters and Burn-off. :)

In the end still tired, it wouldn't be much exercise if I wasn't, but didn't have that "I think I'm going to puke" feeling that I had in the last 2 miles on Wednesday. I was almost able to keep up with the fastest guy in our group but he lulled me into a pace and then took off halfway up the last hill. :)

So in the end we did about 19 miles at over 18 mph. Not bad for a Friday lunch ride.

How to post a bike for sale on Craig's List

Just thought I'd save everyone a lot of time and hassle. If you are posting a bike for sale please include some key information. It will save you time and likely sell your bike a lot faster.

1. Include a picture in the form of a link to an external picture hosting site. This is much better quality than the little 1 by 1 you get by default. CL even tells you how to do it:http://www.craigslist.org/about/help/faq#pictures .
2. Size does matter. PLEASE put the bike size in the post. If its a kids bike, then put in the wheel size (12,16, 20,24). If its an adult size then post the size that is listed on the bike or take a quick measurement from the center of the crank (where the pedals meet the frame) to the top of the seat tube. If its a mountain bike or hybrid use inches if its a road bike use centimeters. It takes 30 seconds and saves you from a lot of questions.
3. Post the year or age of the bike if you know it. This doesn't matter as much for some bikes but for the higher end bikes the components can change a lot from one year to the next so it's important.
4. Include a link to the actual bike from the manufacturer if its available, or check BikePedia. I can't tell you how much time I wasted looking up bikes to get the specs when I was searching for my road bike. Its especially difficult if the year is not included in the post. (Try finding that one year that Trek made the Blue and silver Madone :) ).
5. Provide your contact information. If you do steps 1 to 4 you won't get as many calls because buyers will self-select themselves out of something that is not the right bike to begin with. You also increase the good calls because those buyers are truly interested, not just calling to get more details.
6. Per a suggestion from a reader, remove the listing once the bike is sold. It saves everyone time and the buyer some potential heartache when they thought they found that perfect bike.

Happy Selling!