On Thursday I commuted for the first time by bike since breaking the wrist. And then today I went for a 14 mile ride on the Giant OC3, the bike on which the accident occurred. So I really do feel back in the swing of things. And look, my weekly mileage is veering into the respectable range.
The commute was excellent. I just rode one way, taking MARTA back. But it was still a good 7 1/2 miles, with some excellent hills. My usual 34 minutes is now down to 43, so there’s some getting back into shape to be done. But it was great to haul myself to work under my own steam. I’ll do a couple of one-ways, and get back to the 15 mile round trip.
I also spent a very satisfying couple of hours yesterday making sure my tires were at correct pressure on both my bikes, and oiling and cleaning the chains. And I unfolded, reflated and rode around on Lady MacSquish’s now somewhat neglected Breezer Zig7 foldable.
A year ago we both started on foldables (in my case a Dahon), before realizing that we wanted to do more than ride a few miles around town. We both took the serious commuter bike route, I’ve added a road bike, and LMS is working her way up to a mega-serious custom commuter. I exchanged my Dahon for a KHS Urban X, but her foldable has remained in the garage.
It’s a lovely piece of engineering, and we want to hang onto it as something we can easily fit in the trunk of a car. This way, if one of us leaves the car somewhere (say at the train station, after taking the train to the airport), the other can ride to it, easily stowing the bike in the trunk. Or, if we sign up for FlexCar, we can ride to the rental car. A foldable is, in fact, a great option for two people getting down to one car.
Anyhoo, I am trying to be a little less obsessed with mileage and speed than I was before the accident, but I’m happy to have ridden over 35 miles this past week.