Sometimes it can be a pain...

I wrote this a couple of weeks ago, but i wanted to publish it while it was still fresh in my mind. 

The last two weeks have been a pain.  The weather has been bad, and I've been sick.  It's been 55 to 60 degrees and pretty wet.  I haven't been caught in a rain (I know people from Portland and northern climes are probably cracking up)  but it's still pretty miserable at six am.  So definitely, a resolve testing pair of weeks.  Luckily, I've been doing this for 6 months now, and have everything prepared to stumble out the door and get to work on a bike the same way everyone else would have to do in a car.

The whole family (minus the dog) was sick, because my adorable toddler is a germ conduit, and he is in his first few months of daycare.  Luckily, a friendly lady at work told me that this only lasts until he's five.  yaay.  Since they're sick I didn't want to have to wake my wife and the little man for a ride.  I couldn't take time off work, because we're in the middle of a major project.  So I'd just get on the bike, bundle up, tug my hat brim down, and leave myself plenty of time.  Whereas I've gotten it under 15 minutes, garage to train platform, in a pinch, I've been making sure to give myself the full twenty minutes and change.

I'd ease out onto the bike lane, just take it easy, and keep the pedals moving in a nice low gear.  I'd find something upbeat on Pandora, just keep in mind that when I get on the train its lights out until LA.  I should probably admit this now, I'm not a morning person.  So yeah, sometimes in between waking up at 5 am, and getting to the train I'm already thinking about my post wake-up train nap.  Hmmmmm.  Where was I?  Oh yeah, I'd get to the station and fumble with my keys, but get the bike into its locker easily, and trudge off to the platform.

Luckily I avoided the really bad rainy days.   By then, the wife was feeling better, and picked me up at the station.  But a lot of those trips got me thinking about this blog that I've started.  I recorded enough of my rides to give me a good sense of the slow end of my range.  I also feel kind of grateful for those thirty-forty minutes of exercise I got a day.  I never exerted myself do much that I was huffing and puffing, and I feel like I got some fresh air.  But most importantly, it was a bit of a pain, but it wasn't that bad.