Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Commute!
Someone asked about my commute.
Last year I commuted about 4 miles each way to work.  This year my boss switched my location and placed me 2 miles away and a second location 1/4 of a mile. Two years ago, when I started commuting I would visit multiple locations, but my mileage has never been greater than 5 miles one way.

Currently I am only at the location 1/4 mile away. On the occasions I change locations during the day, I do this on bike. I also do any errand within 5 miles by bike. When I have errands further away, I combine them with other errands in the same area.  This takes some thought.  For example I had a donation (non-perishable) for a group 15 miles away.  That waited until a podiatrist appt which was in the same general area. Yes, I need a new podiatrist closer to home (he moved).

Sometimes this is quite comical, as I can be seen riding my bike around with odd objects on my bike, such as gallons of paint or multiple half gallons of glass bottled milk and 40lb bags of dog food.

I do live/work/shop all in close proximity. I have a great appreciation for those who are commuting 20 miles each way. Actually I have a great appreciation for anyone who commutes at all.

The key to winter riding is covering all skin. I recently decided my threshold is about 5 degrees.  At that point I have difficulty covering my face adequately. The space between the glasses and the balaclava is painful.

Ultimately, I would like our household to drop to one car. With one high school kid still at home, who goes a long way away for a math class, I haven't seen how it can be done.