First commuting lessons learned

#1: keep a supply of your easily-wrinkled dress shirts/skirts on hangers at the office. It's not a good idea to fold up your work clothes and cram them into a pannier. Also: shoes! Keep a pair at work so you aren't stuck wearing your cycling shoes in a staff meeting.

• #1.1 Keep rain gear at both work AND home in case the weather changes during the course of the day!

B: don't forget stuff! I'm still adapting to an entirely new routine after I flipped my life upside-down and I'm forgetting stuff on a daily basis; one day it was eye-protection, today it was work clothes AND my lunch. Thankfully, I keep emergency food and clothes at the office.


III: greet your fellow commuters! It's how things are done around here! Penn Ave is the main artery into town from the East, I'm trying to make a habit of greeting all those who pass me. I learned long ago by just taking trips to shop in the Strip that the morning bike commuters call out a "Good Morning!" to one another. My commuting enthusiasm has diminished to a normal level since that first day and I get Cat6'ed regularly. It's funny how having a bike underneath you creates a friendly atmosphere. I wonder if the Jail Trail commuters operate with the same cheery comradery?



The apartment is shaping up:

Just a few necessary provisions

Living room bike rack!

The doors of the apartment building have strong self-closing hydraulics installed. I disengaged the device on the door to my apartment because it would close and smash the bike (or me) as I was trying to bring the bike (or moving boxes) in or out of the apartment. So very frustrating!
I couldn't very well disengage the one on the door in the common area, so finding something to prop the door open while I brought the bike through was necessary. A kind, generous soul who's handy with a tool or two saw to it that I got a set of doorstops and even painted them to match the bike.
He wins the award for best housewarming gift-giver ever.