Crank-y

I used to bike commute to a great workplace that had secure bike lockup, a locker room and showers, and a place to store my spare clothes (on hangers!) I may have been a little spoiled. But when I went back to work downtown I committed that once I was settled in and had the right to be a little eccentric, I’d get back to bike commuting. But this time it ain’t so easy, and not just because they’ve made a long detour off the bridge that adds a mile or so, which is no big deal and actually welcome.

No, it’s a pain because:

• I don’t have a secure, under-cover lockup. There’s a cheesy plastic lumber bike rack (held to the building with a rusty chain). There are similar racks that ARE under roofs at the Capitol, so if I know it’s going to rain I can park my bike there in the dry. And while I have access to the Plaza bike lockup, it’s not only a bit of a walk from my building, there’s no way you can legally ride your bike to the bike lockup. It’s insane, but you have to get onto the Plaza, ride down a garage ramp, then WALK your bike through the concourse to the lockup. 
• I have to carry my laptop. Partly because I need to take it with me when I’m traveling, and partly because there’s no place to lock it in my office. And bike commuting with a laptop is a pain. It’s too hot to carry something that heavy on my back, and my pannier isn’t really good enough to keep a laptop safe, so I just plunked down an insane amount for a laptop-specific pannier that should be able to handle anything, and has a rain cover to boot.
• I can’t stand to ride without clipless pedals. (You know, the kind that your shoes clip into. They’re called clipless. Just accept it.) So I had to find some mountain bike shoes that would work with my pedals and yet let me walk through my building like a normal person. Found some great Pearl Izumis that really fit the bill, too.
• It’s SLOW. Going from my Roubaix back to my upright Bianchi Strada is like going from a sportscar to a tractor trailer. So I have to accept slowness.

However, with all this investment, I get an hour a day in that I wasn’t getting in otherwise. All worth it.

By the way, I ran the numbers, and while riding my bike, even with all this new gear, is cheaper than driving (if I even could — I don’t have parking), the bus is still cheaper than the bike. And it lets me carry my coffee in.