Sand, potholes and cars! Oh my

The day of truth arrived last week. It was time to ride to work. But what to ride. I'm a middle age guy with a little disposable income. I don't have the type of bike you leave locked up outside the building downtown. It would be minutes before all tha was left would be the handlebar tape and the clipless peddles. The building I work in has a room to lock your bike in. $65 per year. Per year, that's funny. Any reasonable or sane person will only see the window for riding as 4 months. The rest of the time is a whole new kind of experience. So I pay my $65 and get a key to the room.

I'm totally geeked. I have a place to put my fancy, middle age fat guy bike. I'm ok with wearing business casual on the bike. And I changed out my peddles so I can wear dress shoes. Nothing else to do. It's time to ride in. Wait a second. One more thing. My laptop, phone, blackberry, notebook and other shit I carry in my briefcase. What is amazing is how much crap in my briefcase I don't need. So, I just take my computer and my phone. Now I get to use that messenger bag my wife and daughter bought me last year.

Two paragraphs in and I still haven't turned a crank. Ok it game day. I get on my bike an ride. Shit. I forgot my lock, and a rubber band for my pants leg. Ok stop by the bike shop. Yes it's 10:00 am. I'm not riding in at rush hour on my fist day. So, I stop by Bikes & Pieces, a local bike shop. Pick up a lock and leg thingy.

Holy shit! The roads are full of sand and mega potholes! Normally I ride in the summer when potholes are fixed and the sand is gone. Fancy fat guy bike is not made for this abuse. Too many whistles and bells to get out of whack. There is the cycle computer with the many functions like cadence, average speed and timer. There's the cool 105 component package. And let's not forget the skinny little tires with no tread.

Well that took an hour to ride 6 miles. If I'm going to do this, I need to make some changes.