Take Back the Night

Back in the day I used to mountain bike a lot more often than I currently do. Therefore I thought it was justified to spend close to $300 bucks on a sick Nite Rider High Intensity Discharge helmet mounted light. I put it to good use, riding after sunset most weeks in the trails all over Southeastern CT.

Between being sick and training for Ironman, my Nite Rider made its way to the back of the closet. So after months of prodding, my co-worker Nick got me to dig it out, and come out on a night ride last night, and I must say I forgot how much fun it is! He’s a semi-pro downhiller, and I had a tough time keeping up as we rode from my house up onto the backside of Mt. Tamalpais. (no I didn’t take this pic).

You may wonder what could be fun about exercising in the middle of the night, but I highly recommend it:

- No sun = much cooler temp’s. and no need for sunblock!

- There is no need to rush home from work since you've got the entire night to ride.

- It’s very peaceful and quiet at night. There are no distracting noises so there is plenty of time think about things and bring your day some closure.

- It makes you recruit all your senses. You can't see that you're riding on the edge of a rock wall that drops 60ft. off to your left, but because of the echo, you can hear there is nothing beneath you. This is a wild feeling.

- It lets you work on skills like keeping your head up the trail. If you don’t, you end up rolling up to something like this at 35mph.


- No one can see you fall on that tough technical section.

-Trail access! No hikers or equestrians mean no one to stop you from riding on sick single-track trails that are normally off-limits. Be wary of rangers depending on where you ride.

-If you're a meat eater and like venison, you could sneak up on a unassuming deer rather easily. I was within 3 yards of at least 4 large bucks. I’ll pass on that one…

Transition

It's been an interesting transition from Berkeley, to Lake Tahoe, and now to Marin County over the past few months. A new job means a new commute...something I'm not too excited about. However, now that Ironman training is over, and I've had a month and a half to recover, I scouted out a bike-able route to work.

The Pros:
1. I avoid sitting in traffic on the 101, I sit in this jam every day.

2. Gas savings. 20 miles round-trip = 1 gallon of gas in my truck according to Fuelly. That's $4 going on $5 a day!

3. Lots of fresh air.

4. Bike lanes. They're everywhere in Marin, and make the commute so much easier, versus fighting for lane space on the shoulder with motorists talking on the cell phones, or struggling to put on their makeup.

5. I cut off about 2 miles by scooting over into the next canyon on a bike path.


The Cons (the usual suspects here):
1. Mild time loss. Biking means about a 45 minute commute, versus 25-30 minutes in the car.

2. No shower at work. So I ride a bit slower to deter sweating, and bring along some baby wipes for a quick wipe-down before heading into the cubicle.

Conclusion

I'll definitely continue to bike commute to work a couple of times a week. It's a great alternative to the daily rat race, an parking is waaay easier.