I have exactly 11 minutes to get from my office to the train station. If I make the 4:11 train my commute time is significantly less, and at the end of a work day that makes all the difference for one's sanity.
When The Gold Bullet (my previous vehicle) was at the mechanic I was doing this 11 minute dash on foot. Let me put this in perspective, the train station is a little over a mile from my office and lets just say running that in skinny jeans and Sperry's will leave you with shin splints that will make you sob like a small child. Long story short, I missed that train ONE to many times.
As luck would have it The Gold Bullet officially died, and I got to take a ride on the go green trend...aka I bought a road bike. This is how it's gone so far with my road bike:
Day #1 - Checked weather, wasn't supposed to rain. 7:02am bus doesn't come. 7:12am take the train. 7:15am down poor starts while waiting for said train. 7:20am get reprimanded by train conductor (TC) for being in the wrong car. Conversation with TC went like this:
TC : Here's the thing, you can't be in here.
Me: Ooh, ummm yeah this is my first time on the train with my bike.
TC: Wow, you're brave! I wouldn't have done that in the rain.
Me: (thinking thanks for adding insult to injury) It wasn't supposed to rain.
TC: You are going to need to get off at the next stop and walk your bike down to the bike car.
Me: Well I'm actually getting off in two stops...
TC: Yeah (pause), you need to get off and walk down to the bike car at the next stop.
So naturally you can already see I was off to a REALLY successful start on my new journey of the being a public transit/bike commuter.
Day #2 - No Rain. Winning. Fast forward, 4:03pm...exactly 8 minutes to get to the train, no problem right? Mean I have bike now, this girl right here can totally make it. So there I am, speeding along, when I realize if I don't get on the side walk I will either be hit by a car or run into a parked car. Not great options. I chose sidewalk. Being the newbie that I am to road biking, I didn't realize the angle at which I needed to turn my wheel so it would not get caught on that little 1'' lip where the sidewalk and the road meet. MAN DOWN. My face hit that concrete with so much force, it would have made a beat down from Chuck Norris look like a walk in the park.
I was in so much pain that I couldn't move, all I could make was whimpering sounds. Another biker heard me fall and came back to check on me, he asked if I was okay and suddenly I realized, I only had 5 minutes to make that train. I jumped up grabbed my bike and went to leave when the other biker grabbed me and made me sit. I know he was being kind, but honestly all I was thinking was this "DAMN IT, I am in so much pain, hold it together, you will NOT BE THWARTED AGAIN by that train, don't cry, DON'T CRY, you have 4 minutes to make that train." I fiiiinnnaaaalllllly (30 seconds later) convinced the biker I was fine, he rode away and I was absolutely bound and determined to make that train. I rode off, and a quarter of a mile later I had to stop at the light, I wiped my cheek with the back of my hand. You guessed it. Blood. I almost passed out, at this point I was feeling so dizzy from the sheer force at which I hit my face, and now BLOOD, my worst enemy. The light turned green and a rush of fresh air coursed through my body, I was only a quarter of a mile from the train and I could hear the bells ringing, I peddled harder, my face throbbing. I pulled up to the station right as the train pulled in, no time to purchase a ticket, but seriously at this point paying a fine was the least of my worries.
I carried my bike onto the train, getting a series of looks like "what the hell happened to her?" I tied up my bike, walked up to a fellow biker and said, "I need you to be straight with me, how bad does my face look?" He hesitated but assured me it wasn't that bad. I found a seat, took all the Ibuprofen I had in my bag, poured my drinking water into an extra shirt I had and tried to clean my face up. Feeling immense satisfaction that I had indeed made it to the 4:11 train, I sat there as we zipped along knowing that I had 33 minutes to get my body to stop shaking before I had to catch the next form of public transit.
Take aways for day #2 :
A. Pretty certain EVERY person lied to me about how bad my face was
B. The transition into the biking world was going to be MUCH harder than anticipated
C. This was going to be the first of MANY biking scars
Most importantly is that I gained a very, very helpful Life Lesson. # 144 Buy a helmet when you buy a road bike. You never can be to certain that you won't fall.
After a rough weekend that involved mass amounts of icing, and pain meds, I have recovered quite nicely. As of now there is only a silver dollar sized mark on my cheek, a slight amount of pain and the black eye as dissipated.
I have now been in the biking world for exactly a month. I have cuts and bruises on my legs from the peddles, I have had several more wet days where I was soaked to the bone (don't worry the rain jacket I ordered finally came - take that rain), and I am saving tons of money by not paying for gas.
