Two car-free days

I hope to be able to report that by the end of today I will have gone two days without driving my car. Yesterday I rode over to Whole Foods to pick up something for a friend and a half-gallon of organic milk for myself. I think it is around five to six miles one way, the longest ride bike ride I have taken thus far during my reintroduction to bicycle riding.

(Free idea for the online map and directions companies: I'd like to be able to enter my own route and have the software figure out the mileage. When I entered the Whole Foods destination, the route I was given was via the freeway, which was not the route I rode.)

Then I rode over to my friends' house and went hiking with them. The ride home was a little slower than it might have been given that my legs are not yet used to all this activity.

During my travels yesterday, I also used more than one gear! I have been rather intimidated by all the gears and had avoided shifting them. But I definitely felt their benefit! The one time I did something wrong and knocked the chain off the cogs, I was able to fix it easily and keep riding.

Today, I was ready in time and organized enough to be able to ride my bike to church. I even strapped a bucket onto the rack that I needed to return to someone. Then I rode over to Path to Freedom to pick up my weekly vegetable order, and home again.

I still need to figure out the clothes issue. I managed to find clothes that were OK to ride in and suitable enough for church. But coming home after mid-day, I was rather hot. I live UP a hill, so the ride home is the hardest part.

Next challenge: Riding more during the week because riding intensively only two days on the weekend is not the best. I need to see if I can figure out a bike/bus combination until (maybe!) I can work up to tackling the twenty mile one-way route to work.