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Wednesday, July 23, 2008

First ride to work - and back, or something like that.

Actually I guess I rode to home and back. I've been considering riding to work for some time. I live approx. 21.34 miles from the office. The roads between my house and the office are actually classic rides here in the Bay Area. Alhambra Valley Road is my main thouroughfare and is the stage for the infamous "Pig Farm Hill." Aptly named, because when you get to the top of it you smell like a pig farm. That hill is at about the mid point of the ride and 840' tall. My office sits at around 16 ft in elevation, and my home perches at a lofty 36'. Frankly the elevation isn't that bad. The hardest part is that you climb the majority of that - about 500' in under 2 miles, and the final half mile from each direction seems like 2/3 of the climb.

Monday morning I drove my truck to work with bike, gear, and tuesday's clothes in tow.
I rode home Monday afternoon and managed an 18 mph average speed. Tuesday morning at day break I retraced my route and added 4 minutes to my previous night's time - 1 hour 16 minutes.

I've set a benchmark now, so I expect that the weeks to come will include more pain.

No choice. Hills are made for climbing and ride times are made for tromping.

Anybody know what the going price is for Calories per gallon? I want to know what my savings is.