For Be Bop day (which I had never heard of until it was over) I, um, biked
to work.  Good commuting, David, and thanks for the acknowledgement.

Bob, the one piece of advice I have for you is to bike as if you have a
right to the space.  There is nothing less safe, in my experience, than
mincing around too close to parked cars or (horrors!) relegating yourself to
sidewalks.  The further you are away from traffic, the less visible you are.
Keep in mind that the most dangerous vehicle to a bicyclist (other than a
parked car...) is an automobile turning right.  Make them see you!  If you
need a lane, take the lane.  

Washington Ave isn't really all that bad, once you learn how to assert
yourself.  And it has one extremely important asset that the river roads and
many bike paths do not: it's almost completely flat.  This can be said of
many busy, arterial thoroughfares.  It makes them virtually irresistible.  I
have this hypothesis about the development of a bike commuter; there is a
moment when one learns to disregard fears about major streets to save
oneself the extra work of pushing up hill after hill.

The most important thing to do for yourself, though (especially at first),
is to leave yourself enough time to get to work on time without absolutely
killing yourself.  This is one rule I break *way* too often.


Robin Garwood
Seward

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