Rush Hour

On a hot summer night, would you ... oops, that's a Meat Loaf moment. Start over.

On a hot summer night, where would you rather be? In fairness, it was 7 p.m. and the traffic on the freeway below was easing. Still, I had the better view.

With my annual charity ride (a century) only 10 days away, it was high time to stifle the excuses and fit some bike commuting into my week. My slothfulness will exact a toll this year, given that there have been precious few weeks where I have managed to bike more than 50 miles.

Commuting is a commitment: 40 miles round trip, with 415 feet of climbing in the morning and 605 feet on the return. I was not too far off my pace, averaging 14.1 mph on the way to work and 12.8 mph on the way home. Pathetic, I know.

Maybe 100 miles this week? Last week, 129 miles. The previous week? Zero. Two out of three ain't bad.