I have been biking, see?

This is what I did this morning when I couldn't sleep at 4 am:

Google says 10.2 miles.

The other day I biked to Alta Plaza to play tennis, so I started off doing that same route -- straight down Castro and Divis over the couple of hills. Then for a fleeting second I had the idea I might ride to the beach, but the hill up Geary to the Richmond made me think I should take advantage of the fact that it was 4 am and ride downtown while there are no cars, so I bombed down Post (as much as one can bomb while mostly obeying traffic signals) and meandered my way down Market to the Embarcadero. From there on the ride was very familiar, since I just took the Embarcadero to Townsend and did my homeward commute. Sun was just coming out when I got back and I breakfasted on leftover Vietnamese sandwich. Gonna grab a soy latte on the way to work, I think, leave a bit early.

It was pretty trippy riding around downtown -- I am not (yet?) brave enough to attempt Market during the day, even though it has bike lanes. Everything is really different from a bike, for whatever reason. I was going pretty fast past Union Square, since the lights were lining up for me at that second...

Anyways, hope I make it through the day without getting too sleepy. I'm really glad I went out. I spent about an hour on the bike, which is great, since I am going to a movie after work with a friend, so will probably take BART downtown instead of riding.

On days I have been commuting, it's been great. They installed a bike rack in our side of the office, too, now, so there is more parking. Riding both directions is second nature, so I hardly have to think about it anymore. There was one day I didn't get over soon enough for the turn onto Harrison from Division, which was frustrating, but it wasn't the end of the world.

Off to shower.

I caught a nasty cold

which explains the lack of bicycle updates. It was a pain to even ride the bus, much less pedal and deal with traffic. Anyways, I'm feeling a lot better, although there is still some residual nonsense going on in the back of my throat. Aiming to be back on the bike tomorrow.

In the meantime, I've been taking either the 27 bus or BART. Both are pretty crowded at rush hour; yet another plus of riding a bicycle is that you are out in the open air and not crammed in a train with a hundred other people. Like today, I think the lady I was forced to hover behind on tip toe, almost hanging precariously from the overhead bar in an effort to reduce my depth (a backpack full of two laptops and associated cords decreases my skinniness), had not washed her hair in a while...or had washed it in something that didn't smell very good. Sigh sigh. I hope my shampoo doesn't make my hair smell lame.

Anyways, Twitter does not have showers, so I'm thinking of biking in the shirt I wore the day previously with a new shirt along with laptop (just one from now on) in the backpack. And I can wear my new jacket if it gets cold.

Good news is that I was able to return that heavy duty pannier that I no longer need. Less good (or perhaps equivalent) is that I've gotten interested in Rickshaw bags and since they are coming to work next week to show off their wares, I have a feeling I will only become more interested.

Finally, I think the Twitter diet is really good for me. Well, I think it would be good for anyone -- they feed us quite well. Fresh fruit every morning, sometimes bagels with cream cheese and salmon, other bakery items. Lunch is could be any number of things (falafel, sushi, sandwiches), but most days also includes some salad. Feeling healthy before you even get on your bicycle is definitely something to be either cherished or aspired to :) -- and not taken for granted (Stupid cold!) ;p

A lot to report!

If you're wondered where I've been for the past week and a half, I have a simple answer for you: I've been off getting hired by Twitter! Yes, that Twitter. DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH THIS CUTS DOWN MY COMMUTE?

If you recall...

And now check this out:

If this looks a lot like the way to the Caltrain station, it's because it essentially is.

It's a little frustrating because it's JUST far enough that you can work up a sweat if you're riding fast. I suppose one could just...RIDE SLOWER, but then you might as well just BART and walk, which is definitely an option given my shiny new June MUNI pass. I'm almost tempted to get up early and ACTUALLY go riding, shower, and then head to work. We'll see. I do need to get miles somehow. I could prescribe a long route, but that equals more sweat. I'm guessing all of this will somehow end up depending on whether or not they have showers... They DO have a bike rack IN the office, though. So great XD

In other news, I locked myself out of the house last Monday. It was great! I had my bike, and my bike lock key (which I had forgotten the previous day, woefully mangling plans to go to MOMA), so I just tooled around, mostly. Ended up riding down Castro/Divis for the first time. Some hills! Climbing is good for you, though, if not for your knees, specifically. It was actually not so bad.

Latest lameness:

* Turning left onto Folsom from 16th some horrible fellow shouted at me to get out of the way. There was nowhere to go! There were two lanes and I was in the left to turn, waiting for the cars. If it had been a left turning car it would have been the same...see?

The repeated arrows show his apparent hastiness. RAWR V_V

I (the blue smiley face) am waiting patiently for random placeholder cards blue and green to go before I make my turn at the smiling green light. Creepy fangy death-face behind me who shouted, "Get out of the way!" was wishing he were in the lane with the placeholder orange, pink, and turquoise cars to the right, who were moving straight on without interruption since there were no other vehicles with the right-of-way. I think he just hadn't had his coffee yet or something. Then again, I hadn't either, but I didn't shout at him for being an asshole.

(I just blogged about it later. Does that make me passive aggressive? *sigh*)

*My least favorite incidents occur with other cyclists. Why are you getting frustrated with me? Seriously! The sign says loose gravel and I would not like to skid out on this slightly downhill turn where someone has 78% certainly PUT the gravel there on purpose to keep hardcore cyclists from barreling into innocent pedestrians. If you want to race, go race in the street. I'm gonna slow down and not spend the rest of the afternoon picking rocks out of my shins.

*On the same trail (the Los Gatos Creek Trail) there are sometimes areas with obtrusive posts to keep you from flying through high traffic trail intersection areas and killing stroller moms/dog walkers/old people. I was pedaling slowing up hill behind a pair of middle-aged women on a social walking exercise outing. I don't mind going slowly. I know it's their right-of-way. I have ULTIMATE TRAFFIC ZEN. Not so with the fellow coming down the other way, he was ready to STORM down that hill and mumbled some irate remark as I navigated between the posts around him. What's silly is that I went on my right, so why didn't he go on his? It's a two lane trail, guy!

/end vent

And now, to end on an up note, I'm going to say W00t, Sunday Streets in the Mission was awesome! I volunteered from something like 9 to 2:30 and then had free lunch in the park. Met up with some cats for Humphrey Slocombe (Peanut butter curry ice cream zomg -- does it get any better?) afterwards. My first post was at 25th and Osage from 9:30 to 12:15, but they needed someone to relieve a couple of girls on 20th and Valencia, so I did that afterwards.

Part two was wayyyyyy more fun and lively, since I was in the middle of a closed street with tons of people milling around, some actual responsibility (allowing cars to cross, usually with the lights, but always with the police prompts), and a really chatty policeman. A couple people took my picture while I held up the STOP sign. That was a little awkward. One of them even took my name, so I've been googling to see if I can find it...should've probably asked where he was going to stick it @_@

Incidentally, I tweeted up a storm, mostly while I was doing rather a bit of nothing during part one, but I got in a couple at the second post, too. Highlights include:

"Because 24th street is closed I am allowed to make Osage a two-way alley. My true power is unleashed! #sundaystreets"

"Hint: when attending #sundaystreets, do not bring a car."

"To the dude biking on the sidewalk: UR DOIN IT WRONG. #sundaystreets"

See more @emawii, or by searching for the "sundaystreets" hashtag. I retweeted a couple of other cool posts, too. There were at least a couple people besides me tweeting pix. Looking forward to doing it again next month :)

Oh, before I finish this MASSIVE RUN-ON BLOG ATTACK, I should note that I re-bought my front headlight, finally. Thanks to Noel for allowing me the use of his in the meantime. Got another Flea. I also finally ordered that jacket I had been oogling. I may actually see if it's not too late to return the awesome commuter bag I bought, since I will not really be traveling far enough to require it, even if I do want to bring my laptop somewhere. I may have run out of time. We'll see what the Arkel folks have to say. If not, maybe CL will be kind. SPEAKING OF WHICH...

I'm selling a June Caltrain pass if anyone is interested. Zones 1-4, also good on SamTrans and VTA! Rar gorg! Please, I could really use the cash ;p

/end commercial

That is all! Hopefully I can remember to update more frequently instead of unloading all at once like this, haha.