Day 5: WOW! Commuters!

I rode the 3-mile hammerfest to the bus this morning. A nice, smooth ride, with some hard pushing, my old familiar hill climbs, and a newfound road confidence. It was even colder than it was yesterday morning, but I used the same level of warmth. 3 miles of hammering keeps you pretty warm compared to 20+ miles of intentionally-paced riding.

When I got to the bus, there was already a white Specialized Allez Sport strapped in. I've seen it once before, but it's been a few weeks. When I got on the bus, I started talking to the rider. It turns out it's Chris, an EarthRiders member who's been consistently high on the KC Commuter challenge points ranking, and who I'd been talking with on a regional bike commuter mailing list. It was nice to put a face to the name. It's also the guy who I thought was a mile ahead of me yesterday, but that wasn't him.

As I sit here at Starbucks, I've seen 4 or 5 other cyclists riding by. There are 3 bikes locked up outside (one of them is mine) and I've seen a few strapped down to the bike racks on buses. There are a LOT of bike commuters out today! Look...another bike on a bus just as I typed that last sentence!

While I'm here giving a play-by-play of reality while it's unfolding, I just saw a guy staring at my bike as he walked by... almost like he was checking out a nice looking woman. That's kind of a weird look to be giving a bike. He was a heavy-set business-type guy, probably not going to steal my bike. Maybe his bike lust will get the better of him; he looks like he could use a little bit of bike riding. Okay, now I'm the pot calling the kettle black. My bike does look really good though. ;)

I'll probably run into Chris on Monday. There's a new bike commuter that wants to get from Shawnee to Downtown. Chris and I both ride the same way once we get to Shawnee, so we're both going to guide the cyclist downtown. Kind of like an impromptu BIKE ESCORT. It should be fun, and helping a new bike commuter to gain confidence and understanding of the route is a worthy cause.

Look! Another bike on a bus!