I hate traffic

I found the best way to remind myself why I hate driving to work.

I drove to work.

I woke up at around 8:00 this morning -- 45 minutes after the last bus departs, and late enough that riding all the way to work would not only get me in way-past-late, but I'd probably be squished in the process. I sucked it up, grabbed the keys, and drove.

Now, I love my car. I love driving my car. I just hate driving my car on northbound Interstate 35 into Kansas City, MO at 8:00 in the morning on a Friday. Since this is Memorial Day weekend, I'd bet traffic was actually pretty mild today, comparatively speaking. I know there are certainly a few faces missing at work today, as several people have taken today off to give themselves a nice 4-day weekend.

Rest assured, many people who are traveling today weren't on the road by 8:00.

So there you have it. You can now chastise me for being "one of those guys" who drives 50 miles alone to get to and from work. Maybe I'll see if one of my bus-riding neighbors (Mike, a former co-worker at JCCC that now works for a bank a few blocks away from my office) wants to get home a little quicker by riding home with me.

As for me, I'm taking a 10-day weekend. I'm off work until Tuesday, June 5th. I'll be at home packing and preparing to move, but I'm sure I'll put some miles on. If my postings are a little sparse for the next week or so, you know why.

Lastly, I updated the format of my Bicycling Log. Instead of tracking To/From miles separately I combined them into a "Commute Miles" field. Then I added a "Transport/Recreation Miles Ratio" field.

Why'd I do it? Well, I've long known that I ride my bike more for basic transportation (where most people would use a car) than for recreation. I should kind of re-iterate that. My bicycle is a recreational activity all the time, but I count "recreational" miles as any time I go out on my bike and come back without stopping to do anything. This is useful for me, as I can get a clear picture of how I'm using my bike.