Today, I rode a bicycle to work. The whole way. From south Richmond to IU East.
It was about 5 or 6 miles, and I did it in about 40 minutes. 8 minute mile isn’t bad. 
My father in law lent me his bicycle (a “Mongoose” recreational bike) to use for a few days, since I wanted to see if this was even feasible. The seat was very uncomfortable (my butt still kind of hurts) and the gears were a bit clunky — but I made it. I only had to stop to walk the bike once, when turning from Chester Blvd to Oak drive, since the hill was so steep I felt like my legs would fall off.
The bike I want to get, the Townie 8 (pictured below), should be a lot easier to ride. So I figure that if I can make it to work on an uncomfortable bike, with a sore back (I pulled a muscle or something last night when I was laying on a yoga ball) — then surely with a better back and a better bike I should be able to do it.
Richmond’s not that big — and Mark is right, you can bike it.
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#1 by Mark Stosberg on July 14, 2008 - 1:20 pm
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Congratulations, Aaron!
#2 by Thomas Kemp on July 14, 2008 - 2:57 pm
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Welcome to the commuting party. Did you end up on US27 for any of your trip?
#3 by unreliable narrator on July 14, 2008 - 7:59 pm
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Good on you! I’ve been riding mine to the store, which is fun, and look forward to commuting again this fall.
Annoying unsolicited input: do make sure you try out as many different bikes as you can, and ride them around for as long as possible. Hopefully in a university town you’ve got some solid bike shops too, and clerks who really know how to fit bikes to people. But I’m sure you know all this already. It’s just that when I was bike-shopping in the spring, I really thought I’d love the Townie, but its one-size-fits-all approach ultimately didn’t work for me.
And, you know, there is no God to help you make sure you get the right length of top tube. ;o)
(PS–and hugs to Ms. Mel–I’ve been completely AWOL on LJ but have her blog in my feeds so I gather/hope she and you and Mr. Z. are all enjoying July. She made me some truly kick-ass liners in June–they’re my new faves!)