A day of rest

Rest days are important when I bike regularly to work. I need a day to wash both my bike clothes and my work clothes. More important, I need a day to recover physically. In the first five years of biking to work, I rode a mountain bike. I modified some things to make it more commuter friendly: I put on thin (1.5 inch), high pressure slick tires to replace the 2 inch knobby tires. I also installed aerobars and had a larger chainring put on. All these things made my commute much faster and easier. However, a mountain bike, no matter what the modifications, is harder and slower to ride than a road bike. The wheels are smaller for one (26" as opposed to 27" or 700c). In addition, a lot of power is lost in the bounce of the front shock. Finally, my mountain bike was very heavy.

My 20 mile commute was hard work on a mountain bike, and I found myself really getting tired after my rides. So last summer I bought a road bike. What a huge difference it makes! I ride a Kona Jake the Snake. Technically, it's a cyclocross bike, meaning that it is designed to be ridden on regular paved roads and trails, or for the braver-than-I on unpaved mountain bike trails. For my purposes, it is a perfect commuter bike because it is light, sturdy, and fast. I also use it to bike recreationally with friends. I get two uses out of it

Now that I have a road bike, the commute between Moscow and Pullman is so much easier than before. I don't tire as quickly as I did on the mountain bike, and as a result, I look forward to my ride much more. Because it's a cyclocross bike, I can put knobby tires on if I want. However, I don't really see the need for that except maybe when the roads are gravely after winter.

Despite my fast, fancy bike, I still look forward to a day of rest from commuting. When the commuter bus was operating, I could simply take the bus to work and carry my change of clothes with me. It'll be more complicated now. My plan this weekend is to drive over on Saturday with my change of clothes so that I am ready for Monday when classes begin. I'll combine the trip with some other errands in Pullman and on the west side of Moscow. In this way, Lysa can use the car on Monday.