Note to self: A 20 mile commute is different from a 3.5 mile commute. Eat something first.

Today was my first day of commuting to work at my job down in Cool Springs. It's about a 20-mile commute. It wasn't bad. I took my time and (sort of ) leisurely long haul truckered it down to work. Took me about 90 minutes. It was chilly at first but my body adjusts pretty quickly. The tough thing about riding in the cold during the day is that temps can be a bit inconsistent. Long stretches in the sun where the wind is behind me tend to get a little warm and swampy, but then in the shade against the wind it can be extra chilly. Nighttime riding is much more consistent.

So I am used to commuting to my old job which was in downtown Nashville, about 3.5 miles or so from home. That took about 15-20 minutes on an average day. I would typically ride to work without having eaten anything and would feel no ill effects at all. Now for the last couple of years, one of the major things I have been working on in my riding is what and when to eat to stay fueled; and I have gotten pretty good about it. It is not often that I don't have the energy I need because of lack of sustenance. So I am not sure why my mind differentiated this morning's commute from normal (non-commute) rides. I got up and fixed my cleat (which had lost a bolt last night) and got dressed and headed out on my bike. About 30 minutes later, my kegs were burning from lack of energy to burn. At the last minute, I had grabbed an "emergency" energy gel and stuck it in my pocket just in case, and I am glad I did. I ate that and made it without issue, but I did feel the lack of sustenance. So I think my future commutes will find a couple eggs in my belly before starting out. I will probably enjoy the ride much more that way, too.

As I have mentioned, my goal is to save two driving round-trips to work each week by riding. This, my first full week, contained only one. A decent start. This time I did so by riding home after work yesterday and then back to work this morning. Next week I think I will try the same day round-trip at least one day for comparison purposes.

Last night, I actually didn't ride from work, but I also didn't just ride home. I loaded my bike up in Thad's (Hilary's) truck and rode with him out to the farm so he could get his bike. While there, I fixed his brake cable/lever (which HE broke at Polo when HE ran into me). We got on our bikes and rode from the farm into town to the Yazoo taproom to meet up with the crew. The ride was a good one. I enjoy the winter-time night rides with Thad, especially because they often have a good purpose at the end, such as drinking beer. Last night was my first cold(sort of) weather ride for the season and it felt great. I purposefully dressed a little lighter than maybe I should have, opting to get a little chilled (which is good for the soul and for quickly acclimating for the winter season). I was actually dressed about perfectly. Things were a little drafty since I wasn't wearing bike shorts but instead just shorts with boxers, but so it goes. My face was a little chilly at first but quickly got used to the cold wind and then I was very comfortable. I do look forward to the beard filling in, though.

So Thad and I rolled into Nashville and found the guys had claimed a table in the taproom where it was warm and the beer flowed. We had a great turnout and it was a great time of conversation and just hanging out, and the ESB made the body feel good. From there, we headed to Rotiers for burgers and such before climbing back on the bike to ride home.

After being gone the last two weekends, I am ready to stay on the ground this weekend and relax and get a ride in and take a couple days away from my stressful job. Cheers.