Bike riding

I started this post a couple of weeks ago....here is a short continuation and an additional bit at the end.

With the move of my work location from Hørsholm to Gentofte I have been able to trade my hour long bus commute into the country-side for a 7km bike ride. Up until now I have not taken full advantage of all the biking opportunities Copenhagen has to offer - special lanes and traffic lights on nearly every street for bikes as well as the smooth, flat terrain that is Denmark.

After leaving my bike 'Old Red' outside, unused and unloved from November to May, I thought it best to take her in for a tune up prior to my first ride to the new office. Poor girl was completely rusted out. I had to get the chain replaced and even the bell had lost its ring. My co-workers, all avid bikers who hold their bikes in quite high regards, would have been very disappointed in my lack of attentiveness. Oh well. 100$ later and my bike was in as good shape as she would ever get.

So here is a summary of my week commute so far:

Day 1: My bike was still in the shop, so I took the bus in the morning and ran home (I guess this does not really support my post title too much). -1 for me

Day 2: It rained, so I took the bus. -1 for me

Day 3: Biked in at 5:45am so I could have a little run before work. The wind was really working against me but it was so early that there were no other bikes on the road...so I felt I was going fast. Bike ride home was nice ride beside the highway....nice ride, but again the wind was going against me. I guess I just do not have my bike legs yet....i was passed by a very old guy on a much crappier bike then mine. He seemed to be having no problem with the wind! 1 point

Day 4: More wind today. its funny how this danish wind makes little inclines seem like monumental mountains. Today I went in a little later and kept getting stop by the school crossing guards that monitor the bike lanes....ugh. and I passed my first bike lane roadkill - a poor squirrel was hit (i guess) by some speedy biker. Awesome. So windy though that the huge doormat outside of a chinese restaurant blew right out in front of me while i was riding up one of those HUGE inclines (sarcasm?). Not to worry though - i think i could have walked faster than I was riding so it was not too difficult to avoid. 1 points

Day 5 - I am tired and my legs and ass hurt (i guess it takes a couple of weeks before you can really get used to sitting on the seat). Today on my ride in I managed to swallow two bugs. Disgusting - but on a positive side I guess it is a good source of protein and perhaps it means that I am biking faster. 1 point

So all in all the first week was ok, but I am looking for some harsh improvements.

new part!

Now I have been biking to work for just over a month now and I must say that it has gotten much better. 7 km each way is not too bad. The weekend after my first week at the Gentofte location, Ben and I visited Aero Island for a weekend break. While on the island we decided to rent bikes and bike around for the day. Good idea in principal, but without the proper map and good sense of direction, our rickety rental bikes and us ended up climbing the main island 'highway' to the highest point of the island instead of following the so called leisurely path along the coast. While we did eventually find the correct bike path, our 40km bike ride that day wore both of us completely out. I guess we still have some work to do....