Passing the Torch of Bike Commuting

The Mr. is becoming a full blown bike commuter and I couldn't be prouder.  He took the Redline to the office almost every morning last week, rain or shine, with his lunch, toiletry bag, and extra clothes.  It takes about 18-20 minutes to get there, depending on the headwind and weight of the lunch.  There's front row bike parking and a locker/shower room at the office, so he really has it made.  The more days he went, the more streamlined the process became.  In the afternoons, I ride out there to meet him and then we ride home together.  

For him, it's a great warm-up in the mornings to clear the head before the stress of a typical work day sets in.  The afternoon ride provides a way to hammer out any tension that's built up in the last eight or so hours.  For me, meeting him is a great opportunity to get some extra exercise and enjoy the outdoors.  It's nice that we can catch up on the day too.  Half the route is on the road, which depending on the time, can get a bit congested.  So, that's pretty much taking care of my nervousness. One great thing about the roads here is that yield signs are far more common than stop signs, so we don't have to constantly pause completely at every intersection.  The US really needs more yields and roundabouts.  It keeps everything flowing much more easily.  I've been switching between the FX on rain days and the Varsity (the temperamental rear derailleur is clicking seamlessly once again) when the sun is out.  The Varsity is still faster, once again proving being about thirty year's older than the rest of the fleet doesn't mean that it can't outrun them. 

Of course these new commute rides provided the opportunity to buy new toys.  Up until this point, we've only had one set of tools- one pump, one set of tire levers, one patch kit, one Allen wrench set.  There had never been a need to have two of everything.  I was either riding by myself to work or we were riding together.  Now, that we're riding separately, it dawned on me that we need to pick up another set of these tools just in case.  It would be most unfortunate for him to get a flat while I'm out riding with all the things to repair it. 

Anyway, so we went to our LBS (L.S. Sports) Friday night and picked up another set of levers and patch kit, a nice (much nicer than our other one, actually) Presta and Schrader compatible pump, and another Allen wrench set.  The shop itself is nice, being within walking distance of our house.  The staff is friendly (and thankfully English speaking) and they carry a good selection of off the rack components, clothing, accessories, and sports nutrition.  The other day, when I was scoping out the shop this guy pulled up in front of the store.  I half expected a peloton to come whizzing by.

With our new loot in hand, I feel much better knowing that on the off chance one of us gets a puncture when we're out riding in different directions, no one is going to be short the necessary tools.  Anyway, it probably makes sense for everyone to have their own saddle bag stocked with basics whether they're riding alone or not.

As luck would have it, we ended up testing the new pump yesterday, when he got a flat 15 minutes into our ride.

Everything worked out well, but it cut the ride shorter than we originally planned.  It turned out to be just as well since we were taking Pista Cyclable 12 southwest for the first time.  It's uphill the whole way and our legs were pretty dead from some hiking we did the day before.  If we went for the intended length, it probably would not have gone as well.

Speaking of the hiking that killed our legs, we went to the amazing town of Esch-sur-Sure (don't ask me to pronounce it) on Saturday.  The hiking was absolutely incredible while being challenging.  The toughest climbs have the best rewards.  There are two Lux tourism board trails in the town.  One stays mostly around the town center and castle and the other is 6.5 miles spent mostly in the hills above the town and the large lake of Lac de La Haute Sure, which is used as a water reservoir for the area.  At the tail end of the hike, right before you make the steep decent back into town, there is this incredible view of the valley.

I should mention that while I was taking this picture, the sound of a musician playing the accordion and singing "La Mer" was drifting up the mountainside towards us. 

Yeah, I know.

I'm telling you, if Luxembourg was an island that we couldn't leave for the next 2.5 years and this is all we had to see and experience, I would be totally OK with it.