So, here's the deal...a few weeks ago, after spending $50 to fill up my Toyota Corolla with gas (and that's one that get's decent milage!), I decided to pull my bike out of storage and start riding it to work. Now, I live roughly on 2500 East and 2800 South and work on 500 West and 9000 South (See map). So for those of you not familiar with Salt Lake, a mile is roughly seven city blocks, so yeah, that's a long-ass ride. Especially when you haven't regularly ridden a bike since your mission, some 10-odd years ago.
So, my game plan was to ride from my house, down 3300 south to the TRAX station. Take TRAX from 3300 south to 9000 south, and then ride the rest of the way to work. I figured that would be a good start, and that I could build on that and ride farther to catch other TRAX stations as I work up to it....
So..there's the idea, there's the plan...pretty good, huh? I thought so too...until I woke up last Monday (7-14) to try it. That ride was pretty uneventful. Other than my ass being sore, my legs wanting to fall off, and only having to walk my bike the last 1/2 mile of the way home (my home route is significantly different to adjust for the fact that I live at the top of the hill and work at the bottom).
So, now it's Tuesday, a week later, and I decided to try it again. First off, 3300 south has no bike lanes, none, nothing! And the lane goes right up to the sidewalk, so there's no room for error here...and they want me to ride with traffic...I think not!
But as I was riding to work today...sigh...it wasn't the picturesque ride of last week. No, today was different. First, as I was riding down the street, my lunch box shot off the back of my bike. So much for the bungee cord and bike rack thingy, that worked real well. So, after retrieving the fallen lunch box, I tied it down good and tight. Good idea, right? No, bad idea...about 4 blocks later, as I went off the curb, the bungee broke and I swear to god it was trying to kill me. Slapped me in the back of the head. Helmets aren't just for accidents anymore, I'm seriously considering wearing it 24/7, like one of Jerry's kids. As much as I hit my head or other things hit my head, it might be a wise choice.
So, I'm now a block away from the TRAX station, and what do I behold with mine little eyes? Nothing less than my train pulling out of the station. #$&@$&*@#! Yeah, exactly! I could hear the bungee cord laughing from where I'd tied it in knots around my lunch box. And you know that evil inanimate objects ALWAYS laugh with an absurd french accent, ALWAYS!
So, I wait the next 15 minutes for the next train. Here it comes, I can see it pulling into the station. I jump up off the bench to grab my bike. It was a pretty short jump. More of a stumble really. I had slipped my arm into the strap of my backpack as I started to get up, and was promptly slammed back down into the bench. One of the buckles from my bag had worked it's way into the itty-bitty-tiny slot in the bench seat. I don't think I could have gotten the buckle in there if I had been trying. So, as I'm frantically trying to free my bag from the bench, I watch the train pull away. There had to have been 10 frenchmen with their faces pressed up against the window of the train, all pointing and laughing while stroking their creepy little mustaches, there were, really, okay, maybe not...but still...
In the end, I did make it to work. A lot later than I had intended, but still made it...and if you can just imagine how excited I am about the ride home tonight...what awaits me on the streets and trains of Salt Lake City...
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