As I mention on the Home page, part of this blog is about giving tips for bike commuting.  Another part describing the adventures I encounter during my commute.  Lastly, it is a medium to share pictures from trails and roads around Seattle.  You can see a slide show of past pictures (from Eugene and Portland) on the Home page.

I'm starting a series of posts that talk about some of the essentials of bike commuting.  My goal is to help you avoid this 

The most essential thing you need to commute by bike is ...... a bike.  If you own a bike you have all that is really necessary.  Everything else the I suggest will just make you safer, more comfortable, quicker, and avoid delays.  So I recommend that if you want to give bike commuting a shot, you be a little more prepared than just having a bike.  That being said, if you do own a bike, I invite you to pick a day next week and try traveling by bike somewhere you would normally drive, whether it be to work, the store, the park, your friends house, church or where ever else you may go during the week.

This is my bike.   It is a 59cm Norco CCX3.  I've been very pleased with it so far.  It's a lot quicker than my old bike.

It is a road bike.  Technically it's a Cyclocross bike.  In my opinion, road bikes are much better than mountain bikes for commuting.  This is mainly due to their thinner, lighter tires that are filled to a much higher air pressure, which means dramatically decreased rolling resistance.  Throw in the fact that road bikes themselves are generally lighter you'll find that you can go a further distance at a significantly higher speed.  Suddenly that commute that you thought was to difficult or would take too long seems reasonable.  A lot of people don't like the drop down handlebars of a road bike, and will purchase a hybrid bike, which is kind of like a road bike with flat bar handlebars.

Most importantly, the best bike to commute on is a bike that you will use for more than commuting.  If you go mountain biking on the weekends, the best bike would be the one you already have.  I bought my bike with commuting in mind, but also the fact that I would like to do some 50-100 mile rides on weekends during the summer.  If you are thinking of buying a bike I'd recommend a road bike or hybrid.  Most likely you will not be riding on dirt or gravel trails, which is where mountain bikes would have the advantage.

I've been meaning to start a series of posts about some of the essentials of bike commuting.  I had planned to start with the most basic, but I'll start with what proved to be very useful on my commute this morning.  For Christmas I got a pair of Pearl Izumi Am-Fib bike tights.  I love them, they are thermal, highly water resistant, and if the do get wet, they are still very warm because they are made of a wet suit like material.  Yes, I know what your thinking, I bike to the Sounder and ride the train in tights.  When I was in Oregon I just wore my jeans under some rain pants during the winter.  There are many benefits to tights as opposed to jeans or other pants that I talk about later.  They are not essential for commuting, but I'll just say there is no way I would bike the 12 miles to Tukwila in pants.

So this morning I biked up the Interurban Trail to the Tukwila Sounder station.  About a mile from the station a couple people warned my that there was water on the road up ahead.  I said thank you and keep going.  I had a train to catch. With in a half mile of the station there was about an inch of water on the trail and I went through a section that covered my feet as I pedaled.  That wasn't too bad.  When I reached the road that the station is off of, I can see I crew of workers and that the roan is closed.  I pulled up to a worker and asked how bad the sidewalk was ahead (I was about a hundred yards from the station).  He said " You can try to go through if you want."  That was good enough for me!  So I took off down the sidewalk, the water was about a foot deep, some parts were flowing pretty good.  Then it started to get deeper and deeper.  Soon, when pedaling, my feet never left the water. At this point I figured it was best to get off and walk, since I couldn't see what might have been washed on the sidewalk.  So I hopped off, threw my bike on my shoulder and started wading through.  The water came halfway up my thigh. There was a van stuck in the middle of the road.  I made it through and bike the remaining 20 yards to the station.

My tights had gotten soaked.  But were actually quite warm.  My feet were an other story.  So Am-Fib tights, a great addition to bike commuting because you just never know when in your commute you'll have to wade through a small lake.