A River Runs Thru It

I haven't offically told the office, just a few close friends, but I have accepted a new position at TMC. A pretty good gig--and of course one of the great things about it is that I will be able to bike into the office. My new library is housed where the indoor pool used to be, so there's a locker room just right there. And right outside are bike lockers. One of the HR girls that helped me out during the interviewing process got one reserved for me.

At UMC they had some and I went to ask about it at UMC security a few years ago. So I walked in and the head or supervisor was a woman who looked like a weight lifter. "No, you can't have one, they are for UMC employees only," would have sufficed. Instead she gave me a lecture about how they cost $40,000.

Anyway, I had taken Bev's car to the dealership, and then would bike home--it was such a nice day. So I set out to ride to TMC to get a feel for what would be my new bike commute. Boy was I in for a surprise!

First of all, the river bike path runs out quickly after Campbell Ave. I had always tought it went thru. So I rode up Campbell North from River Ave to Ina. Ina Road eventually turns into Skyline Drive, which I'm happy to report has been re-paved and there's bike line all the way to Swan. At Swan, there's about a 4 mile downhill into the office.

The thing I notied on Skyline/Ina is that people drive very fast. The pavement is all new and so is the bike lane--but again, it wasn't even rush hour and the road was busy and people were driving like bats out of Hell. I was able to ride quite fast myself--so I'll give it a try.

I stopped in a local bike shop and looked at a map and got their take on the commute. They offered up traveling down Glenn to TMC. So this might be an alternative to the danger roads mentioned above--or for when I running late and just want to get to work no-frills. There is no way I'm going to try and drive every day. I don't need that kind of stress.

Wish me luck everyone!

Love