Conquering Ralston Avenue

I am very thankful for green lights.

Sure, they're nice when you're rushing in your car from point A to point B. But when you're flying down Ralston Avenue at 35 mph on two unmotorized wheels, they're especially helpful.

This is one of many reasons (or excuses, depending on your viewpoint) that I hadn't ridden my bicycle to work before this week. I couldn't get past the fear that while plummeting out of control down Ralston (which is often how I ride down hills - out of control) I might encounter a red light at Cipriani/Continentals, find my breaks were no match for the treacherous incline, and go splat! into the side of a car. Not a good ending for Claire.

But this week, in the spirit of Bike To Work Day, I hung up my fears, threw on my new messenger bag purchased should this occasion ever arise, and made my Monday morning commute down Ralston to NDNU on my 2010 carbon-fiber Specialized Roubaix.

And boy, was it fun!

So, I did it again on Tuesday. I would have done it Wednesday, but I had the day off. And of course I did it Thursday, on the official Bike To Work Day. And each day, I only hit green lights, to my delight.

Now, of course, the "Bike To Work" part of Bike To Work Day is easy. As you've now gathered, I live at the top of Ralston, so the morning bicycle commute consists of riding through my neighborhood, turning left onto Ralston, and letting gravity do the rest of the work. "Bike From Work" is a whole other story.

Monday my bike and I turned right onto Ralston and something resembling, "Oh &*%@!," screamed out in my head. A headwind. Great. This brings me to the final excuse preventing me from biking to work: the hill. There's no way around it, I have to take the hill home. I'm not a fan of hills. Now let me preface this by saying that I ride my bicycle somewhat regularly outside of commuting: generally two flat rides during the week along 10 miles of the Bay Trail, and a 30- to 40-mile ride on the weekend starting at Cañada Road and 92. And that ride always includes hills, sometimes hills much worse than Ralston Avenue. But, this doesn't change how daunting Ralston is at the end of the day, in a headwind, with my breathing problems, and my general dislike of hills. I feel like a hero when I reach the top, but during, I just wish I had an entirely new respiratory system and a brain that wouldn't psych me out!

After the bike ride home on Monday, I walked into our bedroom and said to my boyfriend, "Am I insane?"

On Tuesday, I just looked at him out of breath, albeit less out of breath than Monday (although, I have a theory that the second day is actually the hardest, because you're so worn out from the first day of a new thing, and by the third day you're starting to acclimate).

On Bike To Work Day, I told him that the ride was a little easier. He said there was less wind. Way to ruin my triumph.

And then I got in my car and ran errands in Redwood City, and I felt like a horrible person for taking my mom's Ford Taurus out for a spin after my green commute.

The greatest perk of Bike To Work Day was suddenly being part of a community, a community that bikes. People recognized me as someone taking part in an effort to be healthier and a little kinder to the planet. I ran into other riders at work, many of whom had done their first bike commute that day, and most of whom rode much further than me.

There have been comments made on this site about how it's not such a feat to bike to work one day out of the year. Maybe the skeptics are right, but I think that even though many of the people who rode their bikes to work for the first time yesterday won't be doing it again, we were a force for good, united for one day to make a difference. Many of those riders will continue to bike to work - kudos to them. Even those who drove on Bike To Work Day were probably a little inspired; I got words of encouragement passed to me through a car window as I pushed my way up the hill. They helped tremendously.

As for me, I did my 10-mile Bay Trail ride this morning, cleaned up, gathered my things, and set out again on my bike for work, and I hit a red light at Cipriani/Continentals and at Alameda. And I didn't care.