…waking up at 6:00, loading up Thunder and whizzing down dark side streets on a bike commute with Joey.  The weather has just finally gotten perfect, we were even a bit chilly this morning as we rode over the quiet freeway.

My bike computer has Tourettes lately, it either won’t pick up my speed at all, or jumps between speeds and tells me I’m going 2 mph when I’m clearly doing at least 13 mph.  I like to average 13 mph on a commute and having a bike computer on the fritz does not make it easy.

The other lame part is that it since it stopped recording my speed, it doesn’t record my distance either, and I really hate that.

But – amazing! – somewhere around the Katy Trail, my computer decided to (sort of) work.  It was sticking on my actual speed for several seconds, then going back to 0, then clocking my actual speed.  And so, with this motivation, I took off like a rocket without giving Joey any notification at all of my intentions.

I was able to glance down at my computer and ascertain that I was going 20 miles an hour, and I sustained it for perhaps about a mile, hard to say when the computer stops keeping track.  After I almost ran some people over trying to keep an eye on my speed (as it was twitching back and forth between 4 mph and 20.5 mph) I decided it was time to stop worrying about it and maybe even slow down.

Joey rode up behind me, panting.  “Gosh,” he said. “You were going really fast, I wasn’t expecting that.  I had to pedal super hard to keep up with you.”

“I know,” I told him smugly.

And…my legs feel like jelly now.

The alarm went off at 6:00, loudly and obnoxiously.

“Muuuuugggghhhhh,” I said, and rolled over to bury my head in the duvet.

Then I remembered it was Thursday, and Thursday means it’s bike commute day.  I didn’t exactly jump out of bed when I remembered that, but I moved a little quicker than a snail’s pace, which is what I was doing before.

In ten minutes we had made the bed, put on about two layers each, carried our bikes down the stairs, loaded up our panniers, and taken Henry outside.

I also got viciously growled and barked at by the neighbor’s dog quite a bit – and yes, it’s the same dog that bit Joey once when they walked past each other on the sidewalk.

We are not very keen on this particular dog.

Anyhey, by 6:20 we were whizzing down the frontage road for Central in the blueish, pre-sunrise haze.  Y’all, it was COLD.

39 degrees outside, cold.

“I’m….I’m freezing,” I chattered to Joey as we hit Mile 2 of our commute.

“Me too,” he said.  “But really only my face.”

It’s true, our faces were the only thing exposed because we had layered up so well.  But seriously, 39 degrees at 15 miles an hour feels a lot colder than 39 degrees.

By the time we reached the Katy, the sun had crested the horizon.  The birds had begun to warble and chirp out their morning melodies.  I heard a particularly melodious one and said, “That bird’s telling you to toughen up, that it’s not really that cold outside.”

Another bird chirped.  Joey said, “That one said ‘I don’t have to go to work, all I have to do is survive.’”

Warble, warble.  “I eat worms and regurgitate them for my young,” I translated for the bird.

On and on we went, for about a full mile.  That is a lot of bird chirping translating, even for me.  I wondered if the runners and walkers we passed heard snippets of our conversations and thought we were a few bricks short of a load.  (Heck, sometimes I wonder that about us.)

A runner who really looked like she was suffering lumbered past us, her face a contortion of pain and something else I was unable to identify.  Once we were safely past her, Joey and I looked at each other.

“Didn’t she look like she was about to die?” I asked him.

“I know, I thought she was going to pass out right there,” he agreed.

Normally we don’t comment on runner’s facial expressions, because surely ours on our bicycles are something to laugh at too, but this poor lady really looked like she was about to die.

Explode.

Vomit.

All of the above.

“You know, her facial expression reminded me of that painting, The Scream.  Ya think?” I asked, grimacing and puffing a little bit myself as I tried to increase my speed.

“HA!” Joey bellowed.  “Yep, I think that’s it exactly.”

Happy Thursday, everyone.

One of the reasons I like bike commuting is because it’s just good, old-fashioned fun with Joey.  I love it because we whiz down the streets on our bikes, talk about everything and nothing all at once, and just get to BE TOGETHER…while accomplishing something that’s necessary (like getting to where we need to be going.)  It’s fun because it reminds me how much I just like to hang out with Joey – back when we were dating all we did was talk about everything and nothing for hours…so on bike commute days when I get a chance to do that for 45 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes at night, it’s a good day.

Joey and I packed it up last night in preparation for our bike commute this morning.  When the alarm went off at 6, we dragged ourselves out of bed, squished ourselves into our bike shorts (yes, I did say BIKE SHORTS) and loaded up the panniers with everything we needed for showering and the like once we reached our destinations.

I was very thankful for the snug warm cap Joey got me to wear under my bike helmet; it was cold outside.  I was also thankful for the fingered bike gloves, although they did get a little warm about halfway.

Henry tried to come with us (I think he’d like a bike ride, he loves riding in shopping carts, actually) but we made him go back inside.  He’s a rascal, though, he tried to run down the stairs again when he noticed I was shutting him inside the house.

Off we rode into the darkness.  And the coldness.  I didn’t realize how many street lights University Park doesn’t have until today; there were times when Joey and I couldn’t see much in front of us since the only artificial light was coming from homes.

I ran over a couple of sticks and acorns, and I actually almost wiped out because the sticks got caught in my spokes, but I didn’t.

“We maybe need to get headlights next month,” Joey said as we rode through a particularly dark spot, the rear lights on our bikes flashing frantically to warn cars  coming up behind us in our lane that WE ARE HERE!  WE ARE HERE!  (Horon Hears a Who, anyone?)

“Yeah, maybe,” I said, running over more sticks and acorns, swerving slightly.

By the time we reached the Katy, the sun was just peeking up over the horizon.

“Thunder’s getting tired,” I panted.

I haven’t ridden more than five miles at a stretch since September, and I’m actually a little concerned about getting home in one piece later.  (Also I have a hair appointment at 6:45, so I’ll have to ride with purpose so I can get home in time to change and leave again.)

Joey tried to distract me from my exhaustion (we were only halfway) by having me look at the sunrise.  I told him I didn’t think it was that impressive of a sunrise, but it was still pretty cool.

“Should we go faster,” He asked, about ten minutes later.

“Um, NO,” I wailed.  “I’ll never make it home as it is!  I’m so out of shape!”  (True story.)

And about five minutes later… “My bike shorts aren’t doing their job,” I whined.

“Did you put them on backwards,” Joey asked.

“I don’t think so, but it’s hard to check while I’m riding,” I said.  Then I racked my brain to see if I could remember putting them on backwards.  I don’t think I did.

“Your bum just needs to remember what it feels like to ride a bike for long periods of time,” Joey reassured me.  “You’ll be fine.”

I did not feel reassured.  I also am not looking forward to six miles of bike shorts later today.

We made the 6 mile commute in about 40 minutes of pedaling (45 minutes total), and if we can do it that fast tonight I’ll be shocked and surprised.  OH, and my bike computer died on the ride, so I have no idea what my stats are.  Talk about depressing.

I’m ravenously hungry now, so I’m going to go find something to eat.

kthxbai.