Well, for the now fourth time since I've been an employee at OSU (Nov. 2003), my office has moved. And it's a little further away than it used to be, but it's a bit easier a ride, in that my route (basically just straight down High Street) is pretty well kept-up as regards snow removal and such. The potholes are MUCH worse, but the traffic isn't quite as fast and there's no street parking on weekdays on most of it.
The office isn't quite as nice as the last one, but at least I'm not stuck out where the COTA routes are few and far between (just in case, you know?) and I have to hop a bus of some kind just to go get some lunch. I'm on campus now, within walking distance of some good healthy alternatives for lunch. So that's nice.
You can tell I didn't ride yesterday (as I needed our car to move my stuff from one office to the next) because after the rain on Tuesday, my derailleurs were frozen, which I didn't realize till I'd been going for a bit. Should have taken the bike inside on Tuesday to dry off instead of locking it in the garage, but it didn't occur to me then. It will now. Maybe I need to build one of those solar heaters for the garage out of empty pop cans and such. That'd be a fun project and it might even work!
Here's my route, from Bikely:
People, not speed.
The office isn't quite as nice as the last one, but at least I'm not stuck out where the COTA routes are few and far between (just in case, you know?) and I have to hop a bus of some kind just to go get some lunch. I'm on campus now, within walking distance of some good healthy alternatives for lunch. So that's nice.
You can tell I didn't ride yesterday (as I needed our car to move my stuff from one office to the next) because after the rain on Tuesday, my derailleurs were frozen, which I didn't realize till I'd been going for a bit. Should have taken the bike inside on Tuesday to dry off instead of locking it in the garage, but it didn't occur to me then. It will now. Maybe I need to build one of those solar heaters for the garage out of empty pop cans and such. That'd be a fun project and it might even work!
Here's my route, from Bikely:
People, not speed.
So lunch at Jimmy Johns or Chipotle is more doable now? :-)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, that commute looks a bit better than the old one - Ackerman was a bit dicey for me a few times, especially going over the bridge. Not that High Street is a cakewalk, but at least there's side streets if it gets too bad.
It looks like your fairly close to the stadium. Are there fans who go to the game by bike, like this?
ReplyDeleteMatt - Ackerman was never really that big a deal. Without all the street parking like on High Street, there was plenty of room to ride.
ReplyDeleteMidnight - yes, there are a few who ride to OSU games. OSU doesn't have an official valet service like the Giants do, but the local advocacy group puts out a free bike corral for the games (and also some of the downtown festivals, both of which are easily accessible along the Olentangy River Path). We're not as progressive here in Ohio as, say... Massachusetts, but we're getting better.
I wonder if a hub with internal gearing would avoid the freezing issues?
ReplyDeleteSmudge - probably, but I think that, if it wasn't completely water-tight, it would actually make things worse. As it stands, though, I have to make some adjustments to the front derailleur to alleviate the new rubbing sounds I get whenever I push down on the right pedal. Sigh...
ReplyDeleteMy commuter also needs some love. The brakes feel weak, I should probably install a new chain, and the crank is starting to creak a bit. It's still better than auto maintenance...
ReplyDeleteYep, and a buttload cheaper! :)
ReplyDelete