ask a bike messenger

Jury duty.  Fortunately I slipped through the cracks last year when Baby A was a newborn, but I’ve now reported for duty three times in the past five years!  Yesterday I hired a sitter and left the house late on my bike.  I raced toward the civic center area then glanced at my summons to confirm the address as I stopped for a red light.  Surprise!  I was supposed to be heading toward the Hall of Justice in a different part of the city.  The same part of the city where I walked to recover my towed car less than a week ago!  I’m pretty good with bike lanes around the city but this was one trafficky route I wasn’t familiar with.  I didn’t have time to stop and call my husband or look up a route so I did the next best thing.  I asked a bike messenger.  He thought about it then told me the best route for sticking to bike lanes and avoiding wrong way one-way streets.  I cruised through the traffic and made it to the courthouse right on time but found the streets blocked by firetrucks and mobs of people outside.  Fire drill or fire?  I’m guessing it wasn’t anything too serious because they had us lining up to go back inside within half hour.  The best part of this (beside extra time on my bike) was that because of the delay, several cases didn’t proceed and I was let go.  Fingers crossed for next year.  

I’m back on a roll with my city riding.  On Sunday, we did our first family ride across the city.  We wiggled our way to Dolores park for asunny afternoon playdate.  My husband’s chain kept slipping and the ride home in low gear was cold and foggy.  We also stayed at the park too long and Baby A was ready to be done.  Better planning next time.

My body is craving a run but when I attempted it yesterday morning I found that my neck was still hurting from last Tuesday’s fall.  My half hour massage over the weekend helped a little but I’m sure the full hour I had to cancel when my car was towed would have been even better!  Although impatient to get moving, I’m being gentle with myself and I even tried a POP pilates for beginners video this morning.  It focused on abs, legs and arms.  I could have done without the instructor’s extra commentary but I learned something about form and enjoyed the 28 minute workout.  And nap time is great for finding quick, free workouts on YouTube!

the workouts:  20 miles of city riding over two days, 28 min beginner pilates video

wiggling around

The weather was too nice to get in my car this morning and I had errands to run in the Mission & Noe Valley, so I fastened my pannier rack to the back of my bike and pedaled into the sunshine.
My training schedule said to swim but I figured an easy pedal around the city would be just as good for keeping blood flowing to my muscles after yesterday’s long run. I’m pretty sore today and the thought of running tomorrow or Sunday is a bit daunting. I’ll see how I feel when I wake up tomorrow and go from there.
The bike route from the end of the panhandle to the mission is called The Wiggle. I like riding it because there are usually more bikes than cars and every street has a well marked bike lane.
My morning began in a quasi business meeting at Ritual Coffee- another too-cool-for-you Mission coffe joint, with good coffee.
I then headed up to See Jane Run to save money on a new pair of running shoes (sale happening all weekend!).
By the time I arrived home, my pannier bag was full and I had a shoe box bungeed to the rack. The great thing about carrying everything this way is I don’t have any extra weight on my back!

The workout:
run errands by bike- 12 miles, mostly flat, moderate speed