Paul Petch

Commuting…

So I started a new job today as a project coordinator in a small book publishing house just outside of the city. This is the first job that I’ve had since arriving in Christchurch some 6 months ago that is actually within my field of graphic design. Up to now I’ve taken minimum wage positions and freelanced to keep the bills paid- and the bike porn flowing :) Today was my first day and a characteristic commute of 30 minutes per day that I’d become accustomed to has now grown to 2 hours. Aside from the early rise of 6.30am… It was bloody fantastic.

Yes it was fresh today, but what a great way to start the day… rugged up with the iPod blasting cruising the streets to work.. it does not get any better. As for the return ride, I’ll never tire of how well it clears your head after a day full of deadlines and sitting at a computer. Seeing the usual fat and grumpy drivers sat in queues like lemmings also perks me up no end as I glide past them and through red traffic lights….. I know I should not do it…. but It is a perk of riding a bike!

Anyhow, the single speed is a little under geared for the road so I’ve ordered another Chris King Stainless cog for the rear being a 14 tooth this time and this should fix it. I mean the bike is very capable as it is, but I find that pushing it a few more KM’s outside of the usual 15 minute dash into the city requires a little more “stand up and crank it” action- and running it at 32/ 16 kind of spins. I’m sure that I won’t get there much faster with the new ratio, but It will help me to stretch out the tired legs a little more on the commute. 32/ 14 may still sound a little under geared, but carrying a bloody great backpack that contains a change of clothes, laptop, shoes, waterproofs and my massive lunch (seriously, it is massive :))…. adds some resistance :)

This weeks weather is going to be fine, so hopefully I’ll not be needing the full waterproof gear which has been sitting and waiting for some time now. FINGERS CROSSED :/ I’ll let you know how it goes.

Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates.

Related posts:

1. Interviews, commuting & sweaty stuff
2. Single speed riding – trail rises
3. New Job and full suspension considerations
4. Cruising around Christchurch City
5. Single speeding… is it love?

This entry was posted on Monday, May 26th, 2008 at 5:45 pm and is filed under Bike Stuff and tagged with commuting, single speed. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.