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Day’?s Verse:
He who despises his neighbor sins,
But blessed is he who is kind to the needy.
Proverbs 14:21
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Yesterday I pioneered a Whole New Ride! As you can see in the map below, I got off the train at Westborough and rode to our apartment in 40 minutes, with copious sweating. I have started this new 10-mile route as part of training to ride directly from work to home without hurting myself. It involves a couple good, solid hills that make me earn my keep, which will be good training for my 20-mile one-way commute from Worcester to Marlborough. Also, doing something different keeps me awake and enjoying the ride.

I enjoyed the ride even more because on Sunday I had my bike professionally fitted to me. This process involved lots of plumb-bobs, angle-measuring devices, and sweat. It also included measuring my butt size, my leg-length — which showed that my legs are two different lengths, suggesting an explanation as to why one of my knees has started hurting on longer rides — and my shoe size. The fitter adjusted my seat down and forward, tilted my handlebars up, and fitted me with clip-in shoes. She convinced me to buy what are oddly known as clipless pedals and shoes, the kind where your shoes attach directly to your pedals. I spent much of our fitting and quite a bit of time afterwards practicing getting in and out of the pedals without falling over. When I bought them, I asked for the ones that were easiest to get out of, and sure enough, disengaging could hardly be easier with the pedals she sold me. Clipping in is taking me much longer to master. Three rides later, I can’t imagine why I didn’t switch sooner! I love clipping in; the extra power is great, and it also keeps my feet in one position, preventing my ankles from flopping all over the place. With the bike adjustments and new shoes, things are definitely looking up in bike-commuting land.

Update (1 Aug 07): I need one of these. Seriously.