A Bike Commuter Again

Posted by Dottie at 21:04 commute diary Add comments
Oct 272009

I have not been a “bike commuter” for the past two months, merely a girl who rides her bike everywhere.  On Monday I started a new job (nothing exciting – a 3 week contract attorney position) and rejoined the hardy ranks.

Wet vintage dress and shoes, new legwarmers

Wet vintage dress, necklace made by Melissa (thanks!), messy garage

I overdressed for the 49 degree temperature this morning, and pulled over midway to remove my wool cardigan and over gloves, leaving me in the outfit pictured above.  I sported my new silk/wool blend legwarmers and glove liners from Winter Silks (thanks for the tip, EA!) and both performed very well, keeping me warm and dry but not sweaty. This is my first pair of legwarmers since the early ’80s. I love them – so easy to remove when I get to work. I was happy to have the extra layers and my raincoat for the chilly and wet ride home, though as you can see I put my raincoat on a bit late.

Silk-Wool Legwarmers Over Wool Tights

Silk-wool legwarmers over wool tights, vintage shoes

Now that the days are getting shorter, both the morning and evening commutes were in the dark.

City Lights

City Lights

The morning ride was quite nice – there’s not much traffic before 7 and drivers are always better in the mornings. Has anyone else noticed this? I was thinking about it today and realized that I’ve never been honked at or had any negative experience with a driver in the morning.

I met up with Mr. Dottie for the ride home, but unfortunately it was kinda crappy. We had to ride straight through the Loop (core of downtown) in the dark in the rain surrounded by heaps of insane cab and bus drivers. Not fun. I’m happy to be back in the action, though!

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  • http://www.dfwptp.blogspot.com Steve A

    I hope your feet stayed dry. Wet feet are the worst!

  • http://thechaicyclist.blogspot.com spiderleggreen

    First pic looks kind of spectral. Just in time for Halloween? Is that pic after your ride in rain?

    Leg warmers and the 80′s. Together again! ;)

    I suppose you’re right about late afternoon drivers.

    • http://letsgorideabike.wordpress.com dottie

      Ha, yeah, like I’m going to look up and go “RAWR!” I was just looking down at my mess of a wet dress. This was after the ride in the rain.

      • http://thechaicyclist.blogspot.com spiderleggreen

        I got the spectral idea before I was informed about the rain. Before then it looked like something odd was going on with the dress. Add the glowing tires, plus my vivid imagination and a ghostly apparition thus appeared.

        But seriously, the outfit looks like it held up to the rain pretty good. :)

  • Joe Smith

    Lawyer, eh? I ride in to Seyfarth from time to time. I keep on looking for you on the lake front path. I’ll be the guy waving like a fool. Stay dry!

  • http://bicycling.blogspot.com Beany

    Congratulations on your contract position!

    I personally love the shoes.

  • http://www.slowbikemiami.com Daniel M. Perez (Slow Bike Miami)

    Congrats. I’m kinda hoping I can join the ranks of the working stiffs sometime soon. Here’s hoping. I’m fairly sure I’ll join the bike commuters come the new year once I start at university again!

  • miss sarah

    A woman of leisure, no more!

    Well, at least not for the next 3 weeks:) Go hard.

    S*

  • http://freckleddiaries.typepad.com Catherine

    I’m getting nervous because some shake-ups at work (loooong story having nothing whatsoever to do with me even though I’ll be affected) may leave my contract (over as of Jan 1 2010) unrenewed! Then I get the triple whammy of leaving a job i ADORE, becoming job-less and losing a kickass bike commute :(

    That’s all to say: Congrats on the new position and I am getting an acute sense of how stressful all that is!

  • http://www.dfwptp.blogspot.com Steve A

    Up until September, I’d have endorsed Dottie’s sentiment about morning commutes having nicer motorists. However, since starting to actually keep track, all honks have been in the morning. Maybe DST has something to do with it. Either way, it takes a lot of time & miles to build up a solid trend.

  • http://www.pedalandcoast.blogspot.com Sox

    Thank you! for supplying the link to the warm & fuzzy silk site. I’m always looking for ways to keep warm.

  • http://www.pedalandcoast.blogspot.com Sox

    And I am forgetting my manners. Congratulation on your new contract. One often leads to another.

  • http://imaginarybicycle.blogspot.com/ Emma J

    You look elegant – wet dress or no. Wonderful news about the job.

  • http://www.bikecommuters.com Ghost Rider

    Welcome back…but it can be argued that you never left the ranks of bike commuters. I mean, if you’re using your bike for transportation, who cares whether you’re actually going to a job, right?

  • http://cyclinmissy.blogspot.com Cyclin’ Missy

    First of all, congratulations on the job – even if it’s temporary. More will come!

    Second, I LOVE leg warmers. I still have a pair that I wore in dance class when I was younger. I also knitted a pair a few years ago. Then a couple weeks ago, I found a super long pair online that I fell in love with. They can go all the way up your legs with some to spare for the fun looking bunches at the bottom. Seriously…they are 40 inches long! I think this website will earn more purchases from me with their super cute stuff, reasonable prices and free shipping.

    http://www.sockdreams.com/_shop/pages/accessories_cat_CategoryID_71.php

    I love your shoes in that pic, too. They go great with the dress.

  • http://www.bikecommuters.com/2009/05/26/so-many-bikes-biking-the-drive/ E A

    Glad the silk/wool leg warmers and glove liners are working out! :-) I’ve got the leg warmers on my wish list this year. When the weather dips into the 30s and below, I also like the silk base layers from Winter Silks and LL Bean.

    Finally a dry commuting day today.. ;-)

  • http://nbbb.wordpress.com Johnny

    Congrats on the new job! :)

  • Richard

    I like the reflective tires – pimp’n!

  • Sid

    I love that shot on the lakefront. Since you posted some of those lake path photos earlier this year, I’ve been taking the path home every night instead of Lincoln Avenue. Adds a little distance to the commute (which isn’t bad, either), but I really have been enjoying the ride much more.

    Thank you for the inspiration.

    • http://www.rideofsilence.org/chicago E A

      I still take Lincoln Ave… usually I just prefer to avoid the winds off the lake and then the congestion of navigating from the lake to my place. BUT… could be time for a change… Maybe it would be more inspiring. :-)

      • Sid

        Yeah, the winds can be rough some days but it makes for a great workout, and now that the temps have dropped a bit it is also way less congested than in the summer. Hopping back into traffic to make my way west to my apartment does suck a bit, but I feel at least a little better rolling past all the cars stacked up in traffic along the way. I’d suggest trying it at least once a week when the winds are cooperating and you aren’t in a hurry. Otherwise I’ll just catch you on Lincoln in the morning!

        • http://www.rideofsilence.org/chicago E A

          You know — the past two nights I’ve used the path and loved it! :-) I just need to keep experimenting alternate routes west.
          Hope we cross paths soon.

  • http://midwestmigrant.blogspot.com Edward Lark

    Congrats! (And welcome back to the commute.)

  • http://dancinggypsies.blogspot.com/ ms. elle

    Yay! Congrats, Dottie:)

  • http://www.stevevance.net/planning Steven Vance

    Speaking of honking and respectful drivers, I’ve noticed that on weekends (mainly Friday and Saturday), there are more drivers who don’t turn on their headlights. I. don’t. understand. this.

    I don’t know what safety feature on a car is more important than headlights. I guess a seatbelt when you have a collision because you didn’t have headlights on. Is there another meaning to this? Is it a criminal behavior, like is it sending a message to other motorists without headlights?

  • http://sheridesabike.com Karen

    What a great night shot of Chicago. Pure glamour! I love the legwarmers. I think I need some ear warmers. The cold fall mornings this week in Flag are not for the wimpy.

  • Scott

    Have you tried a rain cape?

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