…back on the bike… October 2, 2007

…so I rode the bike home from work last Thursday (yes, it has been in my office for the last month), then let my knee rest over the weekend. Everything seemed to hold up great, so I’m back to riding the bike to/from work. Rode it to/from yesterday, and rode it in this morning. Feels great to ride again. Of course, I have to fight to lose the weight that I put on while resting my knee.

In other news, I recently ordered the Arkel Briefcase pannier. That should make for getting things around at work easier. I usually commute with a trunk bag on the back, and a pair of Arkel T28’s on the front. Normally I don’t need the T42’s. However, it would occasionally be helpful to have just a little more room, and the briefcase should fit the bill nicely. I’ll post a review in the next couple weeks.

In other other news, I’ve upgraded to bibs. Yep, first it was spandex shorts, and now bibs. I must say that they are worth the extra money over the padded shorts I was wearing. So far, the only issue I have is when I had to take an emergency #2 bathroom break. I had to take my shirt off to drop the bibs! They are still worth the hassle. Oh, and I feel faster 🙂

In other other other news… I am thinking about planning my trip to Maui. One teensy problem… the state of Hawaii is totally dicking around with the new inter-island ferry. The protesting is malicious. They could have protested anytime the last five or more years while the company went through all the hassle of getting approval to conduct business in Hawaii, and getting all the environmental surveys done, and developing a plan to conduct business with minimum impact on the environment. Instead, they apparently waited until the Super Ferry started running, and protested by blocking the path and getting a judge to suspend operations, resulting in people leaving their vehicles on other islands.

There is more information on the www.superferry.com site, and in this article written by Senator Sam Slom. I’d write more, but I just get pissed off. The inter-island ferry is just what the islands need, and they are crapping on their opportunity.

Also keeping me from seriously considering a bike ride on Maui is the cost of using the Super Ferry. Here is the booking broken down:

Can you believe the prices!?!? I have to pay $30 for a fuel surcharge for me and my bike to walk onto the ferry and ride it to Maui and back. $30 just for fuel! What is the fare paying for? Why so much money? Are they not interested in being competitive with the airlines? The cost is ridiculous. If the protesters get the Super Ferry to shut down, then the taxpayers are on the hook for $40 million in bonds. Doesn’t this mean that the Super Ferry has $40 million guaranteed over some period of time? Then why do they need to charge so much? Ahhhh…

Anyway, I’m happy to be back on the bike, still looking at building a Surly Long Haul Trucker, haven’t got around to building the perfect bike light yet, and have too many projects going on…

…but I’m riding…