Gutter bunny is bike slang for a bicycle commuter.  To day was my first bicycle commute for the year, so today I was a gutter bunny.  I commuted by bike several times last year and have mapped out a pretty good route.  It is about fifteen miles long and includes four miles of bike trail.  I waited for daylight and launched towards work at seven this morning.

It was 31 this morning and what snow that remained had refrozen.  In the places along the route where I ride on sidewalks, I had to walk the bike, due to a few icy spots.  This made me think that the four miles of bike path ahead, might not be passable.  I decided to take a different route.

One of the highlights of the morning commute was wheeling my bike across the Parkway, where the walk-light had stopped the morning rush for me.  I felt empowered stopping all those cars.  A cheap thrill, I know, but still a thrill.

I smelled the smell of newly upturned soil, even though there was none.    It smelled like spring was coming.  Less pleasantly, I also smelled a lot of exhaust, but that is part of being a gutter bunny.

The new route took me around the airport and with a following tailwind, I made good time.  I got to work in less then an hour.  Usually it takes 75 minutes.  I checked the bike computer’s odometer.  It showed only eleven miles.  That is a four miles from my usual route.

I worked all day and then mounted the bike for the return trip.  It was 62 out and there was a stiff headwind from the south, ten to fifteen knots.  Rounding the airport was tough.  There was more traffic and I was a lot slower.  The morning’s ice had turned to melt and I had to ride through a lot of run off.  By the time I came to the Parkway it was getting dark.  Traffic there was so backed up that I just rode between the parked cars.

I saw four cyclist in the morning, all commuters, like me.  I saw eight cyclists in the evening.  Sounds like quota to me.  I got eleven miles each way, for a total of 22 miles.

The header for today shows the southern approach of the I-70/I-170 interchange.  This is a normal sight on my automobile commute.  Biking to work makes for a nice change of pace.