Commute Report - Supplemental

I am a creature of habit, which is a folksy way of saying I have OCD. Since we moved to our new office in August, I have been reluctant to change my route which I have been doing since the beginning. If it ain't broke, right? I have always gotten to work much earlier than I have needed to. Since it is a new year, I have decided to switch things up a bit. With the workload we have had lately, getting to work as early as I do makes me end up in quite a state of exhaustion by the end of the day. I decided to sleep an extra half hour, leave a half hour later, and see how it works out. I figure just a half hour, the sun won't be that high and in my eyes at that time of day, at least this time of year. Traffic will be heavier, but not significantly more than what I currently face. I will still arrive at work 90 minutes prior to my actual start time, but one step at a time.

After the first week of riding in 30 mins. later than before, I haven't noticed a significant difference. Wednesday seemed particularly busy, but I think that Wednesday generally is the busiest traffic day of the week. The one thing that made me slightly reluctant to change is that I think after awhile, when the same people see you every morning, it gives them a feeling of familiarity, as if they know you, therefore being slightly more careful since they see you as a human being and not an obstacle. Overall though, I think the early morning commuters are for the most part more courteous than drivers later in the day.

Another thing I have changed is I have broken down and purchased a reflective vest. For a time I was wearing an Amphipod Xinglet, kind of a harness looking affair, or as one co-worker was constantly referring to it, "day-glow suspenders." But after a couple of years, the reflective material was mostly worn off and the color was mostly faded, rendering them useless, although I continued to wear it for a time out of habit. Lately I have been wearing a Pearl Izumi vest that I have, that is mostly meant to repel wind and water. The problems that I have with the PI vest are: 1. The only reflective area is a small logo on the back. It is hi-vis during the day, but not so much when the sun goes down. 2. Since its main purpose is to somewhat resist wind and rain, it can be a little warm on the wintry 72-degree days we have been having, therefore making my Smartwool shirt a little hard (as in "I could probably stand it up on a table as if someone was wearing it").

So I figured that since I am now sporting a glasses-mounted Take a Look mirror, there is nothing I could possibly wear that could make me look dorkier than I currently do, so I went out and got the vest.

I have mentioned before that my current route consists of much heavier and faster-moving traffic than before, so I have taken extra measures to make myself more visible without going completely over the top (flashing lights attached to various appendages, reflective material affixed to every square inch of person and bike).

I will have to see how I end up liking the vest, but if it helps me avoid HSS (hard shirt syndrome), then it is worth putting up with the dork factor.