So I having just finished 10 months of training for two half-marathons and one full marathon. There was virtually no time to ride my bike. I have been commuting by bike to work mostly full-time since July of 2009. But since marathon training got into high gear, I "commuted" home by running instead of biking. Sometimes I would take the bus or the "L" part way, but by the end I basically was running the whole way home plus some. Okay, so I did ride home a few times this summer and fall but nothing meaningful. 

What I discovered during this period is how the other 3/4's live, the drivers, the bus people and the L riders. To quote a line from Urine Town: The Musical "it's no way to live I tells ya, no way to live".  The bus drivers have left my neck is in a chronic case of whip lash and I now know how wide I am riding on the Chicago EL with the tiniest seats. On public transportationI feel like a drone or a robot, (not to dis drones or robots) just going through the motion like the rest of the folks. 

I miss the ride in on the LFT, with the regulars, I miss the wind in my face (not really, but it makes for good prose), I miss the freedom and I mostly miss watching the traffic sitting on LSD. I miss being awesome by riding all year long and the expressions on people's face when they see me, a middle-aged woman riding in 15 degrees. Now mind you that is my lower limit.. then I become a drone or robot for one more day.