When I left my job in downtown Portland, one of my former co-workers asked me if I missed riding my bike into work everyday. I answered honestly.

“Nope.”

Why would I want to make a 3 mile commute to a place that completely stressed me out? Truth be told, on most days my ride into work was the only part of the workday that I enjoyed. That tended to make the whole bike commuting thing a little bittersweet.

Besides, leaving that job to start my own company meant that I got to make decisions about when and how I rode. And I was ready and willing to trade the measly ride to work for a mid-day excursion out to Forrest Park or a late afternoon journey into the southwest hills.

And yet despite all that handy rationale, I actually did start to miss riding to work after a while. Especially in the last few weeks, when fall is threatening to sneak in, and “cyclocross” is suddenly on every tongue, everywhere.

For the last two weeks I’ve been hauling, moving, and shuffling so much that I’ve been forced to drive the CRV into work just so I can bring another load of crap to the office, or go return rental equipment from the party during lunch.

But not today.

Today I pulled the Poprad out, strapped on my Ortlieb backpack, and rocked my egg-beaters all the way down Ankeny. It’s still only a three mile commute, and I prefer to ride when the weather gets a little more blustery, but let me tell you – it felt good to be back.

Bonus? Forrest Park after work.

SnarkyPants rides again!

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