We’re just going to have a little bike riding club before we know it.

I doubt I’ll get the 300 miles, but I thought I’d just throw it up and there and see how I do. I’d actually be impressed with 150 miles.

It’s 11 miles one way, with lots up hills. I’ve been riding for a while, so the hills didn’t get me.

What did slow me down was a flat tire. I had about 2 miles left to go, and my rear tire went flat. A friend saw me and picked me up so I wouldn’t have to walk the rest of the way.

We’re going to get a new tube (and a spare) at lunch, and I’ll do the repairs here and hit the road for a ride home.

I had a backpack with my laptop, my change of clothes, deoderant (that I’ll be leaving here), and the bladder from my CamelBak. It worked pretty well.

300 miles in a month is a lot. I’m not sure I’ll make that, even with the longer commute than you have. If I ride 2 days per week (8 per month), that’s 176 miles in a month. If I add my regular off-road 20 miles per week, I’ll end the month at 256.

That would leave me short 44 miles (which is suspiciously evenly divisible by 11), so if I rode to work 2 more days per month, I’d hit 300.

I’m not going to start with that goal, but maybe I’ll be able to get there before the end of the summer.

There’s a nice paved trail out here that I think I’ll ride on this weekend. I’m also thinking I’ll ride to a friends house on Saturday when I need to help him load up a truck (he’s moving). That should get me some extra miles… but not the three hundred. Maybe I should find a longer route to work.

Well, my commute is under 4 miles. And it’s mostly downhill coming in to work. I still get sweaty, but not as much as the ride home, when it’s uphill and the temperature is higher.

I bring an extra set of clothes, and have a stick of deodorant in my desk at work. Beyond that, it’s just a ’sink bath’.

However, in the middle of the summer things will be different… I’m not sure how I’m going to handle it. I might just stink all the time.

I’ve been going back and forth on the cycling commute idea. It’s 11 miles for me each way, which isn’t a big deal, but my problem is the whole sweaty thing with a full work day ahead of me. How do you combat the smell?