The first mile

Today was the first time I rode the new bike. I was having some new tires put on my pickup today so I dropped it off on my way to work, and commuted by bike the rest of the way. I still have the 35mm cyclocross tires on it and flat pedals. The flat pedals were good today, allowing me to ride in work shoes and not having to deal with a shoe change. I noted a few tweaks in seat position that I'll need to do before riding too many miles but other than that it was a good trip....and the bike is new and shiny! ;-)

..........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.........5..............0.............0..........0......... 5
Jan.........474..............0............21..........7.........502
Feb.........530..............0.............0..........0.........530
March.......303..............0.............0..........0.........303
YTD.......1317...............0............21..........7........1345

and an evening PS,
This is from BikePortland.org:
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Off-duty Portland cop allegedly assaulted while biking to work

Posted by Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor) on March 23rd, 2011 at 4:16 pm

A Portland Police Bureau Sergeant who was riding his bike into work yesterday morning was involved in an altercation with a man driving a car that has resulted in the driver being arrested for hit and run and attempted assault.

Here's how it played out according to a PPB press release (emphasis mine):

"Early Tuesday morning March 22, 2011, a Portland Police Sergeant was riding his bike to work eastbound on Northwest Cornell Road when a motorist drove along side of his bike within inches of hitting him while riding. The driver, later identified as 68-year-old Larry Fornshell, passed Sergeant Santos and continued on. When both came into town to a traffic control device, Sergeant Santos rode to the right of Mr. Fornshell's car. Fornshell turned right, into Santos.

Just prior to the intersection of Northwest 25th Avenue and Northwest Lovejoy Street, Mr. Fornshell stopped abruptly. Santos said he had to ride to the left of Fornshell's vehicle into the oncoming traffic lanes to avoid hitting Fornshell's car and slapped Fornshell's vehicle with his hand. When Santos and Fornshell came to the intersection, Fornshell put his vehicle in reverse and attempted to hit Santos on his bike. Santos jumped off of his bike and ran with his bike to the sidewalk. Fornshell then hit Santos' bike as he was holding onto it. Santos jumped out of the way to avoid being struck and Fornshell left the scene of the crash. Santos remembered the license plate number from the vehicle and called 911."

By yesterday evening, the police had found and arrested Fornshell for Hit and Run and Attempted Assault. Investigators are looking for witnesses who might have seen the incident at NW 25th and Lovejoy. If you saw anything, please contact Det. Kevin Warren at (503) 823-3761.
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Wow. An off duty cop riding a bike slaps a menacing car with his hand and the driver then attempts to run the cop over and proceeds to flee the scene. The driver is charged with hit and run.

When I did something very similar I was charged with criminal mischief, and the driver who did more damage than the guy in the above story got away with it.

I guess I should have been a cop instead. Equal justice gets a bit of a leg up in some cases.