This really is better

So I didn't ride at all this past weekend. Didn't feel great about that, but there was much tv to watch and one rather cute baby to play with.

Anyway, since I spend most of my day out on site thinking about the next bike ride, I thought I'd try to do a comparison between driving and riding to work. Keep in mind that riding takes an hour each way, so that's two hours that I need to make up, exercise-wise. Here goes:

Bike
5:30 a.m. Wake up, sort out bike, wash up, get a little something to eat. No shower. (Clothes and gear have been laid out the night before. This is a huge help.)
6 a.m. Leave
7 a.m. Arrive at office
7:15 a.m. Cleaned up from ride, some snack, working.
+9 hours
4:15 p.m. leave
5:15 p.m. Arrive at home, shower, eat
5:45 p.m. Ready for evening

Car (assuming same wake time)
5:30 a.m. Wake up, shower, eat
6:15 a.m. Leave
6:45 a.m. Arrive at office
+9 hours
3:45 p.m. leave
4:15 p.m. Arrive at home, change, leave for two-hour workout at gym. (This is definitely the worst part ... go home, say hi to the kid, then be like, ok, well, I'll be back in two more hours.)
4:25 p.m. Start workout at gym
6:25 p.m. End of two-hour workout
6:35 p.m. Leave gym, go home to shower (again) and change, eat.
7 p.m. Ready for evening

Notice there are two showers with the car. Even if you took out the first one to make things completely equal, I'd still be ready for the evening (car-wise) at about 6:45 p.m. So although the actual traveling time via bicycle is an extra half hour each way, the workout portion is benefiting me.

The other nice thing is that it simply forces me to workout. When you get home via car, you can always find an excuse not to go to the gym. Bam, that's a two-hour workout down the drain. It's also insanely easier for me to leave a lot earlier in the morning since Maria and Asim are asleep anyway. It's the time in the evening that I need to maximize.

In other news, Maria went driving again last night. There is a lot less screaming now and more coaching and instructing. I want her to have some sound fundamentals in car control before we move onto identifying signs and navigating around the suburbs. We have yet to go over the in-car comfort controls (AC, radio) but first things first -- keep the car going down the center of the lane. At some point she'll get more comfy with the speed and direction so that she can see what else is around, check out obstacles, identify other cars coming and going and where pedestrians might lurk.