I’ve taken the last few months off from bicycle commuting due to injuries and moving into a new apartment. But I’m happy to say that I made the first ride to the office from my new location this morning - in 98% humidity.

There’s no “right” bike for commuting, personally I use a Redline Conquest cyclocross bike because it’s built tougher than a regular road bike and has a more relaxed geometry (luckily mine is green and not that horrible blue/white color!). The only modification I’ve made to it is throwing on a set of 23mm road slicks to replace the standard 35mm ‘cross tires. Although, the pavement on McCommas is in such poor condition that the wider, knobbier tires would have been much more comfortable: they ride at 70 PSI instead of 120 PSI like the slicks.

I carry my clothing, tools, and miscellaneous gear in a messenger bag although I’m hoping to upgrade it to a Chrome Metropolis in the very near future.

My old location was so far from the office that I would ride 9 miles to the DART station and then take the train all the way to downtown, after which I’d hop back on the bike and beat the train to the RD2 office.

Fortunately, my new apartment is so much closer that I could ride to the office in the same 9 miles and avoid the train completely. I decide to opt for safety, however, so my overall route is just a bit over 13.5 miles. I chose my new place based on its close proximity to White Rock Lake, and I definitely make use of it on my route. It’s very calming to look out over the water for a few miles and not have to worry too much about traffic; the road is only really used by other cyclists at that time in the morning.

There’s several good climbs on the way in, but once I hit the Katy Trail it’s smooth downhill sailing! I can’t wait to ride back home and tackle it all from the other direction.