The first commute ride with the new Marin Bobcat went absolutely great. Especially since I’m not in shape for it any more.

The only problem is that it was not only the first, but the last, commute ride to grad school. I had to defer my enrollment for a year (« see the entry on the Teach journal for the gory details ») due to my very-messed-up wrist tendons. Sounds minor, but the pain is major, as is the damage that I’m doing to them by continuing to use them in bad ways (like writing this entry instead of resting them).

For now, my biking will have to be confined to pleasure excursions around the neighborhood, making sure not to spend too much time or pressure on the wrists.

But oh, that first ride. It was a total joy to ride the Bobcat. I managed the route in about ten minutes (which is slow, of course, but hey, I haven’t done this in years). The weather was good and the best part was how I was able to ride right up to the front door of the School of Ed; no worrying about parking or paying, just lock the thing up and go inside. Even though it takes longer from door-to-door, the time to get in the door is much shorter, so the commute actually ends up being shorter and less stressful.

Going home was just as nice; no walking blocks to the car or paying $7 to the garage. Just downstairs, unlock it and go home.

The only problem was the fiery pain in my arms. The next morning, after weighing all the factors, I very reluctantly decided to defer grad school for a year and my bicycle commuting was nipped in the very expensive bud after a single day.

As they say, life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans. It’s one of those things. I have a physical therapy session scheduled Wednesday and hope that they don’t ban me from the bike entirely.

In the meantime, I’ll still hit the road as often as I can. The Bobcat is just too beautiful and smooth (and expensive) to sit idly in the living room.