Monday, April 30, 2007

The first post

A journey of a thousand miles begins with one turn of the pedals.

So also a journey of a thousand words begins with a single keystroke.

Welcome to Bike Medford. Hopefully, you've stopped by because you're either a kindred spirit, braving the concrete and asphalt jungle that is the road system in Medford; or you're curious about what sort of person takes his life in his own hands every day as he makes his way to work.

Either way, welcome. You'll find here, in these pages, a chronicle of my experiences with commuting by bicycle. Some posts will be what I've learned, some will be rants, some will be helpful advice, some will be routes, and still others will be about advocacy, since, in my opinion, Medford can use quite a bit more.

For starters, here's a little about me. I currently live at the north side of Medford, almost to White City, around near the Hertz Car Sales on Crater Lake Ave. I commute to school at Rogue Community College Table Rock Campus on Ave. C in White City (a distance of about 5.7 miles one way), and to work at Providence Medical Center (about 2.5 miles one way). I realize for all you old-time cyclecommuters out there that this isn't really a long distance, but it is a starting point.

This will be my third summer commuting to work, my second commuting to school (although the first was to Riverside Campus in Downtown Medford), and my first in all-weather. I have recently upgraded my vehicle to include fenders so I can ride more, even in rain.

Currently, I'm riding a Cannondale Adventure 400 hybrid touring bicycle with a rear rack, trunk bag and panniers.

For the pictures that I take, I'm using a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT 8.1 megapixel digital SLR camera. This is a learning experience about both photography and bicycling.

Feel free to look around a little. There's not much here yet, but there will be.