Hopefully I’ll get the hang of this two-jobs thing and be able to make time to update more than once a week, but here are some thoughts from my first week biking to work:

+ Tuesday: Ow ow ow. Why do I have bones in my butt. WHY. Maybe I should’ve eased into this bike commuting thing a bit more?!

+ Highlight: awkwardly passing another cyclist at the Jackson Square intersection because a car was sticking into the crosswalk. We both weaved a bit and managed to avoid bumping into each other. “Sorry,” she said with a smile. “It’s okay,” I responded. She obviously hadn’t done anything wrong, it was just awkward and we were pleasant about it.

+ I don’t care if you’re so talented that you can ride your bike with no hands while texting (true story) — if you don’t have a helmet on, I’m assuming you’re an idiot. On some level, yeah, you must be an idiot.

+ Wish I had a bell. Wish people used bells more. I get it, you feel like you’re “in control” (especially when you’re not going very fast down a path) but the pedestrians you’re passing could do anything. I almost hit another cyclist because I passed a group of pedestrians to their left and then was moving slowly back to the right side of the path when someone blew past me. A ringing bell would’ve been great at that moment. And I was moving gradually, so this person probably noticed before reaching me that I was moving to the right. Maybe they just figured I was going so slowly that it would not be a problem? My reaction: yikes.

+ A guy passed me in a bike lane, calf muscles like steel cables. Maybe that’ll be me someday.

+ I still can’t make it all the way up my hill. On Friday, three driveways before my street, I stood up to try making it just that much farther and still couldn’t manage. This hill is really steep and big. My favorite story about it is when, not long after moving into my current place, some friends were driving me home at night. We crept up this hill and I said, “Wow, this hill is awful! I’m glad I don’t live on this hill.” Right then we turned onto my street. “Oh.” My friends busted out laughing. Apparently I did live on that hill, I’d just never taken that street up this hill before. Now if I can say that kind of thing in a car, imagine how bad it must be on a bike.

+ I’m not doing this for speed, but I am hoping for some health benefit, so . . . maybe I should work on my diet a little. Eating a slice of pizza, a snickers bar, a cup of coffee and a pancake as a day’s worth of food is not exactly helping my health. Just looking at that list makes me feel gross.

+ I registered for the Mass Commuter Challenge. I think it’s pretty silly but hey — a chance to win bike gear? Sounds good.

+ I added up my commuting miles when I registered: 12 miles round trip. A baby commute! Not too shabby for a beginner, though.