Day 5: Riding all around on the Metro

I will ride the bus everywhere I need to go today. Yesterday, I had my first bus ride in years, but it almost got off on the wrong foot. As I stepped onto the Metro in downtown Moline, the driver, sensing I was a "newbie," asked if I was going east.

"Yes! I mean, no!" I said.

She reassured me that the westbound "30 Green" would be arriving momentarily. (Her bus was the eastbound 30 Green.)

Sure enough, moments later my bus arrived and I was on my way to a doctor's appointment at Trinity Medical Center West Campus in Rock Island.

The bus was running a few minutes late, but the driver made up for it and we arrived at Trinity on time. After my appointment, I had a quick lunch at the hospital and then hopped on the eastbound 30 Green, feeling like an old pro.

Total time for my round-trip -- including time for the doctor and lunch -- came to just under two hours. Had I driven myself, I would have shaved off probably a half hour.

But driving, I could not have safely had the following text conversation with wife:

Me: I'm on the bus!

My wife: Are there any bullies?

Well, you get the idea.

And there were no bullies. Many of the people who ride the bus are quite friendly -- and the regulars all know each other. I was the new guy, the curiosity -- the guy writing notes on little scraps of paper and looking all around like he'd just dropped in from another planet.

I had ridden my bike to work Tuesday morning, a somewhat frustrating ride due to a stiff headwind -- which I seem to have no matter which direction I travel. Not wanting to arrive to work a big sweat-ball, I took the ride slow and did not push myself -- even after being passed by a young whippersnapper co-worker of mine (although the competitive streak in me REALLY wanted to chase him down, yell, "Ha-ha!" and then have a heart attack).

For the ride home, however, I decided to "bike and bus." So, at 5:45 p.m. I sat nonchalantly at the bus stop, let 30 Green eastbound go on its merry way and waited for 30 Green westbound to arrive. Before boarding, I put my bike on the rack in front of the bus (Jeff Cornelius of QC TAG had shown me how to do this last Saturday during the Alternative Transportation Week kick-off.)

I must say, the ride home, with my bike leading the way and me relaxing inside the bus, is the best way to go uphill with one's bike. At the Rock Island Hy-Vee I got off the bus, retrieved my bike and pedaled the remaining seven-tenths of a mile home.

Today, because of the forecast of heavy rains, I will ride the bus everywhere -- to work, to another doctor's appointment (I'm OK. Really!), back to work and then home again. I'll make my first bus transfer today, too.

In planning all of my bus travels, I have been using Metro's transit planner beta Web site, which uses Google maps. It is really cool and really easy and really helpful. Quad-Citians -- particularly those who have never ridden the bus before -- will love it when the site goes live.

Miles traveled by bike on Tuesday: 6.1
Miles traveled by bus on Tuesday: 14
Total miles, Days 1-4, via bike, bus and foot: 48.7
Total miles, Days 1-4, via car: 0