Bike Commuting 098
Ah, the perils and joys of bike commuting, all year around, books can and should be written about them. When the job went away and gasoline hit 3.80, it was peddle power for this fella.
This was a challenge and one of the largest lifestyle changes for me. Starting to bike commute at a time when most men are beginning to have wide guts and new cars was first and foremost..awkward. The US has social expectations about where men should be in terms of their transportation at stages in their lives, one is to have a new car and the debt that comes along with it, the other is the unsaid of “bikes are for preteens not grown men”. That is not to say women do not have such societal pressures, for example “have a child by the time you are 30”, that however, is a digression.
Bike commuting in the mountains when one is 40 pounds overweight at the time meant a traditional road bike is also out of the question. For those wondering “road bike” is the new way to describe a ten speed. This meant a steel framed hybrid which is somewhere between a road bike and a ten speed, such as wider tires then a road bike but thinner tires then a mountain bike. Several gears were also a must, the single speed bikes are just brutal to deal with on a half mile climb, up the mountain side.
A couple of must haves on a bike commuting rig:
-Front light, these are required in all 50 states
-Fenders, without them riding in even the lightest of rain is an adventure in suck
-Rear luggage rack, the more you can comfortably carry the more useful your rig is.
-Tools
-Air pump or tank
-Spare tubes and tires
-Gloves, your hands will go numb if you ride far enough.
I consider a helmet optional, as in your choice. It has been my experience that one either knows what one is doing, or you do not, a helmet is no substitute. On a bike not only should you consider that you are responsible for you, but also for bad drivers.
The drawbacks
-Societal pressure, believe me when I say this is a fact in my town
-Time, it does take longer and you will make less trips (and save money by not making them
-You will get hot and sweaty
The benefits
-Save money, lots of it.
-Health benefits, literally I now am in the best shape I've been in since the late 1990's and soon will weigh the same as I did in High School
-Scenery, this is so true, in a car there is no time to appreciate your surroundings, on a bike you hear the birds, feel the cool of the morning, appreciate how steep or flat the road or bike trail is laid out.
-Meet more people, there is a sort of bike commuting club usually with very diverse interests but with a love for riding.
Bike commuting is not for everyone, you will meet those who believe everyone should bike commute and you will meet some who are not thrilled you are riding on the road who make their displeasure known. It requires commitment and focus, the payoff in terms of financial, physical and spiritual is high, however the physical work, the societal pressure and inefficiency are also factors.
If one wishes to try it, by all means, do so, and find a bike that fits you and ride the thing on a schedule to get used to riding. Ride on roadways to get the feel for traffic, lighter traffic is better at first as it takes time to learn to use an intersection with a red light on a bike. Which is the difference between a preteen riding and an adult bicycle commuting. A kid on a bike is sort of messing around, an adult on a bike in a roadway is seriously traveling and is more akin to a car with peddles.
