Entries in Life

Plus five excuses not to and why they might not matter as much as you think.

1. High Gas Prices. This one is a gimme. And don’t forget, gas prices are expected to double. Gas at $3.70 is getting people closer into the city to stop using their cars for their commute. When it reaches $7 or $8, people farther out will see a bike as an attractive way to cut costs.
2. Exercise. It is unfortunate, but as our lives become more automated — more time shuffling paper and toggling bits — we become lazier and more sedentary. Humans aren’t designed to sit on their butts all day. They should be out hunting something or working in a field. For those of us who are stuck behind a desk, riding a bike to the desk gives you some exercise every day. The further you live from work, the more exercise you get!
3. Endorphins and a Sense of Accomplishment. Exercise produces endorphins and endorphins make you feel good. I’ve been riding like a madman the past few days and I’ve rarely felt better. It doesn’t hurt that I’m averaging 35 or so miles a day. Looking back, despite whatever else is going on in my life (and, really, my life ain’t that bad), I feel like I’ve really accomplished something most people don’t even try.
4. Discovering Your Neighborhood. It is amazing the things you notice when you slow down. And lets admit it, for most people cycling is going to be slower than driving to work. But it comes with the benefit of finding new and interesting things along the way. Things that you miss completely when you’re going 45+mph. Even if it is only the silly sayings on the bumper of a parked car.
5. Sleep. When you start exercising more, you sleep better. More and better sleep is always helpful. If you have insomnia and you aren’t biking to work, now is the time to start!

Now I can already hear objections, so I think I’ll start with some and my responses.

1. It’s Too Far! How far is too far? I admit I would be hard pressed to make a 20 mile one-way commute every day. But I’m beginning to see that it is possible. If you live in the Northeast US, and you work a sizable distance from where you live, you can probably make part of the trip on a train. But consider how much time you spend behind the wheel. An ABC news poll said “For car commuters, it’s an average of 100 minutes”. 100 minutes! This morning, I rode to my church (12 miles). Driving usually takes 25 minutes — when everything is going smoothly. Biking took about 40 minutes.
2. I hate riding in traffic. It can be scary the first few times. But once you get out there and ride, you will probably see that most motorists respect you and give you a wide berth. I’m usually to the right of the white line, but drivers here still give me half a lane or more when they pass me. Now, I have run into some nasty drivers, but in all my years of riding, I can think of only two or three incidents where there was any real danger from the driver. Most people are decent and will make room for you and your bike.
3. High Gas Prices? I’m Rich! Even if you are rich, most of us could stand to get more exercise.
4. But I already go to the Gym! And let me guess… you drive there, right? How far is it? Why not bike to the gym? Or save your gym fees and bike some more. Just keep in mind that if you’re getting a good upper-body workout, that ain’t gonna happen on a bike.
5. I’ll end up Sweaty at Work. Yes, you might. And it probably won’t matter. Or you might find a way to make it work. Just keep in mind that plenty of people bike to work and they aren’t all pariahs.

In the past 48 hours, I’ve put 75 miles on my bike. I’m hoping for another 30 tomorrow. If I keep this up, I can do 200 a week, easily. I told that it took me 30 years to ride a bike and one of the kids asked what that meant. “Oh, he just means it took him that long to ride using common sense.” Hrm… Not sure I would put it that way… But I’ve been told plenty of times I have no common sense, so maybe there is something to that. In any case, today, for the first time in a while, I wiped out. I took my bike over a guardrail. That sounds more dangerous than it was. I was fiddling with my water bottle and going around a curve. I try to stay as far from the center of the road as possible — usually I’m to the right of the white line. On this particular stretch, the road travels through a bit of woods on the side of a hill and, yep, there is a guardrail. So, with my water bottle fiddling and riding close to the guardrail, I brushed up against it and, after a bit of a struggle to maintain control, went over the guardrail. With my feet in the clips, the bike came with me. And, of course, the water bottle rolled into the road where oncoming traffic hit it and gave it a nice leak.

Hrm… If I’m going to continue posting these OW-related pieces, I should really start up the News blog. In any case, I just confirmed that Login is working again. Let me know ASAP if you find something else broken. And, as I said, in response to ‘s comment on the last status update: I’ve changed all accounts so that they are validated again. I’m really kind of surprised to have anyone outside my friends and family asking me about the OpenWeblog site. It would be really helpful if you could let me know what you use OW for that LJ doesn’t provide.