bike tuesday

Hi there--I'm still here, just working away on some end of term assignments.
We had a brisk, crisp, morning and really beautiful, spring-like afternoon today.
And my bike commute was fantastic both ways.
It seemed impossible, when I was in the phase of not-bike-commuting, to imagine how much I would enjoy it. All I could envision was cold, stress, and inconvenience.

Well, it's not like that at all.
Every time I start biking again after a break from it, I can't believe how good it feels, and I marvel that I manage to forget that fact. The truth is that I really look forward to my commute. I arrive at work feeling invigorated, and arrive home feeling calm (I ride a little faster in the morning).

And worries of inconvenience--pshaw.
I bike in skirts and (water-resistant) knee-high boots, no problem. With pants, I keep a pair of nicer shoes at work and switch them out when I arrive (it rains a lot here). I have gloves (actually Minou's), and one of those cute little black biking caps (from p'tit minou un) that goes under the helmet (this is important, because otherwise my old helmet leaves a big red indentation on my forehead, and everyone at work says "OH MY GOSH, WHAT HAPPENED?" for 20 minutes until it fades).
I also have an over-the-shoulder satchel to carry lunch, papers, a book, etc.

If you don't bike commute yet, give it a try! Start small. Just do it once. You might get hooked.

simple saturday bike update

Here we are, Saturday again. I thought it was a good time for an update on my biking to work goal.
I'm happy to report that I rode my bicycle all five days this past week.
Also happy to share that I really, really enjoyed it.

It's calming. Invigorating. Refreshing. A transition between home and work. Exercise.
It got easier to organize myself as I went through the week.

Gear:
I have a pair of biking gloves and a little black cloth cap that goes under the helmet.
I have a pair of used rain pants and a water-resistant windbreaker.
I have a battery-operated strong front light, and a blinking back red light.
I had to buy batteries for my front light this week, since I have misplaced one of  our rechargeables.
Darn it! But then I was glad that I did buy them, because I worked late and rode home at dusk one day.

I now leave my work shoes at work (those new/used Dansko low heels), and wear running shoes while biking. This is easier than carrying shoes back and forth. I dress in layers and have an over-the-shoulder messenger bag for lunch, reading materials, etc. Minou may eventually put a basket on the back of my bike.

I found a small shortcut, a couple of alleyways and a different turn that makes it easier to cross a busy street. Sometimes I go around the hill if I'm tired or trying not to get sweaty.
What used to be a 20 minute ride is now 15.

Where I used to work, there was an exterior rack, so I always carried a U-lock. a cable for the front tire, and a plastic bag to cover the seat when it was raining. My office building now has both a covered bike cage out back and a secure bike room with hooks. I use the room, so I can just wheel the cycle in and not even worry about locking it up (sometimes I don't even hoist it up to the hook). It's great!

So weekly bicycle summary: 30 minutes of active transport exercise for five days, and at least 20 miles driving saved, maybe more.

Do you ever use active transport?
How, where, and when?

...and another thing....

Today's post (which I actually wrote last night) was timely, because I woke up to a grey, drizzly morning and wet clothes on the clothesline.

I did get on my bike and set out to work, but a couple of miles into my ride I was done with riding in the rain, unless I could acquire some little windshield wipers for my glasses.

So, I stopped downtown, wheeled my bike onto the rapid transit bus, and mulled over why the hefty $130 felt like such a good investment for this frugal mama. I usually hate spending money (every dollar spent is a dollar not going into the Roth IRA), but I feel well satisfied supporting my local transit company.

I'm investing in my community. Not only helping the environment, but helping keep the bus company afloat with my fees. If enough customers subscribe, it keeps rates low and routes open for non-driving populations who depend on public transportation: youth, the elderly, disabled riders, and low-income people.

here's what I need!
image source: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6640379.html

bus pass

I just spent $130 dollars on something that I haven't used yet. What is it?
I bought a 3 month bus pass!

It felt like a lot of money up front, but it's a good investment in keeping my lifestyle car-light. At an average of $33 dollars monthly, it's still less expensive than one tank of gas. My health center just moved to a (beautiful) new site about 5-6 miles from my home. It's a great bike ride when the weather is good and the days are long. There's even a changing room and a shower at work if I get sweaty on the way. However....come the rainy, early fall evenings and mornings, I know I won't be so eager to wheel out my bike.

So, the bus pass gives me options, while providing incentive not to request a ride from Minou (we're a one car family, so he as the official p'tit minou-chauffeur has first dibs on the vehicle). After all, I paid for it, so I need to get some use out of it. The rapid-transit bus runs from the city center (about 2.5 miles from my home) right past the health center.

Having a bike and a bus pass allows for all sorts of alternative transportation combinations. I can bike downtown, hop onto the rapid transit line, then bike home. I can walk downtown to the bus station and then take the bus to work and back. I've even thought about jogging to work, then taking the bus home in the evening. The possibilities are good for my waistline, wallet, heart...and endless!

Monday Update

Hello everyone! I'm still here.

A combination of working away at completing a big academic project (why, oh why do I still procrastinate..?) and feeling a little shy about having readers (besides my family) visiting my blog thanks to the Minimalist Mom shout-out have contributed to my silence this week.

But it's time to break that and step out.

Biking to work has been going pretty well. I believe in setting myself up for success ( a hard-learned lesson), so my stated goal is to bike at least twice a week--and doing more when possible. Last week, I biked on Monday, despite the rain. I'm set up with rain pants, rain jacket, and visor on my helmet--all I need are little windshield wipers for my glasses. And, seriously, budgeting a little more time. Because of poor visibility (frequent glasses-wiping stops) and longer braking distances, I go much more slowly in the rain. Friday, the rain had finally stopped, and I found myself really looking forward to cycling home through the beautiful wide green fields next to the river (my commute is glorious this time of year).

We finished the Business Commuter Challenge week at work, and I gave what I hope was an appropriate shout-out to the 12 courageous coworkers who participated. As a group, we prevented over 250 lbs of CO2 release into the atmosphere! Prizes and coupons were also distributed.

(Notice to self for next year: none of the people who I persuasively talked in to signing up actually participated--they were honest with me about their other priorities and schedule complications being a barrier).

For this week...

1) finish this project.
2) continue winnowing down my own possessions (wardrobe this week). Empty space is calling.
3) get the garden planted (Minou and I cleared out the beds yesterday).
4) Run. I dreamed about it last night. It's been two weeks. I miss it.

What are your plans and goals for the week?

commute challenge update

Yahoo!

I filled in at a different (more centrally located) health center for a few hours this morning, where I was able to proselytize discuss the benefits of participating in the Business Commute Challenge and walking, biking, busing or carpooling to work with other coworkers (one Nurse Practitioner who lives in the country told me that her husband bikes two hours into town sometimes! Now that's dedication).

At this center, I was excited to hand out 8 free day transit passes for this week, and a bike flat tire fix coupon to a cyclist. And someone said "Wow--you mean I can win prizes and get coupons for something that I'm already doing anyway?"

Why, yes!
On another note, I have now cycled 20 miles instead of driving this week. I feel fitter already.

And on yet another note--I was inspired by the perseverance of a coworker who quit smoking two months ago and is feeling better, sounding less husky, and doing great. I am constantly amazed by our human capacity to change and adapt and overcome adversity.

Speaking of which, I have a large and looming project to work on for the rest of my day off.

Hope you have a lovely day--what are you up to? Do tell...

mitzvah monday

mitzvah (noun): a good deed, a charitable or meritorious act
I'm not sure that this week's act is really a mitzvah...
...but I want to think of it that way, rather than arm-twisting monday.

I'm going to loosely define the mitzvah monday concept as something that I did during the week meant to benefit someone or something else. Some contribution to the greater good.

Which then benefits me with warm fuzzy feelings as well.

Bringing me to the concern over this week.

I signed up to be team captain for a citywide commuter challenge at my worksite. The idea is to promote alternate transportation, anything other than solo driving, for civic and environmental reasons. Of course active transport has great health benefits too (plus it's fun).

I received a nifty blue t-shirt, some incentive coupons to give out for chocolate and bike flat fixes, free day passes to distribute to colleagues for the bus, a calender of special events for the week, a bus schedule, and a map of all the local bike trails and best streets for walker-bikers.

It turns out that most of my (wonderful!) coworkers have pretty complicated lives. Many of them juggle more than one job, or go to school, or have children who need to be dropped off various places. They are rushing all over town, and don't have a lot of extra time for this challenge--and it does take extra time to bike, bus, walk, or coordinate schedules with someone else.

They have all graciously listened to me, and entertained the notion of trying to get to work in a different manner if possible, and I helped one person figure out which buses she could take and another to brainstorm how to make the rapid transit work with her schedule.

 But I feel a bit like the zealous convert that everyone inwardly groans at (I saw the look in one coworker's eye that I know I get when someone asks me if I know Jesus).

Still, it is a mitzvah! Everyone needs to know...ahem...discover the joys of biking to work!

Right?

It's a continual process, this learning that we are all so different in values and beliefs. And daily lives!

thankful thursday

This week I am so, thankful that Minou is OK after a bike crash Sunday evening. He was just getting onto a single bike/ped lane over a bridge when another cyclist came careening off the bridge and crashed straight into him. Minou and the other rider were both knocked to the ground.

His face is bruised and his neck is sore, but otherwise OK.

So grateful.

frugal friday

My frugalicious act this week was...getting back on my bike.
This was made so much easier by the beautiful spring weather and the new puncture-resistant tires Minou had put on my bike last week (spendy, but we budget $30 for "bike stuff" monthly).
With gas at $4.20 a gallon, I calculate that it costs almost 10 cents a mile to drive or be driven these days. I have a 13 mile round trip commute to one of my health center sites and 15 miles to the other, adding up to a weekly total of 58 miles...or $5.80. It may not sound like much, but with $5.80 I could rent 4 Redbox movies for the family, or almost buy a bottle of wine or pound of good coffee for Minou and myself, or put a tiny drop in the bucket of our mortgage (controversial among frugal folk, I know). If you drive less, you might be able to lower your car insurance rates as well--we did this last year.
Those are just the economic benefits! There's so much more. Health benefits, environmental benefits, and it feels great to have the wind in your hair...(with helmet of course)...

*Late realization: When Minou is transporting me to work and back (so he can use our shared family car), he actually does the trip twice--so double those numbers above, $12 a week or $48 a month.

Getting There by Bike

Since starting my new job last fall, I have mostly become a bike commuter. The choice was initially made out of practical considerations. We are a one-car family, and often the car is "needed" for getting kids to and from school and after-school activities. The hardest part, for me, was the mental preparation. Making the shift to needing to be ready earlier, and having equipment such as gloves and rain pants and a light gathered together to be on time. But now that it has become a habit, it doesn't seem nearly as difficult. It's just what I do.

I work in two different places during the week. One of them is about 7.5 miles (12 km), or a 45 minute ride, away (I ride slowly to avoid getting too sweaty en route!). The other is about 6 miles (9.5 km) (a 30 minute ride) away and mostly along a bike path that follows a creek and meanders through suburban neighborhoods, industrial zones, and lovely wetlands. It has been really wonderful watching the spring come. Each day I bike the path, there are little changes. All the trees have budded out now and there are ducks and many other birds. Once I saw a blue heron standing in the creek! I love watching the seasons change and experiencing them close up. If I were driving, I wouldn't be as aware of the temperature, the air (or rain) on my skin, the birdsong and frogs croaking and the earthy, wonderful smell of spring. I love it! Here are some images of the bike path, my shorter commute:

One of the benefits of discovering the fun of bike commuting is that it's made it easier to make changes in our car use at other times. We have been trying to cut down on driving for a long time, but often due to me (ahem)and choices prioritizing convenience, it's been a challenge. However, we now have moved to having "bike days" three days a week (we only live about 2.5 miles or 4 km from the boys' school, as well as from the downtown library, and are in close walking distance to grocery stores, a hardware store, garden store, bakery, etc.). The boys do complain, but they have come up with creative solutions. G1 has started riding the city bus when he doesn't feel like biking. G2 sometimes still catches a tow in the Burley trailer pulled by his papa. And a few weekends ago, Minou and I even rode our bikes to and from an evening movie date about 7 miles away, something I would have resisted before.

Yet another good reason to bike commute!


Do you have any suggestions for living "car-lite" (or even car-free!) with kids? I'd love to hear them!