Why I bike.

I took a break from writing my blog for the last month and now I am ready to share my thoughts again. I have a mountain of assignments to assess so this is helping with my work avoidance. I also received an email from Frankie, who conducted the writing workshops that I've been going to. In her message, she commented that she hadn't seen my blog in a while. Perhaps the guilt is motivating me. I think I've always been a teacher-pleaser! To be fair, I also miss the writing.

I decided on this title for my blog when I was riding in to work at 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday. I took the photo on the left when I arrived at work at 5 a.m. The first three miles of my commute are along a country road. The speed limit is 55 but there is a four foot wide asphalt bike lane. The only thing separating me from the vehicles is a four inch white line but I feel relatively safe. The nice thing about leaving early is that I can hear the traffic from a mile away. I can see the headlights in my mirror and I know they see my reflective vest when they move left to provide a wide berth. Biking in the dark is usually a joy. This past week, the moon was full. It was bright and there were plenty of stars as well. Of course, I have a red light on the back and my blinking light on the front but looking up all I see is the glow of the distant sources of light. I also carry a bright flashlight with me. Often, it is in my hand so I can aim it at the path in front of me. One of my concerns is hitting something in the lane, like a rock, stick or dead animal. One of the reasons why I bike is for exercise. My commute is 14 miles, more if I take the long way home. With my heavy commuting bike and my trailer hauling my school work, change of clothes, lunch, etc., I get about an hour of exercise. When I stop for groceries on the way home, I get a little more of a workout. The most I've hauled is 90 pounds one summer when I ran errands. (Yes, I weighed it!), I stopped at the Farmers Market on the way home and added a watermelon to my load. I don't often approach that much weight but when I bike up the hills, I can tell my trailer is there. Another reason I bike is for the health of the planet. Every day I bike and don't drive my car is another day of less carbon into the atmosphere. I'm not sending those dollars to the petroleum industry. I know my little bit won't make a dent but I have trouble sleeping

enough the way it is so at least this helps to ease my mind. There are financial savings that come with this to. My car gets about 40 mpg, more or less, and the longer I can avoid using it, the longer it will last.

For me, biking is meditation time. It may be due to the deep breathing and the oxygen coming in but I tend to have very lucid thoughts as my legs are propelling me down the road. I think all of those endorphins racing around my system help my outlook. When I bike, I arrive 2.5 hours before the students enter and 60 - 90 minutes before any other teachers on my floor. I get tons done and have plenty of energy to race around taking care of my early morning tasks.

Those who bike also know of the heightened sense of smell from being outside of a moving vehicle. I can also smell roadkill from a good distance away or a skunk not too far off. I don't like the smell of exhaust from a poorly tuned car but I love the smell of blossoming clover or freshly cut hay. When I get to town, I can tell who is doing an early morning load of laundry, who is having bacon for breakfast and who has sprayed chemicals on their lawn. My senses are alive when I bike.

While I like the solitude of biking, it is also nice to enjoy with friends. Linda and I have had some great biking getaways on the many trails of Wisconsin. We have had good conversations and created some nice memories. From the Ahnapee Trail in the northeast, to the Elroy-Sparta trail in the west, to the many trails of Madison, we've covered a lot of ground. One of our favorite traditions for a while was going out biking at midnight on New Year's Eve. We'd head out about 11 and ring in the New Year on our bikes. One year I put my ipod in the basket so we could hear Auld Lang Syne as the new year began. We laughed another year when we encountered another bicyclist out at that hour. It took all year but we learned it was a neighbor and for a couple years, the three of us went out. The first bike I recall having was a grape Schwinn Stingray. That would be worth a lot of money if I still had it. I do have my Schwinn Continental that was a gift when I turned 14. I used that bike in college and for seven years in the 1980s, that was my way around Madison Although, as you can see from the photo on the left, it is in need of a major overhaul!

There is no question that life is better on a bike. I hope to be able to continue to enjoy my life on my bike.