The Many and Varied Miracles Achieved by Biking to Work

I think we've all had resolutions over the years that follow this basic pattern:

1) Inspiration- I am SO excited about cooking healthy meals for self every day/learning to knit and sew/ learning to play guitar/other impressive and/or virtuous new practice

2) Short lived fervor- Buy paraphernalia, read obsessively about subject, daydream, about one week of effort

3) Interruption- busy week at work/indecision re: sewing patterns and inability to read them/ lack of brain for proceeding beyond step 1 of "learn to play guitar" free online lessons

4) Lapse-no further action until paraphernalia is sold or the sight of paraphernalia/article/more virtuous friend inspires me to try again

This is the pattern I have followed many times, especially in regards to biking. I've tried to get in the habit of biking to work for about 4 years, and part of the reason Mike and I bought this house two+ years ago was the idea that we were close enough to work to bike there (3.6 miles). And yet I have never biked to work more than maybe 5 days in a row- and usually it's a day here or there, never more than a couple weeks totaled up each summer.

So I am very proud to say that this is the year I finally biked for more than a week straight. In fact I am entering my 7th week with only 2 off days! I can't tell you how exciting this is for me.

This all started a couple weeks after we got back from Peru in May. Bike to work week was the catalyst (so if you have a job organizing events like this, pat yourself on the back), combined with vexation regarding my bottom-of-barrel physical performance on the Inca trail (so if you are one of the people that was kicking my keister, kudos) and guilt over the BP oil spill (I'm not thanking BP for that one, but rather this blog post- as Garrison Keillor says, "that's guilt friends, it's good for you") .

During that week Mike and I encountered rain, I had to get to work at 6:30am one day, and I had to wear nice business clothes on one of the rainy days. But I was determined for once to not cave in to these things. I knew each was surmountable with a little planning- and in retrospect, with my to do list at work spiraling out of all control, I think my pysche was in desperate need of a readily surmountable problem. (The physical release of pounding up a hill and then gleefully racing down didn't hurt either).

Getting through the whole week despite the obstacles gave Mike and I the inspiration to continue, but the second week was harder than first week. The first blush of excitement over new hobby was fading, it kept raining, and the physical effort required seemed to actually increase. I felt a lot slower. What kept me going was that each day I biked I could tally as a success, and I realize now how much that helps when the fruits of my labor at my job are still months of hard work away.

Usually when work is busy and very challenging, I dig in and start giving things up- time, and all the things outside of work that require time. But thankfully, the fact that biking was something I could consider More Important Than Work (because of Need To Save the Earth) allowed me to justify taking the time. (And it really only takes an extra 20-30 minutes out of my day anyway).

I never realized how much doing this would help my attitude and experience at work; how effectively it would fight depression. It has been an incredible help. Having this other project that is going well outside of work makes so many more things feel possible during the day.

After six weeks I am seeing a lot of other benefits too:

• I am dramatically more motivated to make other lifestyle changes to reduce my environmental impact (and that has led me to create this blog and try writing again)
• Skin clear enough to skip the makeup most days, for first time in decades (Maybe coincidence or due to other changes like eating a lot less meat and a lot more vegetables? Maybe bizarre undiscovered benefit of getting more sun? Hard to say.)
• Defined calf muscles- I didn't even think I was using those!- and other muscles too- took awhile, but they are coming
• Nice tan (due to brief periods of sun exposure early and late in the day-not enough to burn- yes I know this is not good for me but I can't deny enjoying it)
• I am fully awake once I get to work, no matter how little sleep I got
• Better parking spot at work (the bike racks are right by the door on the top floor of the parking garage)
• I'm finally getting faster, and I'm not really winded by the ride anymore- yes!!
• I do something I love every day now- it turns out I really love the sensation of being on the bike and racing along on smooth pavement, the wind in my face, watching fireflies dance in the prairie I ride past. I even love it when it's raining. And I love arriving at work drenched in sweat, ready for the best shower ever (the post bike shower).

Everything I try to do to reduce my environmental impact seems to be based on the simple principle of delayed gratification. Whatever is easy now is usually not the best thing for for me (or the earth) later. In the mornings when I first get up, at least 75% of the time I still want to drive to work. I have to fight that immediate urge because if I do drive, I will trade in that brief comfort for disappointment, lethargy and depression once I get to work. (Not to mention the gas I've burned.) I've found the secret is to have everything planned for biking and set out the night before, so that I have to actually make an effort to change my plans if I want to drive.

The other secret is to pay very little attention to weather reports, and just learn how to bike in light-to-moderate rain. Otherwise you miss out on the 90% of good biking days where it doesn't rain after all (or rains during the day while you're working), and you will probably get caught in the rain at some point despite your best efforts. (If you want any tips for riding in the rain I am happy to share; leave a comment. It's pretty simple and whatever you are guessing is probably what I am going to tell you.) This has got me thinking that there must be a lot of good things to do in life that could be accomplished if we ignored some of those obstacles we anticipate we may encounter. So often they don't appear, or are not that hard to deal with. My mother used to tell me that when you are looking down the road and you see boulders rolling towards you, remember that many of them are going to roll right off the side of the road before they ever get to you. This isn't the best analogy for biking since that usually involves riding on the side of the road, but you get the idea.

Anyway, I am very grateful that so far I have been able to continue biking. I am not sure what I am going to do when winter comes again and I have to stop.

Environmental savings:

• At 7.2 miles per day round trip, and 25 mpg (that's generous for our cars when driving under 5 miles at a time; they are pretty inefficient for those trips), we're saving about .3 gallons of gas a day, or 1.4 gallons of gas a week. Over the past six weeks, Mike and I have saved at least 8 gallons, but actually more because of all the days we have had to leave work at different times (meaning I had to work late or he had to leave early) and thus would have driven separately.
• According to this website, if we saved 8 gallons that adds up to about 30.6 pounds of CO2 emissions kept out of the air each week, and over 180 pounds for the six weeks we've biked so far. (We've saved more than Mike's weight in emissions, awesome!)
• According to this calculator, when other costs of driving are figured in, we're saving almost $3 a day by biking, over $84 so far. Not a ton, but it adds up and we can spend it on buying more things organic, so that fits in this category, right?

Of course, I think we have spent that much on bike paraphernalia. :) We got these gift certificates for $20 off a $50 purchase at Trek thanks to Bike to Work Week, and it sucked us in. What I really want is a radio because I do sometimes miss listening to that on the way to work in the mornings. That, and ergonomic handlebar grips. They didn't have those in stock at Trek so I was forced to buy what is, as it turns out, the BEST TANK TOP IN EXISTENCE.

Just another one of those silver linings that I've been noticing a lot of lately.