Honey

I believe spontaneous behavior is a required supplement for healthy living. Little adventures here and there keep the monotony from suffocating my existence. I especially like an unexpected journey, usually realizing I’m lost at least once. I enjoy being forced to discover a new way (for me) to reach my destination.

As it’s the middle of December and especially freezing, dark and windy outside, I decided today would be a great day to ride my bike all the way to work, which as most of you know, is something like 23 miles. You see, I got severely aggravated in the car last night, and I was still angry this morning. I do not enjoy experiencing road rage, and I knew one day on my bike would see me through at least another month.

I have missed my bike so much! It was a practically impossible ride, but I didn’t care because it felt so good. I’d like to try to ride a few times a week, not too much as to start dreading it though.

Well, for all my passionate feelings about the wondrous imaginings of a car-free world, I was unable to maintain my exhausting, depressing, and dangerous commute by bicycle. I do not enjoy compromising my values for anything, even the cold, hard facts. When I see people on their bicycles in the morning, riding slowly through the torrential downpour, I long to inform them somehow that I was one of them once. I am no longer of the righteous velo brigade, at least through the winter.

Sometimes there’s a striking conflict between what I feel is right and what I am capable of achieving. I know, I’ve made the choices that have led to this particular collision. But what about the things beyond my control? Some of my values are in a constant tug-of-war, making me feel bad if either side is losing. For example, I want to be home with my family as much as possible, but a 4 hour commute only allows me a few hours in the evening with my wife and kids. Which is more important - saving the planet or loving each other? How are we ever going to see drastic, affecting change to the climate problem when so many of us want to do something but feel we cannot?

Boy, am I glad Agent convinced me to only ride half the commute to work for now. I really had no idea how hard this would be or how it would make me feel. I don’t believe I’ll feel this way forever, but for now, I’m exhausted, cranky, and perpetually soaking wet. I’m on the bus leg of the trip on my way home now. I like how the ride is split up 5 miles on the bike, 20 minutes on the bus, then another 7 miles or so. The entire commute is taking me about 90 minutes, including the wait for the bus. That’s not so bad, seeing as how there is absolutely no reason to go to the gym anymore.

The auto users here in Portland and the surrounding areas have turned out to be pretty respectful. They certainly don’t try to intentionally run you over like they do in SF. Even the big trucks - of which there are many - stay clear for the most part. I’ve only had a few honkers in very large vehicles who were obviously frustrated by my obtrusive presence on their cement. I try really hard not to take it personally, especially since I’m not riding for their sake. I ride for no one but me.

I found numerous resources online to get started. I could not have accomplished this without byCycle.org, one of the coolest sites ever. They wrote a Google map mash-up that configures your route according to bicycle friendly parameters. If you’re curious, check out my commute here (be patient, it may take a minute to load).

I read an article in a Bicycling magazine yesterday about people who had been given a bike and how it had dramatically changed their lives for the better. I feel like I could have been one of the featured people in that article.

One of the first things Agent and I did when we moved to San Francisco was to buy new bikes. We learned immediately that this is the easiest and most comfortable way to get around. The public transportation in San Francisco is excellent but not completely ideal, as all public transportation seems to be. We purchased my bicycle from an Ebay auction for $150, and it didn’t turn out exactly as we expected. Before I could get home to see it, Agent had wrapped it wonderfully in colored electrical tape. It looked awesome!

We put another $300 or so into the brakes and the handlebars and other such amenities until it was absolutely perfect. And then I started to ride.

I rode to and from work every day. I rode around on the weekends. I wanted to ride all the time! Eventually, I found myself taking “the long way home”, just to spend more time on my bike. I loved the freedom, the flexibility, the speed I experienced even pedaling up hill. I loved the exertion, the burning sensation, the fast breath, the pure work, all of which would inevitably end up with a coast down the other side of the biggest hill I could find (this is not hard in San Francisco). I had discovered my heaven. Then my knee broke.

I was playing in a flag football league and making some sharp cuts and unknowingly had some weak bones behind my knee. I was unable to walk without crutches for almost 6 months and endured 2 separate operations to fix things. I cannot tell you how excited I was at the thought of getting back on my bicycle again. It was my absolute favorite thing to do at physical therapy, that’s for sure.

I had to start over after that and slowly began riding again, this time on a single-speed. I loved the lightness and simplicity of a gear-less bike. I couldn’t just change to an easy gear when things got hard, I had to just push through it instead. And did I ever push through it. My knee became stronger every day I rode and eventually I felt perfectly normal again. I went from using my bike to commute to work to taking 10 mile rides in the morning and the evening. Sometimes I’d ride during lunchtime and I definitely rode all weekend long.

My bicycle made it really easy to quit smoking. I wanted to go faster and my burnt up lungs just wouldn’t let me. When I felt frustrated and irritable and just wanted to smoke a cigarette more than anything in the world, all I had to do was get on my bike and ride up a hill to remember why that would actually go against everything I really want. Even now my cravings only last until I think of riding my bike up a hill and what that feels like after a cigarette. Horrible.

We ditched the car about 5 months ago. I haven’t been without a car since I was 19 years old. I thought of my car as a safety net, a way to get away and out, a way to move things from one place to another, a lot to just give up. As life without a car progressed, I thought of a car as a planet destroyer, a smelly archaic machine that causes anger and aggression and frustration and death. Having a bicycle made it possible for me to let go of something that wasn’t really that important. I know that living in a city like San Francisco also makes that feasible. I feel lucky, really lucky.

Riding my bike allows me to be present in the world in a way I’ve never experienced. I am aware of my surroundings as I travel; I’m conscious of what I purchase (’cause I’m going to have to carry it); I’m closer to people because there is no metal and glass between us. I find that those really tough rides, when all I can feel is my thighs and my breath, is when I really get in touch with that special peaceful place inside of myself.

And it’s so easy! I’m a pretty functional person. If I’m going to do something, I want it to be for a reason, not just for its own sake. I do not enjoy exercise for exercise’ sake. But exercise conveniently experienced on my way to work is awesome. I encourage everyone I know and everyone I don’t know to give it a try, because it could be the best thing that ever happened to you, too!

New bike coming soon…

I can imagine no better place to ride a bike than right here in the gloriously hill stamped city of San Francisco. For the beginning rider, there is always a decent way to get around the largest hills, though sometimes this may equate to going way around the largest hills. As city cycling becomes more comfortable, the beginning rider can easily create custom routes that provide just enough of a challenge to maintain interest.

My favorite time to ride is early in the morning. The entire city belongs to me when there is no struggle with/against traffic, no yelling at another rude motorist, only the sound of my breath and the freewheel humming to my rhythm. The city lights in the distance remind me of just how lucky I am to live in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

As bicycling has gotten easier since my surgery, I’ve tried to vary my commute routes as much as I can. This has helped me to remain focused. The best part of the ride is the big downhill right after a real tough, long grade. I have found some really amazing route ideas from the Bikely site. This site is awesome. From Bikely’s home page:

Put very simply, Bikely helps cyclists share knowledge of good bicycle routes. It can be quite tricky traversing a car dominated city by bicycle, particularly when you need to travel an unknown route to a new destination. But the chances are, someone has cycled that way before you. Bikely makes it easy for him or her to show you the best way.

Thanks to many great folks that have ridden the streets of San Francisco before me, there are excellent bike routes with bike lanes, bike paths, and my favorite bicycle pavement stamp (soon I’ll have a picture). The people at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition have done a lot of amazing work.