On bike riding.

So, I bought a bike just before I moved into my new place. Her name is June, and she is an old, yellow, Schwinn. She squeaks, and doesn’t go too fast, but she’s been getting me around town and I have been getting better at riding. The first time I rode to work (about 5 miles) I was exhausted, out of breath and didn’t recover for at least an hour. Today, I rode to work and wasn’t even that sweaty. I recovered in about 10 minutes.

My goal is to drive only when necessary. Only when it takes me out of riding range, or I have to haul something that I can’t carry on my back. My other goal is to ride to work at least two days a week. There have only been a couple times that I have broken these rules so far and I felt really guilty about it the whole time.

I could go into my reasons for getting a bike: gas prices, blah, health, blah, traffic, blah. You’ve heard them all before. And while they are all great reasons, another reason I have discovered is solitude. When you ride you get to be alone. Although that’s a half-truth in Portland because there are other bikers everywhere. It gives you time with yourself, time to think, to ponder, to extrapolate. The rhythm of you legs pumping is almost a mantra. It’s peaceful. And there can never be too much peace in one person’s life.