See this bike? I want it.
I’m not getting it, but I think I deserve it after yesterday’s 16 miles of errands on my bike.
You might think that 16 miles isn’t that much, but when you’re pulling an average of 100lbs., it surely is. By the end of the day, my legs felt like jelly. And the rest of me felt invigorated. Because while errands can be a drag, on a bike they’re a pleasure. I actually seek out errands when the weather is nice.
Biking for transportation–as opposed to biking for exercise–has taught me a thing or two over the years. Here are just a few of my favorite lessons.
1. The extra time it takes to bike some errands will even out with the time I save biking to nearby locations. Sure, it takes longer to get to Kinkos on a bike than it would in my car, but biking to camp or to Target? That saves time.
2. Accept shedding pounds in the summer and gaining it back in the winter. Better to never even get on a scale.
3. Learn to live with knees. There are great skirts for biking–ones that don’t fly up or ride up, and there are work-out pants to put underneath them. But biking to work and on errands means biking in all kinds of skirts. Most onlookers are too busy checking out the kiddos and all the groceries in back of the bike to notice my knees anyway.
4. Enjoy the extra gas money in my pocket. Food is my fuel in the summer. I think I’ve filled the tank TWICE (!) since school ended.
5. Act like you’re superior to the behemoth cars on the road but know that most people think you look like a dork. There’s just nothing hip about wearing a helmet over a wig.
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