Biking

The thing I miss most abut living in Boulder is how easy it was to bike everywhere. Boulder isn't a big city, and it's one of the more bike-friendly places in the country. It was pretty easy for me to get in the habit of running many of my errands on bike, biking to work, and just going out for quick rides on the weekends.

That all changed when I moved to Virginia. For one, the suburbs are a lot more spread out. Instead of being a mile away, my bank was now closer to three miles away. There are a lot more cars, too, and the whole experience is scarier. The heat and humidity, which I wasn't yet used to, didn't help. It wasn't long before I feel out of the habit completely, and my attempts to pick it back up were cut short by how horrifically out of shape I got.

I'm changing that now.

The ten mile ride to work is a lot more than the two mile ride I had back in Boulder. But I'm in much better shape than I was, even then. It adds to my commute, but it's a more efficient way to exercise overall and leaves me with more time free in the evenings. And if it cuts into my reading time, well, reading less was one of my goals for this year.

I'm hoping to be able to ride to work twice a week, weather permitting. As I get stronger, I may even up that. Although I'm currently pretty tired and sore from doing the ride yesterday. It didn't help that I picked a miserable day for my first bike to work. It was cold enough in the morning to make my hands go numb and windy enough in the evening to add twenty minutes to what is usually an hour-long ride. But I did it, and I can do it again, and I will keep improving.

On top of this, I'm trying to bike for smaller errands. I can easily bike three miles to the pet store or bike store when I need something small. Ditto the grocery store, which is only 1.5 miles away. Although I have to be careful how much I buy when I do that. I can only carry so many groceries. But if I make more, smaller trips, well that's just more excuses to ride the bike.

The key here is incorporating the bike into my daily life. To choose it over the car whenever it makes sense. Staying on the bike makes me want to get on the bike more. And biking constantly will make it easier to go on longer rides when I can. One of these days I may actually be able to keep up with Kevin on a thirty or forty (or fifty?) mile ride.

When I first moved here, one of Kevin's goals was to ride the entire W&OD trail, 45 miles from Purcellville to Shirlington. I dropped him off at the high end and picked him up several hours later at the low end. Maybe next year I'll get him to do the same for me. Or maybe we can find someone else to drive and ride it together.