Long before reading MMM I bought a house close to work and bike commuted fairly often. Recently I've been recovering from a break-up of a long-term relationship and have been driving to work. I mean, doing laundry and making supper was pushing it most days, woe is me, so how could I be maligned for driving to work? Bah. I knew I needed to get out the funk so I scheduled a bike-to-lunch date with co-workers for today. Most everyone at work lives in the suburbs and they are afraid of biking downtown, so I like to show them that it is not scary at all and it is quite enjoyable. We’ve done it a few times over the years and they have all loved it. They bring their bikes to work via cars/trucks still, but at least it gets them comfortable biking on city streets.
This morning I pumped up my flabby tires and squished a few spiders that had taken up residence in the bike's cranks and gears. My poor bike - an innocent victim of my broken heart! We had a lovely 5 mile round-trip ride to lunch at a hippie deli that has amazing salads. I was genuinely happy for the first time in weeks. On the commute home from work I was just beaming, so grateful to have the limbs to pedal, a job that generously adds to my stache, semi-adventurous co-workers, a gorgeous city with fantastic biking weather. All of it. A train delayed my commute for a few minutes. While waiting, a guy pulled up on his bike and immediately we started chatting. A minute later another guy pulled up on the other side; while not as talkative, he did look eerily like a hipster version of MMM himself and had lovely eyes. Dude on the left had a CSA box bungie-corded to his rack, dude on the right was using a bucket for cargo. Swoon! I’m not ready to re-enter the dating scene, but this was a fun reminder of how much bikes can get us more engaged with life than cars that box us in and make us detached from the world.
Hope this doesn’t come across as too manic. I’m just excited to be coming out of the other side after a painful episode, and my darling bike deserves some credit. The endorphins released from exercising are likely a big help as well.
Will I be biking to work tomorrow? You bet!
