Commuting

This article nicely sums up some of the reasons why I choose to ride my bike to work every day. This past year has marked a change in my dedication toward scorchin’ to work everyday, as I’ve ridden through some nasty bits of weather. About the only things that keeps me off my bike every day are snow on the road (the fixie isn’t well suited to white stuff) and sickness.

I’ll also add my two cents about why I do it (since the author didn’t cover all my bases). First, as Dave already talked about, I’ve got a deep down love of bikes. Bikes have been one of the few material constants in my life — I’ve jumped around in the sporting world quite a bit, but I’ve been riding bikes religiously since I was about 8 years old. There is really something about the feeling of moving over tarmac (or dirt, or mud, depending on your preference). And that feeling is only heightened riding a fixed gear.

But commuting has a perk that is missing from other types of cycling — that feeling of synchronicity moving through (and with) traffic. When you take a particular route enough times, you begin to learn the ebb and flow of things — the patterns of traffic lights, how cars will behave, the subtle nuances of tarmac. It’s that whole “zone” thing that athletes talk about, except that if you’re willing, it’s there to experience every day.

Also, a couple of notes from ride today:

I saw a guy in his car, driving on Butler Street, doing the following things concurrently:

1) Smoking a pipe
2) Reading the newspaper
3) Using his PDA
4) Drinking coffee.

Scary.

Also, pedestrians in downtown are officially either crazy or stupid. I am amazed that several people aren’t killed each day. Folks just cross the street, regardless of traffic and/or the status of the traffic light. I’m not really afraid of them, since if one of them were to run into me, they’ve got to worry about the consequences as much as I do. But, nothing gets the adrenaline going like riding under the Kaufman’s building on William Penn Place. The sidewalk on the south side of the building is right at the end of the tunnel. There is a traffic there (at the intersection of William Penn and Forbes), but, as expected, pedestrians ignore this and instead choose to simply walk out blindly. I expect it’s only a matter of time before I hit one, since they don’t actually see me (for whatever reason).