Dusting Off The Bicycle

I discovered something new today.  If your bike is muddy, you should clean it.  If your muddy bike sits around in a warm house all winter without being cleaned or getting wet, the mud turns to dust.  Shake the bike and, ta da! it’s clean.  A quick wipe with a clean cloth and you’re done.  Of course you then have a pile of dust on your floor.  Eh.  That’ll mix with the dog hair in a day or two and you won’t notice a thing…

So tomorrow is something special.  It’ll be my first bike commuting day of the year.  I had great intentions going into winter.  Last year we started bike commuting in April and rode two to three times a week until I left for Costa Rica in November.  Then we got back and it was raining and dark.  So we decided to wait until the rain stopped.  And it didn’t stop.  So here we are, just a month away from Bike to Work Month and six weeks from Bike to Work Day and I feel, well, fat and lazy.  The next month is going to hurt as my legs remember how to do this efficiently.

If you’ve never tried bicycling to work, may I suggest it.  It’s a great way to start and end the day.  Your co-workers will be impressed.  It’s good for the environment.  Plus, living in Tacoma means you’ll probably have a decent workout since most of us live on a hill.  For us, our commute starts with a long downhill into the tideflats, then a flat as could be ride.  Coming home it’s flat flat flat, then we have to ride through downtown to get back onto the hill.  Don’t let this dissuade you.  Once you start, you’ll get better and better each day.  My goal for this year is three days a week through November.  We’ll see.