My regular Wednesday night schedule was disrupted by eleventh-hour revisions to a freelance project... so, since I'm spending the evening at home, I'll get caught up on the bicycle thing.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm using a bike for basic transportation for the first time since junior high school. I use it maybe 30% of the time.
Riding a bike through neighborhoods is a lot different than riding on the trails at Hefner or the river. I'm much more aware now of the lay of the land between here and the Red Cup, which is where I usually go first thing in the morning. Small hills that I didn't even notice in a car are more evident. I know the residential streets around my house much better than I used to. When I was a kid, I knew every cracked sidewalk, every bumpy street, every shortcut behind a convenience store or through an apartment complex. I don't ride on sidewalks or cut through apartment complexes now, but that sensation of being a part of the neighborhood has returned for the first time since adolescence.
I'm also much more aware of what drivers are doing. I've always been very alert to traffic around me. I'm always at threat level red when there's an SUV on the street, or someone is talking on a cell phone while driving.
Gas prices didn't play much of a part in my decision to do this. I figure it will take two to three years to save enough on gasoline to cover the cost of the bicycle.
What did affect my decision is my dissatisfaction with my weight and the way I feel. I'm tired of not being able to bend over because my stomach is in the way. I'm not as worried about how it looks, even though it doesn't look very good. But I sure don't like the way it feels.
Someone told me the other day that I had the personality and demeanor of someone who smokes about a pound of weed a week. I took that as a compliment.
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