My favorite aspect of commuting from the small city of Moscow, Idaho, to the slightly less small city of Pullman, Washington by bicycle is the opportunity to observe my surroundings with less distractions.
Driving the highway is always wrought with cars cutting me off, people driving at that awkward not-quite-the-speed-limit-but-not-quite-more-than-that speed which annoys every driver I know. It's also scattered with road kill and that sneaky, but strong, sense of anxiety I get when I know that travelling more than 30 mph is a recipe for ending up like the roadkill.
I don't want to be road kill.
I'm lucky to live in a place where almost my entire commute has a dedicated path to pedestrians and cyclists. There are no cars! It is glorious. I realize not every commuter has this luxury.
So, there are 3 things I like about commuting, so far:
1. More present and at-one with my surroundings
2. I see live animals more than I see dead ones.
3. I'm travelling at a reasonable speed of less than 15 mph.
Another major benefits is the alleviation of my anxiety and depression. These things are nasty. And bicycling every day makes them less horrible, I dare say, almost bearable. I still have them, but their hold on me is less certain and gripping.
Although, I did start out a bit rough. My first attempt at commuting the 11.5 miles from my apartment on the Eastern edge of Moscow was in June. And it was hot. Very hot.
The heat here is dry, dusty, and windy, so it's more of an "in your face" heat than a surrounding heat. The hot days seem to shove themselves down your throat, in a way.
I had not trained at all for this feat, and I soon discovered that setting off into the heat with a small amount of water and no preparation was probably not the best idea I've ever had. It's not the worst idea I've ever had, but that's for another post one day.
One day, I will write about the time my ill-planned biking expedition almost found me in the ocean at the bottom of some rocky cliffs, but today is not that day.
But, for now, back to the heat.
I biked, and stopped and rested, and biked some more. It took me 1.25 hours to cross the Palouse hills to Pullman. There's a pretty long hill at the end, with one part being rather steep, that was grueling at the time. My vision blurred, my breathing heaved, I arrived at work, I chugged some water, and promptly vomited.
But then I felt better.
The ride back was much better, even though it's more generally inclined going back to Moscow, this has never, for some reason, made the trip back longer. The trip home always seems shorter.
And that, is another reason why I like commuting by bike. Every day, I get to take two little hour long trips.
Well, now I can bike in less than an hour, around 45 minutes if I put my mind to it. But there is a great pleasure in simply pressing on without over-exertion whilst listening to an audio book that I have a hard time wanting to go any faster.
Another benefit: improved mind by 'reading' two hours a day.
After that first bike, I biked every day for a week, over 100 miles in a week.
But my lack of preparation caught up to me in other ways besides that initial projectile vomit and heat exhaustion I had. I had pushed myself too hard and hadn't tackled the hill properly and my left ankle began to give me a lot of pain.
I have a history of various sprained body parts. Mostly because I tend to fling my body into things only to discover that I'm not made of steel and rubber.
So, I had to take a few weeks off.
Then I got lazy.
Then I re-injured my spinal ligament doing some yoga.
A few weeks turned into a couple months.
Then, this week, after a slow slip-slide back into an anxious and depressed state so bad I had to see a health care professional because it was affecting my personal and work-life, I hopped back on my bike again. Maybe the low-dose Prozac reminded me that I like the feeling of the wind in my face and pedaling about in a beautiful world. Maybe because I finally found the impetus to improve my internal situation and "Just Do It" (as my father always said, long before Nike adopted his motto... he jokes to this day that Nike stole this from him).
But now it's cold. Today was first frost. As I think back to when I started in the heat of Summer, more out of shape and unconditioned to now, cold and frost on the bridges that span Paradise Creek - the frost makes a delightful dry crunching sound when rolled over- I become more proud of myself each time I get back on that bike. Biking at dark is a little difficult and more sketch, but it's still better than driving at night.
The best thing about biking in the cold is I can't feel any pain in my butt because it's numb. I wear a lot of layers, and I try to keep warm, but I still sweat, and I'm still going about 12mph, so my skin still gets chilled.
I don't know whether 2 hours of biking every day is a bit extreme. But now that I've healed up and I am taking it slightly easier, instead of killing myself trying to achieve a better time, I have to say that I wonder why I ever, injuries aside, stopped biking in the first place.
Another benefit to biking is knowing and learning your limits. And I've learned my limits can be expanded. I can grow. And that's a great realization to have. Especially for someone who's biggest fear is regressing and failing at things.
Additionally, parking is effing expensive at WSU, so it saves me a several hundred dollars over the course of a year that way (in gas and fees).
Plus, my ass looks fantastic.
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