Driving Is Bad For Me

No, no, this time I'm not referring to the impotence.

I, like many cyclists, drive quite a lot too. In my case though, I almost never drive to work. Being a regular bike commuter allowed our family to go down from two cars to one and that has been a bonus. My sister is out of town this week and she gave me her vehicle, a small Land Rover, to drive while she was gone. Various circumstances including the fact that I have not yet replaced the broken blue tub and hate wearing a backpack have made it more convenient to drive in to work the last couple of days and the flexibility, ridiculous comfort and ease of driving a car again has been nice, but I find that I just don't feel right, particularly at work.

I must have become accustomed to the endorphin rush related to my morning exercise and commute, because I get to work and still feel almost as groggy as when I rolled out of bed, despite having had a shower and everything. I feel strangely full and unhealthy and almost depressed and there is no return home commute to snap me out of it. I'm pretty sure I'm not sick or anything, so all I can surmise is that driving to work (or, more accurately, not cycling to work) is now officially bad for me. That's cool for now because I love to ride.

What if I become too old or sick or both to do it (particularly in the winter) any more? I might just drop dead! I'm thinking I had better come up with some indoor alternative to cycling, you know, so I don't like, die if I have to stop for some reason. That will be tough, because I hate exercising. I like cycling, which just happens to be exercise by happy coincidence.

I know people, myself included, miss the bike when they can't ride for one reason or another, but this is the first time that I've experienced physical and mental blahs due to just missing a couple of days! I have a replacement tub waiting at home. It will be installed tonight, come hell or high water. This damn luxury and convenience is killing me.

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

Bicycle Commuting in London Ontario Canada

When it comes to cycling, I'm pretty antisocial. A great many cyclists enjoy organized rides, training with others and being part of one club or another and even racing sometimes. I think that's great, and who knows? Maybe someday I too will find some like-minded riders and start hanging out, like these guys:

For now though, I focus mainly on commuting quickly and effectively in every season. Despite the popular opinion of my co-workers that I am a hardcore cyclist, I don't ride far or fast enough to consider myself one. I do, however pass bikesnobnyc's definition of a cyclist, since I meet both of his criteria. I am a bicycle commuter, which, unless you happen to work with a bunch of other bike commuters (and what are the odds of that? This is London, not Portland), kind of makes you a loner by definition. That is, unless you are a regular group riding roadie or mountain biker who daily commutes by bike too. If that describes you, you've got my admiration; I have a perhaps misconceived notion that you are a rare bird indeed.

One of the big benefits of falling into a cycling group so varied in its approaches that calling it a group at all might be a mistake is that there is no wrong answer to how one should commute by bike. What works for you is the right answer, whether it's this:

or this:

or this:

I'm always curious about what's working for my fellow commuters; what's ticking them off about riding in London; what and where they ride... if you've stumbled upon this blog and you commute on a bike, especially in London Ontario, your comments are always welcome. Ride Safe everyone.