I used to be a bus commuter. It was better than trying to drive to work in bumper-to-bumper traffic then have to pay for parking, and at least I could read while I sat (or stood) in a cramped bus. Depending on where I worked at the time, my commute took from 30 – 60 minutes each way. I sure got a lot of reading done, and met some “interesting” people along the way. I also learned a lot about patience, tolerance, and holding my breath when “Cat Pee Lady” was on the #15 bus with me yet again.
All this bus commuting was biting into time I could have spent going to the gym, taking a walk, or generally getting off my butt and exercising. Like most people, I gained around 20 pounds after graduating from college. My lack of fitness and extra weight made my back pretty unhappy, so I started going to see a chiropractor once a month (which I still do). My chiropractor suggested riding a bike to work, but that seemed so daunting when I worked near NW 23rd and Vaughn and lived in SE Portland. Going from zero biking to eight miles each way was unfathomable.
I changed jobs a year or so later and worked with several people who were bike commuters. They weren’t crazy spandex-clad endurance cyclists; they just rode to work every day. One coworker even lived near me and I started to think that if she could bike to work, then so could I. All I had to do was dust off my creaky old mountain bike that served so well in college, plan my bike route, and start pedaling.
Rather than go gung-ho and hurt myself on the first day, I rode half way to the office, then took the bus the rest of the way. Easier entry meant I was more likely to stick to biking. Then I did the same thing on the way home, biking through downtown and across the Hawthorne Bridge and taking the #10 or #14 bus back home from there.
After a month, I was biking all the way to work and back without taking the bus. I started to feel really good about myself, my clothes fit better, I was a generally more positive person. Then the rainy fall season stormed in and put a damper on thing. Having those coworkers around me that biked all year, rain or shine, was a great example — and I’m too competitive to be shown up — so little rain wasn’t going to stop me. I bought some rain gear and stuck with the program.
It’s been five years since I gave up the bus and started pedaling myself to work, and I know I’d never go back. Not only is my commute time shorter when I bike, but my body and mind rely on my morning and evening rides. The time I spend commuting by bike is time I have to let my mind wander, time to enjoy spring blossoming in Ladd’s Addition, time to blow off steam after a tough day.
I bike because it’s good for me. I bike because it’s good for Portland, the state, the country, the planet. I bike because it means I spend less money on gas. I bike because it feels right.
How about you?
I bike because I learned how to ride one when I was younger, and I’ve yet to find a reason to stop.