Recreational Commuting

I'm sneaking up on this topic from the side so bear with me.

Virginia-Highland is life at front porch speed. The swinging of your arms as you walk down the sidewalk tells me you've got somewhere to go, but it also looks like you could use a glass of iced-tea. (For the non-southern readers, yes iced-tea, even in winter. I'm sure you'll remember it's always served sweet.) Take a seat on the swing. We're just talking about shifting gears to a more human pace.

Shifting gears is never far from my thoughts, and my office commute has been a part of down-shifting for many years. I had been walking to the office and started riding my bike to get some extra cycling miles, but soon learned there was more to this than simply getting from point A to point B.

First, I live too close to the office. Three miles isn't far enough for a proper bike ride. As exercise, three miles makes a good walking distance, but for a bike, 12-15 minutes isn't enough.

This led to experimenting with new routes that cover more distance. Each day was like opening a present. That's the best I can explain being able to go wherever you wanted. You didn't know where you were going or what you were going to see, but you knew it was probably something you wanted.

At this point, I realized I was having fun. I was satisfying the suppressed desires from my Hooky-Deprived Childhood.

It was only natural that I wanted to share the fun, so I began social commuting. A group of us would chat and ride along our route. Since few commuters share the same route, we would frequently try routes we haven't tried before and the fun started multiplying.

The line between "cycling as recreation" and "cycling as commuting" was first blurred and then almost disappeared altogether. Getting to the office was minor compared to the other goals I was accomplishing:
- becoming more fit,
- making and keeping appointments with my life,
- building relationships with family, friends, and neighbors,
- saving some gas (if I had actually taken the car),
- shifting gears to a more human pace - not really slower, but more sincere, more direct, and more alive.

So, I started down this path thinking I was simply getting a few more miles during the week and ended up learning the many rewards of counting a different sort of blessing.

While there are certain commitments I can't push aside, I make sure that one of my commitments is to enjoy the time spent commuting. I hope you can join me in spirit, if not along my route.

OK my guest and friend, thanks for stopping by. I'll see you on the road and we'll both be smiling.