Commuter

It all started in late May. Gas was fast approaching the 4 dollars per gallon mark and I was getting sick of paying. I had been saying for years that once the new US 30 was finished it would take most of the traffic away from the old route and I could start commuting, but somehow I never seemed to get it started. But like I said before, that all changed in late May.

I started out just riding one of my cyclocross bikes. I think of all the bikes I own this one has to be my favorite one. Since May, the bike has seen the addition of a full time rack and panniers. I am lucky to have a place at work to keep my uniforms and I can change there. But I still have to carry in lunch and coffee (I refuse to eat out of a vending machine and would sooner drink battery acid then have to drink vending machine coffee). And I will tell you that a thermos of coffee in a messenger bag is not a fun thing to have digging into your back.

Then, with a lot of talking, I was able to convince the wife that there wasn't much in town that we couldn't do by biking or walking.

Now, most weeks we do our grocery store run with 2 bikes and a trailer. I can manage to get a week's worth home without her needing to carry a pack. The Amish bulk store is on my commute home from work, so there is one less place to drive. And the wife works just down the road from one of the best meat markets in the area. So also, it's one less trip.

I have tried to talk her into riding to work, but she is still holding out. Something about it being uphill both ways or something like that.

I do drive to work one day a week, so I have the energy for the Wednesday night club ride.