Small Steps
It’s spring, and there are many more bikes on the road. Others want to start biking. But changing to any new mode of transportation is a big lifestyle change and takes time. Just like learning to drive:
When I finally started biking, it was intimidating because I didn’t know “how” to do it…. just like all the other things I found intimidating.
But biking was one of those things I had to learn by doing.
Over time I learned how to adapt my lifestyle.
So if you are considering biking, you can’t change overnight. Break it down into small steps.
Perhaps one day you’ll wonder how you ever got around without a bicycle.
Bikeyface – You Bike! I thought of you the other day as I walked my bike home from Forest Hills with a flat tire. Almost every other biker – of the many many bikers that passed me – slowed and asked if I needed help. One guy even told me a trick – fold a dollar bill inside the tire casing if a blown tire was the problem rather than a tube. Bikers coming to each other’s aid might be a great next info-toon?
Uncle Robot-
No one stopped to mend it for you? Oh, my. What’s up with that? I’m embarassed for my fellow bikers.
Now that you know the technical term for a biker who rides without a pump and a patch kit (“Pedestrian”), I assume you’ll be making a trip to your LBS, yes no? When you do, save yourself a dollar or five: put a 2″ x 4″ or so piece of a tyvek envelope under the patches.
Bikeyface nails it again! Somehow she always seems to be able to capture with images, concise words, and wit what we’re all thinking
It really is a long process, and it involves a lot of stages that you don’t even think or know about while you’re going through it. I started biking to work several years ago, and had to work out clothing etc. so I could bike through the winter — but that wasn’t the end of it. Last year, I figured out I could bike even when I was tired or didn’t get up early enough, by taking the bus in with my bike and riding home. At that point biking switched from something I do frequently to something I do all the time, to the extent that when I drive a car now (a few times a month) it feels strange to me and I have to be extra careful. But things keep changing even now. The frequent commuting has increased my fitness enough so a 200K randonneur is not really a problem anymore. And I completed a 600K race recently, then suddenly noticed I’m quite a bit faster now on my commute. I wonder where all this is going to end up.
60 mph headwinds and blowing snow during a blizzard. My standard answer to “Did you ride your bike today?” now is, ‘Yeah, that’s how I get around”. Of if to say of course I rode my bike, what a silly questions. It’s like me asking someone who drives everywhere if they drove their car today. Duh!
Reading this post helped me realized this is how I got to where I am. It took me five years of experimenting with equipment and clothing to ride in our extreme weather in Northern Minnesota. It didn’t happen overnight. I took the bus many rainy and snowy days before I figured it all out. Now I ride everywhere, everyday single day of the year. I’m panel #5 for sure now.
After all, how will you get away from the Alien Zombies, if you’re not riding your bike?