Well, well, well, another mileage milestone rolls beneath my wheels!
If I managed to update my blog more regularly, I could've bee closer to real-time with this post but sometime during last week, I topped 2,000 miles on the Dahon. OK that's over several months of riding and not a few weeks touring but I never thought that my experiment in cycle commuting would go this far.
Although the nights are drawing in and the mornings are darker, I'm still enjoying it and wouldn't go back to the car out of choice. Not that I have that choice as I don't own a personal car any longer, just the family one my wife needs.
If you'd told the overweight me a year ago (who was worrying about how best to keep his old car running againsta rising repair bill) that I'd be cycling everyday and lighter, fitter and happier as a result, I wouldn't have believed you.
I used to arrive home having battled traffic for an hour or more in a foul mood and literally buzzing from stress hormones and other such undesirables. I can't have been too pleasant to welcome home or be around to be honest!
Nowadays, the only buzzing I do is on endorphines and so even after the toughest ride home, I feel great!
Getting rid of my car was out of necessity to be honest. The repair bill had got to the point where it was more than the value of the car and so it had to go. However, as I was already cycling at the time and hadn't used it for a while, it was pretty easy to let it go. No borrowing money for a new one for me, either.
What being (sort of) car-free has done for me is reduce and almost remove entirely the crutch that a car provides. On those cold, windy mornings or tired days when one just can't be bothered, it would have been easy to jump back in the car. That would've gone from a day per week, to two days, to three and so on...
But I don't cycle simply because I have no other option. I do it because I love being out in the fresh air on my bike immersed in my surroundings. I love travelling cheaply and not harming the environment with my actions.
I do it because I love cycling.
And so, here's to the next two thousand miles. I hope they are as fun, inspiring and eventful as the first two thousand have been.
Mileage to date:
Week 30 - 102 miles
Week 31 - 92 miles
Total mileage so far - 2,186.5 miles
Well done on your milestone, I have the very problem you describe with the car, Its all too easy as the rain beats down to drive to work as I did today, I also need it for ferrying the kids around or at least I keep kidding myself. I cant do without mine sadly, or could I. I often wonder and wish.
ReplyDeleteCan I ask what type of cycle computer you use. Is it wireless ? I haven't fitted on yet but am concerned if it was wired all the folding could damage the wire. Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteBrenda in the Boro
www.cyclinginthesixthdecade.Wordpress.com
Hi Brenda. I don't use one very much at all as I know I would get even more hung up on the numbers than I already am! As I am mainly commuting between home and offices, I know the distances that I ride (having checked them on Google maps) so just keep a record each week. On the odd occasion I do a social ride and want to measure it, I use the "Cyclemeter" app for iPhone. It's pretty good IMO but drinks the battery!
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