Cycle Commute
Around 15 years ago, I made the exciting leap from busing to cycling.
The buses in my small city are are surprisingly bad: they drive past you, show up super late, show up too early and leave you behind, don't show up at all, run into pedestrians, swipe parked cars, etc. Even if they ran perfectly and on time, they take way too long because the routes are poor. Naturally, a bus route takes longer than a car, but these routes are crazy. It shouldn't take 1 hour to get from my home to downtown by bus when it takes 12 minutes by car, but it does.
The bike was a game changer! No longer am I getting up super early, stressed out, angry, chasing after buses, waiting forever. My bike route is almost entirely park path. I take a medium pace. I ring my bell at rabbits and grackles. I get to work happier, more alert, healthier, calmer, and in 30 minutes. Similarly, at the end of a stressful day, it helps clear my head. At the end of a boring day, it brings me back to life.
Even if I'm working from home, I try to get up early enough to sneak in a ride before I start.
Here's the catch: I live in the Canadian prairies. Winter here is extremely bad. We're often competing with Siberia and Antarctica for the coldest temperatures on Earth, then there's the snow, ice, not to mention the biggest danger of all: cars.
While some maniacs do, I do not cycle in winter.
For years, I'd just begrudgingly go back to the bus, but more recently I carpool as much as possible and just wait, impatiently, for the next bike season.
Winter aside, I love cycle commuting. It's a great way to start and end the day.
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