First off, biking is fantastic exercise.  I am like to jog every day and began making myself do my daily biking to work and back in addition to my running.  I was pretty tired somedays, but as the summer wore on I found my body could handle more and more, more than I ever would have given myself credit for.  On my best day, I ran 5 miles and biked about 37 miles around town.  Another day, I ran 4 miles, biked about 30 miles, and worked at my physically demanding job that night.  I probably wasn’t the fastest cyclist that night as I staggered home from work, but I still did it.

            Another great thing about cycling is that it intrinsically varies your workouts.  Your destination may be far away.  It may be hilly.  It may be windy.  You never know, but no matter what it is you’re going to have to deal with it.  And you’ll be surprised how your body can come through in the clutch when you don’t have a choice.  Tired?  Hungry?  Ten miles from home?  Sorry.  If you want to get home, your body’s going to have to perform. 

            Cycling as transportation has benefits not just for you, but for your community.  Most communities are starting to develop bike lanes on the road and bike racks on their busses.  The more people start utilizing these services, the more city governments will go even further, and truly bike-friendly cities would be an awesome thing.  More people would probably jump on the bandwagon when they saw how safe and easy it is.  More cyclists equals less cars on the road.  Less cars on the road means less car exhaust.  Less cars on the road means less money spent putting gas in the tanks (I have bought gas maybe 5 times this summer, and have gone for over 40 days at a time without putting gas in my car).  Less cars on the road means less wear and tear on the road, slowing down the frequency of roadwork and perhaps one day decreasing taxes.  Less miles on your car means less wear and tear on your, fewer oil changes, and no money spent on parking, which adds up to more money for other things.

            You don’t have to be a cycling expert or a contender for the Tour de France to get started with this.  A decent bike with a comfortable seat, and a backpack or some saddlebags is pretty much all you need to get going if you plan on going to work or running errands.  A good cycling store or someone who can help you change flats is helpful too.  The best pieces of advice I can give you for biking in traffic are:

            -Make eye contact with drivers to ensure they see you, especially when making left turns or coming out of driveways or sidestreets.  Does it feel weird to stare people down all the time?  Yes.  Do I care?  No.  I’d rather been weird than dead, and I’ll probably never see these people again anyway so who cares?

            -Do not wear headphones while biking in traffic.

            -Do not wear headphones while biking in traffic.

            -Do not wear headphones while biking in traffic.  Deafening yourself to the traffic around you is pretty much the dumbest thing you can do.  I usually listening to music when I go running or lifting too, but I’m not in traffic.  Trust me, you are much less protected than people in cars and you need to hear what’s going on around you.

            -Invest in blinking electric lights you can mount on the front and back of your bike for riding at night.  That one red reflector on the back of your bike is not enough.  I used to think these were stupid and then one night last summer I was driving around and I saw some people biking without lights and I absolutely could not believe how hard it was to see them.  I went out and bought some immediately.

            So get to it!  I became a fan immediately and am already a little sad that cycling season is coming to a close.  Wisconsin winters are not kind to those of us that like to travel on two tires, but I already have big plans for some fun bike trips for next summer.

~JK

            Then, more recently, I won a gift certificate for a week of free group training at a local gym.  Everyone there was in great shape, but the whole experience struck me as insanely synthetic.  I felt so, so ridiculous driving to the place where I was going to work out, when I knew that I could have biked the round-trip distance in and of itself and saved myself the workout (and the gas money).  We worked out with equipment I had never even heard of before, mostly inside.  We listened to pulsating techno beats as we did so.  The other people crowded around the smoothie bar when the workout was done to drink expensive protein shakes and ask questions like, “What kind of zinc supplement do you take?” and “How many grams of protein are in a chicken breast?”  Part of me just wanted to snap, “Oh for heaven’s sake.  Just eat some peanut butter and ride your bike to work and you’ll be fine.”

            Now, I don’t mean to knock gyms and group workouts.  Anything that gets people up and running is okay by me.  I was a huge gym rat in college and still set aside time every day to go running, in addition to playing hockey.  But I dislike the idea of setting aside one hour a day to be active and spending the rest of my day just sitting.  So this summer I decided to make some lifestyle changes and try to sort of “live” actively.

            My biggest change was biking everywhere.  I did it last summer, but not nearly as intensely as I did this summer.  I found that my body could handle a lot more than I had been giving it credit for.  I found myself doing a 4-mile run in the morning, biking about 30 miles just getting around town, and working at my physically demanding job, all in the same day.  And eventually I wasn’t even sore after days like that. 

            Another thing I started doing was walking everywhere I didn’t want to bike.  My most common destination is my local grocery store, which is only about 2/3 of a mile away.  I only take a backpack with me, but I go more often.  Not only is my food fresher since I buy what I need exactly when I need it, but I get a nice walk through my neighborhood every time I do it. 

            Playing a sport is a great way to be active outside of more structured workouts too.  My hockey team gives me basically an hour of sprints at least once a week, not to mention the satisfaction of achievement and how awesome it is to have a whole team of built-in friends.

            In conclusion, don’t be afraid to think outside the box, or push yourself to do things that seem too hard.  Showing up at work all sweaty isn’t as big a deal as you think it is.  Being physically active throughout the day (i.e. a bike ride to work in the morning and again in the afternoon, or a walk in the evening) contributes to a better mood, an easily-maintained waistline, and a healthy suntan on your face.        

~JK

Our route: Wauwatosa to Oak Creek

After much hesitation, I stuck to my guns and had my awesome husband drop me off at my friends house across town. We jumped on our bikes and took the ride. It actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. According to MapMyRide.com, our adventure was 18.12 miles.

We started in Wauwatosa near 76th and North Ave. Headed towards Miller Park to jump on the Hank Aaron Bike Trail which starts near Miller Park and takes you through the Menomonee Valley into downtown. There was some slight confusion initially as the signage for the Hank Aaron Bike Trail gets a little blurry near the Palermo’s plant, but we managed to figure it out. Once we approached downtown, we decided to deviate from the trail and start heading south through the lovely streets of Bay View and into Cudahy and St. Francis heading to our final destination in Oak Creek.

We approached many hills that had the added challenge of the wind in our face. But once your up a hill, its downhill time with lots of speed to keep you enthusiastic. The total ride took 2 hours as we kept a slow and steady pace.

Overall, this ride was not that bad. It was a great day, we started early and the adventure was fun and peaceful. I’ve got a new passion for bike riding and I can’t wait for my next journey. I’m hoping the next ride will be with my husband. Not sure what path we will take, but I hope its a long peaceful one! ~LH

The half marathon was a transformative experience that way.  Far from being a nuisance, the crush of runners was invigorating.  Rather than provoking me to irritation, the cheering crowds encouraged me.  Surprise of surprises, I actually LIKED running with other folks around!  I still haven’t been able to bring myself to train with other runners, though, not yet.  One step at a time, pardon the pun.  Except, of course for the Hash House Harriers, but they’re a very special case indeed.  I’ll run with ‘em, but I’m not too sure the word “training” can be properly be applied to that scene…

And now, all in the same summer, I come to find out that I kinda like biking with company, too.  Who knew?  My friend had gotten a mountain bike last year but hadn’t yet gotten much use from it.  I spent last summer biking an obscene amount and while I’d loved it, I’d be lying if I didn’t confess to having been a bit burned out on it, too, before all was said and done.  Miles and miles and miles and miles, just me and my podcasts and the roads and the wind… Anyway, my friend and I play hockey together on a team where a full two lines is a good day indeed.   A little extra conditioning wasn’t going to hurt anybody.  We schemed and plotted.  A plan was hatched.  Perhaps not a great plan, or perhaps such a great plan that we wouldn’t allow ourselves to be thwarted.  However you care to cast it, our first foray into the world of biking with buddies launched us on our bicycles into the maw of an oncoming thunderstorm.  We knew the forecast, we’d seen the radar, but we soooo wanted to go that we ignored our better judgement.  Pelted by marble sized raindrops and awed by the lightning growing ever closer, we finally turned back before reaching our destination.  We raced the business end of that storm home.  Bedraggled we were, but invigorated, too.  Who doesn’t feel tough after biking through a storm?  We were hooked and a terrific little tradition was born.  Our little adventure led to a standing appointment between us for a bike ride for breakfast once a week.

I surprise myself.  With age and experience, I’m learning that I’m less a loner than I thought.  Not that I’m not a team player, but I’d always thought running and biking were different.  Companionship is an altogether different motivator for these things than I’m accustomed to, but it’s a valid one and I’m glad to have found it.  I’m glad to find new ways to love the things I already did and new people with whom to share my previously solitary pleasures.  Not that I’m giving up my solo bike rides anytime soon or inviting anybody along on my runs just yet, but this just might be the beginning of something beautiful.    ~DG

Understand that I live by the big airport in my city.  My dogs and I walk down to look at the airport lights and watch the behemoths land every night.  Alas, I work at the small airport all the way across town.  Much pavement lay between where I slept and where  worked.  I was undeterred.

I fell in love with the early morning chill and the sultry dripping noons.  I learned to bike in the night.  I outran thunderstorms, thrilling to the challenge of biking in the rain.  I gloried in the wind in my hair and the sun on my face.  The mists and floods along parkways felt like secrets I’d discover on my way to work that few others in my world were going to know.

It’s funny how much more intimately you feel you know a city when you’ve been cruising it by bicycle.  You’re not too fast to see the sights.  You’d better see those sights in fact, exposed as you are.  A car is a bubble isolating you from everyone else.  On a bike, you make sure to catch the eye of the drivers before you move anywhere near them.  It feels so much more personal to wait for them to return your nod than the simple watching for the other car to move that we’re all so used to in our competing elephantine machines.  The wind makes a difference in travel time; it’s hard not to take headwinds and tailwinds seriously and sometimes personally; the kind of day where it’s a headwind both ways gets you down.  Sussing out each car as you bike by it to be sure nobody is about to throw their door open  in front of you is a survival skill.  The time exists to really see each person walking the sidewalk.  Delightful adventures were had.  I can tell you which roving taco carts are worth tracking down and I brake for ice cream shops of every description.  I can also tell you which parts of the city I won’t ever be biking through again.  You can’t help but notice how people’s gardens change with the passing of the season in a way you can’t possibly catch when zipping by motorized and behind glass.  Biking made me more aware of the smells of a city.  The lilacs, the barbecue, the bus exhaust, the peonies, the steaming asphalt after a torrential downpour are all so much more real.  And vital.  And strikingly lovely.  I felt a part of the world in a way I don’t usually.  Our indoor lives change our perspectives more than we realize, I think, and now I know what I was missing.

Fall came and like a responsible adult, I got myself a new set of wheels.  Maybe just in time-one knee was starting to suggest the beginnings of some overuse issues.  Looking back, while it’s always nice to get where you’re going in a hurry, the romance and self sufficiency of getting there under my own power has been unforgettable.  I’d been missing it.  So this week, I got back on the bike to make the trek across town again, just for fun.  My phone rang enroute.  I find inexplicable delight in answering my phone on the bike, though the wisdom of doing so is debatable at best.

“Hullo?”

“What are you doing?” my mother asked.

“Biking to work.”

“Oh no!  Again?  What’s wrong?!?  How can neither of your cars be running?” she practically wailed with dismay.  It took some convincing before she’d believe that this was just for the joy of it.  It’s official: I’ve become one of those weirdos who bikes all over high hell just for giggles.  And ice cream.  Don’t forget the ice cream.  Or the tacos, actually…

So.  Now I know that in order to feel as though I really know and am a part of the places I travel past and through, I’ll need to see them from my bike at least every once in a while.  I always marvel at the truths I’d have missed if all had gone according to plan.  Sometimes losing what you thought you needed really can open up a whole new world.    ~DG

The second trip was a short ride less than 2 miles coasting around my neighborhood.  It was one of those days where the weather is finally nice after weeks of nasty weather and you say to yourself, “I need to get outside and take advantage of this awesome day”.  I did just that.

Today, I met up with a friend of mine with full ambitions to put in a good 15 miles on our bikes.  Unfortunately due to the weather, we were only able to put in a little over 5 miles.  We gave it a good run though.  We started out with a light drizzle and about 15 minutes into our adventure it quickly turned into a heavy down-pour with lightning and thunder.  That said, we decided to deviate from our original route and head back home before the weather could get any worse.

It felt good to get out and ride.  And to my surprise, I enjoyed riding in the rain.  It was the lightning that made me a bit uncomfortable.

Now that I have found my new joy (second to hockey), I have a checklist of things I must do:

• Read a couple of articles or books on biking. I realized while riding on the busy roads, I don’t quite remember all of the proper etiquette for riding.
• Need a tune-up on my bike. Some of my gears were not working properly.
• Purchase some sort of travel bag/rack.  The outfit I was wearing did not have pockets and with plans to take a ride longer than 5 miles, I wanted to bring some money, cell phone, etc in case of an emergency.
• Stick with it. The only way I’m going to improve and get better is to stick with it.
• Keep a journal. I want to keep a list of my routes, miles, and experience per ride.  Hopefully this will work as motivation to keep on biking this summer.

Wanted to share quickly, as I was trying to figure out how far I rode today, I came across this website that allows you to calculate your route and view other riders routes.  It is a nice interactive tool.  Check out http://www.mapmyride.com

~LH