So far this year I’ve managed to commute to work via bicycle with no assistance from the metro bus system.
People constantly ask me if I rode the bicycle in today, as if there is always an alternative. And while I could choose other transport, they never consider that there are some people for whom the bicycle might be the only alternative. There might be some people for whom the bike is all there is.
We are in a culture that assumes the bicycle, ultimately, is a leisure option, a hobby.
Yet I try to treat the bicycle as a serious endeavour. Which is why I how far I can safely go.
Early in January there was some cold weather. This Tuesday it was rain. Wednesday was a more unique obstacle — the wind.
Tuesday I rode home eastward with a west wind at my back. Tuesday I rode to work westward with a west wind in my head. And by the time I rode home the weather pattern had cycled and it was an eastwind at my head.
The same sense takes people in their fitness goals. They plan to run — when the weather is fair. They lift weights — when they have time. both are the question of dedication and focus. When there is another option, the commitment to the current endeavor is harder.
At The Rainbow 