Ride a bike to work

A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about my kids playing in the neighborhood and how their experiences reminded me of my own childhood. Well, maybe it’s the warm weather and the end of school approaching, but those thoughts of my younger carefree days have stayed with me. That’s why when my girls recently asked me to go riding bikes with them around our subdivision, I jumped at the chance.

It was just a month or so ago when we had our big, family yard sale and I had sold my bike… the one that sat in the garage unused for a whole year. When approached by a friend who wanted to purchase the bike from me, I gladly relinquished the fancy bicycle which was relatively brand new. I had purchased it originally with good intentions of riding it for exercise, but excuse after excuse cropped up, and before long, the bike was forgotten.

So when my two children invited me to tag along on their youthful excursion, I borrowed my dad’s old, beat-up bicycle for the short trek.

The sight of me on this bike was, I’m sure, quite comic. My dad’s bicycle is a boy’s bike (of course), and when I sit on the seat, my feet don’t touch the ground. If I need to stop the bike, I have to slow down, lean to the side and basically jump off. The padding on the handle-bars is falling off and the gear shift no longer works. The tread on the tires of the bike is also completely worn smooth from the many years of use.

But there was something about riding it that warm evening on the heels of my two girls, laughing, singing and racing that made it so much fun regardless of the spectacle it created. It was just pure joy.

As I sat in my office on Monday morning, I was reminiscing over the bike-riding fun I’d had with my girls while reading a story in another community’s newspaper bemoaning the high gas prices we’re currently facing. That’s when the thought struck me, why not save some money, get a little exercise and ride a bike to work?

I toyed with the idea while I was home during the lunch hour, and decided, why not? I live less than two miles from the office, the weather was beautiful outside, so I thought I’d go for it.

It only took me about ten minutes to bike from my house to the office, but those ten minutes were the highlight of my day. I must have driven this route along Church Street more than a thousand times in my car in our fourteen years of living in Columbia, but biking the street, I observed things that I have never noticed before. Flags flying, pretty flowers lining the sides of historic homes, kids playing ball on empty side streets… and as I rode by, people on their porches or in their yards would wave or shout out, “Good afternoon!”

It was exhilarating! So much so, that I rode the bike again to work on Tuesday.

I know some people might think I’m crazy, including my dad who just knows that I’m an accident waiting to happen on the dilapidated bike. (But it doesn’t make sense to buy a brand new bike when I’ve only got six weeks left before moving away.)

So for now, I’ll stick to riding the shabby bicycle as much as I can til it breaks down. The happiness that it brings is so worth it. My only regret is that I’ve waited til now to discover this enjoyment that was at my disposal for years.

So let me encourage you… don’t let this opportunity pass you by. It seems like each day I have left here, I grow to appreciate some new aspect of this wonderful community that we live in. Make sure you take advantage of each and every one!

published in the Columbian-Progress 05/12/11