New Miles: 135 (bike)
Thread Mileage: 135
Personal Mileage: 135
Notes:
We used to have a thread where people tracked their miles running. I miss that, but figured it would be nice to start a new one rather than resurrecting the old one. Here's how I envision this working. You do some miles on your feet or bike, or any means that are powered by you and not gasoline. You come here and report them. Update your stats, the thread stats, and then in the notes part, you can make some comments on the mileage. Right now, I'm describing this thread. I'm envisioning sort of a blog that everyone is invited as a primary contributor. However, if you just want to log some numbers, that's cool too.
I am by no means a hardcore biker. I own no spandex. I use platform pedals, and most of the time I've pretty slow. There is no carbon fiber anything on my ride.
I moved to Los Angeles about a year ago to go to school. When I did, I got an idea in my head that I'd commute to school by bicycle. I have no idea why. I didn't have a bike. I had only spent like 3 days in LA in my life. I didn't have the slightest idea whether such a thing was in any way reasonable or feasible. So, I traded an old laptop for a bike (thanks
alinn) and packed up to move. For a year, I rode my bike to school. I stopped getting parking passes. I just rode. It isn't far -- only about 3 miles each way. But I did it each day went from being winded to being exhilarated. After a bit, I felt like the commute wasn't quite long enough.
After 9 months of this, I decided I would get a nicer bike (meaning one that wasn't bought for someone 5 inches taller than me) and extend my reach. I picked up a Surly Crosscheck, some lights, a rack, and here I am. My new routine is to ride to school. After school, I ride from school to a bus stop, and take the bus to work with my bike on the rack. Then I ride home from work. All told, this is about 15 miles, with 10 miles of it on the trip home from work. At some point, I'll start biking to work too.
I'm proud of my miles because they have meaning. I've got a car, but I ride by choice... Every mile on my bike is a mile that I choose not to spend in my car. It's a mile that isn't bad for the environment, a mile that I spent exercising rather than sitting in a cage, a mile that I didn't pollute, send money to oil dictatorships, or pad the pockets of the oil companies. It's a mile that didn't contribute to the stress of traffic in LA. And I go places. Under my own power.
Tonight's ride sparked the idea for this thread because I saw two interesting things. The first was a pair of motorcycles racing down Silverlake Dr with no lights on. They were probably doing about 75 on a residential street. At first I thought they were just assholes, but then 2 police cars with lights blazing and sirens blaring showed up. And then a helicopter with a spotlight. So they were probably more exciting than I first thought.
Then, as I came huffing and puffing up a hill to turn on Sunset Blvd, I saw the tail end of a convoy or about 40 or 50 bikers disappearing around the corner. It was clearly a group ride of some sort. As I waited for the light to change for my left turn, 2 stragglers went cruising by, obviously having fun. After they had gone about 20 yards past me, one turned and looked in my direction and waved for me to follow them. If they hadn't been headed away from my house at 11:30 PM after a 16 hour day, I probably would have done it. I hope I see them again.
So, you don't have to write a novel to post in this thread. I definitely won't each time I post. But share your thoughts when you've got them, and enjoy getting places through your own energy.