I went for some coffee with a buddy of mine the other day and I was talking about all the commuting by bike I’ve been doing the last three weeks since Candace and I decided to go to a one car family. I was ticking off the reasons I was loving it…

• lost 7 pounds already
• every ride is an adventure
• more energy during the day
• feeling of freedom

He then brought up the fact that not much more than a year ago I swore I’d never ride on the roads around my hometown since they are far from bike friendly.

What changed?

I can’t really be sure.

I got my Redline 9-2-5 a little over six months ago and used it during some of the nasty winter months to get some riding in and it quickly grew from driving to the paved trails to ride to just riding from my house to the paved trails. From there I got more used to the idea of stealing some road from the cars and decided to start riding into work.

The first few times I felt pretty uncomfortable and got off the road as much as possible. Now I claim the lane whenever I don’t have a big enough shoulder to be completely off the road. I routinely ride in ways I wouldn’t have dreamed of just a year ago.

And while I realize the chances that I’ll eventually have a run in with a car are pretty high, I still have a sort of invincible feeling that comes from doing something that sets me apart and, I feel, makes me a better person.

That’s a plug for our commuter site… www.commutebybike.com

But besides that, I recently made the decision to start biking to work three days a week. I arrived at three because on Wednesday mornings I have a business networking meeting that I can’t show up a sweaty mess for and then that leaves me an extra day a week to be lazy.

My ride to work is a straight shot down one relatively high-trafficked road that is very non-bike friendly. The drivers aren’t to bad, it’s just the jokers at the Virginia DMV must have never heard of a bike when they designed the roads. Plus there are two pretty large hills that kick my tale on the fixed gear 925 I ride. The second hill on the ride is always the worst. It’s a longer climb and is in quick succession of the first hill. Everyday I’ve ridden it on the 925 I’ve ended up walking at some point.

But not today!

With about fifty yards to the crest I actually came to a stop and was about to swing off the bike when the more resolute section of my brain (that usually loses the fight) kicked up a furious storm of cursing and insults which was enough to get me going and finish the climb.

Rock on! I did the full ride into work today without getting off to walk and it felt great! Now we’ll see if that happens on the ride back home…