I love my bike. It’s three weeks old and out of the last twelve work days, I’ve biked and bused to work 9 days. I haven’t put any gas in my car in a month! I love my bike.
It all started when gas prices reached $4.00 a gallon. Even though my Honda Civic is very frugal with gas, I was still paying between $140 and $160 a month for gas. It really was bothering me and I kept putting off doing anything about it. My friends and family know about my commitment to the environment and it just didn’t seem right to drive to work every day by myself. Then gas got to $4.50 a gallon. That was the week I went to my local bike shop and bought my bike from Walter at Wally’s bike shop in San Luis Obispo. It was time to walk ( or bike) the talk and I wish I’d done it sooner.
Walter is from Guatemala, one of my favorite travel destinations, and I met him and his wife through a mutual friend. He was a great help several years ago when he steered me towards a friend of his who sold me my Honda. He is also an expert when it comes to bikes and bike repairs and he was the perfect person to go to when I was ready to buy a bike. Walter questioned me on my bike experience (none since age 6!) and what I planned to do with the bike. Based on my answers (little experience and a need for a comfortable bike with few gears to ride to work), he had me test several bikes. The Sun Cruz by Sun bikes with just three gears had the most comfortable sit I’ve ever ridden on and it was the perfect color blue. It wasn’t a bad thing either to have Sun on my bike since I sell Solar Electric products! He put on a bell, reflectors and a basket, and sold me a lock. I was all ready to go except I needed a helmet. Thanks to my friend Diana, I had a helmet on loan the next day. The day after that I ventured on my first day of biking and busing. That’s how it all began. One quick decision and now I’m hooked on biking. I now have my own helmet and I’ve added a back rack and 2 saddlebags so I don’t have to wear a back pack and over load the front basket. I can now bike to the grocery store – only 6 blocks away – and buy staples. I also now bike to downtown Morro Bay just for the ride and have a cup of coffee or visit the local bookstore.
Bike riding puts you in a different universe from driving cars. I ride a bike path each day where Eucalyptus trees hover over you and exude their perfume. The lizards don’t move as you bike by because they know you won’t run over them. Birds sit in the trees and sing to you. Other bikers smile at you and say hi as you pass them. On one of my trips from work to the bus stop to go home, three young women on a bench on Osos street cheered me on! Every time I bike down the hill on Quintana road I feel like I’m on the dip of a roller coaster. I can challenge myself to go a little further up that hill – something I just don’t have to do with my car. You become familiar with every nuance of the road – where the slight dips and rises are and which is the best route to take on busy days. I am amazed that it’s quicker to bike places in San Luis Obispo than drive – my first trip from work to the bank downtown and back took less then 15 minutes. I would still be at a stop sign or light with my car. I now even venture into traffic to make left turns instead of using the crosswalks. Today I biked my first hill without having to get off and walk. By the end of next week I should be biking all the way up the small, slow graded, hill to my home. Again, these are things I don’t even think about in my car.
Biking makes me think about my son Erick when he was little and seemed to be on his bike all the time. The picture of him covered in poison oak but on his bike in our driveway came to me the other day. Then I think about my brother Art who biked across country in his fifties and now I know why. I think about the sleek English Racer my parents bought me for my 6th birthday. I didn’t ride it much because that was the year I also got a horse. You have time to think when biking and enjoy the scenery too. I’ve even been thinking of taking the bus to Cambria (about 18 miles north) and biking back to Morro Bay. That will be my challenge for August. I am grateful that all the regional buses have bus racks. Our regional rideshare program lets me track my bike/bus use and each month they give away a $150 visa card to one of the participants. I think about winning that too.
I’m off to Guatemala in two weeks and I will miss my bike. She’ll be parked in my garage taking a rest. So I’m leaving a few pictures of me and my bike on my blog to look at while I’m in Central America and for my friends and family to enjoy. My advice to everyone is try biking – you’ll love it.
