One year of cycling to work

Cancer hit a friend of mine not that long ago.

And as I was biking to work with my two kiddos the other day, I was thinking about him.

What would be my ideal day? I wondered. What would I do with my time if I had gotten his diagnosis of a more or less non-treatable form of pancreatic cancer?

I thought about it. And I realized that it would start just like that one. Biking with my kids to daycare and then work.

It is hard to put into words the myriad reasons. Everyone has their own reasons why they go the way they go to get where they want to go.

I know few things in life but I have found my bliss biking to and from work everyday.

In my experience, good gear makes a tremendous difference, and it's a logarithmic curve; the first few hundred dollars get you most of the way. Maintenance also goes a long way, you'd be surprised of the friction losses of severely under-inflated tires, or a rusty chain/cassette. Finally, having the right type of bike is a game-changer, I am always amazed at how many people commute in urban environments with a heavy, slow, double-suspension mountain bike when they could be zipping around on a road bike and having some fun! I've also found that having a GPS watch to record your commute helps a lot with gratification.

At the end of the day, I think commuting by bike in an enjoyable experience compared to the alternative most people have in an urban environment: packed/slow/expensive/unreliable public transport, or traffic jams. Maybe you should alternate between the two to remind you of why you commute by bike ;)

Yes I am careful with tire inflation and chain. (However, this morning I had a chain snap for the first time ever, so mayhaps I'm not as careful as I thought... hehe. Only about six months/300 miles on this chain. Had many chains with years and years of use, no problems.)

I have had road bikes but the handlebars were too low so I got sore shoulders. Had a couple old, beautiful Schwinns that had expensive parts with odd sizes, so I never bothered to upgrade the handlebars on those road rides for a better fit.

Current steed is almost decent. I'm probably going to drop some cash soon on taller handlebars. It's an old Walmart "mountain" bike (without shocks) and as parts wore out I've replaced them. By now I could have bought a nice new ride, but this is the first time I've had a bike where so many parts wore out, so I didn't anticipate that.

It is heavier than many rides, but because I'm not climbing hills that's not an issue. I've had heavier, and I've had lighter, with no noticeable difference in enjoyment.

And carrying around a heavy backpack, while it doesn't help, I don't notice much improvement in enjoyment when I am out on a joy ride without the pack.

But as you said I think I really would have a better experience on a $500+ commuter ride? Especially one that's a better fit. I'm 5'11"/155 cm and most everything seems to be made for people just /slightly/ smaller. The frame height seems to be alright, it's the shoulders.

Maybe I'm just fat and lazy. IDK. If I had a tail wind everywhere I'd love it.

Once had an electric motor, and /that/ was pretty fun. Perhaps I ought to get another one.

Am thinking that should my new business take off it'll be time to get a delta trike with a 1000W electric motor. Still requires pedaling, but would be like having a permanent tail wind :-)

Thanks again for asking.

Here's what cement dividers on Norther Boulevard protect riders from (scroll down for photos): http://qns.com/story/2017/12/07/poorly-designed-hastily-cons...