Now for some perspective: today (and tomorrow) thousands of people are bicycling from Seattle to Portland. Including one of my family members. That's why I included the "relatively" when I said I am proud of myself. Pun intended.
But despite the fact I did less than many others, I did more than I normally do. It's 4.6 miles one way to work, so I biked over 27 miles this week!
In order to do so, I had to overcome one big thing - how dorky I look on the bike.
The reasons I feel dorky:
1) I'm not wearing special clothes
2) I'm slow
3) I'm huffing and puffing on the hills
4) I'm being passed by the serious bikers in their special biking gear (see #1 and #2 above)
5) I am trying to teach myself how to pedal while standing up, which involves much swerving and looking silly. [I only do this when there are no cars anywhere nearby. The same goes for trying to learn to bike one-handed so I can signal my turns properly].
6) My husband agreed that I look dorky while riding. He tells it like it is. Which is also how I know that I am beautiful! He wouldn't say it all the time if it wasn't true.
Here's how the bike itself looks, minus its rider:
The basket is very practical, but I'm not sure it helps my street cred as a serious biker. But do I want to be a serious bicyclist? Does it matter if I look silly? Probably not. I'd rather ride for pleasure, exercise, and to get to my destination in an earth-friendly way. I'm not fast, I don't look cool, but I'm still proud of myself for biking to work this week.
Way to go, Kathleen! Biking to work is such a great thing to do to be a good steward (as your label states). Keep it up! Once I get one of those seats for Serafina that hooks on right behind my seat, we should go for a bike ride. :)
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