GHET-TO!

I've have a really nice road bike that I've ridden sporadically over the past 5 years. I've used it to exercise and to recreate, but I've never done anything practical (read "commute") with it, although I've always intended it for this purpose. After all, one doesn't buy an expensive road bike if one intends it only to collect dust. So, why am I not using it for my morning commute? Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but I'd likely have to duck as I ride by the 2 or 3 drug dens that I pass on my way to work. Anyway, I've started riding it to the gym during the week, and yesterday I decided to bite the bullet (hopefully not literally) and ride to work. Using googlemaps like the geek that I am, I found a route that bypasses most of the mess without taking me too far out of my way. I go thusly:


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3.3 miles...and that's with a relatively long detour (if you look at the map, the detour is where I ride southwest on main st. to kensington avenue.) The shortest route is straight across main, down filmore to kensington. If you need illicit substances that's the road to take, otherwise I'd go the long way...

Finally getting off my ass and deciding to do this made me realize how close I am to work, and it made me feel guilty for waiting so long to start. I highly recommend this for anyone who lives and works in the same municipality--I'd hazard a guess that even if my ride was twice as long it wouldn't make much of a difference. I timed the ride, and biking the detour route takes literally a couple of minutes longer than driving the short route. (I've biked the "danger" route and I made it in the same time it takes me to drive, which makes me feel even more guilty.) All of this aside, it's just plain nice to be out on a bike. Unless it's snowing. Or raining. Or there are 30mph winds.

To sum up, the benefits of biking to ECMC (saving $, lower CO2 footprint, exercise, "experiencing" the city) to me outweigh the potential negative aspect ("experiencing" the city.)