Commuting by Bike

So I’ve been using my bike to commute for a year now. During the school year I bike to and from Wellesley for my Japanese class, and now I’m commuting by to my summer job.

Heres a picture of my current bike.

I can’t actually remember why I started  biking, I think it was something to do with getting fit, and getting mad thighs or something. I also bought myself a super classy looking bike (which I can’t for the life of me find a picture of) so that I couldn’t back out of the plan without suffering significant losses.

Anyway, I think the most interesting way to frame this blog post is me, imparting my noobish biking wisdom to you.

Why should you bike?

1. Biking is healthy for you. You probably already knew that.
2. You’re sitting at work all day doing the clicky thing for hours, I find that it’s a nice break between work and doing more clicking at home.
3. It’s cheaper than buying a car. And even if you already have a car, it’ll cost you around $10k a year for things like shop trips, insurance, gas, etc. A bike costs the cost of your bike.

Biking in general:

1. Safety glasses serve as cheap cycling glasses. Once I got a tiny fly in my eye and it came out a few hours later covered in bright yellow mucus.
2. Watch out for cars. It’s a little bit “duh”, but when you’re on a sidewalk or a bike path you need to really look for those cars that are turning (both left and right). They’re not thinking about you, they’re thinking about other cars that are going straight and won’t hesitate to run you over.
3. Don’t bike on the sidewalk...I get that it’s intimidating at first to be where the cars are but it’s safer in the long run. You’re unlikely to catch pedestrians off guard and cars will actually see you and do a better job at not hitting you (see 2). If you insist on biking on the sidewalk though, get a bell.
4. Wear a helmet. Yes, generic biking advice. It’s a better alternative to dying. There’s some really cool looking, some might even dare say, stylish bike helmets out there.
5. Get a U-lock if you’re in a heavy bike theft area. I have a bigger one that I can wrap around my frame, the bike parking, and my front wheel. The front wheel part is necessary because the front wheel usually pops off, and apparently stolen bike tires is a big enough market.

Biking when it’s really hot out (>100°F):

1. Don’t be a dumbass and bring a water bottle. Personally I would bring one extra bottle  every 5 miles. Get those vacuum insulated ones, I still have ice left in my bottle after my commute (4miles). The link to amazon lists it at $37, I think you can get the same thing at Costco for $20.
2. It’s not that bad. Honestly its probably just as gross sitting in your car waiting for the AC to turn on.
3. You can still wear jeans and long sleeved shirts. In fact, it’s good because you’ll burn less, but it does get a little gross when it's a little humid outside. That and you’ll get awkward tan lines at your wrists.
4. Hide in the shadow of the traffic signals when you’re waiting to cross, it actually feels a million times better.
5. Sunscreen will turn your white shirt orange. I didn’t know that was a thing until it happened to me, so now I’ve switched to raspberry (why is the p silent?) seed oil, which according to my roommate has natural spf. I haven’t gotten sun-burnt yet.
6. Get a helmet with a brim. That means not a skateboard helmet.

Biking when it’s really cold out (<30°F):

1. Earmuffs are the best. Without them the cold winter air will not only make you lose all feeling in your ears but will also make you deaf.
2. Get yourselves nice warm gloves. I find that the rest of your body will eventually warm up, but your hands will stay cold forever.
3. Before you chance it biking in the snow, test it out first. I have commuter bike tires on my bike at school and I’ll skid immediately when I hit any kind of snow.

Biking in the rain:

1. It’s a free bike wash.