Get a bike, kids!

For the past couple of months biking has been my main form of transportation. For somebody who has spent most of his life being physically inactive (except for the brief periods when I used to go to the gym 3-5 days a week), I have to say I feel much healthier and happier now. Biking is great for me on many levels. 1) it helps me to save money from taking public transportation; 2) it saves me from having to deal with the drama that comes with taking public transportation; 3) it is good for my body, and; 4) it is good for my mind.

I have to commute between my home in the SE and Downtown almost everyday. It used to cost me $4 every time I commute. The monthly bus pass, which is $75, helped me to save money a little bit, but very little. Now it costs me $0 to commute.

I was always bad with scheduling my life around the bus schedules. Oftentimes I used to miss the bus by a hair, and ended up having to wait a long time for the next one. After a long night of working in the shows, I often had to wait between 15-50 minutes for a bus to take me home. While on the bus I often got motion sickness. All of that is gone. It takes slightly more time for me to bike home, but not having to wait for the bus means that it actually takes much less time for me to actually get myself home. I don't get sick while I'm biking, and I don't have to schedule my life around anything. My bike is always there for me.

I feel so energized after a bike ride. I get to use my whole body, while at the same time enjoy the scenery and the fresh air. Because I'm always so busy, setting aside the time to work out has been really difficult. Now I do it everyday without having to make an effort to. Biking is not just productive for the body but also for my schedule.

I think of biking as a form of meditation. I have to focus on what I'm doing, and it keeps me from thinking of bothersome things. I get to relax my head when I don't have the time to meditate.

I'm getting all of these benefits everyday, and they're all for free and they're all for me. These alone are enough to keep me going on this bike path, not to mention how good it is for the environment. If you're driving, think about how much money you spend on gas, parking, car insurance, etc. Think how much you would be saving if you were to get a bike. Then think about the benefits you'll also be getting from biking.