http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Bicycle/7861 I'm looking for some people who bike for transportation (not just fun and exercise -- I want people who bike to work, the grocery store, mom's house for dinner.) I'd also like to find people who have tried bike commuting, but for some reason it hasn't taken. You guessed it, I'm working on a story about bike commuting and sure would like some more sources. You can call me at 580-6521 or email me at lwilber@vicad.com. On that note, I'm experimenting with biking to work. Since I often do need my car, I parked it here for emergencies (literally emergencies -- fires, bank robberies and the like.) But I've been biking to and from home since Friday night. So far, I love it. Yesterday, between biking to and from work and to and from the gym, I covered about 12 miles -- and got 40 minutes of extra exercises. Today, I'll probably go to the gym and the grocery store -- maybe cover about 15 or 16 miles? Dare I hope that's enough calories to cover a cold beer and a cupcake? Mmm, not quite. As Eric said to me earlier, from his house to work it's about 15 minutes by car and 23 by bike. It's not a big difference and at the end of the day, it's a nice way to unwind. Plus, it adds a lot of color to your day. For example, last night a giant cockroach or beetle fell onto my arm -- kinda startled me. Hmm. Ok, that wasn't the best POSITIVE example. I'll try harder next time. Leslie I'm looking for some people who bike for transportation (not just fun and exercise -- I want people who bike to work, the grocery store, mom's house for dinner.) I'd also like to find people who have tried bike commuting, but for some reason it hasn't taken. You guessed it, I'm working on a story about bike commuting and sure would like some more sources. You can call me at 580-6521 or email me at lwilber@vicad.com. On that note, I'm experimenting with biking to work. Since I often do need my car, I parked it here for emergencies (literally emergencies -- fires, bank robberies and the like.) But I've been biking to and from home since Friday night. So far, I love it. Yesterday, between biking to and from work and to and from the gym, I covered about 12 miles -- and got 40 minutes of extra exercises. Today, I'll probably go to the gym and the grocery store -- maybe cover about 15 or 16 miles? Dare I hope that's enough calories to cover a cold beer and a cupcake? Mmm, not quite. As Eric said to me earlier, from his house to work it's about 15 minutes by car and 23 by bike. It's not a big difference and at the end of the day, it's a nice way to unwind. Plus, it adds a lot of color to your day. For example, last night a giant cockroach or beetle fell onto my arm -- kinda startled me. Hmm. Ok, that wasn't the best POSITIVE example. I'll try harder next time. Leslie en-us I have a pretty good story, but I don't think you want the whole megillah here. So, let me give you the Cliff's Notes version. Last year in January, after two straight weeks of rain, it was a beautiful clear day, and no reason not to ride my bike to school. I was headed east on North Street which runs in front of my campus. When the sun is out, there is nothing whatsoever to block the rays from blinding you. I slowed to let one driver about 30 yards behind me pass.   Suddenly – BAM! I bounced around a few times on the pavement. The last thing to hit the ground was the back of my head. Fortunately, I never lost consciousness nor did I see a bright light at the end of a tunnel. I’m ashamed to admit I wasn’t wearing a helmet, but it wouldn’t have helped much anyway, unless I’d had one strapped to my ass. As I crawled over to the curb, some lady came running toward me crying and yelling, “ARE YOU OKAY?!”  By now, three or four drivers stopped, including a school secretary, plus two police cars, an ambulance and a fire truck. I asked a  policeman, "What is THAT for? Am I on fire?”   The policeman asked me if I could drive myself to a hospital. Well, sure, I could drive there. . .   IF I HAD A CAR!!!   One doesn’t just sit in the back seat of an ambulance and look out the window. I was strapped to a board and told to lean back as the EMS workers lowered me to a horizontal position. I’m praying that the guy behind me wasn’t using hand lotion on the way to the scene of the accident. For the next thirty minutes I looked at the sky, then the ceiling of an ambulance, then the ceiling of the emergency room. I was visited by the school nurse and two administrators. One told me not to worry about classes because a security guard was watching them. ("Now let's see if they get away with throwing paper!") Also, I didn't have to attend the faculty meeting that afternoon. Darn the luck. I was SO looking forward to it. After three hours of getting poked and x-rayed and scanned, I was released. I was plenty sore, but alive and without fractures. The moral to this story: Wear a helmet. I believe that the next safety feature for bicyclists should be inflatable pants. If the rider gets knocked or falls off his bike, a device sewn into his back pocket senses the contact with the concrete and in an instant, his pants explode with an inflated airbag attached to his ass. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Bicycle/7861/#c_55395 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Bicycle/7861/#c_55395 I have a pretty good story, but I don't think you want the whole megillah here. So, let me give you the Cliff's Notes version. Last year in January, after two straight weeks of rain, it was a beautiful clear day, and no reason not to ride my bike to school. I was headed east on North Street which runs in front of my campus. When the sun is out, there is nothing whatsoever to block the rays from blinding you. I slowed to let one driver about 30 yards behind me pass.   Suddenly – BAM! I bounced around a few times on the pavement. The last thing to hit the ground was the back of my head. Fortunately, I never lost consciousness nor did I see a bright light at the end of a tunnel. I’m ashamed to admit I wasn’t wearing a helmet, but it wouldn’t have helped much anyway, unless I’d had one strapped to my ass. As I crawled over to the curb, some lady came running toward me crying and yelling, “ARE YOU OKAY?!”  By now, three or four drivers stopped, including a school secretary, plus two police cars, an ambulance and a fire truck. I asked a  policeman, "What is THAT for? Am I on fire?”   The policeman asked me if I could drive myself to a hospital. Well, sure, I could drive there. . .   IF I HAD A CAR!!!   One doesn’t just sit in the back seat of an ambulance and look out the window. I was strapped to a board and told to lean back as the EMS workers lowered me to a horizontal position. I’m praying that the guy behind me wasn’t using hand lotion on the way to the scene of the accident. For the next thirty minutes I looked at the sky, then the ceiling of an ambulance, then the ceiling of the emergency room. I was visited by the school nurse and two administrators. One told me not to worry about classes because a security guard was watching them. ("Now let's see if they get away with throwing paper!") Also, I didn't have to attend the faculty meeting that afternoon. Darn the luck. I was SO looking forward to it. After three hours of getting poked and x-rayed and scanned, I was released. I was plenty sore, but alive and without fractures. The moral to this story: Wear a helmet. I believe that the next safety feature for bicyclists should be inflatable pants. If the rider gets knocked or falls off his bike, a device sewn into his back pocket senses the contact with the concrete and in an instant, his pants explode with an inflated airbag attached to his ass.