Off Track Events: LCD 2 - Low Car Challenge? High Bike Opportunity!

I feel lucky to have a month full of excuses to get back on my bike. Everytime, I need to go anywhere its another opportunity for fresh air, exercise and a feeling of relaxation. I will take advantage of this situation any time that I can!

Commuting by bicycle is a great way to get in great physical shape. Biking your daily routes and special trips can be a tremendous kick start to a new level of fitness. Simply heading downtown to drop a package off at the post office, carrying groceries and cargo up steep hills home, and racing to catch the green light before it turns to red creates a strong level of biker strength. The Bike, Walk and Wheel week in Columbia is a great example of how healthy and social people in the community can be when they take the extra time to physically transport themselves around the town. My amazing wife Katie bikes to work most days of the week, and we also often travel to events in town by bicycle. It is a great chance for us to spend time together and we love not having to worry about finding a parking space (we are always able to park the bikes directly at our final location). Riley the super dog even got into the commuting spirit this week as we did a long run to the dog park. I really believe that she had more fun on the fast run to the dog park than she did when she was actually there!

This week, my friend Nate Smith and I began the process of promoting by bicycle the upcoming cross country race (XCX cross country extreme) that we are co-race directors for. It is amazing how much faster it is dropping of brochures around the city of Columbia when you are able to get around quickly by bike. 5,000 brochures distributed by the end of next week. That is our challenge! I can honestly say that I can get anywhere in town in twice the time by bike than if I was in a car (although sometimes that can be quite a challenge). I do take extreme caution when I commutethroughout the city. I really focus on getting eye contact from drivers at intersections before I make the decision to cross. I was transporting some Electric 6 concert posters for Mojos early this week in a kid trailer. Riding down some busier streets I noticed that I was given much more caution by the cars around me. Cars politely passed me widely and slowly and politely waved me ahead at intersections. The interaction between car drivers and bikers varies tremendously. There are times bikers are almost (and in some occasions actually are) run off the road and other situations where a honking car sports a passenger with a thumbs up of encouragement. The rule to remember is cars do much more damage to bikes than bikes do to them. Respect the same rules of the road as they do and do take caution.

No epic Katy trail rides this week. No road races and long commutes. Simply multiple commutes daily. Normal life traveling by bike. What a great work out!