Bike To Work

My friend Lesley put an entry on her blog the other day about her daily bike commute to work. She rides about 4.5 miles and it takes her about a half an hour on the Rock Island Trail in Lincoln, NE. I know that trail pretty well, having ridden it several times when I was living there. It is a peaceful linear oasis in the middle of a city, and it is designed to keep bikes and cars apart and safe from each other. Lesley is lucky to live so close to such a nice trail.

I live close to a nice trail as well. When I worked in East Sacramento I used to ride my bike to work. My ride along the American River Bike Trail and through the Norman Rockwell neighborhoods of East Sac was a peaceful way to start the day. In the mornings I would see magpies, pheasants, rabbits and the occasional coyote. Even wild chickens. The ride back was a great way to unwind from the craziness of work. The whole thing was about 18 miles round trip, and after a couple of months I was in pretty good shape and had lost about 30 pounds. When I left that job the only thing I missed was the ride (I was reunited with the weight over the next couple of years).

This time when I started looking for work in Sacramento, one of the prerequisites for any job was that I would be able to ride my bike to work again. I wouldn’t say that money wasn't high on the list, but ability to ride was definitely near the top. It worked out, although now my route takes me less on the American River Parkway and more through some of the grittier areas of Greater Sacramento.

As I've tried to simplify and downsize my life a little bit my midlife crises have also simplified and downsized. I used to buy a new car when I got a wild hair up, but for the last few years it’s been bicycles. I’ve had a Trek Mountain Bike, a Trek Hybrid, and a couple of no-name brand bikes. Lately I’ve been buying Townie bikes by the Electra Bike Co. These are nice comfortable, laid back bikes, but my latest one (a Townie 21) is geared so that I can also make a reasonable amount of speed and take some of the easier hills.

My ride is about 4.8 miles – it’s 10 miles to drive. It starts at my front door, winds through my neighborhood to the bike trail where I cross the American River and go through Riverbend Park (formerly Goethe - local pronunciation is "gate-y") just a short way to the streets of Rancho Cordova. While I’m still in the park I see lots more bike commuters than I did just a month ago. The price of gas has started to transform the nation in ways that we don’t understand just yet, but this is probably one of the more positive aspects.

In the park I catch a glimpse of the river, perhaps see some wild turkeys grazing along, and always there are the walkers, power walkers, dog walkers, runners, bikers and strollers. This is a park that is well loved and well used.

Unfortunately I get out of the parkway all too soon. The first neighborhoods on the other side of the river are fairly similar to ours. The houses are well tended and the people seem friendly. There is a Regional Transit (RT) Light Rail station not too far away, and some good samaritan bike commuter has thoughtfully

marked the pavement to show the way from the trail to RT -B2RT- and back. You can take your bike on the light rail to get downtown, although in the commute hours that's probably about as popular as a stinkbomb with your fellow passengers.

Rancho is a town that has a reputation for being pretty rough, not just around the edges, but in its core. As I move farther from the river and cross Coloma Road the neighborhood gets more and more seedy. Approaching Folsom Boulevard

there are boarded up apartments and broken glass in the street, and the businesses that have sprung up to cater to the immigrant communities that make Rancho their first stop on the road to the American Dream.

 This part of the ride is far less bike friendly than the beginning. There tend to be more tricked out muscle cars, huge pickups and people oblivious to everything outside their cars. I always have the impression that clipping me with their vehicles wouldn’t make some of them 

slow down, much less stop. I think about these clowns when I see people complaining on TV about how hard their lives have become since gas has spiked. Geez, their lives might be that much easier if they slowed down a little bit. Mine certainly would.

The worst part is getting over Highway 50; fortunately it’s a short stretch. There is a massive six lane overpass for cars, but little space for pedestrians and bikes. I don’t have the stones to ride in the “bike lane” here, so I ride on the sidewalk. It’s technically illegal, but it's not usually a problem unless there is another bike or a pedestrian. Then one of us has to stop or move off the sidewalk to pass. I definitely think there should be better protection for bicyclists and pedestrians – truly separate lanes and bridges.

The overpass reminds me of the old joke about how the traffic in LA makes everybody a baseball fan -- because if you’re not a Dodger you’re an Angel. (Ok, so it wasn't maybe the funniest joke in the world - so sue me.)

Finally, I get onto the wide street where my office block is located, with its campus of lawn and trees surrounded by other square office blocks. The whole trip takes me about a half an hour and I have enough time to splash on some cold water in the bathroom and change into more appropriate work clothes. In the afternoon, I just do the same thing in reverse, plus I get to jump in the pool at the end.

Despite the drawbacks of the last part of the ride, I vastly prefer bike commuting to driving. The other day I had to drive,

and the traffic was backed up and aggravating. I got to work feeling frazzled and irritated. Saving the world and the cost of gas aside, the connection with the outside

world, the satisfaction of self propulsion, and the added endorphins from a little exercise make a great start to the work day. And when work is over there is no better way to unwind and reach home with all the kinks worked out. I plan to do this as often as I can, although not in the rain.

I want to ride my bicycle

I want to ride my bike

I want to ride my bicycle

I want to ride it where I like

-- “Bicycle Race”, by Queen