Ah, Hurricane Season

When a young lady's fancy turns to projected paths and canned goods...

The rare June hurricane has popped up, sending the city in to a tizzy for a few days, clearning out stock of bottled water, and making it impossible to commute by bike.

South Texas is lucky in that we don't get much of a winter, making year-round bike commuting a possibility.

Except, of course, for that whole "hurricane" thing. Because while riding in the rain is one thing, riding in 80mph winds is quite another.

Though part of me thinks it might be fun to try!

Why it's good to make friends with your bus driver

In the afternoons, at least until it cools down, I ride up the hill and catch the Southside Express bus. So far I've been the only rider all five times I've taken this bus, so the driver and I have time to talk.

The wonderful thing about our Regional Transit Authority is that they recently outfitted every single bus with a bike rack on the front--and they've gotten a lot of use! Suddenly commuting is no longer an 'all or nothing' deal--you don't HAVE to ride your bike all ten miles, or take the bus all twenty.

Which brings us to yesterday.

There's a big convention in town, so a lot of busses have been pulled to the routes surrounding the convention center. Two of them passed me while I was waiting for my bus, and the lady who takes the #6 chainsmoked nervously while we waited.

Finally a bus pulled up, and it was the smaller busses generally reserved for the handicapped/those needing special assistance. My driver, a generally smiling and friendly guy, looked sad.

The bus didn't have a bike rack.

Before the driver could say a word, I popped the lock on my bike, folded it in half, and carried it up in to the bus with me.

While technically against the rules, he explained, he'd fought for a bus with a bike rack since a cyclist was the ONLY PERSON who rode this route--but management had told him that I could just wait for the next bus. So he was more than willing to let me aboard anyway.

ALWAYS make friends with the bus driver!

Answering The Question

It happens a lot: I get out of work, change in to my cycling gear, and head outside only to have one of my coworkers stop me and ask in confusion: "Why do you ride your bike?"

There are plenty of reasons I shouldn't. It's hot. It's windy. It's dangerous.

But the simple answer is: I enjoy it. I get to watch the sun come up over the bay, listening to the birds singing and the steady thrum of my pedals and wheels. I get my blood pumping first thing in the morning, and start my day off with fresh air.

There are other reasons, of course. I do like saving money on gas. And I do feel like I'm doing something a little extra for the planet. And the hour or more of exercise isn't bad, either.

But for the most part, it's just FUN.

Isn't that really the BEST reason to do anything?

There are times...

…When it sounds crazy to hop on a bike first thing in the morning.

Like all summer in South Texas. Technically, summer started today. It’s been in the 90s for weeks already, however, with heat indexes (indeces?) of 110-115. When I start out at 6am, I pass one of those rotating message boards, and the temperature has never once been lower than 82 degrees. At 6am.

Not so tough in the morning, but come afternoon I’m happy to hop on a bus. The $1.25 I pay for the Express Commuter shuttle from downtown saves me an hour in the sun (I am so terribly pale) and possible heat stroke, so it’s well worth it to me.

That being said, I’ll be overjoyed when it cools off enough that I can make the full 18-mile roundtrip commute by bike!

For the record, the bicycle I commute on is a 2006 Dahon Cadenza (seen to the left). It folds, which I love, so is easily stowed in a closet. It's got a mountain bike frame and road bike tires, which makes it comfy on the admittedly horrendous roads here.