Bike country

I love living in a city where any flat open space near a destination is covered in parked bikes. Even when it's raining! I'm a month in to my new bike commute and so far, in the admittedly mild summer/early autumn weather, I love it. I love having 40 minutes of exercise built in to my day, and I even love the added challenge of riding with Sterling in the rumble seat (we drop him off at päiväkoti on the way to or from work). Really! It's just a great workout.

These days I often see former students of mine riding the other way on the main commuter bike path. They're riding from the university area to the teacher training school, while I'm going toward the university in the opposite direction. I've said it before, but wow is this ever a small town sometimes. I literally lived on campus in Sharjah and did not see my students as much as I do now.

I've also noticed a few regular commuters who seem to come and go at the same times as me. You can tell a regular by the way they avoid the same pits and bumps in the path that you do. There is one big bump on the path near Prisma, and there is a particular sequence of mini-turns you can make to avoid it. I smile every time I see another cyclist execute the same series of moves. Bike commuter level: expert.