I decided to bike to work.

There were many factors that went into my decision. First of all, I didn't have a car and I was planning on leaving the country in four months. It just didn't seem practical. Secondly, I hated using gas and being wasteful of fossil fuels. My determination as an avid environmentalist (my other major exploit being vegetarianism) rose to the surface and seemed to align nicely with biking to work. Lastly -- a consideration I had only made once I realized how difficult a minimum of 30 miles per day would truly be -- was accepting challenges. I figured that if I could stick with biking for the summer, then not only would I be in tip-top shape, but I would prove to myself that I could handle challenges of stamina and fatigue (both physical and mental).

So I bought a bike at a local store. It's a hybrid, which means that the wheels are like road tires, but a little fatter, and the gearing isn't as high as a road bike, but certainly higher than a mountain bike. It's perfect for what I'm doing, because it gets good speed and little friction with the road. Once I bike home today, I will have put 250 miles on it in two weeks, which I think is pretty good. At a relaxed and consistent pace I will get to work in 1 hour and 8 minutes and return in 1 hour flat. If I push it, right now I can make it to work in 1 hour flat and back in 55 minutes. But pushing it wastes my legs for the rest of the week, and by Friday when it's OK to sprint I don't have the energy to do it. But it's only the second week, so I'm going to try for a 1:04 to work and a :58 return time all next week and then push it on Friday to see how much I have left. My goal by the end of the summer is to get a :50 time to work and a :40 return time. The reason that there's such a discrepancy between the two times is something you usually don't consider, but my place of work is about 250' higher than where I live, in the Cuyahoga River valley! Who said there were no hills in Ohio? I guess you just have to look on a bigger level!