on another kind of rider

For the most part, this blog goes unread and unnoticed by anyone but me: my wife occasionally reads it to see what I'm not telling her, and my sister has made reference to some posts. But after my post about Bikemanforu, I got a comment from a woman who calls herself Reluctant Cyclist (I think of her as RC). Intrigued, I went to take a look at her blog.

It appears she lives in Connecticut and commutes by ferry to eastern Long Island, New York. Some time ago, she found a purple bike ignored at the back of a hardware store, bought it, but then didn't like it much, until it was time to think about using a bicycle to commute. I don't recognize the brand, but the parts were apparently good enough to make the bike worth the repair, and it's now fitted out with some new accessories, making it, apparently, ferry- and commuter-worthy.

Yours truly is a roadie. I go for the speed, I have a number of those lycra outfits that make me look like a pseudo-superhero, I have no problem with throwing the bike into the back of the car and burnin' some gasoline to go someplace nifty to ride (Hills? Good scenery?, Flats with good road surfaces and little traffic, so I can get some good speed up? Send me directions; I'll be there). I spend money on my bike and gear; as we were saying on a ride today, it's my sportscar. There's a difference between the way I ride and the ethos of the commuter rider, who's usually concerned with environmental (and sometimes cash) concerns. I am a bit in awe of commuter riders: they frequently go out in weather I avoid, they carry stuff on the bike, they arrive at work and often have to make themselves presentable for the workday (after exposure to road grime, and the evil that helmets do to coiffures... my typical guy hair suffers; I can imagine what RC must go through). They are actually using bikes for transportation, of all things!

Part of the reason I'm not a commuter is that I have to carry enough stuff to fill a wheelie briefcase: while it's true that some days my commute is only about six miles, almost every second day, I'm going to a different office - and at the foreign office, there is no place for me to keep files or supplies; I have to pack everything in and out. Further, there's no good place to clean up at either office. So, I guess, in addition to the awe, there's a bit of, if not jealousy, at least a feeling of, "I wish I could do that".

Did I mention she's got a blog? The Karma of Commuteration is partly about some of the products that Bikemanforu sells, but mostly about RC's experiences as a new commuter. I liked it enough that I became a follower. I hope to hear more about her experiences... and maybe to join her ranks as a commuter some day.