not so stylish...but safe!

For the first four days of my commute challenge I was riding sans bike helmet. I didn't really like the idea of riding without one, but I didn't want to further postpone riding, so I was just extra careful.

Well, I did some digging in my parents' garage and found one! It is definitely an older helmet but I'm pretty sure in the event of a head-on crash, might help me anyway. It's not the most attractive look, but then again neither is a broken skull.

oh yeah...so cute right?! 

On another note, I am feeling pretty proud of myself for keeping up with my challenge. Over the last seven months it's taken different form than I expected, but I am still getting in some good exercise every day. I am up to a 43% bike commute rate, which is pretty cool. And I've driven my car so few times in the last week that I actually forgot where I parked the other day!

I'm also walking when I can. Today I had a work errand to run and instead of driving to work just for that reason, I decided to ride my bike and walk for my errand. It was only 3/4 of a mile round trip, but I am happy I chose the healthy route rather than the convenient one.

day one of commute challenge

Thanks to my wonderful sister in law for letting me borrow her bike, because I started my bike commute today! I thought it would be a good thing to try, and it was! I underestimated how tired I would get, but it was a good commute and I enjoyed it. I also felt good because it meant I didn't have to drive my car, and that means fewer emissions! So it helped me get exercise, and it helps the earth :).

My wonderful husband snapped this photo before I left this morning!

I also made a mistake. I had to stop by church on the way home to take care of a few things, one of them being to pick up the church laptop. I thought it'd be easy to ride home with it on my handle bars. WRONG! It kept bumping my knees and got really heavy at the top of the hill on the way back.

Nevertheless, it was a good experience, and as long as the rain holds off, I'll keep riding back and forth!

I've been challenged!

As a break from walking, I'm going to embark on a new challenge - the bike commute challenge. My co-worker Jake invited me to participate in it. It's a month-long challenge for September and its sponsored by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA). After thinking about it, I decided and I am going to take him up on it -- provided I find a bike, that is.

I used to have a bike, but then when our family moved after high school it got put outside and was never brought in...meaning it's now rusted over and I am pretty sure my parents donated it to some "Bigger and Better" game some local kids were playing. So sadly, that leaves me without a bike. I could go buy one, but I'd rather save up for a nice one than go out and buy a mediocre one right now. Besides, I am sure there are lots of second hand bikes laying around waiting to be ridden!

So, if anyone out there has a bike they'd love to let me borrow for the month of September, I would be eternally grateful.


You know where to find me should you have a bike I can use! And thanks in advance :)

An added bonus

For those of you who don't know, I am what you'd call "eco-conscious." I am fascinated by ways to reduce, reuse and recycle and I think it's really important that we all do our part to help to help "save" the earth.

But as much as I can practice the three R's, I haven't really been able to do one thing I think we all need to do less of: drive.


I have always been so dependent on cars because it's been difficult for me to get around without one. And to be honest, that bugs me. I hated driving across campus just to go to the library, or driving downtown or driving to Walgreens when in reality, they're all a short walk away.

So now that I have been walking to work, meetings, the grocery store and outings with friends, I feel so much better. Sure it's only an average of a mile each way, but if you think about it, that makes a difference. Instead of getting in my car and taking short, frequent trips (which actually uses up more gas than longer trips), I am walking. I don't waste gas, send more exhaust into the atmosphere and I get exercise.

It's great to finally be able to say I make an effort to walk places when driving is a heck of a lot easier and I hope this will motivate other people (ie: you) to walk somewhere instead of drive. Sure, it takes longer, but it's a lot more enjoyable and you are getting exercise.

I now feel the need to mention my wonderful mother, Leslie. She walks EVERYWHERE! That woman is always walking, whether it's to the Farmer's Market, the grocery store, the post office, the hospital (yes, she once walked there for an appointment), or my apartment, she makes a real effort to walk. Now, I'm sure she doesn't do it for earth-friendly purposes so much as she does for exercise, but I still think she deserves a medal.


So, I challenge you to rethink your transportation habits and focus on walking instead of driving. If all of you reading this decide to walk one place instead of driving, I think that would be pretty sweet. Think about it this way: if I can do it, so can you!

Happy walking :)

stop to smell the flowers

Well....I accomplished something today that I didn't think I could. I walked to and from to work! For some reason I always thought walking to work was "soooo far" but when I walked to church last week and had no problem, I figured I could walk the extra two blocks and get to work.

I picked today because I knew I didn't have to run any errands at work, that the weather would be mild enough, and that the Farmer's Market was going on. The walk there was great. It was a bit chilly, but by the time I was half way I was quite warm from walking so it wasn't so bad! I really enjoyed it because it gave me the chance to catch up on some podcasts, take some time for myself and also to get some exercise. In the end, I made it to work in 24 minutes and took two rests. I almost made it in one but didn't want to fall in the street so I decided it was best to just sit. It's never good to start the day of by embarrassing yourself and scraping your knee.

The walk home was a bit more difficult because I was tired from a long day at work and it was warmer, but it was still as pleasant as ever. I stopped at the Farmer's Market and treated myself to a yummy strawberry-raspberry lemonade and a piece of focaccia bread from Red Fox and then visited with Karen, Lori and Marissa at our church's Free Time at First event. We played with sidewalk chalk, popped bubbles and chatted. Then, it was off!

I really love that walk up Davis. I pass Cozine Creek and some cute houses and it's generally a great place to walk. I especially love the flowers in some of the front yards of the homes I pass, and I hope it was OK with them that I stopped to take pictures of them. They were just so pretty I couldn't resist!

The fence isn't pretty but the flowers behind it are!

So all in all, it was a great walk. I feel energized and confident that I can reach my goal. Even though I'm not focusing on distance anymore, I still felt compelled to look at how far it is from our apartment to the office, and it's about 3/4 of a mile, which is pretty good! Today I walked a 1 1/2 miles!