Retiring from Bicycling

Seven months after going all bicycle in getting the kids to school and myself to work, I've put the bike back in the shed, as I'm going all SEPTA from here on out. It was fun while I lasted, but I'm glad: I am getting old and creaky, and Aaron is getting heavy. (In fact, at 39 pounds, he's on the brink of being over the bike seat's 40-pound limit.)

But it's a little bittersweet. It was good exercise: probably a total of 500+ miles ridden. It was good to control my own schedule, as I'm not going to like waiting outside forever for buses to arrive. It was good to slice through rush hour traffic, instead of being stuck in it like I will now. And, it was a little bit of father-son bonding, whether we were having "outside voice" conversation or he was snuggling up against my back in the cold or rain.

Fortunately, though I lost track of how many times I got cut off, we never got into an accident. And I didn't use any gas or spend any money (unless you count the two $5 ski masks we used to gut out the winter months). So I'll call the great bicycle commuting experiment of 2010-2011 a roaring success. And now if you'll excuse me, I have to soak my body; even though it's been since Friday since I rode on the bike, I'm still aching in places.