Bike to Work Week: Monday-Tuesday

Since life doesn’t pose enough challenges for me, I’ve decided to pose a few of my own.

When I’m not commenting on the Vore’s blog (which I’ve unsuccessfully lobbied to have them change the title to “Voretext”…no one appreciates me), I also hold down a full time job 7.4 miles away. Apropos of nothing (or if you think about it, everything) I’ve decided to bike to and from it everyday this week.

Lord knows why this will make a good blog series, but I need to stall while figure out what to say about “The Ballad of Curtis Loew” (the finest picker to play the blues or don’t you know?). 

I’ve been biking to work intermittently throughout the summer on my brand new Trek hybrid. It’s a 45-minute trip, 55 if I want it scenic. But this is my first attempt to do it 5 consecutive days. 

Monday was alright. Woke up with enough time. The hill at the beginning of Old Sauk Road is always a trial, a 60 degree pitch that goes half a mile. Makes me nostalgic for that 110 page thesis I once wrote. 

I’m pretty sweaty by the end of this. The factory floor bathroom at work has a shower, which it seems I’m the only one brave enough or careless to use. No problem for me. But I haven’t found a place to stash my laundry during the workday. I’ve been hiding it in my desk, which could get rank fast. I usually just take this home the next day by car. But since we don’t have this option this week, we’ll see how this develops.

The ride back wasn’t a problem. It’s a sweet ride down the Old Sauk hill.

Tuesday, I woke up a little late. So I pedalled a little faster. Even still, the tired mind wanders with monotonous physical activity. Tried to figure out how long it would take for me to get sick of it if I changed my first name to Ivanna.

“Hello?”

“Who is this?”

“Ivanna”

“Ivanna who?”

“Ivanna talk to you.”

Man, I get a kick out of that everytime.

Holy mole, I’m going to need some more dramatic tension soon, other than my moldering, desk-entombed laundry.

From 1 World 2 Wheels: A Trek Commitment

  • 60% of the pollution created by automobile emissions happens in the first few minutes of operation.
  • 25% of all trips are made within a mile of the home, 40% of all trips are withing 2 miles of the home, and 50% of the working population communtes five miles or less to work. 

8 Comments

  1. You are to be applauded for this noble endeavor. (Have you been hanging out with Matt Yglesias?) But is your effort to better the world coming at the expense of an agreeable workplace environment for your colleauges? Having lived with you in close quarters, I would say yes. You just can’t bottle that kind of rank odor (or, as 113 Bexley referred it, “Beez passion”). Have you thought about maybe just burning your clothes?

  2. Could you possibly correct “colleagues” for me and then delete this comment so that our non-English major roommate, Erich, does not have further grounds to feel morally superior to us? Or you could just leave it as payback for me not seeing a fire hydrant from three yards.

  3. “Beez Passion,” huh? I didn’t know about this. Is this some revisionism or is it really that bad? My ladyfriend made the same “fire” suggestion. But I thought she was kidding. Even though she said she wasn’t and there was nothing to suggest she was, just my longheld belief that everyone exaggerates… specifically about my sweating. Remember when Paul said I sweat like a polish Peasant in harvest time?

    Don’t know Matt Y, but I’m sure I will!

    And no, I won’t correct your comment. Confront and embrace your imperfections.

  4. I seem to have unintentionally hit a nerve. “Beez Passion” was merely revisionism, though it rings of truthiness. I do not recall Paul saying that you sweat like a polish Peasant in harvest time. I do not know how to respond to that.

    Matt Y is a vocal proponent of public transportation. I don’t know if he’s a biker though. I think you two would line up politically, but I don’t know if he too was a former College AWESOME DUDE.

    (Are you going to edit that out of this comment or will you too “embrace your imperfections”?)

  5. I wouldn’t dare taint the sanctity of my blog by doctoring up comments people kindly leave. It’s a trust to maintain a blog, and I refuse to let you all down.

  6. My parents are staunch awesome dudes as well.

  7. That last one was Erin.

    As for me, I commend you for your principled stand on sanctity, trust and censorship. I sleep soundly at night knowing that whatever I comment on this blog will appear word-for-word as I wrote it.

    Thanks, former College Awesome Dude.

  8. […] Eric Bescak biked to work every day this week and wrote about it. He also got himself in a little pickle with his boss’s boss’s […]


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