There were two bike challenges I took on during Earth Month with encouragement from my wife, friends, and colleagues at the Urban Ecology Center. The first challenge: to bike as much as possible in a week. The second: to bike every day in the month of April. Before I report on my experiences with these challenges, I should tell you a little bit about myself. I'm a fairly healthy and fit person, but am definitely not intensely athletic. I ride a comfy hybrid commuter bike. The motivation for both of these challenges came from my desire to rely less and less on my truck to work and play. Milwaukee is a fairly small city and is becoming more and more bikable. I am lucky enough to live and work on two of our main bike trails – the Oak Leaf Trail and the Hank Aaron State Trail.
As for the first challenge, I biked for roughly 60 miles during the second week of April. I biked every day to work, did a grocery run on my bike, and took a few joy rides. I want to believe that I could have pushed myself harder and biked 100 miles, but honestly – I was pretty exhausted by the end of this week. Understandably, my winter muscles were having difficulty keeping their stamina up. This challenge was a great way to catapult my body into its warm weather lifestyle.
As for the second challenge, some friends told me about an organization called 30 Days of Biking. For every 20 people who pledge to ride their bike for every day in April, they will donate a bike to a child in need in Minneapolis. Awesome - I was in. The amazing aspect of this challenge is that it encouraged me to change the way I had been thinking about biking. I used to see my bike as just a utility – a tool for me to use to get from point A to point B. Previously, I would only ride my bike to get somewhere. Throughout April, I realized how much I enjoyed biking just to bike. There were some days that I brought out the bike and just rode around my neighborhood without a destination in mind, allowing my attention to wander and exploring places on two wheels. I was reminded of biking as child, feeling the wind in my face and just going. Yesterday was the last day of April and I am happy to report that I biked 28 out of 30 days in April!
Some of my most memorable moments biking in April:
Blasting through puddles on the Oak Leaf Trail during a heavy rain
Going for a midnight bike ride through my neighborhood
Sunrise and sunset biking
Getting caught in a flash hail storm biking through Meineke Park
Finding crafty ways to carry four gallons of ice cream on a bike without a rack!
I had a blast biking in April and am now onto another challenge with my wife. We are attempting to bike more combined miles than we drive from April to October!
