Another Reason I Like Cycle Commuting
Today turned out to be sort of a strange work day. I taught the Philosophy for Children class at the UW in the morning and then rode up the Burke-Gilman to Cascadia. A lovely, if slightly chilly, day—lots of blue in the sky and silver on the Lake.
There, I installed myself in my office and prepared to do prep work for tomorrow’s classes and then take care of a stack of grading.
My office computer is on the fritz, though, and I’m unable to access any of the internal network locations or my campus email, so, since my students submit all their assignments electronically, I can’t (at least from my office computer) get to any of their papers to work on them.
Consequently, the practical solution is to return home and do my grading at my desk in the basement.
Thus, as it turned out, I bike commuted about three hours to spend just over two in my office. Had I driven, I’m sure I would have been complaining about what a drag it was, what a waste of time, and so forth. On my bike, I saw at it as an opportunity to get in two lovely rides.
I’m not saying that the experience wasn’t fairly ridiculous or that my time couldn’t have been spend more efficiently; my observation is simply that I generally have few complaints when my commute time—however long it may be—is spent on two wheels.
Of course, (and I may have made this observation before), I realize that my aversion to driving in, at least in part, a function of the car I would be driving. Generally, the Ford Focus station wagon doesn’t get the heart racing.
If my Saluki were a car, it would be something nifty, like a Mercedes roadster or at least a Toyota Celica; driving those would be more fun than the Ford.
Even so, I think I’d prefer a Huffy on the trail.
There, I installed myself in my office and prepared to do prep work for tomorrow’s classes and then take care of a stack of grading.
My office computer is on the fritz, though, and I’m unable to access any of the internal network locations or my campus email, so, since my students submit all their assignments electronically, I can’t (at least from my office computer) get to any of their papers to work on them.
Consequently, the practical solution is to return home and do my grading at my desk in the basement.
Thus, as it turned out, I bike commuted about three hours to spend just over two in my office. Had I driven, I’m sure I would have been complaining about what a drag it was, what a waste of time, and so forth. On my bike, I saw at it as an opportunity to get in two lovely rides.
I’m not saying that the experience wasn’t fairly ridiculous or that my time couldn’t have been spend more efficiently; my observation is simply that I generally have few complaints when my commute time—however long it may be—is spent on two wheels.
Of course, (and I may have made this observation before), I realize that my aversion to driving in, at least in part, a function of the car I would be driving. Generally, the Ford Focus station wagon doesn’t get the heart racing.
If my Saluki were a car, it would be something nifty, like a Mercedes roadster or at least a Toyota Celica; driving those would be more fun than the Ford.
Even so, I think I’d prefer a Huffy on the trail.
posted by Professor Dave at 6:19 PM
2 Comments:
It was indeed beautiful out there today. Like you, I'm so much happier getting places not in a car. Today I manufactured an errand to my client at Magnuson Park, really just an excuse for a bike ride on a nice day.
I got 'lost' this morning while commuting to college on my bike, but I didn't mind. In fact, I enjoyed discovering another part of the city (I'm new to my town). However, If I had a car, or had to walk, I'd still be angry now, 10 hours later!
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