My Year of Bike Commuting
One year ago, I decided that I would ride my bike to work every single work day in 2023. Rain or shine, humidity or sleet. I started biking to work two or three times a week in April 2022, and by the end of the year, I was only taking my truck to the office once or twice a month, usually if I was lugging extra stuff around or just having a crazy morning. But 2023, I determined, would be my Perfect Bike Year.
Today was the last working day of the year, and I made it! My daily bike time gave me lots of time to think, and here are the biggest lessons I’ve learned from this experience.
First, my no exceptions policy made it much easier mentally to push through the days when my legs were still sore from running or the weather looked unpleasant. When I woke up and it was raining, I didn’t have to try to talk myself into finding a jacket to keep me dry(ish). I knew that I’d be outside soon, so I grabbed the jacket and packed some extra leggings in case my morning ones didn’t dry out by the end of the day. My determination to not miss a single day freed up lots of mental space so I wasn’t tempted to negotiate with myself. It wasn’t about what I wanted at the moment versus what was best for me. The decision was already made.
Winter bike gear
I’m positive that if I had caved for even one day a couple months ago, even for a reasonable excuse, it would have significantly weakened my resolve. Instead of the Perfect Bike Year, it would have been a year that I biked to work almost every day. Almost every day means all but one or two days, or maybe three or four. Or more days than not.
This realization helps me understand my own psychology more, and I’ve applied this lesson to other areas of my life. I make clear rules for myself to get where I want to go.
Secondly, I’ve found that biking is about much more than saving money on gas and vehicle maintenance, which were my original reasons for buying a bike. Bikes, which look like simple machines made of metal and tire rubber, are practically magical. They build wealth and make you fit at the same time. They have no tailpipes that release gross stuff into the air. They force their riders to be alert and adaptable. They have free built in air conditioning (at least when going downhill… and it stays on even in the winter).
This is not to say that the financial side hasn’t worked out better than I imagined. I believe my biking habit has saved me several thousand dollars this year alone. Mr. Sense and I have mostly shared one vehicle over the past several months, as Kid Sense takes our other car four days a week to classes at the local community college. If I were driving even some of the time, we’d have to purchase another car so Mr. Sense would be able to run errands or pick up Boy Sense from school when he has appointments or clubs right after. I’ve also saved money on the aforementioned gas and maintenance (I’ve had three bike maintenance services for the two bikes I ride, totalling less than $100 all year). And I’ve avoided numerous expensive workday excursions– those times when I might have hopped in the car to grab McDonald’s instead of eating my packed lunch of leftovers plus salad.
But beyond the money, I’ve made significant gains in mental and physical health. Thinking through problems while exercising in the fresh air outside leads to real breakthroughs. And biking is safer than driving a high powered vehicle that weighs thousands of pounds while you’re feeling frustrated or angry. It also allows you to almost unconsciously solve one problem (unimpressive leg and butt muscles) while you come up with solutions for whatever else needs doing.
Finally, nailing this bike habit has given me more confidence in my ability to hit my FIRE goals. When Mr. Sense and I started this journey, all the excitement of calculating when we’d have a million dollars made the little things– eating out less, changing our shopping habits, turning down our thermostat in the winter– seem doable. Then I rode a bike for the first time in many years and thought, oof. I have to do this in front of people, around cars, at NIGHT? But it turns out, I can do it! Even the hard stuff is possible, and it gets easier with time.
I thought maybe if I couldn’t handle biking, I could still kind of FIRE as long as I compensated for driving my truck by cutting some other small expenses. But now I see that FIRE depends on facing my own biggest assumptions and challenges head on and just doing the work.
Financial independence is at the top of the next hill. Rain or shine, inflation or stock market jitters, just keep pedaling.
