Comment from wes
Time: 22 January 2009, 14:25

This is a really good one. Have you been doing this all along, or is it a new strategy? The days when I walk or bike to work, I feel a freedom- this isn’t just about the exersize- a freedom to move at my own pace. I love public transportation, but there is something subtly oppressive about having to submit to the schedule of the buses. And I’m always on the verge of missing the bus! Even when I don’t miss it, I feel tense and uncomfortable and sweaty when I get on. Who would even want to sit next to me? All this stress is gone when I decide to walk to work. I still end up running late, but at least I’m late on my own terms.

Comment from Jake
Time: 22 January 2009, 23:16

I love it for the same reasons you do. I appreciate public transportation, but some of its annoyances are crazy-making and once I get used to the freedom of a bike, I get really impatient adhering to someone else’s schedule—the bus driver’s.

When I ride my bike on a relatively warm day like today (34 degrees) it’s like winter never happened.

Comment from Robin
Time: 23 January 2009, 09:22

I have new found respect for you biking even in 34 degree weather. I remember when I used to run in that type of weather: once you get warmed up it isn’t all that bad. But it takes, like 15 minutes to get truly warmed up.

Comment from stefanie
Time: 23 January 2009, 16:19

I agree with Wes about the power of walking on one’s own schedule but there is something to be said about the satisfaction one feels when the bus schedule is mastered to the point where it starts working for you instead of you working for it. I also really like bus drivers (partly b/c I worked in Transit Planning for three years and know many of them behind-the-scenes from talking shop and all) and how gracefully they deal with the bus-riding general public. They are at once both grumpy as hell and helpful to those who are in unfamiliar territory. I also really enjoy watching them maneuver difficult turns and force the drivers of single-passenger-vehicles to move back to let them through. Yeah, anyways…

Comment from Philip James Hart
Time: 26 January 2009, 13:23

There’s also something to be said about the way one’s nosehairs instantly unfreeze upon stepping into the bus. And sometimes you get a bonus, and it’s the really long bus with a joint in the middle that’s picking you up. I like to sit in the middle and watch the front and back ends heave to and fro like giant oars.