Selling Out

As of March 2013 I officially become a licensed driver. I am 24 and have had a permit since age 17.

July 2013 my mother gives me my first car (dad helps out too, financially). It is an old beater that she has had for years but it still gets good gas mileage. I later learned from my girlfriend that my mother bought it for me in expectation of me getting my driver's license... back when I was 17. Sorry for the delay mom, and the obliviousness.

October 2013 becomes the first month in my life during which I have driven more often than I have biked. The weather is disgusting (freezing mist, cold rain) so I'm glad not to have to bike in it any longer. This is why I have a car now, right? I feel kind of lazy and out of shape, also guilty whenever I see another biker pushing through the chill. It feels like I'm joining the dark side.

November 2013 is now the first month during which I will have used an automobile as my primary mode of transportation instead of biking or taking public transit. I have biked zero miles this month. I've sold out.

And you know what? It is not as bad as I thought it would be. I quickly became used to no longer being afraid of vehicles. Now I'm the one inside the metal beast, no longer exposed. Everyone sees me, automatically granting me access to the road. The weather barely touches you inside a car. So far (I haven't yet been through a Minnesota winter) I've, at most, had to scrape frost off my windows and engage the windshield wipers.

The routine for getting ready to go to a car is extremely simple. Grab the keys and go. Unlike on a bike there is no double checking of brakes, making small adjustments. Checking tire pressure, topping it off every week or so with a few quick pumps. There is no need to pack a separate change of clothes for when you get to work, you simply go to work in your work clothes. There is no need to make sure your entire lunch fits in that one jar which snugly sits inside of your underseat pouch. Extremely convenient, fast. I can see why everyone else drives (there's a lot more to why people drive but that is a whole other series of posts).

But still, I miss biking. To be sure I do not miss winter biking. I've grown soft and winter biking is only for true badasses/very crazy people. But I am reminded, every time I fill the gas tank, of the higher price which comes attached to this convenience, both for my wallet and the environment. Biking feels like freedom. You are able to go places cars cannot, you have zero fuel cost, zero emissions, you are extremely maneuverable and your field of view is barely constrained by your helmet. Driving feels like I may as well be stuck on a track when surrounded on all sides by other cars. I feel constricted and blind, I can't see everything around me, I am much less spatially aware. I can't wait for winter to be over. As soon as the snow is gone, I'm done driving.

I miss biking.