There can only be one

I'm not a very hard-core "Bike to Work Month" participant, but I've done it 3 out of 9 days now. And I no longer have to get off and walk that last little bit up the hill past Seward Park, either: on Wednesday I (ever so slowly) pedalled all the way up it without a pause.

Riding my bicycle to work is a joy in part because my brain has hard-wired a connection between "experience of being on a bike" and "experience of being on vacation." As a kid in the sticks we rode our bikes a lot all summer long. And every time we went camping for a weekend, which also happened frequently in the summer, we loaded up the bikes and took them with us. So now when I hop on a bicycle my brain says, "Ah, sweet, we're on vacation," even if my body is actually taking us to work (haha brain, PSYCH!!).

It is also a joy because it feels like cheating to transport myself for free. Like giving a finger to "the man." The oil-selling man, anyway.

Which brings me to say...I'm thinking about selling my car. Mr. Thel has recently replaced his shiny car with an oldish truck for work, and yet I am pondering the plunge to becoming a one-vehicle household. If I can ride my bike to work the majority of the time...first of all, I'll be healthier and perhaps lighter in due time. Selling the car would allow me to pay off all my debts that aren't related to my house and my education, and THAT, my friends, would be a load off my mind. In addition to letting me pay off those debts, it would save me at least $300 a month in vehicle expenses. It would be better for the world in terms of reducing my carbon footprint, naturally.

It's a lifestyle change, for sure, but I can't stop thinking about it longingly. It feels liberating. We'd still have a vehicle capable of carrying us all in case of emergency or camping or whatever, so why not stick with just one?

I'll keep you posted. We'll see if I can actually get to the point of bicycle commuting every day for a solid week, at least, and then...