Roxy Yoga

yogis heart bikes May 11, 2009

This month is bike month and I have been making an extra special effort to ride my bike and to encourage those around me to do the same.  Last year I had just moved back to California when my friends asked me to join them in the commute challenge.  It was then that I realized just how great commuting by bike is. If you’ve never tried it, I urge you to give it a try, if only once this month.  I am blessed to live in a place where the mornings are a mild 50 degrees, where I get to ride my bike along beauteous hillsides dotted with cows, where bike lanes and trails run amuck.   I live and work in a community that doesn’t require I sit in my car for 45 minutes to drive 5 miles every morning (this isn’t LA!).  I consider my bike commute a mini morning meditation and enjoy the fact that I get at least 30 minutes of fresh air and sunshine a day, no matter how busy, stressful, or long the rest of my day may be.  When I’m in the mood, jamming to Journey on my way to the office isn’t a bad way to start the day. Check out the photos of my fellow cyclists and I enjoying a lovely lunchtime ride in honor of spring and bike month.

Anywho, the bike challenge this month is to get as many people to do at least one commute by bike. Ditch your cars just once, and if you like it maybe even more! Maybe take your bike (and backpack) to the nearest store to get a few groceries. Maybe you ride your bike to run errands this weekend. To the beach. Wine tasting. To lunch. To work. I’m not asking you ditch your motor bike or car forever; I love my little hatchback Integra and the freedom it provides as much as you do. I’m only asking that you try something a little different, move your legs a little bit more, enjoy some brisk morning air and sunshine, notice the fresh cut grass that you normally wouldn’t notice, and be reminded of how much you might have loved your bike as a kid.

If you ride your bike even once this month when you would have or could have driven your car or another motorized vehicle, you will help make yourself and the earth a little bit healthier and happier.  AND I might think you were a bit cooler.   If you are interested in joining the San Luis Obispo Commute Challenge go here: http://www.triplink.org/chain-reaction/.   The bike month calendar which lists some of these events and more is stored in a Google calendar (yes, those bike guys are after my heart). If you want to view it this is the calendar address/id:  eb43slurf2l5d2hbklf0lrroco@group.calendar.google.com.  I am organizing weekly lunchtime rides around Edna Valley and my Lunchtime Yoga Class will have lots of hip openers to make sure our hips don’t tighten up on us.  Let me know if you’re interested in participating in any of the events here in SLO, CA or check your local area for listings and happenings.