Bike Against the Strike

So, today NYC's subways are buses aren't running, due to the MTA strike. It was no skin off my nose. Since taking a new full-time job a little over a year ago, I bike to work usually several times a week. It's slightly over 6 miles from my 124th Street apartment to my 15th Street office (all the way down the glorious Hudson River Park bike path; three traffic lights the whole ride, all in the last few blocks between the river and 8th Ave).

I biked yesterday, and I biked today. Transit strike? Feh! It was notable, however, how many more bikers there were today than yesterday. Yesterday, which was actually a bit warmer than today, there was almost no one, except for a few hardcores like myself. Today, it looked like a spring day. I passed a couple of dozen other bikers (I don't ride especially fast, but it was easy to pass these necessity-only bike commuters compared to the bike fitness nuts who normally breeze by me), along with several rollerbladers and a surprsing number of people who appeared to be running to work.

Let the transit workers strike everyday, for all I care! While I love the efficiency of NYC's subway system, I loathe having to actually commute by subway. It's so miserably crowded, I much prefer biking, regardless of the weather (aside from rain and snow). I delight in the multitasking of it: my commute, exercise and NPR news update all in one succint half hour.

Yesterday, I bought a nice new balaclava (gotta love that word; not this one, but something like it), plus a pair of warm biking gloves and lots of layers, and I don't care how cold it gets (I've learned, however, to include lots of layers of long underwear, otherwise my you-know-what nearly freezes off!). Today it was an invigorating 22 Fahrenheit.

My office building has bike racks in the loading dock area, where I leave locks (one heavy chain for the back wheel and frame, one U lock for the front wheel), so I don't have to lug those back and forth. I carry a change of work clothes in my backpack and shower at the NY Sports Club across the street from the office. If I leave early enough, I can get in a 20 minute workout at the gym while I'm there.

I've lost 15 pounds in the last year since taking this job!