Biking to work at CEC
I’m Katrina Cohoe, and I’ve been working in the Cope garden since the beginning of the 2009-10 school year. Groups from Girls, Inc. and Meridian services have been working away on their plots, and they look wonderful! Lettuce, radishes, cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, and one cucumber have been harvested, and many more vegetables are on their way. While I could talk off your ear off about the garden, I wanted to write instead about something I’ve been thinking about while commuting to work: bicycles.
I’ve talked with a lot of people about the reasons why they bike, and I have sometimes felt disconnected from biking communities that I have interacted with. Sure, it’s healthy, but I’m no health nut. There can be an air of competition surrounding bicycle knowledge and the quality of your bike and gear. The biggest reason I could come up with for riding is that I don’t have the money for a car, and that’s not an inherently positive thought.
I ride my bike to work most of the time when it is nice outside (about 5.5 miles one-way), and while riding, I have had a lot of time to think about bikes. A couple days ago I began to smile as I was riding because I became amazed at how fast I could move with a machine powered by my own muscles. Think about it: bicycles are the fastest commuting machine that’s commercially available that requires no external power source. It’s a great thing you can do for the environment, and for me, it is so empowering!
