It’s been roughly a year since I made the seemingly crazy decision to commute exclusively by bike and sell my car here in Dallas, so I thought this was the perfect time to review what I’ve learned in a blog post. First of all, I will say that it was easily the best decision I’ve made in the last year, and I’m now resolved to never again in my life need a car for commuting. At worst I will slap an electric motor on a bike, but that’s as far as I’ll go. This has been such a life-changing experience that I just can’t imagine rejoining the depressing endless traffic jams and paying the expenses of two cars. I’d sell my house and move closer to work every time before having to go back to that. My wife often offers me a ride when she needs to go out anyway, and I usually turn her down even for those one-off trips. So with that said, here are my top takeaways from this experience.
- Safety need not be a concern. One of the first things loved ones would say when I told them about my commute was that it might be dangerous to be commuting through forest trails without others around, especially in the winter months when it’s still dark out in the morning. It’s also true that I pass under bridges where homeless people are sleeping and living daily, but all the fears around this have been completely unnecessary. At no point in the last year have I felt threatened by anyone or felt I was in any risk at all. Compare this to the near-daily barrage from people just walking to my nearest subway stop when living in New York, and you can easily see that Dallas is a perfectly safe place to commute and that the White Rock Creek Trail, in particular, is not dangerous. Yes, maybe there was a crazy machete murder that took place on this trail only three years ago, but that just means the machete murder quota for this trail has been filled for at least the next 100 years!
- Riding in the cold sucks way more than riding in the heat. I expected this to be the other way around. Riding in 106 degrees can be tough, but really as long as you’re hydrated it’s not too bad. Obviously, you’re going to sweat like crazy and be slower than usual, but that’s not much of a big deal unless you make it one. Over the last 3.5 years of living in Dallas, I’ve found that dealing with the heat is entirely up to the attitude of the individual. Some people act like they’ve climbed Everest because they walked from the parking lot into the office, whereas plenty of other Texans just go on living their life, enjoying the outdoors, regardless of the heat.
The cold on the other hand really hit me hard. It actually got into the teens this past winter in Dallas, so it took a lot of experimenting with how to dress for this. The issue was that the heavy winter gear I owned from living in the northeast was great for the first ten minutes, but then I’d be miserable for the rest of the ride, and dressing too light would mean freezing miserably for the duration of the commute, so after a lot of trial and error I figured out the exact dress code for the 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s. A lot of suffering went into figuring it out though, and I’m happily cruising in the 100s right now and cringe at the thought of it getting cold again.
- Upgrading from a department store bike made an incredible difference. I had no idea how big of a deal this would be, but once I upgraded from a GMC bike to a Giant Roam (a mere $300 price difference when I bought the prior year’s model) my world was changed. I couldn’t shut up about it for a week. It felt like every rotation of the pedals pushed me twice as far with half the effort. Now I fantasize about what a $1000 bike must feel like, but I beat the thing up so much commuting in the rain, ice, and mud, that I’m afraid it’d be a waste. Regardless, riding a bike from a bike shop was a new experience for me, and I still can’t get over how much better a bike can be than what I grew up riding.
- The right gear can make a huge difference. I already touched on the bike itself, but figuring out the winter clothes was a huge part of my winter. It’s been so long since I bought winter athletic clothes that I was blown away by how light and comfortable it had become. This was a relatively expensive process, but now I own all the gear for years to come, all for less than two months of the car expenses I’d have otherwise had to pay. I also broke down anf splurged on an expensive backpack. This is another item that has somehow become as precious as an heirloom to me. Every pocket has its purpose and I put it through hell and it shows no signs of wear. I’ve never had an issue fitting everything even in the winter when I’m layered up. I also used this bag for traveling to Austria, Italy, Colorado, and several business trips, and was always able to fit everything. I may never need another bag.
- My speed hasn’t increased at the rate I’d hoped. I’ve been tracking my stats since day one using the Strava App. Last year my average speed was around 14-15 mph. Today my average speed is around 16-17 mph. I honestly thought I’d be at 20 mph by now, but that shows you how clueless I am about this stuff. I also make a conscious effort to make this commute deliberate practice and push myself daily unless the weather makes it too hard, so it’s not like I’m just cruising and enjoying the clouds. So maybe I’m just lazier than I like to believe, or maybe getting to 20 mph on a commuter bike wearing a backpack is just much more far-fetched than I thought. Either way, I haven’t improved at the rate I had suspected. No big deal though, just means there’s more room for improvement!
- The excessive showering has had no harmful effects. One of the topics I wrote about in my first post about this was the fact that I’d need to shower as many as three times a day now (once on the way in, once after working out at the gym, and once after riding home). I wasn’t sure what impact this would have on my health or skin, but a year later I can say it’s made no noticeable difference. Of course, I keep the showers pretty cold and under 5 minutes. It was apparently an unnecessary concern though.
- The savings are even better than I had anticipated. Going into this we knew we’d be saving the car payment, insurance, and gas costs, but what we didn’t fully appreciate was how big of a difference injecting that money into our monthly budget would make. It really seems like since this very immediate change our personal financial goals have exploded forward and we’re finally achieving things we’ve been trying to do for years. The other side of this is that it is hard to waste money on silly luxuries when we’re seeing so much progress on our financial goals and I’m riding a dinky bike around town. It’s really set us on a trajectory, unlike anything we’ve ever been on before.
- The lack of car when my wife is gone for the weekend makes for incredible weekends with my son. My wife is a Dallas wedding photographer, so she works many Saturdays until late at night. This leaves me at home with my 4-year-old son without a car. We use these days to ride all over town and explore new neighborhoods, new playgrounds, and yes, new beer gardens. All I do is hook up my child trailer and crank up the Bluetooth speaker and we’re off for the day. These have easily been some of the most memorable days spent with my son, and he loves these adventures as well. Cruising along the lake with Bob Marley playing the background and listening to my son tell me his theories about which dinos lived there will be memories I’ll keep for life.
- It has made me more disciplined. There’s no better deterrent to staying out too late on a Sunday night than knowing you’ll be pedaling to work 8 miles the next morning! Not getting a good nights sleep was something I used to be able to get away with regularly back when I just had to shuffle into the car and then mainline coffee for a few hours, but now I will pay for it dearly on my bike. So much so that it’s not even an option I consider to be a temptation. This is probably also a function of age and maturity, but I’m so much more disciplined about my sleep than I’ve ever been before.
- It’s allowed me to experience some amazing wildlife. You can chalk this one up to a pro and a con. On one hand commuting alongside armadillos, foxes, rabbits, and all sorts of exotic-seeming birds is a great alternative to the 5 lane highways around here. On the other hand, this is Texas, and I’ve had to dodge snakes on many occasions. One time I even got one stuck in the spokes of my rear tire in the dark. I was awake after that! Good or bad though, these moments when I’m alone without a person or building in sight and I encounter these animals make me feel alive and alert, and that’s a pretty weird thing to say about your work commute!
After writing that last point I think I finally figured out the most appropriate description of what it’s like to be doing this. It’s converted commuting time into alive time. Now I physically feel good cycling in, my mind is thinking clearly, and I’m inspired by the beauty I encounter along the way. The ride home is a way to release any stress and to try to break my personal speed records. My poor colleagues here in the office have to listen to me pitching bike commuting all the time, but it’s because I’m just so blown away by how significantly it has changed things for me. If you like saving money, being in better health, and avoiding stress and frustration, then maybe you should stop making excuses, finally suck it up, and give it a shot!
