Winter Wheeling

I recently said the heck with taking the city bus to work and, instead, dusted off my "winter bike" and rode it the 2.5 miles from my home to work in downtown La Crosse. Was fun and, even better, it was faster and cheaper than the bus. I've found that one of the keys to winter biking (in addition to riding a bike with wide tires and fenders) is to ride on little used side streets (in this case, South Sixth Street) where auto traffic is light. And, of course, having lights on the bike when riding in the dark.

Trail Hogs

This photo I snapped recently shows one of my pet peeves when riding my bike on La Crosse's marsh trail: people who hog the trail while walking on it, giving little room for bicyclists to pass by. When I approach such walkers from behind I have to ring my bike's bell or sing out, "Passing on your left." The reaction I often get is a hard glare and frown from the walkers as if I have intruded on their own private walkway. Go figure.

Hurray! Back On My Bicycle!

On Tuesday, March 11, after two months of using the city bus service to get to and from work I was finally able to use my bicycle again. It sure felt good to “be in the saddle” and the streets were clear and dry (see attached photo looking north on Sixth Street from Division Street) so safety was not an issue. January and February were not bicycle friendly in La Crosse due to what seemed an endless cycle of snow and subzero temperatures, turning the city’s side streets (where I ride 99 percent of the time to escape annoying auto traffic) into narrow ice skating rinks. Not owning a car by choice (Egad! How unAmerican!) I’m glad I have the option of city bus service when the weather is too crappy for bicycling but the bus takes me twice as long (30 minutes) to get to work compared to bicycling. The added time is due to having to wait for the bus followed by its indirect route to the downtown area. None of that with my bicycle as there is no waiting involved and I can make a beeline for downtown. Plus, the exercise of pedaling has to be better for me compared to sitting in a bus seat. And not to bash the bus service further but bicycling also allows me to come and go when I want without paying attention to the bus schedule . . . especially in the evening when the buses run on a hourly schedule. In short, I am one happy camper now that spring is just around the corner with the promise of decent bicycling conditions. Oh, I forgot to mention that besides saving time, bicycling also saves me $2.50 in daily bus fare . . . money that I can now spend on candy and comics.