published 11.29.01

Commuting, it’s not that bad!

By Chip Sovek

As I swing my leg over the seat, clip in and start to peddle, I’m rubbing my eyes. Not because the salty sweat running down my face on a long road ride or perhaps some dirt or air born insect you would find in the woods. It’s my weekly commute to work and it’s damn early!

As my good friend Ben would say; “its Dark O’clock,” which I’ve learned over the years is code for: anytime before 7am. In this particular case it’s 6:15 on a cold and dark November morning and I’m standing in the commuter parking lot along the W, O & D trail Reston. You might think November is a stupid time to be commuting by bike. Why not in June when it’s warm or even September when daylight savings is still in effect even though it might be a little chilly.

I started commuting to get in shape. Our second child (my son; Nate) was born in January and that year was particularly difficult on ‘luxury things’ so let’s just say the ‘ride time’ fell quicker than the dot.com stock last year. So commuting looked to be a good choice of getting some fitness back and with the added bonus going to work….woo hooo!

After a while I could feel the difference. I was out in the crisp first light of morning, sometimes humid and buggy, but still enjoyable compared to a mid-summer day in Northern Virginia. Once in a while when I was forced to skip a commute, which meant skip a week because I only commute once-a –week, I found myself missing it. Yup, missing the hour less of sleep, missing the feeling of “oh my god! What did I forget” about halfway through my 28 mile ride. And lastly, missing the feeling of ‘suiting up’ in your ride clothes after a 10 hour day at the office when all you want to do is go home. That was a year ago.

Now my commute has slowly turned into a way to stay in shape and even improve my fitness. Logging hours on the bike is somewhat a road training mindset but that’s why I started commuting in the first place, to get back in to the racing scene. I’ve been racing competitively for 15 years and would always follow the same yearly regimen. I’ve always been reluctant to call it ‘commuting,’ ...me; never! “I” was doing it for “training.” This, of course, is really narrow minded I’ve convinced myself. Commuting has taught me that you can really enjoy being on the bike without your heart rate going anaerobic, without everything being a club. And that you really can stop and smell the flowers and still enjoy rolling along on two wheels even it does mean your destination is work.

My goal for this year (2001) is to keep commuting through December. Living in the Mid-Atlantic we can get away with it. The really miserable weather is still several weeks to a month away. Sure it might cold and dark, but thats commuting for ‘ya! You have to look at the big picture. Give yourself some goals; you want to be in shape for a race by a certain date. Perhaps you just want to be in better health for those summer hikes with your friends or family, or simply…you just like the chance to “get away from it all” on weekly basis. Even on a daily basis if your commute would allow you to do that. Whatever your reasons for getting on the bike, commuting, recreation, racing, socializing or daydreaming it should always be fun. When there is motivation there seems to be a deeper sense of enjoyment, which you can carry with you for hours, day, even weeks if it’s a really good ride.

So tomorrow when I throw my leg over my bike I’ll try not to shiver when I can’t feel my toes or fingers or ears or face or…..