Originally Posted by
Sandlotje
Last Sunday I was driving out to St. Augustine (80 miles away) and was determined to get gas at a lower price than what it costs here in the city (~3.85) -- unbelievably, I only found a handful of gas stations below $3.80. I was (and still am) disgusted by the gas prices. When I got back from the beach I decided that I would pump up the tires on my bike and attempt to acclimate myself to riding my bike everywhere rather than take the car. I've been riding to work each day, and plan on including school soon (which is a bit further away, and I have to figure out how to not smell like sweat right before class). Today I rode 8.5 miles and felt great throughout. Work is only 1.3 miles away so I took an incredibly scenic route to get there. It feels great to be without a car. I plan on decreasing the use of it as much as I can. Life is good.
That's great! As you ride more, you'll be in better shape so it will soon feel like nothing to ride 25, 50 or even more miles every day. But with only a 1.3 mile commute, you are lucky because if your bike broke down it would be easy to walk to work until you fixed it.
I find that if I shower just before I leave, I might sweat a lot but I don't smell bad when it dries. Try getting some quick-drying clothing like wicking shirts, or even light weight wool clothing. I don't know why, but wool almost never smells bad, and you can now get it in summer clothing too.