Yesterday my coworkers were offering me rides home because it was raining terribly hard, and it was very cold rain. I thanked them but declined. I knew it was going to rain, and if I didn't want to ride in it I wouldn't have. Today part of the MUP I travel to work was flooded, so I rode down some railroad tracks to avoid it, and I would do the same thing again tomorrow even if I knew about it beforehand. I ride to work when it's 10 degrees and I have ridden home from work when it was 110 degrees, and I'll do it again as long as I'm able. Last year I drove to work less than 5 times, and I hated every one of those commutes. So far this year...well actually, I haven't even driven my truck since the day before Thanksgiving, and certainly not to work! My coworkers no doubt think I'm crazy, but most of them spend more on gas in two months than I did in all of 2007. Who's crazy?

It's very, very rare that I ride with other people, and when I do it's usually with my brother who is also a bike commuter. Occasionally I'll ride with my parents on the MUP or a married couple I'm good friends with, but they only ride in the summer. I've never belonged to any sort of club nor ever ridden in a group ride. To be perfectly honest, I simply wouldn't fit in with the clubs around here. I have a feeling they ride as a fun means of exercise, and I ride as a fun means of transportation. I'm always happy to see people out riding bikes, but I also find it a shame that one of our most ingenious inventions is, to most, considered nothing but a piece of exercise equipment or a child's toy. That's like if I used my computer only for the calculator.