10-Speed Love.

My dad picked up this old 10-speed - a 1987 Panasonic Sport-500 - at a yard sale last fall... for FREE! The chain was busted and the chrome was rusty, but it was otherwise in good repair. After 6 hours of elbow grease and a new chain ($18 total investment) I had a shiny "new" retro ride. I've been riding it for about a month now and I love it! It is not the lightest bike on the road (all steel), but it is fast enough that I can keep up with (or pass) most of the commuters on road bikes now.

After being the sole bike commuter at my workplace for most of the past two years, I've been joined by several co-workers this summer. Two of them commute by bike almost full-time, and another three or four ride in occasionally. It is definitely more fun to be able to share stories of our rides. A recurring theme is our "races" with other commuters... folks who typically don't know they are racing!

I'm right around a pretty big milestone... TWO YEARS since I sold my commuter car and committed to biking to work each day. After about 4,500 miles of riding, I am healthier and wealthier. In fact, we saved enough by ditching the second car (imagine no registration, insurance, repairs, car payment, gas, etc.) to complete a pretty major kitchen renovation.

As painful as it is to fill up our remaining vehicle (gas-guzzling minivan) - I'm not complaining about the cost of gas. It is pushing people to make better decisions, and hopefully it will spur some new technologies so we will be off fossil fuels forever. Time will tell...