Bicycle Commuting to Work

This week, Jorg and I enjoyed a 25-mile bicycle ride.  Jorg is my good friend and cycling companion from the Seyboro Cylists. We had a good ride and great conversation capped off at the end of the ride with a discussion about Going Green. Jorg suggested that I consider commuting to work on my bicycle. On several occasions in the past, I thought about commuting, but I talked myself out of it each time I considered doing it. I came up with excuses like, “It will take too much time,” or “I don’t have anywhere to shower,” or “What if I have to pick up my daughter after soccer practice or run an errand?”

Maybe it is my training as a physician that makes me focus on the obstacles rather than the path to success. After all, my task as a physician is to discover what is wrong with the patient. This training tends to color the way I approach challenges in other areas of my life. I suspect that focusing on the negatives has probably afflicted you occasionally in the past. It is human nature to think the worst in any situation. It is a survival instinct. If you lived one thousand years ago and were alone in the woods and heard a nearby sound, your instinct would be to assume it was an enemy or a dangerous animal. Your mind can reason that you just heard the wind blowing the leaves, but your body is designed to react to danger to keep you alive.

We sometimes equate encountering challenges to facing danger. The most effective way to overcome obstacles is to focus on the path that goes over, under or around the obstruction. As an example to help you successfully navigate toward your own goals, I will work though the obstacles to my plan to commute to work with pedal power.

The critical insight to achieving any goal is to identify precisely why you want to achieve it. If you have a big enough WHY the HOW is easy. Think about a goal that you have had for more than a few months. If you have had this goal for more than a few months, it is probably important to you, and you are more likely to be serious about it. For example, I have been thinking about cycling to work for a couple of years now.

Once you have chosen the goal, think about why you want to achieve it. It helps to write the reasons. Thinking on paper is far more effective than sifting through random thoughts in your head. You can write it out as a narrative or make a list. For this particular exercise, I prefer to make a list. Usually, the real reasons come at the end of the list after you have sifted through all of the obvious reasons. Those at the beginning of the list are often related to external motivations like getting approval of family, friends or society. Sometimes the reasons may seem shallow and self-centered, but if the goal is worthy and the reasons are your own, it does not matter if they are self-serving. After all, everything we do in life is self-serving, no matter how noble or charitable. Mother Theresa sacrificed so much to help so many because it ultimately made her happy. That does not diminish what she accomplished. Let’s begin.

Reasons I want to bike to work:

1. Going green is good for the environment.

2. I will save money on gasoline.

3. I will feel much more relaxed at work because I started the day with exercise.

4. I will feel refreshed after work because I ended the day with exercise.

5. I will achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

6. I will feel fit and vibrant.

7. I will inspire others to be healthy; if I can do things to be healthier as a busy physician, husband and father, other people will realize they can do it also.

8. I will enhance my reputation at work as the doctor who practices what he preaches.

9. My cycling club will be impressed.

10. Personal growth is one of my most important values, and cycling to work is a personal growth challenge.

11. I enjoy challenges.

12. Being fit and healthy allows me to achieve much more in life because I have the energy to accomplish everything that I desire.

13. I will gain confidence that I can achieve any goal that I set for myself.

14. I like to feel good.

15. I like to set a good example for my children. Children are more likely to do what they see their parents doing than to do what their parents are saying. This reminds me of the quote by Emerson: “Who you are speaks so loudly that I can’t hear what you’re saying.”

16. My actions must be congruent with the person that I believe myself to be. Your self-esteem suffers when you say you are one way but behave in another.

17. Cycling to work will generate new blog articles and new stories for my workshop that I can share with others to inspire them to be healthy.

18. Life should be fun, and cycling to work will be fun and interesting.

19. Focusing on a positive goal and pursuing that goal edges out negative thoughts, worry and stress.

20. I want to see if I can do it.

I completed this list in less than 20 minutes as I sat typing. The list is unedited and is presented in the same order that I initially typed it. You will notice that some themes came up more than once. This is usually a sign that these are important themes. The last 5 items were the most difficult to generate. They are also probably the most significant. I recommend creating a list of at least 20 ideas for your own goal. Sometimes I come up with over 100 items before I feel like I have gotten to the real reason that I want to accomplish a goal.

Now that I know why I want to cycle to work, it is time to identify the obstacles and come up with plans to overcome each obstacle. I tell my children that the Universe puts obstacles in the way to discover if they are really serious about achieving their goal. Obstacles also exist to teach us what we need to learn to become successful. People who win the lottery usually wind up broke within 2 years because they did not have to overcome the obstacles to becoming wealthy, therefore they did not learn how to be wealthy.  So, welcome obstacles as the means to learn what you need to be successful.

Obstacles to bicycle commuting.

1. Not enough time. I will have to get up at 5:00 am and leave my house by 5:30 am to arrive at the hospital in time to shower and dress for work. I will not get home until 8:00. This sounds like a long day, but I am accustomed to long days. I will feel better and have more energy from the exercise. Cycling will reduce my perception of emotional stress and reduce physical stress by lowering my cortisol and adrenaline levels. During the Spring and Summer, I was cycling after work with the bike club, and I did not get home until 8:00. On days I was not cycling, I ran around the soccer field while my daughter practiced soccer, after which we would not get home until 8:00. I changed jobs recently so that I would have more time to spend with my family. I now work 8 consecutive days and then I am off 8 consecutive days.  I have more time with my family, and I will have more energy to enjoy that time with them if I bike to work. I have noticed in the past that I am a more effective husband and father when I am exercising regularly. My wife used to have to gently remind me that it was time for me to go exercise.

2. It is dangerous to ride on a bike in the dark. My friend Jorg has noticed that traffic is lighter early in the morning and much more likely to give him plenty of room on the road when he is lit up like a Christmas tree during his own commute to work. Besides, real danger involves sitting on the couch, smoking cigarettes, drinking beer, eating potato chips and watching mind-numbing television. That lifestyle is guaranteed to end in an early death. On my bike, I have a headlight, taillight, reflectors in the spokes and reflector tape on the frame. I will wear reflector bracelets on my ankles. I just hope that I don’t show up on the local air force base radar. Evading the F15 Strike Eagles from Seymour Johnson AFB might be a little more challenging than avoiding an irate motorist.

3. I don’t have a place to shower and get ready for work. I talked with another cycling buddy Tom, who works at the hospital, and he showed me a place to shower, get dressed and store my gear, including my bike.

4. It is not practical to dress professionally after commuting. I usually wear a dress shirt and tie to work during the week, so I will have to make arrangements for appropriate clothing. This problem can be solved by fitting my bicycle with a rack and panniers, which are bags that hang on either side of the back wheel. They hold clothing (rolled rather than folded to reduce wrinkles) and shoes and whatever else I might need on the ride. A waterproof cover solves the unexpected rain shower issue. I can leave my white lab coat and toiletries in my locker at the hospital.

5. What if I have to run errands after work? Usually, I will be able to plan ahead and drive my truck if I need a vehicle, but I can also run errands on the bike. Other people are commuting and doing errands on the bike, even in big cities like New York or Paris, so I am certain that I can manage this.

6. What about mechanical problems? I will carry a spare tube and pump on the bike. Flats are the most common mechanical bike problem, and I will also have a multi-tool for other problems. Mechanical problems are not unique to the bike. I have changed a flat or two on the way to work in my truck, and I remember a certain VW Rabbit that frequently left me stranded while I was in medical school.

7. What if I am too tired after work to want to get on the bike? I have faced this issue many times in the past. Usually when I am too tired to exercise but manage to go and do it anyway, I feel great afterwards. By commuting to work, I won’t have the option of talking myself out of it. It is actually more relaxing and refreshing to ride a bike than it is to drive in traffic.

8. What if I get sick? When I eat healthy and exercise regularly, I don’t get sick.

I am sure that I will come up with more obstacles, but I will overcome them with the method I described above. You can use the same technique to accomplish your own goals, whether health related or not. Life is meant to be lived and enjoyed. Don’t let obstacles deter you from being the best You ever.  Check back in the next couple of weeks and see how I am doing on the commute.