This school year I decided to bike commute part of the way to the school where I work. I live 25 miles away, so it’s not feasible for me to bike the entire way.
I decided to park my car at a local park 10 miles from work. The ride was nice both ways. Traffic wasn’t too bad aside from a few jerky drivers. But it takes me too much time. I was up at 5:00 a.m. and on the road by 5:30. I wasn’t getting home until 6:00 p.m. I’m a teacher, so quite honestly I still had lesson planning that needed to be done when I got home. But I was so tired on the days I rode it was a struggle to do that too.
Last week I didn’t ride my bike at all to work.
But I do still want to ride to work. So I did some Google mapping, and I found a park that’s closer to work (Perry Harvey Park in Tampa). Only 4 miles away instead of 10, and I passed it on my original route. It should take me only 20-30 minutes to ride, so it’s not adding an insane amount of time to my day. And the shorter distance should help my fatigue in the evenings should I have to sneak a bit of work in.
(I so wish I could truly work my contract. I’m not there yet.)
This week I’ll try the new route. I hope it ends up working out. I guess if it doesn’t, I’ll just have to find that happy medium of distance.
I’m hoping riding regularly to work will help me cultivate balance in other areas of my life too.