Can you imagine commuting by bicycle for a complete week? Ok, not a big deal, lots of you already do this.
Can you imagine commuting every day for a month? Not unachievable, but I know a lot of riders who have tried and failed. Life comes up, you need a car at work, kids need to be run around, etc.
How about every day for a year? I used to work with a guy who commuted Monday to Thursday every week for a full year. It was a huge accomplishment, but he still needed his car one day per week to keep his life on track.
I only have a 30 minute commute and I live to ride my bike, so you’d think it would be a no brainer for me, but having two small kids and a business make it tough. I’m running around more than I ever planned and it seems my truck is at work more often than my bike these days. When you add our current winter into the mix, getting motivated to commute becomes harder and harder for most of us.
My buddy Jerry decided to commute everyday for five years. I really don’t think he knew what he was in for, but he told everyone about is goal and then had to just keep going, or come up with a really big excuse. Well, Jerry isn’t much for excuses so he just keeps riding.
He has told me stories of flat tires, broken spokes, damaged derailleurs, broken shift cables and worn tires. He has had countless negative interactions with drivers and survived them all. And most recently, he has woken many mornings to a fresh snowfall. Then he got himself ready, climbed on his bike and somehow, Jerry still rode to work.
I remember seeing him at the truck parade last Christmas. It was just after his work finished and I was surprised that he finally skipped a commute, but then again, if you’re not going home after work does that count? Then when I got home and checked Strava, I discovered that he went back to work after the parade, got on his bike and rode home in the wind storm. Jerry’s relentless pursuit of the five year mark lived on.
Jerry rides over 4500 km per year just on his commute and this past Monday was his five year anniversary. He made the goal. That’s more than 22500 km of heat, rain, snow, bears, flat tires, and sweat.
Congrats Jerry, you set a huge goal and you made it look easy.
Now what?
I’m James Durand and I’m Goin’ Ridin’…
