Day 22 of 30 Days of Biking: Making Headlines

It's Earth Day! It's also Monday, and that's why I rode my bike to work, today. I really had no idea it was Earth Day, but I feel a lot better knowing that I was doing something ecologically responsible as part of my daily grind.

Speaking of doing the daily grind, good friend and a former editor of mine, Chris Hughes, was looking for stories about bike commuters in Luzerne County for the Times Leader. Because I love attention, I just had to toot my own horn. Here's the story, which was published on April 21: "It just feels like freedom."

Me, Riding South on 309,
trying to get home before the storm.
Photo credit: Pete G. Wilcox/The Times Leader

Long time readers might remember Chris from this blog post I wrote after I learned that his blue Haro mountain bike was stolen from his garage. I've known Chris through Twitter for a number of years, but I also had the pleasure of writing a column about video games for him when he briefly ran Go Lackawanna. That was like a lifetime ago, so it was great to get a chance to catch up and talk about what's been going on in my life -- namely, road cycling and mountain biking, which, I'm glad to say, has largely replaced the space in my heart that used to be for video games. I'm much happier for it, and that was one of the points that I was hoping to make when he asked to interview me.

The quote used for the headline, "It just feels like freedom," was something I couldn't help but blurt out when Chris asked why I love riding. I was stuck for words and wanted to convey how much I love that I can go at my own pace and enjoy nature. When driving, I feel like I'm trapped. I'm always going too slow for the car behind me and too fast for the car in front of me. That leads to mental fatigue, and pretty soon, I hate driving. I feel worn down and burnt out. When traveling by bike, that simply can't happen. It's easier to get out of traffic and avoid the gridlock when you encounter it. To put it another way, "It just feels like freedom."

I took a picture of the photographer taking my picture.

Aside from that, Chris has been killing it on the biking in NEPA stories.

Here's a story on bike lanes in NEPA - NEPA Lagging in bicyclist-friendly roadways

A story on local bike shops - Shop Owners Help Take the Lead

Finally, a story from Steve Mocarsky on a bikeshare in Wilkes-Barre, PA - BikeShare on roll but needs to pick up speed.

I didn't even know there was a bikeshare in Wilkes-Barre! This is great news!

So, big thanks to Chris and the Times Leader for helping to shed light on the state of biking in North-East Pennsylvania.

Ride on.