This video was passed to me today, and it reminded me of the reason I became bus & bike commuter. As it were, the Front Fell Off.
Once upon a time, I had a dream about how my life would go. In 2010, life did one of those tricks it seems to do. My daughter was just learning to walk and talk, and my sons hadn't started preschool yet. I was thrown a curve ball that January when my then-husband lost his job (again) and I had to go back to work.
Shortly after starting a job with a roundtrip commute of 48 miles, Deepwater Horizon started its deadly bleed into the Gulf of Mexico. CNN played nonstop coverage of crude oil spewing into the ocean. I grew up on the waters of the Gulf. I was chased by sand crabs on the shores in the middle of the night, lead rescue training classes in the low vis water, and watched sunset over the reproductive dance of hundreds of devilrays.
The guilt of driving burdened me so heavily that I took to my bike. I pledged to ride until the leak was stopped. Then I said I would ride until the spill was cleaned. Then my legs looked great, my gas bill was nothing, and I could eat allthetime.
Cycling solves a lot of problems for me. It is cheap. It is healthy. It clears my head of the gunk that builds up. I started to make a political statement, but then I kept going for me.
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