the Challenge

I am going to ride my bike to work for the entire month of August.

I like to think of myself as a pretty normal guy, living a pretty normal life in America. I live in Phoenix, Arizona. I work a typical 9 to 5 job (though the hours are actually a bit different). While I am only 24 years old, I feel that I have made an important leap into a career-driven world. But just as a child timidly dips his toes into the water before diving in, so too am I timidly submitting my life to the corporate culture of America.

As a senior in high school I selected a quote from the Transcendentalist poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, as my "legacy:"

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

"Leave No Trace" rules aside, I feel Emerson had the right idea. While sometimes we have to stay on the proverbial "trail of life," there are times when following the status quo is not in the best interest of the World (society at large), as well as that of the individual.

That is why I have recently decided to leave the trail. My plan will be spelled out in 3 main parts - with verbage adapted from the 2006 movie, the Prestige:

the Pledge
Most likely, anyone reading this blog drives a car to work - that is simply our current culture. According to a USA Today article (Aug. 2003), 91% of American commuters are using personal automobiles.

For most of us, jobs are needed for income, which is then needed to provide a certain lifestyle, no matter what that may be. We must have a method of transportation to get us from our home to our place of work. This is a very normal situation, that seems to be "whole." By that, I mean that we perceive our lifestyle to require an automobile to transport us from A to B.

the Turn
But I propose that we don't actually require a car. Just as Sam Davidson at CoolPeopleCare says:

There are typically two obstacles that keep people from changing their lifestyle in a positive way: I don't have enough time and I don't know how.

While CoolPeopleCare can take care of the I don't have enough time obstacle with their daily "5 Minutes of Caring," I hope to aid with the I don't know how.

the Prestige
This blog will chronicle my daily commute to work by bicycle during the entire month of August. It will be a log book of the what and how. Ideally - although cautiously for my sake - problems will arise: flat tires, angry drivers, sweaty work clothes; all of these are things that are common and legitimate concerns about biking to work. I will address these obstacles and hopefully give the reader some insight into what it requires to overcome them in hopes of a cleaner world.

Additionally, I aim to address more than just the logistics of bicycle commuting. I want to investigate the more philosophical side of this challenge and what it means to be less reliant on automobiles, how it will benefit our health to ride a bike daily, and any other topics that come to me.

I want to be more proof that it can be done.

I will bike 7.3 miles one way, twice a day, five days a week, for an entire month.

Let the Velorution begin!