by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC

It’s HOT. We’re having an early heat wave in NC - the kind that usually happens mid or late Summer has hit us this early June, temps 10 - 15 degrees above average. I’ve been on my bicycle all weekend, getting around town to meet friends, visit the book store and buy groceries at the co-op. Today, at the Noon temp of 99 and sunny, I was loading my computer into my pannier to meet Jerry downtown.

I paused momentarily, admittedly searching my mind for a reason to jump into the Prius and turn on the a/c instead - I realized quickly that I couldn’t come up with anything good, so I took a deep breath and hopped on my two-wheels.

It took only about one mile, a hot breeze keeping the sweat from running into my eyes, that I realized that I made the right choice. And what seemed so difficult moments ago, was, well, all in a day’s work. And it felt good. I felt fit. I felt hopeful. I felt connected to this thing we call life.

The difference I will make today on my bicycle will not save the planet, but it will mean one less car on the road today, and it will be a part of pushing the iceberg of change within myself and in the world. And, it was a lot more fun than sitting in traffic in a car - a/c or not.

epilogue: I stopped at the bank on the ride back home. As I was locking my bike out front, someone stopped to hold the door for me, exclaiming, “I don’t know how you are on that bike in this heat!?!? I felt a new kind of warmth reach my face and tried to think of some clever or fun answer, but all I could come up with was a shrug of the shoulders and, “it’s not so bad…” He shook his head and said, “Well, good for you!”.

As I continued home, what I wished I could have told him is that I don’t deserve to appear heroic - it REALLY wasn’t that hard to be on that bike today - in fact, it made my day better (something driving never seems to do) and was worth every drop of sweat - not just to the planet, but to me.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 9th, 2008 at 2:38 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.