Friday, April 1, 2011

#30daysofbiking

A couple of days ago I learned of a relatively new but very cool movement. It's called "30 Days of Biking."

The concept is simple: join with over a thousand other people who ride bikes and commit to riding your bike every day for the next 30 days. Since April has 30 days in it and this is April 1st and the first day of this "round," it all works out rather nicely. (And no, I don't think it was a coincidence.) Then, tweet or blog about your adventures... or not, if you don't want to.

Before I heard of this very cool movement, I had decided to kick the car to the curb and pedal my way to school and work. It's only 2-3 miles (uphill all the way in the morning), but it takes motivation and dedication to haul all your gear in and to turn the cranks for nearly 3 miles uphill when driving is just oh-so-much easier.

But I decided to do it. Gas is expensive and pollutes the atmosphere, and I don't really get a chance to hit the mountain bike trails during the week due to my busy schedule. Commuting seems like the most logical way to get in miles, and  its great for the environment.... and it saves me money!

Then this cool movement (do I call it an organization? A campaign? A challenge? What?) came along, and I thought to myself: "This is just the excuse that I need to spend more time out on my bike! I am so in!"

So I'm doing it. I'm committing to riding my bike every day. Many of the days will be commuting to work and school on my mountain bike on the pavement, some may be just riding my bike around my yard and neighborhood... but many others will be singletrack dirt days!

I don't want to do this alone, though.

Join with us and commit to riding every day for the next 30 days!

Seriously, what's the worst that could happen?

From the 30daysofbiking.com blog, by Zachamon:
What’s the worst that can happen?
What’s the worst that can happen, seriously? Well… I’ll tell you:
Sadly, you’ll become more fit, feel better and have more energy which you’ll use to get more things done in the day.
You will unfortunately spend quality time with friends and family, and possibly worse, you may make new some friends.
I hate to say but you’ll unwind from those hard days at work with ease, and have more time to for that inner peace you’ve been looking for.
You’ll acquire super natural powers unknown to 4-wheeled transports. After all of this I must apologize and say that you will be empowered.
Worst of all—as in most terrible thing ever—you will be free.
Want more information on the history of this cool event? Check out Loving The Bike's interview with the founders of #30daysofbiking.

Your Turn: 
Sign up here, and then drop a comment letting me know what you think!

PS: I'll be posting updates here on Greg Rides Trails about my experiences over the course of this challenge. It's going to be fun!

6 comments:

J.B.,  April 1, 2011 at 11:16 AM  

its dangerous for me to ride to work but Ive always wanted to try. I live 12 miles from work but my work place is on a very dangerous and busy 4 lane road. Getting to the towpath to take me downtown is the dangerous part, everything after that is cake. about 4-6 miles of the ride would be on Washington Road and that scares the courage out of me.

Greg Heil April 1, 2011 at 12:43 PM  

I've been in that situation before. I did the ride a couple of times, and then decided it wasn't worth it.

For this challenge, though, you don't necessarily have to commute. Just as long as you're riding!

Luke April 1, 2011 at 12:54 PM  

Signed up!

ltud on singletracks.com forums.

Greg Heil April 1, 2011 at 5:41 PM  

Awesome Luke, I'm really looking forward to this! I've already got one singletrack ride in the bag today!

AJ Heil April 2, 2011 at 11:29 PM  

Sounds like a sweet concept! Wish I had my rig here in La Crosse..

AJ

Greg Heil April 3, 2011 at 8:59 AM  

Yeah dude, you need to get your bike down to LAX! Have you checked out the HPT trails and the TNT trail yet?

Post a Comment

Labels

Counter

Blog Archive

About Me

My photo
Greg Heil is the Editor in Chief for Singletracks.com. He's been writing and publishing online since before blogging existed.

About This Blog

Mountain biking, plain and simple. Trail reviews, ride reports, and philosophical musings induced by delirium from grinding up way too many vertical feet.

Read More

  © Blogger templates The Professional Template by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP