Today marks the start of Bike to Work Week, and I decided to use that as motivation to start doing so myself.

As a bus commuter, I haven't been feeling the pain of rising gas prices, but especially after the long snowy winter, I relish the opportunity to spend more time outside. I only live seven miles from work, and with over 40 miles of paved bike trails in Madison, I was able to find an easy route to take. To find your own route, you can download a map from Madison's Transportation Planning Board; they've even got Google Earth plugins of bike trails and bike routes (click here for a sample).

I haven't bicycled regularly for transportation since high school and didn't own a bike, so I needed to get something to ride. I seriously considered getting a bike from the Red Bike Program at the Budget Bicycle Center on Regent St. They provide bicycles to people for the summer for a $40 deposit, fully refundable when you return the bike. When I asked an employee in there what was in it for them, he laughed and responded, “We lose money on it, but it's something Roger [Charly, owner of the stores] wants to do.” He explained that the bikes they put in the program, some of which are donated, are ones they'd otherwise be unable to sell but still want to make available to people.

Just out of curiosity, I took a look on Craigslist to see what it would cost to get something, and I found something ideal: an early 70's three-speed Dunelt, the same style as the Raleigh I rode every day to high school. I picked it up yesterday, replaced the brakes, and cleaned it up a bit for today.

It had been so long since I'd ridden regularly that I chickened out a bit and decided to just ride home for the first day. Happily, I needn't have worried. It was a relaxing 40 minute ride -- not bad at all considering that the bus ride is a half an hour if nothing goes wrong -- and I'm looking forward to the ride in tomorrow.