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Friday, November 11, 2011

Commuting: The Best Part of the Day

Commuting is the best part of the day?  Many folks will disagree with me but, since I am a bicycle commuter, it often feels like the best part of my day.  After spending a long day tethered to my desk, it’s invigorating, stress relieving, and sometimes an adventure to hop on my bike and pedal home.

A recent study by Swedish researchers bears this out.  They found that people who commuted to work by car, bus or train reported more adverse health conditions than those of us who bike or walk to work.  You can read more about that study here.


It's easy to check out Harbor Island when you're on a bike.
Besides reaping the health benefits, I find that biking to work is more interesting and spontaneous than using transit.  It’s easy to alter my route or stop on my bike to check out something attention-grabbing.

My bike commute is from West Seattle to Pioneer Square.  One evening this summer, I detoured over to Harbor Island to watch workers unload freight containers with forklifts.  Not only was the activity interesting to observe, but I glimpsed some unusual views of the city.

More recently, my commute provided me with an up close vantage point of the viaduct tear down.  While car and transit commuters had some pretty horrific commutes to and from West Seattle, my bike commute time didn’t change.  Reporter Eli Sanders filed a Slog post about the West Seattle bike commute during the viaduct demolition.

Enough about the cool sights and experiences I have thanks to my bike commute.  What interesting things have you seen or experienced on your bike commute?

2 comments:

  1. I like encountering bicyclists on tour that discover my route to work. I also like the opportunity to meet other bicycle commuters.

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  2. I love the morning fog... http://biketoworkseattle.blogspot.com/2011/11/fall-colors-ride.html

    And that when I ride past the International district it smells so good. All that fried food that I can eat because my body burns fat like there is no tomorrow.

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