My mail goal when I applied for the FreeWheel's Project, and especially after I was selected to participate, was to not only enjoy the fun and freedom of a bicycle again (after not having one for 8 years), but also to use the Q4 to commute to work.
My husband, Karl, and I share one vehicle... although, it wasn't always that way. After long-distance dating for about a year, Karl moved here from Toronto. We each had a vehicle, and quickly learned we didn't much like having two vehicles (the cost, not to mention the waste environmentally.) But because Karl still had his job in Toronto, he needed to commute a couple of times a week - his employer allowed him to telecommute the other 3 days, which was way better than having to drive all 5! Once Karl was able to land a job here in K-W, we couldn't get rid of the 2nd vehicle soon enough. It's been almost 5 years since that day.
We're lucky enough now to only work about a kilometer apart from each other in Uptown Waterloo, with the exception of Tuesdays + Thursdays when Karl works in Cambridge (Galt.) Our regular routine for those days are for Karl to drive me to work in Waterloo, only to have to turn around, "retrace his steps" down Bridgeport and the Expressway, and then make the drive from Uptown Waterloo to downtown Galt. It adds an additional 20-25 minutes on his commute time, and about the same in kilometers.
Fast forward to me being selected as a FreeWheels Project participant, I knew I had to give commuting by bicycle a try. I committed to peddling to work on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and save Karl the extra time in the morning as well as helping us save the extra gas and mileage on our vehicle. I get extra exercise + save time/money = WIN!
We live along the Stanley Park and Idlewood border in the south-east part of Kitchener and commute to the King + University area in Waterloo. My trip is between 11-12 kilometers one-way, depending on which route I take - I've discovered a few. The most recent (which I started this past week) is to bike down Ottawa to the Iron Horse Trail trailhead. I've avoided taking that almost obvious route since I started cycling to work because I thought it would take me longer in both time and distance to first get all the way over the the trail, then take it all the way to Uptown Waterloo. I'm glad I decided to give it a try last Tuesday - it is a bit longer in distance, but definitely takes no more time for me to get door-to-door - 35 minutes, give or take.
So, it's safe to say that I finally found a route that I can stick with! Even though cycling down Ottawa is a tad frightening, especially between River Rd. and Weber, I know once I am on the Iron Horse it's clear sailing! Such a nice way to travel to and from work! The trail is an easy ride (fully paved and no hills!), is mostly shaded by trees (nice and cool!), and no worry about wasting time sitting at traffic lights or cars whizzing past. Way. Too. Close!
With the fun and ease of biking the IH trail, this song came to mind...
No comments:
Post a Comment