It is unlikely that you would type 'p' instead of 'h'

This winter and its polar vortices and snowy weather and icy bike lanes and that I fell off my bike once and sort of hurt my shoulder saw me not riding to work for about a week, which is a longer period of time than I normally spend not riding to work. I rode the Metro some and I think I even drove my car once. I tried to start and cap my commutes with Bikeshare trips and while it was nice to spin the pedals, it's really not the same as riding the whole way.

The bicycle has become for me a tool of independence. Faced with the alternatives, I simply don't like them. I'd rather not wait 10 minutes for a train. I'd rather not rely on thousands of other car drivers to not slow down my own car driving. I'd rather not rely on global helium supplies to stabilize in price and thereby facilitate cheaper and more regular zeppelin service. I don't want to hope that I'm not dockblocked. I hate paying money for travel, travel that I know would otherwise be basically free if I can manage to muster the will and energy to get myself there. With my bicycle commute, I set my own timetable and while I am somewhat beholden to the vicissitudes of traffic conditions and other roadway impacts, there is, for the most part, just enough infrastructure and just enough other people not taking advantage of that infrastructure, to leave me with basically unfettered access to an essentially independent commute.

And I've become dependent on this independence.

It's become a hassle for me to not commute by bicycle. Not so much in an actual sense (I live in a city and it has options- there is Metro, there are buses, there are pogo sticks strewn by the roadside, tempting me with their spongy springs and the joys of repeated hopping, part Icarus/part-yo-yo), but in a purely mental sense. Once you've tasted the mostly unadulterated freedom of urban bicycling, it's hard to taste anything else. Kind of like garlic..

I don't think I'm telling you anything you don't know. You probably ended up here because you also have an affinity for bicycling (unless of course you made a typo and while "Tales from the Sparrows" sounds like a fantastic bird blog [37th most popular bird blog in DC], it is not mine) and maybe you feel the same way about not riding your bike as I do not riding mine. Or maybe you're less sentimental about the enterprise or more ambimodal (which I also believe is an pain reliever/sleep aid) and you're much less dependent on fully taking advantage of the luxury it is to bike commute. Or maybe you don't believe me about the lack of sparrow content and you think that any second now, BAM- BIRD PICTURE. Not gonna happen, my friend.

Ok, just one.

This guy.

To conclude, it's very nice to return to riding to work and then to return from work riding my bike. I missed not doing it and I would miss not doing again and I hope that weather (and the response to the weather) permits me continued dependence on my continued independence. Or that my lack of good judgment prevents the lack of good weather from preventing me my bike commute. Either way, really.