slow down

One of my pet peeves about the perception of bike commuting is that it requires a) a aerobics-class level of effort, and b) a shower at the end to clean up the stink from said effort. This is really counter-productive, since the benefits of commuting by bicycle can be achieved without (and even run counter to) sprinting your ass off.

This misguided perception comes first of all from the positioning of bicycles in the American marketplace, where they are still largely marketed as sporting goods, akin to a elliptical trainer or a set of running shoes. In a store where the top of the line bikes are the racing team models and "light light light" is the mantra, those who invest in a non-crappy bike are made to feel that if they're not attacking the on-ramp to the Manhattan Bridge as if it's the 21st switchback at Alpe d'Huez, they're doing it wrong. To those, I say: slow the hell down.

In European and Asian countries where cycling is taken seriously as a form of transport, most people ride in their street clothes on practical, upright, slightly heavy bicycles. It's understood that you only get sweaty enough to require a shower if you are making an exceptional effort. On hot, muggy days, you'd need a shower if you ran to work instead of walking. So we walk. It's no different on a bicycle.

So, how to slow down? Here's some things I've learned:

1. Practice. Yes, it takes practice to go slow. My natural tendency (especially riding in New York City) is to go faster than I should. I want to beat other riders to the end of the block. I want to outsprint taxis. I get competitive. It has taken me a while to tell that impulse to shut up and enjoy the ride.

2. Constant effort, not constant speed. I don't have a heart rate monitor or anything, but I've gotten pretty good at listening to my body. If I feel the flush of strenuous effort coming up, I dial back. The idea is to stay below the sweaty threshold. If I'm only looking at my speed (and lately I haven't even been riding with a cyclocomputer), I'll miss the signs that I'm making too much of an effort. The difference in wind (especially on the bridges) means that a 10mph average might be laughably easy one day and brutally difficult the next.

3. Gears: use 'em. I could never commute on a fixie for this reason. Maintaining a constant effort means constantly cycling through the gear choices to find that sweet spot. I find it easier to keep my heart rate down by pedaling faster with lower effort than by pushing hard on a big gear.

4. The ride home. It's cooler in the morning on the way to work, and my mellow, non-sprinty, Zen commute works better on the ride to. Coming home, I may feel the need to blow off steam, and I have a shower there. If I feel a sprint coming on, the return trip is the time to indulge it.