Biking to Work

One advantage of living in a small town is that almost everything you need is within a few minutes of where you live.  Here in Valparaiso, that is no different.  Within a few minutes of my apartment I have a gym, a supermarket, a movie theater, and plenty of great restaurants.  However, the best and most convenient thing I am close to is work.

 My apartment is roughly 0.9 miles to work “as the crow flies”.  This allows me to ride my bike to and from work every day and also home for lunch.   This means that I ride roughly 3.6 miles every day, or 18 miles per week.  Having been here since May, this puts me at roughly 430 miles total. This would be like riding my bike from Valparaiso, IN to Nashville, TN!

I have seen the benefits of these miles in more ways than one.  The first, and most notable, is that I am in a lot better shape.  Not only is my daily ride good for my body, it is great for my wallet as well.  I have saved quite a bit of money I would have spent on gas….especially considering gas prices this summer.  Finally, I am proud that my daily ride also fits into the THG’s sustainability mindset.  The bike sitting outside our trailer every day represents one less vehicle on the road.

Unfortunately, my good habit will soon have to come to an end for a while.  Northern Indiana winters are generally not very kind to bikers...

John Kilbury | Project Engineer