"... it really was just as easy as getting in the seat.."

My first “real” day of bike commuting was last week, and it was an somewhat unusual case. I almost certainly have the shortest commute: I live only 1.4 km from Google. So I commuted twice.

I only started this job about a month ago, and I have mostly been walking. Walking takes me about 14-15 minutes; biking cuts that down to about 6 minutes. A six minute commute opens up a lot of possibilities. Like going home for lunch, and just generally leaving my car at home. Yesterday was a great example: I had a crosstown appointment in the early afternoon, and normally I would drive. But with my car less than ten minutes away, I simply biked home, drove to my appointment, drove home, and biked back to work. Considering the parking here is a couple of minutes away, this didn’t take me much longer than driving. It also gave me a two short bursts of outdoor exercise during the sleepiest part of my day.

Because I have been walking to work, and because I have a baby that enjoys stroller walks, I know the ins and outs of my short route very well. I am still figuring out what choices make the most sense when biking (left hand turns on Victoria? avoid) but the big surprise for me was that the saying about biking really is true: I haven’t done much biking since university a decade ago and it really was just as easy as getting in the seat. Except, I admit, my quadriceps, which appear to have forgotten about biking entirely.

- Eric M. from Google