15 Things I’ve Learned from 6 Months of Biking

1. Yes, raising your seat up higher does make pedaling easier. Raising it so high that your feet just barely reach the pedals does not, actually, make you ride faster.
2. You must resist the urge to buckle your seat belt every time you get on your bike.
3. This one may surprise you...other bicyclists, walkers, and joggers can all hear you. For some reason, I constantly am surprised when someone actually says something to me while I'm biking.
4. There is really no need to panic over every yapping dog at your feet. This may or may not save you from a slow-motion falling incident three feet away from the dog's elderly owner. Not like this has happened to me before...
5. Riding without your prescriptive eye glasses on makes for a fun ride. Suddenly, everyone looks just like someone you know or someone famous!
6. Pretending to be the Wicked Witch of the West actually makes the ride go faster. As does practicing biking without hands. Just remember the advice from #3.
7. Quality rain gear makes all the difference. Shell out the extra bucks for the hurricane rain pants. It is totally worth not having a giant U-shape of wet on the inner part of your legs every time it rains. I swear I will never make fun of people who are obsessed with outdoor gear again...
8. Always remember that it is a game between every stop light. Pace yourself so that you never need to fully stop.
9. Give yourself an extra ten minutes on the wind-going-against-you-the-whole-way days. Your thighs will thank you.
10. Make sure to always look walkers and joggers in the eyes as you pass them so they know just how much faster you are than them.
11. Wearing a dress or skirt while biking is risky. If you take that risk, make sure to bike extra fast.
12. If there is a 40% chance of rain...it will rain on you. So just put on those unflattering, swishy rain pants.
13. You always tend to overdress for cold weather because you are sure that if you don't wear five layers, hypothermia will surely set in! Because of this, you usually are near death from heat exhaustion by the end of your ride. Therefore, armpit vents in winter jackets are truly amazing. Simply unzip and enjoy!
14. Just give up on wanting to look good when you arrive some place. No matter what, you'll either have helmet hair, red cheeks, or sweaty armpits.
15. Obey the traffic signals--they serve the perfect time to casually glance over at the drivers next to you. Suddenly, it becomes pretty clear to them just how tough you are to be biking in 20 degree temperatures when they have their heated seats on full blast. Go ahead and give 'em a small nod. Yeah...I am that tough.