Thirty Years of Commuting Cycling

I'm female, 50, and have been commuting by bicycle off and on for more than thirty years. It started as a way to get around when I was young and too broke to own a car. After moving close enough to my then-workplace to walk in, I dropped bicycling for a few years.

I picked up bicycle commuting again in the eighties as convenient cross-training for running, and later bike racing.

When I got laid off in the early '90s and had to sell my car to avoid credit problems, cycling once again became mainly transportation. Favorite memories from that time: Riding around the outskirts of Bangkok, commuting to my part-time work on my flat-tire tourer with panniers full of papers and spare clothing, passing a people on lightweight racing road bikes. Taking off from an intersection on the same old-worn-out-bike, out-sprinting the fully dressed road racers on there lightweight road bikes.

In the mid '90s my knees had an intimate encounter with a car dashboard and I couldn't do very much cycling for a few years. Now that the knees are slowly healing, the rides and commutes are getting a little longer each year and it's both transportation and training for my new sport: swimming. I'm a little more of a fair-weather rider these days, but have recently purchased brand new urban Trek District with an all new belt drive, Alpha Black Aluminum frame and Bontrager Satelite Plus carbon fiber front fork.

What can I say about my new Trek District bike, best changes over the years: sealed bearings and I needed optional lights. I was most impressed how lightweight everything is now-a-day, from the bike itself to the additional light-system, and very bright now.