Monday, August 18, 2008

Today's commute: things noted

Out to the base and back today, I saw a good half-dozen folks who looked like commuters: no spandex, most with helmets, a couple with panniers, all of them with packs. Also, this afternoon one of the elementary school's bike racks held at least six bikes when I went by around 3:30.

At school this morning I spoke to my colleague Kerry, who teaches biology. During Finals Week this past May, she and her sister took a bike tour of Tuscany while I proctored one of her exams for her (I offered to fax her the Scantron sheets (the "bubble" sheets so beloved of your public school days of yore) so she could score them and enter the grades, but she e-mailed me back to say that the Scantron machines there only read Italian. Smart-ass.) Anyway, I asked her how her trip had been, and we got to talking about cycling. Turns out, she's considering biking not only to the base but to her classes out in Andover as well. The distances for her would be about the same in each case (she lives in College Hill). Moreover, she said she's thought about starting a cycling club for the college, which would of course be a Good Thing.

Add to this a conversation with a long-time adjunct of ours who saw me ride in and another chat with one of our advisors who said I've inspired him to get to exercising (because of various ailments, cycling isn't an option for him, but he's consulting with his doctor about possibilities). So, Bobby, if you're reading this and are still worried, I'd say today was a pretty good day for passive-aggressive proselytizing.

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