Biking!

While working at National Wildlife Federation this summer, I commuted via bicycle once every other week or so; it was 10 miles each way (took an hour) and although it was a bit of a trek, it was a great experience! When I was at Duke I also often bike commuted although that was much shorter--a 10-min bike ride each way. What's so nice about is that not only are you reducing your carbon emissions by not driving, you're also getting exercise, getting time outside, and being out in the community and getting to know other like-minded people, so it covers many bases in one fell swoop. I found that I had a big smile on my face and really enjoyed the commute, whereas whenever I drove (especially in the DC area) I was stressed, felt lazy and felt easily annoyed by other drivers or by pedestrians and bikers. I felt much more in touch with the rhythm of nature by biking, as I got to observe close-up what the weather was like and got to observe nature along the way--I even almost hit a deer on my bicycle one day! Which is obviously much less dangerous on your bike; the worst that could happen is I would have bumped into it gently since I wasn't going very fast. I really hope that more people in the DC area will take up biking to work, as I think it will help greatly to reduce traffic problems and commuting frustrations in the area.

One word of caution to anyone who decides to take up bike commuting is to be a careful and considerate biker; I've observed many bikers on the W&OD trail who are quick to flick off drivers (even when the drivers weren't doing anything wrong) or not obey basic biking rules such as biking on the right side of the street, checking for cars before crossing the street, hand signaling or notifying pedestrians when they are passing. These are very important to implement for your own safety and for others' safety. And, even when drivers do something wrong, try not to get too irate about it, because that just further increases hostility between bikers and drivers that is already pretty bad. Flicking someone off doesn't solve anything!

You might make a driver more angry toward bikers which may make them more likely to be hostile toward bikers in the future, so consider that before acting too hastily.

Have fun out there and hope to hear your bike commuting stories!

Rants

A couple rants....

1) In some ways the DC area is awesome for walkability/bikability/public transportation, but not over by Tyson's Corner! I tried to walk from my house over to a Bank of America just a mile from my house that's across the street from Tyson's Corner, and there literally was no way to cross a part of Route 7 that went over the Beltway. There was no sidewalk of any kind. Sooooo dangerous! So, although the place I wanted to go was maybe a 1000 feet away, I had to backtrack, cross the huge street, and wait for the bus to take me the short distance. Lame and a half!

2) A few rants about people's reactions to me being vegetarian:

1. When people apologize about eating meat in front of me. I’m not a freakin pansy.
2. When I ask about veggie dogs and people say “Oh we have turkey dogs, that would be the closest thing.” Turkey = Meat. No closer to being a veggie dog than a beef dog.
3. When people say, “Oh, I guess you can’t have this. Poor thing” when consuming meat. I gave it up b/c I don’t want to eat it!
4. When people don’t get why I’m pescatarian (still eat seafood).
5. When people tell me that they dated a vegetarian/knew a vegetarian/what have you. I don’t care!
6. When people ask what I eat. Everything you eat except the meat!
7. When people ask how I get protein.
8. When people only choose hippie vegetarian restaurants when we go out to eat, thinking that would be the only kind of restaurant I’d like.
9. When people think I only eat vegetables, or think I love vegetables way more than the average person. Or think I’m really healthy all b/c I’m vegetarian. There are plenty of things that you can eat that are vegetarian that are horrible for you, and many don’t have any vegetables!

Sorry for the whining, but I don't rant often and it's been building up a bit. That is all. :)

NEXT next chapter!

Hello after a long hiatus!

After finally graduating in December, and searching for jobs for several months, I finally found something--I've been working at National Wildlife Federation headquarters in Reston, VA since May 16th. I am a Blue Ridge Research Assistant; I'm researching/compiling information about wildlife, land use, geology, water quality, property owners, environmental threats, etc. in the northern Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia/West Virginia so that priority conservation areas can be identified and a conservation corridor/coalition can be created. So far it's been really interesting, I've been able to pull together aspects from land use planning and conservation biology and integrate the information so it's really exactly the subject area I'm interested in. It's only until August, so I'm still searching for something permanent. It would be great to keep on working here! But we'll see what kinds of opportunities come up.

I'm excited because I think I kind of have a career mentor--one of the board members of an organization that we partner with, Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains, has a background in urban planning and was involved with creating the project that I'm working on. He has given me career advice and offered to put me in touch with organizations that might be hiring. It's a bit early to say, but he may be the career mentor that I've been searching for!

I just found a place to live in Falls Church, VA. It is close to the W&OD bike trail that also goes right past my work. I can't wait to try commuting via bike! It is about 10 miles door to door. I am living with a couple in their early 30s who moved from Czech Republic/Slovakia about 8 years ago. It is a house in a quiet neighborhood, so parking is easy and it only takes about 15 min to drive to work.

I'm still doing barre classes, running, biking, and dabbling in other exercise. I tried indoor rock climbing for the first time in November and have since done it two more times, and I finally learned how to ski in January. I just did bikram yoga yesterday for the first time in several years....and it was super hot here in DC yesterday so it was rough! But felt good.

This weekend I'll just be settling in and getting furniture for my place, and hanging out with Nick school people. Oh and So You Think You Can Dance started up again, so I'll probably catch up with that on Hulu!

Cheers mate.