I can't believe it really has been a year since I took the bus to school. It did not really start as a resolution or something. It's just that the the construction of a light rail track started on Washington Avenue, so bus route 2 stopped being a door-to-door service, but rather a door-to-three-blocks-away service. So, what's the big deal with walking three blocks, right? Yeah, right! Try telling that the fat-me an year ago!
The three-block walk bothered me so much that time that I decided to just bike instead - door-to-door. Summer went great - no major complains. It was only mildly cold during Fall, but the walking distance was the same, so I continued biking. It started snowing, so that's when everyone thought I would stop. But the walking distance was still the same (even though I was about 20 pounds lesser at this point). And in addition, I had to walk those three blocks in snow boots. Humbug! So, I continued biking.
Soon there was ice on the road. It started taking 20 minutes to bike to-and-fro instead of the usual 15. Then, one day, there was a snow storm. It took 35 mins to bike back from school. That was the day I got late to my guitar class. While I was biking back from my class with my guitar on me, another biker stopped at the red light with me and remarked, "A rather lonely day to bike, isn't it?" It sure was. It also was a rather rough day to follow traffic rules and stop at every red light.
The temperatures started dropping. There was no winter in Minnesota this year I believe. But there was this one cold day. The temperature was -24 oC, but they say it felt like -37 oC. For me, it was just another day to bike. That is easily the day I have felt most alive in my life. It was difficult to breathe with my nose, so I was taking big gulps of cold air in through my mouth. I thought the tires will become stiff in the cold and start slipping, but somehow the tires were just fine, it was the breaks. They just failed! Perhaps because of the stiff tires, but it was too cold to think science about then. Then the chain rolled off the gears. This probably was just a coincidence and had nothing to do with the cold. So, I had to stop on the road and fix it, which added a few more minutes to the commute and to being outside. I called my mom that day with excitement, but she seemed unamused. My brother, who was with her that time, took the phone from her and explained to me, "Only thing she is worried about is that you are 25 and your biological clock is ticking away, she doesn't care that your breaks failed in -24 oC!"
I don't really remember any interesting times after that one day. I guess from then onwards, it was assumed that I bike to work no matter what. This will my second semester sans a U-Pass.
Radical changes are nothing but incremental changes added on to each other until it becomes impossible to guess what the starting point looked like just by looking at the end result.
I do believe that the world is a battle-field. I do believe that there will be quite a few fights to fight in the coming years. But, no matter what you are struggling to achieve, I believe that the real fight is inside you. It's not with the system, other people, inclement conditions, tough terrains, long roads or slippery sand, it's with the you that you do not wish to be...anymore.
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