Don't Sweat the Smell

Sooo.. you sweat a bit commuting to work by bike. It adds a nice glow!
So you're sweating like a pig by the time you dismount and climb the stairs while the lazies take the elevator. But how much more alive do you feel? And chances are you look (and probably smell) a hell of a lot better than dought chower or venti skim mocha w/ whip guzzler! Now I'm not one to endorse material crap, but with the money you save on gas you can afford to buy some some great smelling perfume that pairs nicely with a natural musk. My personal fav-SuperModel by Victoria's Secret. This stuff will turn any man or woman on, lasts forever, and is pretty cheap too.

Iowa Goes By Bicycle: Over ambitious? Lets hope not!

I returned to my home in Iowa City in August 2010 to remnants of fecal odor from the summer sublets cat and my previous two roommates gone, having moved in with a bf and off to Austin. The house was stripped and stinky and left me with that same hollow feeling that sometimes lurks the morning after. "How will I ever pull this place back together?" I thought, but first thing was first--I needed roommates. A godsent, Sonja and Michelle found their way into our now comfortable, model-citizen (in the sense of bicycling for transportation) home. 

Our house is less than a mile from downtown, uphill both ways, but more than close enough for almost anyone to ride a bike. I have a car that I rarely drove living in the house the first year with my previous two, also car-owning best friends. The difference was they were addicted. I love them, but the truth was they were hooked on the motor. I had five bicycles in the garage always ready for a quick jaunt to the store or local pub yet, more often than not they chose to drive. From what I've come to better understand and sympathize with, was that these bad habits are hard to break. Everyday it irked me as I watched them choose their gas-guzzlers over a free ride. That's why when Sonja, Michelle, and their bicycles moved in I was overjoyed. Still going through severe reverse culture shock having just returned from living in a mountainous region in the Dominican Republic, and not at all thrilled to be back in the somewhat unsettling American culture. It turned out things were going to be OK though. No, better than OK! Both my roommates recognized AND acted on the benefits of bicycling for transportation!

OK, so most people get why going by bike is better, but what motivates people to actually do it, everyday, even if the car keys are dangling in front of their face on the way out the door? I didn't think much about this throughout the fall semester as I was finishing up my degree and living with bike-minded girls. Not until that is, after graduation, when I landed my dream job at the Iowa Bicycle Coalition as Program Coordinator of the bicycling for wellness campaign Iowa Goes By Bicycle. 

Now, faced with the challenge of getting 1,000 people to sign up for a campaign that aims to get more people riding for transportation and recreation across the state of Iowa, I need to stratigize. How am I suppose to get people on the other side of the state signed up for the Iowa Goes By Bicycle Challenge let alone my own neighbors? I've most definitely got my work cut out for me and I couldn't be more thrilled and scared at the same time. A familiar feeling that I sometimes get cusping a steep hill, but then once the rides over I'm always glad I gave it a whirl. Lets hope that fellow bicyclist will start to recruit their friends and family this coming Spring to the lifestyle of going by bicycle, and sign up for Iowa Goes By Bicycle at the same time. All people have to do is ride their bikes and log the minutes online. Sounds easy enough right?...