I bicycle commute to the Wheaton metro station

It takes about 12 minutes to bike from home to the metro or 20 minutes to walk.  I have two possible bicycle routes: one is almost totally along Georgia Ave and makes me more stressed than walking.  The other route is through a park and small neighborhood streets.  The problem is that the scenic route takes a solid 12 minutes while the busy street route can take only 7 minutes if I hit the traffic lights right and there aren't a lot of people walking on the sidewalks.  Once the Safeway construction is finished it will be even faster.

Motivation to Bike Commute

The problem is laziness.  I try to give myself messages like that above to feel good about what I'm doing.  Otherwise I mope and feel sorry for myself that I have to put out so much effort to get to work rather than just strolling to the metro stop like I did at the last place I lived.

Wheaton is a decent place in which to bicycle.  This morning I saw two other bikers on my way to work!  One on my street and another in the park.  I often bike past kids and their parents waiting for school buses on street corners and others walking to school together.  That is cute and makes me smile. 

Going through the woods is a beautiful start and end to my day that I really enjoy.  Being in nature has been shown to lower blood pressure, and I really feel some physiological benefit to being in nature.  I try to always be fully present while biking through the park, to look at all the trees and appreciate them during the few minutes I'm biking among them.  That is the best part.

Here is part of the biking and walking trail through beautiful Wheaton Regional Park. 

Biking and walking trail through beautiful Wheaton Regional Park, December 1, 2012.