By Peter Burns

During this time of the Coronavirus, bike riding and walking remain a viable way of getting around and staying mentally and physically healthy. The days are getting longer and the temperatures are slowly climbing.  One silver lining to this terrible crisis is that there is much less traffic than usual.  For that I am grateful. Until we are told otherwise we should get out and walk and ride.

By Peter Burns

Shoes 

Over the years I have purchased many pairs of bike shoes. I bought most of them new, but recently I have found used bike shoes at Outdoor Gear Exchange in the consignment area.  They are much cheaper than new shoes, but the challenge is finding the right size.

By Peter Burns

For the past few months, I have alternated between writing about walking and writing about bicycle riding. With this blog, I am combining riding and walking in the same post. I walk and ride every day, so it makes sense to write about them together. Some individual sections will still be about just bicycle riding or just walking, but others will be about both.

By Peter Burns

Winter Riding

My yoga teacher recently mentioned embracing winter.  While that may be going a little bit too far, there are some advantages to riding in the winter.  There are fewer bike riders and pedestrians when it gets cold and snowy.  That means I have fewer obstacles to contend with on my rides to and from Burlington on the  Riverside Avenue bike/pedestrian path.  We will set aside, for now, the irony that I teach winter bike riding workshops which are designed to get more people out on the road in the cold. Also, even though there are many more winter riders than there were ten years ago, I still get comments about how tough I must be to ride through the cold and snow.  There is also the unearthly beauty that, from time to time, manifests itself during the winter.  Ice and snow and afternoon sunlight combine to create a paradisiacal scene.   Last but not least, if your ride through the winter you will be in shape for longer rides when it gets warmer and bike riding is actually enjoyable again!

By Peter Burns

My Walks

I mostly walk-in Winooski or Burlington.  For personal reasons I hardly ever travel, so I am a local walker.  In Winooski, I sometimes walk for exercise.  I do a circular route that includes the  Winooski schoolyard and also a graveyard on Weaver Street.  This route takes about an hour.  Last spring as I walked, I noticed where the blackberries were blooming.  My plan was to return to those places in the summer when the blackberries were ripe, but I didn’t time it quite right and missed the best of the blackberries.

By Peter Burns

Photographs 

I bought my phone because it has a good camera and I wanted to record my adventures in the Vermont countryside.  Bike riding is about momentum and every once in awhile I see something I think would make a good photograph, but I don’t stop, because the ride is more important than the images I bring home. 

By Peter Burns

Local Motion is an advocacy organization for cyclists, but also supports pedestrians. I am passionate about bike riding, and also about walking. This month I will write about walking, and in November I will return to bike riding.  I will continue this pattern for the foreseeable future.

By Peter Burns

Repetition and Difference

Most mornings I ride into Burlington, either to go to the YMCA or to work.  With slight variations, my daily route is the same but each time I ride, there are differences.  The weather shifts from day to day, my mood is different and as the seasons flow one into the other, the flora and fauna change as does my outerwear.

By Peter Burns

Mental Maps

I can trace most of the main roads in Chittenden County in my mind.  Sometimes in the winter, I like to remember the rides I took in the summer, retracing them in my mind.  As I leave Chittenden County the mental map starts to fade out.  When I am planning a local recreational ride, my mind automatically explores a few different routes, along with the possible road conditions. Traffic and wind direction also important.  I want to avoid busy roads, especially during rush hour.  If the wind is blowing at more than ten miles per hour, I ride into the wind on the way out, and with the wind on my way home. Sometimes I change my route during the ride. In the evening of  June 17th, I was riding back toward Winooski on Middle Road in Colchester.  My original plan was to take a right on Route 2A and head home by way of Mallets Bay Avenue.  But I was low as on water and wanted to use the facilities so instead, I took a left on 2A and went to the Burnham Library for a break. Because I have a clear mental map of the area, it was easy enough to figure out the way home from the library.

By Peter Burns

It is possible to write an autobiography focused on any number of subjects. While it would not be appropriate for this blog, I could write my storytelling autobiography, my reading autobiography or my work autobiography. We all live multiple lives. Here is my bicycle autobiography.