I didn’t want to blog (brag?) about it before I was sure I could do it, but now that April is over, I can reminisce with impunity. We all know about May being Bike to Work Month, but have you heard about 30 days of Cycling? This April I’ve challenged myself to commute by bike at least once every day.

It was not always smooth sailing (and with the April winds it was sailing more often than not), but it was always good fun and I am pleased as punch for doing it.

Early April was snowy.

Just as I thought the snow was over, it got snowy again.

Antarctica performed well over winter, but as I almost overloaded it with a rather minor grocery haul, I knew it was time to bring out the cargo bike.

As soon as it was warm enough, the boys got on the bikes too though Markus had been riding short trips with me throughout the winter.

Our first trip was to the barber.

My neighbour Julie snapped this action shot on Easter Sunday as were on our way to Sarah’s to bake an orehnjaca. I brought everything from flower, eggs and walnuts to cutting board and hand mixer with me in case Sarah was running low or using hers for her Easter dinner. It turned out most of it was unnecessary but as there is so much space on the bike it was no big deal to bring it.

I did bake an orehnjaca and everyone seemed well pleased with it. I was pleased that none of my neighbours had ever had original orehnjaca before so they could not see the obvious imperfections. We ate everything but the first roll as it came out of the oven. The first one had fallen apart while I was making it so I hid it away in my fridge for a few days. After a few days I decided that it tasted too good not to take a picture of the last few slices.

Alas, I did not cycle the full 30 days. Between the pouring rain and a nasty stomach bug causing havoc in our household I had to miss biking on Earth Day. Sorry Earth, but “not every day, not all the way” is still my motto when it comes to active commuting around here.

I biked just over 200km in April. If it was not for the last August, this would have been my monthly commuting record.

I’ve found that the wind is my biggest enemy and was surprised that there was at least one instance where I had to get off the bike and walk because of the strong wind. Fortunately, on the days that the wind is strong and I have to pretty much crawl back home, I can still make it in time to pick up the older boys from the bus and then pick up Markus afterwards.

One day I was held up in a last minute meeting and did not leave work on time. I was hoping to stop the school bus before it left school because I was not sure I can make it home on time to get the kids off the bus. I managed to see the bus drive by but it I was a few moments too late to stop it safely. I was therefore compelled to get to our street before it did. The bus eventually passed me about 400 meters before the finale at which point the bus driver recognized me and the full complement of neighborhood boys including mine lined up on the bus window to cheer me on as I raced to the stop. Moral of the story – always leave on time!

Now that it is May aka “Bike to Work Month” why not check out this article?

P.S. “Budapest Grand Hotel” is a very enjoyable film.