Occasionally, I have to indulge my inner-bad girl and do things that a really adventurous for me–emphasis on for me. I’m aware that by most people’s standards I’m cautious. Moments like this have got me to buy plane tickets to Alaska when I’d been terrified of air travel and never flown, and basically taken solo trips elsewhere to other places that seem “scary.” For me, risk is trying something that my parents had not exposed me to. There’s a lot in that category– Tai Chi, yoga, kayaking, eating artichokes.

In my household growing up, as I’m sure is the case in many others, the primary mode of transportation was anything involving a combustion engine. When my car was stolen in November (before it was found and returned to me), the anxiety that followed was felt probably more by my parents than by me. Acceptable ways to get around include pickup trucks, vans, and motorcycles. Having a car instead of something totally badass (and environmentally disastrous) like my brother’s Hummer is quite the rebellion.

But more and more, I’m trying to shed this car culture. One workplace is just over a mile away. The route is basically flat, and except for a few yards, is a straight shot. Last semester, I thought I’d be brave and walk it. The trip there got me to work a few minutes late (didn’t account for my slowness) but I had a travel companion. The trip home meant I didn’t have to practically job, though I ended up leaping into traffic near Park Street because some dude at a bus stop thought it’d be cool to make gross grunting noises at me.

Since then, I’ve tried to be braver and ride my bicycle more often. I know how to ride, just don’t have lots of miles of experience doing it. There’s a little bit of worry about breaking an elbow or something and having the pain & an enormous hospital bill (no health insurance) to contend with. After taking a few trips around downtown and the riverfront on the weekend, when there are fewer Type A drivers around, I realized how much faster it would be for me to just bike to work.

Maybe it’s having lots of unscheduled time in the summer that means I can start thinking about taking more risks. For instance, I wonder if I could bike to my other job, which means driving a longer distance and up a series of hills. There are bike lanes over there, which means nothing since people dump snow and leaves in them.

And then there is the Hartford Bike Tour coming up in early September. It’s the weekend after my first week back teaching, and knowing my stress level at that time of year, something mildly self-destructive, like a ten-mile bike tour, will be just what the doctor ordered. The bike tour means having to get up wicked early for registration. It also means combining bike activism with Hartford activism. My understanding is that the tour is partly happening to prove to people that Hartford is not a cesspool.

It’s not cheap. Registration now is $27, which will eventually jump up to $45. With that fee, riders do get a t-shirt, a bandanna (with the route map printed on it), snacks, and coupons.

I know that I could just zigzag around town on my own, but I want to see how other riders react. Now, you all know what I’ll be doing with my weekends until this bike tour–finding a bike helmet and seeing how many miles I can do before I give up.