Statement of Intent: My Month of Cycling!

I just got home from work.  While I was on the train from work, I had realized that I had forgotten to sign up for my transit benefit thing at work.  The transit benefit at Squarespace works like it does for most companies and organizations that offer this through Wageworks, Choice Strategies or other providers -- you designate that you wish to set aside a certain amount of money, usually $112 the cost of the monthly MTA pass, that will not be taxed, but is dedicated to purchasing your transit fare.  As such, I would be paying for this out of pocket upcoming in January. 

This line of thinking made me feel like I suddenly had a choice now.  

No longer was I bound to purchasing the monthly pass for this next month.  New York is a place where people dream big, and while I am not going to be cheating people out of their hard earned money (see Madoff, et al.) or building a skyscraper (see flatiron, empire state, et al.) this still felt like an opportunity to change my normal grind a bit (see health, fitness, fledgling beer gut, et al.)

As such, I thought I would assign myself an attainable goal for this first twelfth of the New Year and, this being a huge cliche already, blog about it!

Here is the thing that I will be doing:

I am going to commute to work by bike everyday for the month of January.  

So, that's it!  I am going to bike everyday to and from work.  I will also keep an updated thread of my commute here.  I will be posting different things about my preparation leading up to the month and about the commute each day or every other day.  Near the completion of this month, it will be pretty clear to you and I if I am going to continue this for the month of February as well.

What is my commute by bike?  It's only 4 miles each way.  Piece of cake -- maybe I will eat some cake on the way one morning to prove that point.  Here is my commute on the map.  I haven't included my real street corner or my real home address, because the internet is a mighty scary place sometimes and I don't want to feed the monster!  

In all, I have always enjoyed cycling and pretty much always will.  I am more than happy to take on a challenge/adventure involving something I already like to do.  

Want to keep up?  I will be using the fitness tracking application Strava to track my progress.  Track me on Strava.  Of course, check back here for updates along the way.