Recently, I had to retire my car.  It had nothing to do with Donald Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, but due to my financial situation, and a general desire to stay out of debt I decided to put off the purchase of a car and learn about how to do life on a bike.

Here are a few lessons I’ve learned:

• Life on a bike has a lot of little expenses.  Besides the bike, a commuter needs racks and panniers, lights and reflective.  Although I’m not incurring any car expenses, this has so far offset any savings.
• Life on a bike requires preparation.  You don’t just leave.  You get dressed, get packed, double check you have everything you, put on your helmet, then leave.
• Leave time to cool down.  Especially if you’re a sweaty beast like me.
• Riding a bike reminds you how everything is connected.  Miller talks about how his cross country bike trip made the world seem smaller.  Driving a car somehow warps space and time in a way that makes everything seem so separated.  When you have to use your own physical strength to get somewhere, you see how one thing leads to another.
• You have to say no to some things.  If I can’t bike there in under an hour, I probably won’t go.  It’s hard, but probably good.
• Enjoy the ride.  Take in the scenery, the smells and the sunshine.  Things we forget when rolling down the highway in our sealed, air-conditioned bubbles.