My bike brings me closer to my community, my car shuts me out

I just got home from an absolutely lovely morning on my bike, which I rode to attend a meetup before work instead of driving there.

It would have taken half as long to drive: ten minutes in my car versus 20 minutes on my bike, one way.

But I got to ride my bike along the river. I saw my first tree swallows of the year and stopped just to watch them for a while. I had one of my best-ever looks at a Cooper's hawk when it landed on the fence just a few feet from me.

I said good morning to several others out enjoying the trail. I stopped to tell an older lady I loved her dog, whom she had dressed in doggy ski goggles and rabbit ears for some reason.

I could have spent 20 fewer minutes round trip in my car. I also could have been annoyed at traffic, quite literally closed off from the others around me, frustrated trying to parallel-park in the downtown area that was my destination, and gone from inside (my car) to inside (the coffee shop) on an extremely beautiful sunny spring morning.

I got home feeling connected to my local community (the meetup helped, too) and feeling so happy I rode my bike.