Traveling By Bike vs. Flying

I traveled to Washington DC last week on business and Jenny was able to come along. While we were there we talked a lot about taking some long distance bike trips in the future instead of flying or driving to a destination.

While we were sitting in the airport waiting out a 2+ hour flight delay I came up with the following list of advantages of traveling by bike vs. flying.

1. No extra charges for bags.
   
2. Wearing lycra is acceptable if you're riding a bike
3. Delays are never caused by weather in a city a 1000 miles away
4. Fresh air vs. Recycled air. Tough choice
5. By bike I can eat Snicker bars and drink Gatorade all day long and still lose weight
6. It's tough to get a tan when you're flying
7. You never have to remove your shoes, walk through a metal detector or get swabbed for bombs before you depart on a bike trip
8. They don't sell Velonews in any of the airport book stores
   
9. Water bottles aren't prohibited on a bike
10. Launching snot rockets is NEVER acceptable on an airplane

In flying's defense there were a couple of advantages that I could think for flying

1. Your bike seat doesn't make a very good flotation device in the case of a water landing
2. Barf bags are typically not available on a bike ride.

I'm not totally ruling out flying but I'm seriously considering some bike touring in the future.

What To Do When You're Sick

This morning I woke up with a scratchy throat, my ears were hurting and I was starting to lose my voice. By the way when I start to lose my voice I sound a lot like Barry White which isn’t a great thing but it’s a skill none the less.

As I stood in the shower I actually contemplated going to work for at least 5 minutes then called it off and decided to stay home. I sent the “I’m out sick email” to my boss and went back to bed.

When I woke up 3 hours later I still felt pretty bad so I did what all slightly crazy cyclists do when they are feeling a little under the weather. I rode on my trainer for an hour of course! The first time I tried riding while nursing a head cold I thought I’d last for 10 minutes before lapsing into a coma but to my surprise I actually rode strong and felt a lot better after my ride.

So after my ride today I’m feeling a lot better but I still sound like Barry White.

I’m thinking the Barry White thing is kind of a bonus to my sickness.