Biking by Moonlight - 30 Days of Biking Round 6

September brought, along with gorgeous weather all month, another round of 30 Days of Biking. I've done every round of 30 Days of Biking since it started in April 2010 but really wasn't sure about doing the fall "bonus round" this time. I'm in a musical so I'm in rehearsals four evenings a week plus I'm tackling a huge project for work -  finding time to ride my bike every day, I knew, would be nearly impossible.

But I decided to take on the challenge anyway. And I finished it. And I'm glad I stuck with it.

It wasn't easy. Well, 30 Days of Biking never is easy - it's a challenge, after all - but this time I struggled more than before with just finding the time to get on my bike.

Most of my rides were short, a mile or so around the neighborhood, a quick hop with the kids after school before I headed to rehearsal. On weekends I would get a longer ride in with Owen, 20 miles or more and we did one epic ride - 63 miles for the Jesse James Bike Tour.

But many of the rides were done after dark - I'd get home from rehearsal at about 10 p.m. and realize I hadn't ridden my bike. More than once I thought I'd just quit the challenge and skip riding. But instead I'd turn on the house lights to light up the street as much as possible, grab my bike, turn my bike lights on - and head out for a quick after dark ride.

I found that riding at night is kind of fun. It's quiet and peaceful and, well, dark. Yet I found that with my bike light I could see well enough to ride on the street by my house and on some rides I had the added help of the moonlight.

These moonlit rides ended up being some of my favorite rides for this 30 Days of Biking. So it felt right, in a way, to find myself last Sunday, the last day of 30 Days of Biking, once again at the end of the day realizing I hadn't ridden.

It was already 10 p.m. The kids were in bed. The neighborhood was quiet. And I headed out in the dark and rode my bike.

Just me and my bike and the moon shining down on us.
A nice way to end a busy day.
A perfect way to close this 30 Days of Biking.

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