Today, in an effort to get exercise and to shed many unwanted LBs, I decided to ride my bike to school. I would like to be able to do it all year, but unfortunately the sun doesn't quite rise as early as I would like it to, but there is now just enough light at 5:30am so I can head to work.
I love cycling and I do it all the time, anyway, but it's an incredible experience to be riding and see the sun come up from the horizon. It's a beautiful path from my house to my school - a little more than 14 miles - and so I don't mind it as much. When I get to school, there is no way I'm leaving my bike outside at the mercy of a pack of 6th, 7th and 8th graders, so I stash it in my room behind my desk. Of course, it's the very first thing the kids notice, so I always get the same question: Mr. Lowe, why is there a bike in here?
As my fourth class of the day came in, they all sat down and began their work. An interesting conversation followed -
TD: "Mr. Lowe, did you ride your bike to work today?"
Me: "Yep."
TD: "How far away do you stay?" (for all the Utahn readers, hat's Memphis for "How far away do you live?")
Me: "About 15 miles away."
TD: "You rode that far?!"
DB: "What? Did you get put out the house?"
Me: "Did I get put out of the house? By who? My wife?"
DB: "No, I meant, did someone repossess your car?"
Me: "Yeah....no, nobody repossessed my car."
DB: "Then why else would you ride your bike to school?"
Me: "For exercise. Don't worry, my car's still safely parked in my garage at my house."
DB (confused): "Oh..."
I definitely don't live anymore where I grew up. If my teacher had ridden his bike to school, I would have assumed he wanted to exercise. However, in Memphis, the first thought in this kid's head was that I couldn't pay my car bill, so it got repossessed and I had to ride my bike to work. Funny world.
