We’ve been year-roundbike commuting on amostly full-time basis

for a number of years. We eachcommute about 12 miles round tripon city streets, coming from differ-ent directions to downtownIndianapolis.

Lundberg has the good fortuneto have inside bike storage and a shower and place to store workattire at the office. Dreyer has theequally good fortune of having thegreat Indy Bike Hub right acrossthe street from the City-CountyBuilding where he can shower and store his bike inside.

The delta between biking anddriving from our respective homesto sitting at our desks is about fiveminutes. So we get 50 minutes or so of solid exercise every day at a net time cost of 10 minutes. What a deal!

It’s good for your body

Biking is good exercise. It ismuch easier on your joints thanrunning. You can easily calibrateyour effort to how energetic (ornot) you are feeling. We calculatethat we burn about 43 calories permile cycling at a moderate pace.That’s 516 calories every day and more when we ride harder.

Lawyers and judges are seden-tary workers. We can’t avoid it inour line of work. But we exacerbatethe situation when we put in evenmore butt time driving back andforth between home and work.

Biking is re-creation in the true sense of doing something completely different from what we do at work. Biking to go wherewe need to go anyway gives us apremium of much-needed physicalactivity.

It’s good for your mind

The health benefits of bikingcan be more mental than physical.Commuting by bike is a greatbuffer between professional andpersonal life. It allows for shiftingmental gears as the derailleurchanges gears on the bike. Going home, the stress of the daysubsides with every turn of the pedals. Biking to work gives us a jump start on the day ahead by easing into what’s in store.

Driving in the car usuallyinvolves distractions of one kind oranother – maybe it’s the car radioor the irritation of being stuck intraffic. Traffic jams are rarely a hin-drance to a bicyclist. We don’t bikewith anything in our ears (not safe,in our opinion), so we get to bealone with our thoughts. It’s amaz-ing how the creative ideas flowwhen traveling by bike. (Okay,some pretty crazy ideas pop outtoo, but they can be easily discardedlater.) Dreyer claims to have ren-dered many legal opinions whilecoasting with no hands.

Plus, biking is just plain fun.It’s hard to get on a bike withoutflashing back to being a kid andrealizing that a bicycle opened upwhole new vistas that were unat-tainable on two legs. That probablyaccounts for the goofy grin youmight see on our faces as we bike toand from work. Despite moisture,even ice and the evil wind (always

FIT TO

PRACTICE

The way we roll: commuting by bikeBy Judge David J. Dreyer and Donald R. Lundberg

38 RES GESTÆ • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

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seems to be a headwind), there is a solid gratification in leaving one’shouse or office on a conveyance wehave been using since childhood.

Be careful out there

Our experience has been thatbiking is a safe way to commute.Sure, we’ve had close calls (as weassume you have had in your cars)and a few “altercations,” but noth-ing to deter us. We have each hadan experience where failing to weara helmet would probably haveresulted in a serious head injury orworse. Wear a helmet. Period. Notwearing a helmet could kill you;wearing a helmet won’t kill you.

If you are going to be riding inanything other than full daylightconditions, you need lights – reallights, powerful lights. Bicycle light-ing technology has advanced byleaps and bounds in recent years.

next to parked cars. A car doorcould swing open without warning,and you could win the proverbial“door prize” and a serious injury toboot. Cars making a right turn areanother dangerous situation whereyou need to be alert against an inat-tentive driver turning into you ifyou are to the driver’s right.

Pick your route carefully, andavoid routes that present dangers to bikes. Is there an off-street bike route like the Monon Trail in Indianapolis? Perfect! If not, is there a street with a marked bike lane? Our experience has beenthat the conflict between cars andcyclists is mostly territorial. It isamazing what a silly little white lineon the pavement does to defusethat tension. It tells drivers, “This is not your space.” Consider usingside streets instead of arterials.

RES GESTÆ • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 39

Judge David J. Dreyer, Marion Superior Court, and Donald R. Lundberg, Barnes & Thornburg LLP

Good lights are worth the expense.Lundberg uses front & back lightson his bicycle and front & backlights on his helmet. Dreyer has two back flashers (helmet and back-pack) and one bright-white blinkeron his front handlebars. Don’t takethe reflectors off your bike. Theyare very effective in the beam of a car’s headlights.

Ride as if all drivers, includingbus drivers, want to run you over.In the car-bike interface, the bikeand its rider lose every time.Lundberg wears a mirror on theside of his helmet that lets him seewhat is coming up from behind.Dreyer has a handlebar mirror thathe will not live without. Take careat cross streets. If there is a car atthe intersection or a car turning leftin front of you, look for eye contactfrom the driver. That’s a sign thedriver sees you. Be careful riding (continued on page 40)

Photo by

Vincent M

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It’s not just about getting frompoint A to point B as quickly aspossible. It’s also about enjoyingthe trip and arriving intact. Ridingon neighborhood side streets ispleasant, and after you’ve done itfor a while you’ll get to know theregulars along your route and can exchange a friendly wave.

Getting started

Commuting by bike can be alittle daunting. Get a bike you arecomfortable with, and make sure itis well maintained. It doesn’t haveto be fancy or expensive. Skinny-tire road bikes are not a goodchoice for commuting. Wider,lower-pressure tires make for amore comfortable ride with fewerflats. Consider a bike with fenders.They do wonders in an unexpectedrain shower. Learn how to fix a flat,and carry what you need to do therepair. Oh, yeah, and do us a per-sonal favor – lubricate your chain.To us, the sound of a squeaky bikechain is like fingernails on a chalk-board.

Ease into it. Learn how to han-dle your bike well. Gain confidenceand competence before hitting thegritty urban streets. Ride in yourneighborhood and on off-streettrails before venturing out intorisky traffic situations. Ride conser-vatively and defensively. It’s moreabout safety than speed. Preview asafe route in your car. Take specialnote of the risky spots so that you’llknow where to be especially carefulwhen you’re biking. Then pick abeautiful day for a trial run. Maybeon a Saturday or Sunday. Then it’stime to try it on a weekday. Once a month or once a week is fine.Does it suit you? Increase your frequency. If the distance betweenhome and work is too long for a reasonable commute, consider

driving part way (especially thenon-bike friendly part) with yourbike on a rack, then park your carand bike the rest of the way.

When it starts getting cold inthe fall, you can shut it down untilspring unless you’re a crazy personand decide to keep riding. The twoof us have a friendly cold-weathercompetition. Dreyer put Lundbergto shame this past winter by ridingat -5 degrees. Lundberg’s lowestwas a balmy +6. Don’t you think ajudge, of all people, would havebetter sense? If you are going to jointhis club of crazy people, be verycareful in slippery conditions orbetter yet, don’t ride. In all but thecoldest weather, you might findthat you have overdressed for thecold. The exertion of riding gener-ates a lot of heat. As far as handwarmth, look into thermal prod-ucts that provide hand coverings onthe handlebars.

Figure out what you will dowhen you get to the office. If yourcommute is fairly short, just ride atan easy pace in your work clothes.You can pretend you are inCopenhagen or Amsterdam. If youhave further to travel or want toride fast, you’ll need to figure outhow to freshen up when you get towork. If your office doesn’t have ashower facility, consider a nearby Yor health club. More and more ofthem are offering commuter mem-berships. Find a secure place to lockyour bike. Get a good lock, and ide-ally, find an indoor location whereyou can store it. You also need awork-clothes strategy. Is there spacefor them at work? Maybe you’llneed to carry them on your bike.There are many elegant solutionsfor transporting clothes by bikethese days. Dreyer carries workclothes every day in a great back-pack that he found online. There’sno magic solution. You just need

FIT TO PRACTICE continued from page 39

40 RES GESTÆ • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

to think about it and work some-thing out.

See you on the streets

Commuting by bike is not for everyone – especially full-timeand year-round like some crazypeople we know. But occasionallyand in good weather – nothingcould be finer! C’mon in –the biking’s great!�

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