Rider

Nelson Corchado


From MA


Commutes 18 Miles RoundTrip for 4 years and months
Four or Three Days a week, I am a bike commuter Year Round

How I began to commute with my bike A few years ago I took my first physical exam and at the age of 33, my cholesterol level was 350 and my bad cholesterol / good cholesterol ratio was over 35! My doctor wanted to put me on medication, but I knew my problem was diet and a lack of exercise. A year later, I had lost 50 lbs., my cholesterol dropped to 134 and my cholesterol ratio was down to 1.5! The diet and exercise changed my life. During this process I found that riding my bike was the most enjoyable form of exercise. When the cold weather came and all the local bike rides where over, I was quite disappointed that I wasn?t going to be able to ride anymore. Well, I decided to try riding my bike to the Davis Sq. T stop one and half miles from home. I found the ride to Davis Sq. was quite enjoyable and easy, so the next day, I decided to ride to the Porter Sq. T stop, but continued to Harvard Sq. This was so much fun and I felt so good at work after riding my bike that I decided to jump on the Charles River bike path and ride into Boston. What a blast! I killed two birds with one stone. I get to commute and work out at the same time. This freed up my evening workout time to spend with my family. A win-win situation. During the winter I dressed as any jogger or cross-country skier would and continued my commute throughout the winter. Many people think I?m freezing, but the body generates a lot of heat and I found myself using only two layers of clothing. The most common concern people have is the risk factor with traffic. The way I saw it was I was already taking a risk by sitting on the couch and slowly have my arteries get clogged up by deadly cholesterol. So, I prefer the risk when being proactive about my health instead of inactive. I studied my route and took the safest route to work, not necessarily the shortest. Sixty five percent of my ride is on a bike path and public park. The rest is through neighborhood streets in Medford, Somerville and Cambridge. The most dangerous portion is the South Station / Summer St intersection. The most interesting part of my commute is riding down the Charles River. I enjoy watching the collegian crew train until the river begins to freeze. Then I?m left with the other hard-core walkers, joggers, and bikers. I enjoy talking to other bike commuters. I?ve met riders who come from Sudbury, Lexington, Newton, Watertown, Bedford, and Andover! It?s nice to smile at the commuters headed in the opposite direction. After a while you feel like you know them. Maybe it?s because it?s comforting to know that you?re not the only one out there using an alternate way to commute into work. By the of the winter I see the Charles River begin to thaw out and out comes the crews rowing again. Then the trees begin and flowers begin to blossom. It gets warmer and it?s nice to just ride in shorts. One of my favorite scenes during my commute to work one night was seeing two short skinny guys about 5 ft tall jogging along the Charles River. I said to myself, well they must be training for the Boston Marathon. Well, what do you know, the next day, I see them in TV leading the pack in the Boston Marathon! They were the Kenyans! Way too cool.

Web site: www.corchado.com

Join us, add yourseelf