Mileage of a Bike Enthusiast
As an independent musician and free lance writer I spend the beginning of each January getting ready for April 15th. For the most part this is fairly painless and actually I kind of enjoy it. For the past three years my income has actually gone up! (Coincidentally the amount of parenting I do has gone down.) I also love adding up all the stuff I get to write off. Guitar strings, harmonicas, CD-R’s, cables and microphones, and my favorite of all… Mileage. The IRS lets me write off 50 cents a mile. I think that’s terribly nice of them. I honestly don’t get why self-employed folks get to do that and folks who commute to their employers don’t. But I think it’s sweet of the suits to throw me a little scratch so I’m not complaining.
So I went out to the car and got my mileage book and opened up my 2010 calendar and filled in numbers that I had forgot to write down and totaled it all up and the number was…
Small.
I double checked. Still small. Now, small isn’t bad. I tend to be someone in favor of small. Of less. But I also like writing stuff off. As my tax man wisely says, “Jesus told us to give to Ceaser what belongs to Ceaser, but he never said be stupid about it.” I want to write off more!
What gives? Well, a few things. A couple times I flew instead of drove. When I did drive on tour I borrowed my folks car while they were out of the country since Jodi and I have made the switch to being a one car family. (Full disclosure: we do own an additional vehicle but it’s up on blocks and isn’t up for touring…yet…). I played more local congregations than normal. And I biked.
Of these factors the biggest contributors were playing increased local shows and riding my bike whenever possible.
This doesn’t make me a hardcore cyclist. I’ll never be that. Hardcore cyclists tend to be either anarchists or tour d’ carbon fiber folks. In my bio I describe myself as a bike enthusiast. That doesn’t mean I clock hundreds of miles each week, or that I own fancy gear, or that I care how much you spent on your rim set – although if you got a good deal I applaud you. It simply means I’m enthusiastic about bikes. They excite me, they attract me, they make me smile, they entertain my imagination. I love them.
I’m an above average biker but I’m not fast. I went for a 45 minute ride yesterday when it was 10 degrees out but it’s the only ‘non-functional purely enjoyable’ ride I’ve been on since November. I’ll ride my bike year round to music lessons and grocery stores and maybe my daughter’s school. But all those things are within 2 miles or less of my house. I’m definitely proud of these things but they’re not bragging rights.
So why am I blogging about them?
Because I think it’s important to pay attention to the things that enthuse us. You have those things too. Maybe they’re bikes. Maybe it’s woodcarving. Snowboarding, scrapbooking, hiking, reading, building… whatever it is… pay attention.
It’s how we figure out how we live a life that allows us to be more fully who we are.
In Minnesota in January there’s ample time for slowing down and reflecting. For paying attention. I’m going to try and do that. And maybe do a little riding too.