Hola. Howdy. Hi.
Welcome to TraVelo To-and-Fro.
Alright, first things first; let's clear the air:
"What the heck is TraVelo To-and-Fro"?
It's frequent velo travel, or bicycle commuting.
travel - verb; to move from place to place.
velo - velocipede, noun; a human powered vehicle on wheels; a bicycle
to-and-fro - adjective; a continuous or regular movement backward and forward.
Travel + Velo = TraVelo*. "TraVelo" consistently between two places and you're creating a back-and-forth, or to-and-fro, motion. Thus, TraVelo To-and-Fro.
*DISCLAIMER: "TraVelo" is a verb I have independently coined for this blog. (If it existed before now, I surely didn't know about it.) "TraVelo-ers", so to speak, are not part of any elite, exclusive, or highly trained society. There are no tests, fees, age restrictions, or statements to memorize to be considered a TraVelo-er. TraVelo-ers don't meet on a bi-monthly basis in an undisclosed location while wearing special cloaks to discuss the techniques of "TraVelo-ing". In fact, if you're reading this, you may already know a TraVelo-er or even be one yourself and not know it. So if you feel like you might be in the wrong space or out of your realm of knowledge while reading this blog because it contains "highly sophisticated jargon" such as TraVelo, I encourage you to read on and laugh at yourself later for thinking that now. Rest assured, TraVelo is meant to be as simply understood as... well, whatever it is you easily understand... like the metaphysics of fragility. Okay, maybe "riding a bike" is more easily understood. Whatever. Let's move on.
"Okay, I understand the name, but why blog about riding a bike?"
Well, because "TraVelo-ing" is more than just riding a bike, for many reasons. But the most important part, the main reason I'm blogging about TraVelo-ing, is that a TraVelo-er doesn't have to be an ultra-super-human-legs-of-steel-power-bar-eating-cycling maniac in order to TraVelo. And I'm here to prove it.
"Who are you to prove anything?"
Well, to answer the first part, "Who are you?": I'm a 22 year old full-time college student. I live a hilly 3.5 miles away from campus where I commute to at least 5 times a week, and 4-4.5 miles from most downtown destinations. I live in a midwest city with a metropolitan population of nearly 330,000. I am halfway through my second year of seasonal commuting, but I will attempt to TraVelo through the winter this time around (wish me luck, I'm gonna need it!). I'm on my second bike, as the result of an expensive choice to make a significant upgrade from my heavy mountain bike to a nicer, lighter road bike. I know a little bit about bikes - I'm not a professionally trained bike mechanic, but I aspire to be. I'm not Lance Armstrong, and I don't aspire to be. But I like to ride by bike, and I choose to do so instead of drive a car (not owning a car makes it easier).
Now, how will my position prove how easy it is to TraVelo? It won't. Not entirely, anyway. But this blog will. Sure, a bulk of what I share will be my personal stories and adventures as a TraVeloer - I'll take pictures of the places I visit on my bike; I'll share the obstacles I encounter and how I dealt with them; I'll post videos of my routes and analyze them (hopefully for your benefit); I'll also walk you through the repairs and maintenance I do and share safety tips and commuting tips.
But here's how this blog will do what I can't: it won't be only my experiences. I will interview other TraVeloers I meet who aren't necessarily a healthy, young, collegiate male (though some might be) and share their stories with you. I want to introduce you to the middle-aged mother, the old-aged athlete, the rich business person, the homeless person, the standard nine-to-five-er, the professional cyclist and the newbie, and everyone in between and show you why they TraVelo. Their bikes will vary, their motives will vary, their experiences will vary, and they will vary. And that's the point - that anyone can TraVelo. We'll learn about their challenges and how they deal with them, and then look at the ups, comparatively.
There's a lot to be told about TraVelo-ing. I hope to cover most of it here on TraVelo To-and-Fro.
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