The iPod nano that Kelly bought me has come in quite handy. I use it every day now when riding to and from work, which is forcing me to get in shape, albeit slowly.

It occurred to me while riding today that using the iPod in that setting is actually quite nice. While some people complain that the ear buds don’t keep out enough external noise, this is a benefit while riding the bike. I want to be able to hear cars that are coming and have music as a background.

The second benefit of the iPod while biking is that it keeps my ears warm. I know the ear buds don’t cover my ears, but they do block the wind from getting inside my ears, which is the only part that’s at all sensitive.

Mostly I just put it on a random shuffle, but today I played Matt Costa’s Songs We Sing, and that was quite nice.

The problems I have with biking are mostly clothing related. My pants keep getting caught and torn by the gear mechanism - not good. I think I need some biking pants. Also, I’ve been wearing T-Shirts to work (par for the course at my job) and they do a not-so-good job at keeping the wind from making me cold. I tried wearing a normal light jacket, but it just made me sweat. Biking shirt? Dunno. I also need some shoes with clips and no or recessed laces. There’s another guy at work that wears the whole setup, so I’ll probably ask him where he got his stuff.

And here I thought biking to work would be easier than dealing with a car. :)

In reality, it is, it’s just not trouble-free. But cheaper plus 50 min exercise per day is a pretty good deal, so I’ll take it.

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