KNPE chair pedals
to work – from Batavia

by Mark McGowan

Perhaps no one at NIU is more grateful than Paul Carpenter for this winter’s tiny helping of snow and its subsequent smooth commutes.

Carpenter, chair of the College of Education’s Department of Kiniesiology and Physical Education, rides his Klein bikes to work the 30 miles from suburban Batavia.

Only snowy and slippery roadways or the threat of a “major” storm – and not frigid air – persuade him to leave his bike at home.

“Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor,” admits Carpenter, who dutifully pedals the streets of Batavia or on the stationary bike in his garage those few unacceptable mornings before reluctantly driving to DeKalb.

“If the roads are dry, or dry-ish, I’ll ride. I wear Neoprene booties and diver’s gloves, which are windproof and waterproof. My coldest day was about 0 degrees Fahrenheit.”

He leaves his home around 6:30 a.m. most mornings (earlier in the summer and later in the winter) and tries to arrive home by 7 p.m. most evenings. Because his wife also works at the university, he can hitch a ride home in her car if cycling conditions change for the worse during the day.

The commute by bike typically takes one hour and 45 minutes “without pushing too hard,” he says. “With a good tailwind, it’s an hour and 20 minutes. With a good headwind, it can take up to two and a quarter.”

Carpenter’s pedaling passion began years ago as a graduate student at the University of California at Los Angeles. He rode his brother-in-law’s motorcycle to work at first – until he wrecked it in an accident and couldn’t afford to replace it.

“I got out my old trusty bike,” he says. “I took the shortest route, eight miles each way. I got to like it, and in California, it’s always good weather. I progressively got to further and further distances. The bike just sort of filled my need for exercise.”

He also began riding his bike on weekends, cruising up and down California’s Pacific Coast Highway and through its mountains, and soon discovered non-competitive, high-mileage events organized especially for long-distance cyclists. His move in July of 2002 to the Midwest, and its not-so-consistent weather, didn’t temper his enthusiasm for commuting on two wheels.

“Part of it’s just pure habit. Part of it’s addiction. I just don’t feel right if I don’t get out on my bike,” he says.

“For me, the car is dead time. At best, I can listen to NPR and catch up on the news. I’d rather be out in the open, getting some brisk air, looking at the world. Every day, the road looks different. The skies are big, winter and summer, with each season bringing different vistas,” he adds. “The extra time it takes would be spent working out, anyway, going to the gym, changing, fighting others for the machines.”

Carpenter treks the paths of least traffic between home and work and doesn’t touch busy Route 38 until just outside DeKalb.

Ninety percent of drivers pass by him without any contact, he says. A small handful of the rest interact through a friendly beep or wave to cheer him on.

Some, unfortunately, hurl insults and obscenities his way from their car windows – a sad phenomenon he’s only experienced in northern Illinois despite his bike rides across the globe. Of course, he’s also used to hearing friends wonder aloud about his sanity when they hear of his preferred method of transportation to the office.

Yet the task of pedaling a 60-mile round trip is therapeutic nonetheless.

“Emotionally and psychologically, it’s some of the only time I have to myself. I mull over problems of the day. I think of research ideas. It’s a nice way to unwind at the end of the day,” Carpenter says.

“And on any given day, there’s the aesthetic appeal. With the snow, it gives everything a different lighting effect that’s quite pleasing. And I like being active – the physical motion – and the time alone. It’s the whole package.”

It also bolsters his professional life as an exercise scientist and physical educator.

“I’d like to believe I’m practicing what I preach. I get so much out of it, which is a very selfish perspective, but I believe in the value of exercise,” he says. “Cycling is an aerobic activity, good for cardiovascular fitness. It’s fairly good on your joints and bones. There’s no weight-bearing, or the pounding of running. It improves balance and coordination, more and more being regarded as crucial as you get older for fall prevention.”

Meanwhile, Carpenter wonders aloud why more people don’t embrace a commute-by-bike lifestyle.

Even those who aren’t ready for long-distance trips can drive their cars part of the way, park and pedal on to work, he says. “You squeeze what you can into the day,” he says.

And as fitness scholars now are encouraging people “to find whatever activity is best for them, whether it’s walking or gardening,” the bike ride offers a practical option that might seem less imposing or loathsome than a trip to the gym.

For Carpenter, it also offers year-round training for the long-distance events he loves.

He participated in his first ultra cycling event, the Death Valley Double, a 200-mile bike ride through Death Valley, as a unique way to celebrate his 40th birthday. This March, the trek will help him note his 45 years of many happy returns. He also is a fan of 24-hour events, when cyclists gather to see how many miles each can pedal in one day.

Life in the Midwest has helped him find The Big Dogs, a group of bicycle enthusiasts who share his passion. The group’s Web site (www.big-dogs.org) includes a feature where members input their daily mileage. A few already have notched as many as four 100-mile-or-more trips in the first two weeks of the new year.

The native of the United Kingdom figures his black Quantum’s hand-made aluminum frame has carried him 135,000 miles through sun, rain, snow and deserts since he bought it in 1990, now serving as his iffy-weather ride.

Featuring a Massachusetts Institute of Technology design and workmanship “second to none,” the Klein bikes are comfortable and built for long-distance riding. Carpenter’s most recent Klein, a silver model purchased in 2001, is his choice for 24-hour events and riding in good weather.

“Every ounce of your pedal power goes into moving the bike forward,” he says. “It’s a bike that lasts.”

And considering Carpenter’s devotion to cycling, it’s a bike that needs to last.

“I used to be a competitive runner,” he says, “and, for me, one thing I like about cycling is that you can see so much more – because you can go so much farther. It’s a great way to get to know an area better.”

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