Yesterday The Star published a guest column from a local clergyman who recently started commuting by bike from his home in Leawood to is church in KC’s Red Bridge neighborhood.

AS I SEE IT: It just doesn’t get any better than biking to work
By KEITH D. HERRON
Special to The Star

Getting to and from work can be an adventure because anytime we jump into “the morning drive” a commuter adventure is likely to ensue. There’s the rush of the traffic and drivers who don’t seem to be paying attention. There are motorists who drive too fast and some who drive too slow. There are those with cell phones in their ears and their brains in what resembles a drunken stupor. No wonder the local morning news shows have someone flying around in helicopters reporting on the traffic from high above.

With gasoline prices rising and predictions that they could go even higher during the summer months, I recently decided to take my bicycle as a way to do the drive. I live in Kansas and work in Missouri and am blessed to be near one end of a trail that spills out less than a mile from my church. All told, five out of my seven miles to the office run on the Indian Creek/Brush Creek trails. I figured biking was a simple way to cut my fuel costs and to get a good workout at the same time.

What I’ve discovered from my twice-daily rides is there’s a freeway under the trees and along the creek covered by a canopy of leaves. On that freeway, there are other bikers headed to and from wherever it is they are going. There are joggers and runners. There are clusters of spandexed women who speed walk while speed talking to one another. There’s even a mantra to be shared: “Passing on the left!” as a way of signaling in the passing lane.

There are amazingly generous signs of affirmation from reducing from four wheels to two. There is the cool wind blowing through the trees and the alternating sunlight and shade. There’s the thunderous roar of the freeway above and the soft sounds of the gurgling creek to offer a quiet countermelody just below the trail.

Upon leaving Kansas and entering Missouri there are two welcoming smells: the early morning meats being smoked at Gates on State Line and the welcoming fragrance of a wall of honeysuckle behind the Goodyear store on 103rd Street. There’s the pleasure of watching two geese with their gosling clan as each week the offspring grow bigger and more independent. Can it get any better than that?

During my first fledgling week on the trail, with my canvas book bag securely held by a bungee cord, another biker who was wearing all the proper biker attire pulled up alongside me and asked, “Are you riding to work?” All I could give was a simple “yes,” to which he responded firmly, “Good man.” He was gone before I could ask if he was doing the same. That was as good as one Harley rider giving the low wave to another. That simple affirmation was all I needed to finish the ride.

Keith D. Herron is senior pastor of Holmeswood Baptist Church. He lives in Leawood.