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Put the Pedal to the Mettle

About a month ago, I decided to bike to work. I’d like to say that my ecological conscience made me want to mend my carbon-emitting ways, but that wasn’t my primary reason.

Really, I just got sick of the cost.

I never would have thought that at 22, my friends and I would reminisce about how much less things cost when we were young — four years ago.

At first I balked at the $60 to $120 price range for a bicycle, until I realized that the cost was equivalent to two tanks of gas. The next day, I rode my new six-speed to work.

At the beginning, I wasn’t overjoyed. I’ve never been athletic, and I worried I looked stupid on my bike. Some guy yelled at me, “Hey, cheesegrater!” and I’m still not sure what that means. I was sweaty when I got to work, and at the end of the day, the last thing I wanted to do was exercise.

But after about a week, things changed. The ride home became my favorite part of the day. In fact, I hadn’t realized how much I disliked driving until I began biking. When biking, jaywalking pedestrians don’t affect me. I never get stuck behind someone turning left.

Now I feel the wind in my hair and the sun on my skin during my commute. And the most unexpected benefit:
When I get to work, I’m not tired. I don’t pour a cup of coffee the minute I walk in.

For the first time, I’m alert and cheerful at 9 a.m. I feel good while I’m cycling, and the feeling stays with me the whole day. Oddly, I don’t think of my rides as — shudder — exercise but as my alone time with the city and nature.

I had several concerns when I began biking. How much longer will it take me to get to work? Well, I found that my bike ride took a mere extra five minutes — and I’m no Lance Armstrong.

Then I worried that it would get me sweaty just as I got to work. This one turned out to be partially true. My first week, I sweated a lot. The next week, I sweated less. Now, I barely sweat. When I get to work, I freshen up with a mini-deodorant stick. And you can always bring a change of clothes in your backpack.

Finally, is it safe? Safer than you might think. While there were 770 biking fatalities in America in 2006, there were 38,588 auto fatalities. It’s also safer than walking: Only 0.5 percent of cycling injuries are critical as opposed to 3 percent of pedestrian injuries.

Making the switch has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I’m happier, I have more energy, and I feel really proud of the physical and ecological improvements I’ve made. If helping the environment and your bank account hasn’t been enough of a catalyst for you, helping your heart and mind should be.

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We Are Family

Ever wonder if your great-great-great grandfather was a timber-shivering pirate? Or if your great-great-aunt twice-removed was the first Bolivian female physicist? Wonder no more. The Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library is offering free genealogy courses during the month of May.

At 7 p.m. on Tuesdays, beginning and experienced genealogists are gathering for the free two-hour programs. The first two sessions covered the basics of genealogy and record searches. On May 20th, African-American and Native-American genealogy will be discussed. The final class on May 27th will explain how to work with military records and how to join a heredity society once you have unearthed your ancestry.

The resources at the library make this kind of in-depth research possible, with microfilm and more than 20,000 print genealogy materials. Along with these great resources, the library has compiled and indexed Shelby County records from births to marriage licenses to funeral-home documents, which will come in handy when you go to lay flowers on the grave of your long-lost Elvis-impersonating polygamist cousin.

Genealogy Workshops at the Benjamin L. Hooks Library, Tuesdays at 7 p.m. through May 27th. For more information, call 415-2742.

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Must-See TV

The British Television Advertising Awards at the Brooks Museum might not be what you would expect. This popular annual event is far from being a marathon of silly advertisements — or “adverts,” we should say. The clips range from charming to chilling to sublime, with a bit of British wit mixed in for good measure. Some of the most effective are surprisingly fresh public service announcements, with subjects ranging from anorexia to education. Others make good use of parody, and you’ll grin in spite of yourself. The unifying characteristic among these commercials is their imaginativeness. You will leave the show not feeling as though you’ve sat through an extra-long commercial break but a great series of creative film shorts.

Scene from the commercial ‘Expo’

British Television Advertising Awards at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Thursday and Friday, January 24th and 25th, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, January 27th, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $7 for nonmembers. Call 544-6208 for more info.