In May, the Marin County Bicycle Coalition gave six novice cyclists Globe bikes, mentors, and accessories as part of the Bike Locally challenge, to see if they could change their habits and use the bikes to commute locally. If they ride their bikes 50 miles a month and inspire others to do so, then they get to keep the bikes. 

Delanie Kern lives in San Anselmo and commutes to Novato. She'll be updating us regularly about her trials and triumphs as she tries to make changes in her life. She's halfway done and well on the way towards meeting her goal.

I used to dislike October. It meant I had been in school long enough for summer to be a distant memory and Christmas break still seemed ages away. The days become shorter and colder, significantly reducing my after school outside play time, and my mom would force me to give up my summer flip-flops in favor of real shoes and socks. Yuck!

October's only saving grace was Halloween. I would plan my costume months in advance, begging my mom to make more complicated costumes each year. My friends and I would strategically plan our trick or treating route so as to hit the most houses in the shortest possible time frame, and then make ourselves sick eating candy all night long

I remember having the picture above taken; right after this I started crying because the straw was sticking to my costume

Now, October is my favorite month of the year. The mornings are crisp, and the afternoon light gives everything a warm glow. The weather is perfect, not hot enough or cold enough to use as an excuse to not do things, and there is even occasionally a chance of an early rain storm. Out come the sweaters, scarves and boots that have been patiently waiting in the closet for the summer to pass. And I start craving comfort foods like homemade macaroni and cheese or meatloaf and mashed potatoes. People put out cute pumpkins, fake spiderwebs, and plastic dead people in their front yards and no one thinks it is weird. What's not to like?

What, you are probably asking yourself, does this have to do with biking locally? Nothing really, but all I wanted to do this weekend was get out into the beautiful fall weather and ride my bike.

I added some pictures from the ride at right. Everything looks more Halloween like in black and white, don't you think?

Saturday I was planning to ride down to Fairfax to buy a birthday gift for a friend, but I got out on my bike and felt like going a little further. I went left at San Anselmo Avenue instead of right, and found myself enjoying front yard Halloween decorations and exploring garage sales in Kentfield.

There were some particularly creative Halloween decorations; it is hard to see in the picture, but it appears someone is being barbecued.

I even convinced myself I needed a set of babushka nesting dolls, if only I could talk the lady down to $5. Luckily, she held firm at $8, saving me the trouble of picking the babushkas up off the floor every morning, as the cat would undoubtedly knock them over and bat them around as she does with all chachkies, jewelry, and anything else she can get her paws on.

Forgive me, I digress. I did eventually make it to Fairfax and got my errand done, but while riding home I realized that riding my bike made a simple trip an adventure. There is no way I would deliberately prolong a car trip because it was a beautiful day.