I've been taking the same route to work on my bike for about a year now. I initially took a slightly quicker route, but with all the hills and traffic, I eventually switched to the official "bike route" through the City of Cincinnati. Now I've generally laughed at this "route," because the only result of making it official have been "Share the Road" signs, and later on, spray-painting a bike symbol on the far right lane we're supposed to take. Mind you, half the time, the "route" is filled with parked cars or cars trying to run you down. The other half of the time, you're the only bike on the route. So I've been cynical and reveled in my "iron man" status as a commuting biker.

This morning, though, forced me to reconsider. Once I turned onto Madison Ave - where the official "bike route" starts, I'm riding along and I pass a parked car with a "Share the Road" license plate. I think that's pretty awesome, because apart from my own car, it's rare that I see that license plate in Ohio. A minute or so later, I'm stopped behind another biker at a stop light. Wow, I think, this rarely happens. I take this route all the time - even at different times of the day - and I'm rarely going to the same way as another biker on this road. So I joke with her and then fly past her once the light turns.

About fifteen minutes later, I get passed - by a different biker. We exchange pleasantries, and just when I mention this being "heavy traffic," two of his buddies also pass me on bikes. Wow! I never catch up to them, but between the four going my way, and two more I notice going the opposite direction, I start to think, "Maybe this is a bike route!"

So if you're commuting to work on your bike, and thinking to yourself, "Am I the only idiot crazy enough to ride to work?" Think again - we are not alone.