I know how to drive,

but I don’t like it.

I come from a car family. My dad was a mechanic. My brother is a mechanic (albeit now a fancy one for cars in the movies - think Batmobile.) And my nephew races cars and often wins.

I learned to drive on a stick shift at 15. I have successfully driven on the other side of the rode on a teeny tiny island in Britain. I have done the “round the Arc de Triomphe” in Paris and only missed the correct turn once. I ferried a film crew in a VERY large van back in the day through the hair-raising traffic of midtown Manhattan.

I also lived in LA for almost 25 years before there was a Metro, so 90% of my waking hours were spent driving. No, let me be accurate here: 95%.

One of the reasons I came back to Manhattan ten years ago was TO AVOID GETTING BEHIND THE WHEEL AT ALL COSTS. In NYC, I risk my life to take the subway. I love the view from a bus. And Uber/Lyft is one of the greatest inventions of all time.

But now I find myself in the beautiful suburb of Larchmont where 95% of the residents get around by car.

I refuse.

I am on a mission to become a European in Larchmont. I ride my bike to the grocery store. I ride my bike to yoga class. I ride my bike to get great coffee in an independent coffee shop in a Trader Joe’s strip mall on an incredibly busy street.

I use the satellite view on google maps to find short cuts and cut-throughs to avoid traffic. I ride across park grass and gravel paths. I ride on the mostly empty sidewalks, but I am ever so polite and walk my bike if my path is blocked by an elderly person carrying groceries. I use hand signals and wave and smile at cars who do not try to run me down.

I am a cycling revolution of one in Larchmont, NY 10538. Those groups of Lycra men riding expensive bikes in packs on the weekend??? Pshaw, that’s just showing off. Finding the back way through the school ballfield to the Stop and Shop—now THAT is an Olympic sport.

Cheers!