NewsLab

No matter how cold, how icy or how wet it is outside, Chris Godsey's primary means of transportation is riding his bike to school.

Godsey, an instructor in the English and Dignitas departments at CSS, has chosen to ride rather than drive for all five years of his career here. While some cyclists put their bikes away in storage for the winter, Godsey stubbornly rides all-year round no matter the weather.

"It's never too cold to ride because I've got lots of clothes on," Godsey said. "In fact, on the coldest days I get up here and I'm inevitably overdressed, because I protect every bit of skin on my body. Rain is fine to ride through because I can always shower up here and change if I need to."

While Godsey is committed to being a year-round cyclist, he admits that there still are days when it is physically impossible for him to ride.

"The worst weather for me for that bike ride would be new snow that's tough to plow through, or ice," Godsey said, "which means I really have to poke along, Thereve been times when the road isn't safe to ride on and the sidewalk is packed, so I'd have to walk."

The trek Godsey makes each morning is exactly one mile, since he lives on 19^th Avenue, a few blocks down from the College Street and Junction intersection. In the best conditions the ride generally takes him 10 minutes to get to campus, and three minutes to get back, since it's downhill most of the way.

For most people, the thought of being outside on those cold winter days is a nightmare, but Godsey believes that he is actually better off than those driving.

"I still feel like on those days I feel more comfortable than people in cars, because my total time outside, especially if I were to park my car far away, is often less," Godsey said. "I'm also generating heat."

While most generally wake up and just put on their winter coat to stay warm for the car ride to work or school, Godsey takes bundling up to a whole new level.

"On extremely cold days, I get dressed for school and then put on some wind pants and a wind jacket, gloves, and cover for my face," Godsey said. "There have been days when I have been the geek wearing goggles, actually the same goggles I use for skiing. So I'm the moron on the bike with ski goggles and a bike helmet."

Despite five years of riding in the worst conditions, Godsey said that he has only ever had one fall while taking this route. While riding down the hill past the Burns Wellness Commons and then around the corner past Somers Hall, he decided to make the left turn without stopping at the stop sign.

"It was late November and the road was icier than I thought," Godsey said, "and I was going fast enough that going through that left turn I leaned a little bit, and the carpet just got pulled out from underneath me and I slid like 30 feet in the other direction and there were people walking, and they were like, 'Oh my God are you OK?'"

This wasn't the only embarrassing moment for him while riding his bike. He said the worst thing that has ever happened to him was having a bolt come loose on his chain ring while riding up the hill towards the Burns Wellness Commons, which led to the ring snapping and the whole bike basically falling apart.

"I just draped the chain and the other stuff over my handle bars and felt like a moron walking the stuff the rest of the way," Godsey said. "Then I had to walk home in the afternoon."

The short trek to St. Scholastica may seem like a lifetime for some in the cold weather, but for Godsey, the ride is just a small fraction of what he did two fall semesters ago when he also taught part-time at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday he rode his bike to UWS taking the pedestrian lane over the bridge to Wisconsin.

"That ride wasn't too bide, I think it was somewhere between 7 and 8 miles and it took about 45 minutes there and 55 minutes back." Godsey said. "It was a perfect way to start the day and end the day. I actually wish my ride here was longer, because I wouldn't mind getting up earlier, I'd pack a bag full of clothes so I could ride here and not worry about being a sweaty mess when I got here."

The biggest question for Godsey is why he continues to ride no matter the weather, when so many would say that he is out of his mind.

"There are all kinds of reasons, like there's the noble reason of saving the environment," Godsey said, "and I'm conscious of all those reasons, but I know I do enough other stupid stuff to off-set whatever bike riding I'm doing, like I'm an environmental disaster on my own."

He said the main reasons why he still rides every day is because he simply loves riding bikes, and he enjoys being able to say that he rides his bike to school all year round.

"There's practicality too. I mean I live a mile away, and I hate walking," Godsey said. "I'm too lazy to walk and there's no way I'm going to drive because it's always more of a hassle to have a car on campus than it's worth."

So if you're driving on the St. Scholastica campus this winter, don't just be aware of other traffic coming through, but also for the brave dedicated bike rider plowing his way through the snow.

"I really like riding bikes," Godsey said. "I never get on a bike without getting really happy that I'm on it. and it's just that act of riding a bike is something I'm really happy with."