Written in October 2026 from Facebook updates I shared on August 9, 12, 15, 17, and 24.

When you don’t have a car, a bicycle isn’t just something you take out for a little exercise.

It’s how you get around.

I’ve been riding my bike almost every day for months. But in August, I noticed something: I was riding more consistently, and I decided to start keeping track of the miles.

On August 9, I wrote:

I have been riding my bike almost everyday for months now … But recently my bike riding has reached a new level with an average of 6 miles per day 😁🚲

Six miles a day might not sound like much to somebody who gets into a car to go across town. For me, those miles meant getting where I needed to go under my own power.

A few days later, I was coming up on 50 miles.

By August 15, I’d made it:

I broke 50 miles in 10 days ⚡

A hundred miles … but not for exercise

On August 17, I posted another update:

On my way to 100 miles … Keep in mind this isn’t necessarily an exercise goal … rather an environmental goal … I’m only counting my commuting trips … I could easily do 100 miles a day if that was the goal 🤣

My August 17 commuting-mileage screenshot, shared on Facebook.

That distinction matters to me.

I wasn’t trying to rack up miles for a fitness contest. I was paying attention to the miles I was already riding just to live my life and get around Chico.

The bicycle gave me a practical kind of independence. It was transportation I could rely on without owning a car.

Then the phone battery got involved

Of course, there’s always a catch. 😁

On August 24, I discovered that when my phone’s battery got low enough, the tracking app stopped recording my rides properly.

I lost 2 days of rides blowing my perfect streak of days and missing the 100 miles challenge …

My August 24 tracking screenshot, also from the Facebook archive.

I was frustrated. I’d ridden those miles. I just couldn’t prove it to the app.

But I hadn’t really lost the rides … only the record of them.

I was still getting around. Still commuting. Still moving forward.

And after the uncertainty of my housing situation that summer, there was something satisfying about that.

Not every part of rebuilding a life involves a big breakthrough. Sometimes it’s a ride across town, another errand finished, another day of getting where you need to go.

Six miles at a time. 🚲

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My homelessness journey … chapter 11 of 17

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