Fervent Foodie

When my friends from goodnessknows asked me to team up with them on bike-to-work post, I didn’t hesitate to say yes.  I mean, bike rides + delicious snacks?  How could I decline?  Truth be told, I had an ulterior motive — I recently moved to Columbus, Ohio to pursue my PhD in Accounting, and one of the biggest perks of the city is the awesome trail system.  Though, I have several years of walking to work under my belt (max distance of 1.6 sweaty miles each way), biking to work is a new challenge.  Currently, I live about 6 miles from work, and my daily commute takes an average of 20 minutes (including the walk from the parking lot to the building)–a distance that seemed a little TOO FAR to bike.

But, how could I type up a bunch of words on why biking to work is a great idea (healthy for you, healthy for the environment, etc.), if I didn’t actually give it a shot?  Exactly.  I needed some street cred.  I had to actually give this bike to work idea a go to see how a bike commute stacks up against my normal car commute.  Since I don’t have a means to gauge the environmental impact, I focused on calories burned (the primary health factor) and total time (my most valuable resource) spent.  For this not-so-scientific study, I tracked calories burned using a heart rate monitor and commute duration (time and mileage) using MapMyRide.

The results:  the bike commute took about 13 minutes longer, but resulted in an additional 200 calories burned. 

Honestly, these results are pretty surprising.  I expected the bike commute to take closer to 45 minutes!  13 additional minutes of my time to burn 200 extra calories, seems like a wise spend.  Factor in the return trip home, and that’s 400 calories for 26 incremental minutes of personal time.   Seeing the stats stacked up, it’s hard to find a reason NOT to bike to work . . . except maybe the sweat factor.  Perhaps this could be remedied with a quick bathroom baby wipe wipe-down.

GEAR UP AND GO GIVEAWAY!

So, about those snacks I mentioned.  This summer, goodnessknows is encouraging people across the country to try something new by participating in their local Bike to Work activities.  Together with Public Bikes, goodnessknows will give residents in select markets a reason to get out and get pedaling by providing access to bike services, tips for a smooth ride and a chance to win a brand new bike.

After ample taste testing, I’ve confirmed goodnessknows snack squares provide a satisfying post-bike ride boost.  The squares have whole nuts, real fruit, toasted oats, and dark chocolate without artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners.  Each 150-calorie bar is divided into four squares–making them easy to eat while you’re on the go.

For a chance to win the sweet prize pack pictured here plus some goodnessknows snack squares, leave a comment in the box below.  I will randomly select a winner on Tuesday, May 31st!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of goodnessknows. The opinions and text are all mine.