Is this the best commute ever?

Commuting is often the most underappreciated form of cycling. Sure, it can get repetitive biking to and from the same place (usually an office) every day. That’s especially true in Canada, where winter snow or shoulder season rains can make the twice-daily ride a bit of a mess. But compared to the alternative? Most of us would take a slushy commute any day over not being able to ride at all.

Calgary’s Christian Bagg found himself in exactly that position. After an accident left him paralyzed, the daily commute was no longer an option. Something so many of us take for granted was no longer an option for Bagg, for a long time.

Bagg happens, not at all by coincidence, to be the founder of Bowhead. The adaptive bike company out of Calgary is a two-decade-long project by Bagg to get back on the bike. With the brand’s new Bowhead RX handcycle, Bagg is finally able to turn his daily commute into a bike ride again. And he is thrilled.

“When I was little, I did karate and I hated karate. I played soccer and did hockey, but I wasn’t a team sport kid and I really didn’t like those either. It was when I found biking that I fell in love with, and it became this freedom for me,” Bagg says in An Ode to the Commute. “Amongst all the other things that go away when you paralyze yourself, bike riding went away.”

An Ode to the Commute

After creating Bowhead’s RX handcycle, Bagg is reveling in the world it opens up. “All these things I used to do flooded back and commuting was one of those things,” said Bagg. “And the time I spend commuting is by far the lion’s share of bike riding I get to do.”

An Ode to the Commute is a great reminder for the rest of us that the daily ride isn’t a chore, but another great opportunity to get out on two wheels and is always more fun than sitting in traffic!