Where are all the bicycles?
I don’t get it. Gas is treading at about $4.10 a gallon. Oil is over $140 a barrel. Energy costs are going through the roof. Yesterday, billlaurelMD shared a diary concerning the North pole and the melting polar ice caps. (Santa has recently traded in his sled for water ski’s.) Where is the outrage? Where is the conservation? I see the same amount of drivers on the road today that I did five years ago. As a matter of fact, I ride my bike twenty miles round trip to work, and I am the only bicyclist on the road. Am I in the twilight zone?
I want to start with the obvious. I know not everybody can ride a bike all of the time. Neither can I. I have a family of five and a dog.
When we need to go somewhere together, we load up in the Kia and we go. When I take my father to the doctor or to the store, I pick him up in the car. When we need groceries (I will ride the bike if I just need a few things) we drive. When we go to grandma’s, who is fifty miles away and who we don’t see enough of, we gas up and go. And so on, and so on.
However, when its feasible, I ride my bike. When I go to work, I pack a change of clothes, leave forty-five minutes early and ride. I prepare by mapping a destination that keeps me off of busy roads. Sometimes, I still deal with crazy drivers. Actually, a big SUV (carrying a bike on the rack, no less) came pretty close to hitting me the other day. Does that stop me from riding? No. What it does do is gives me motivation to write more letters to my city and county councils for more bicycle lanes. Unfortunately, if I’m the only one writing letters....well, you know.
Public transportation, Great!
Car pooling, Awesome!
Hybrids, YES!
These are great ways to conserve, cut down on gas, and protect the environment. It’s a mindset though. Before we jump in the car, we have to look around and say, is there something else I can do so I don’t have to drive today? How long of a walk is it? Is there a bus that goes where I’m going? Maybe I should dust off the bike.
As I’m writing this, I just heard that Governor Granholm of Michigan is riding her bike to work several times a week. That’s Wonderful. That’s exactly what I’m talking about. She understands that we have this fantastic renewable energy called our bodies. Let’s use it. Let’s combine exercise with transportation and kill two birds with one stone.
Come to think of it, if all of us rode out bikes, we’d kill a lot less birds.
Ride.
This has been cross-posted on my site