I’ve got some strong opinions; I like to believe they are well-thought-out opinions. I’d love to hear yours, particularly if you disagree with me. I’ll certainly give you consideration, as I hope you do me.  (The opinions on this page deal specifically with bicycling, transportation, etc.)

CARS ARE FOR THE WEAK!!

That is intended to be “provocative.”  And – I’m not trying to provoke a fight, but rather some thought.  About modes of transportation.

I paraphrased it from a common saying of my teenage son. (NOT about cars! Cars are the most important thing in life, according to him.) He uses it to describe vegetables … or tap water … or studying – whatever he’s not interested in.

What is YOUR mode of transportation? And why?

I know people – some very close to me – who drive EVERYWHERE!  They drive to school, less than a mile away over perfectly flat terrain. That is WEAK!  They drive to the grocery store, ½ mile away, to get a carton of milk or a tube of toothpaste. That is WEAK!  Winter, summer (with the air-conditioner blasting), beautiful weather or otherwise … if they’re going off their little heaven’s half-acre, it’s in the car.  That is WEAK!

I know people who live 2 blocks from the church, and drive every Sunday. Frequently in individual cars.

I know people – and this is TOTALLY ironic – who drive to a fitness center, and then go in and ride a stationary bicycle for 45 minutes, and then drive home again!

If Darwin was right – and there is truth to his theory of evolution – I figure we’re only one or two generations removed from the time when we just have semi-functional legs. Just something that will enable us to waddle awkwardly from the sofa to the car, where the power-assist will take over. (We’ll also have overdeveloped thumbs by then – huge thumbs that have been honed to sinewy strength by days, weeks, years, generations of remote-control button-pushing.)

Let me digress for a moment, and talk about “my people.” Maybe YOUR people are like MY people.

I come from sturdy pioneer stock.  I have relatives who emigrated to the USA from Europe in the 1800s, to escape religious persecution and to seek opportunity through hard work. My great-great grandma, at age 11, walked from Iowa to Utah. I’ve got to think those folks would shake their heads in dismay at how soft and helpless we’ve become, as slaves to our mechanized ways.

My people STILL claim to believe in “rugged self-reliance.”  We encourage one another to be independent, even to the point of having food in storage, so we could sustain life if we fell on hard times.  How many of us would wring our hands in helplessness, if the fuel supply was unexpectedly curtailed? Can it be a good thing, to be totally dependent on motorized transportation?

Don’t get me wrong.  Don’t accuse me of being “green,” or “watermelon” (green on the outside, “red” on the inside). If you do, you’re TOTALLY missing my point.  I’ve got NOTHING against cars.  I’ve owned several really NICE cars over the years. A ’72 BMW 2002.  A ’73 Chevrolet El Camino.  A ’72 Toyota Land Cruiser.  (Early SUV?)  A ’79 Subaru 4wd wagon – first NEW car I ever owned.  I loved ‘em, every one. After the Subaru, and marriage, we evolved to minivan transportation.  The wife currently drives a nice 2000 Honda Odyssey. I borrow it now and then, when I need to haul something, or take other people with me.  I should also declare that I have a SWEET Harley-Davidson, that I put a few miles on now and again.

(The wife says I’m a hypocrite when I promote bicycling, because I sometimes ride the motorcycle or drive her car, so I have no room to talk.)

The point I’d like to make, over and over and over, is that it’s fine to use a car, or truck, or SUV for transportation, when it’s the most sensible form of transportation.  But when you’re just going a short distance, and all you need to haul is your sorry carcass, or your briefcase or a sack lunch… is a car the most sensible transportation?

Are you provoked to thought, or just to defensiveness, or anger?

Nor do I suggest that we always have to do the “sensible” thing. I do something totally impractical now and then.  But I like to think I’m frequently trying to do the most sensible, practical thing.


TRAFFIC JAMS

I live in a community that is growing at a rapid pace. If you see a vacant lot, or field, or cow pasture in the city limits, take a long, fond look, because the next time you go by, it will most likely be graded over, with streets installed and houses going up.

The influx of people brings more traffic.  One of the major challenges that affects all of us – every resident of the community – is heavy traffic.

At this point, we have a 2-hour traffic jam every morning, as the suburbanites commute in to their jobs. And it repeats for two hours in the afternoon. The transportation planners try to keep up, with new pavement and traffic lanes, but it’s not getting better – it’s getting worse. The commuters are constantly demanding some relief.

The chosen and anointed mode of transportation has become SOV (single-occupant vehicle), and the SOV-faithful want more pavement, so they don’t have to sit in traffic every morning and afternoon.

Every weekday, as I ride my bike to work during that “traffic jam” (8-mile round trip, year-round, 17-year track record), I watch the parade of cars, pickups and SUVs go by. Most – well over 90 percent – are occupied only by the driver.

Now, THAT has to be an impractical use of the infrastructure, no?  Very inefficient!

Just think – if people could somehow double-up, so each car had 2 people in it, we’d only have HALF as many cars on the road!  It’s second-grade math!

But that’s not realistic.  Give us more pavement!

Problem with more pavement, especially in congested areas, is that you’re not paving over empty, unused ground.  You’re paving on ground formerly occupied by trees, sidewalks, parking lots, front yards, houses and businesses.  Frankly, I have a hard time sympathizing with the folks who drive all alone and complain about the inconvenience and stress of traffic jams, when relief would come at the cost of evicting people from their homes to make room for new asphalt.

Besides, if you want a long-term study in traffic management through increase in capacity, look no further than Los Angeles.  They have been “managing” their traffic for 40 years, by adding beautiful new multi-lane high-speed highways, to get people from Point A to Point B. How are they doing?  (One side-effect of their methodology has been the elimination of almost every form of transportation BUT single-occupant vehicle. City bus?  5 miles over that way.  Get around on a bike? Now, THAT would be a challenge!)


THE DAY THE TRAINING WHEELS CAME OFF

Do you remember the first time you rode your bike without the training wheels? I cannot recall a moment in my life, before or since, when I felt such unfettered freedom.

I learned to ride my bike on the front patio.  With training wheels. I’m sure I was average for my speed-of-learning.  (Unlike my youngest daughter – she learned on a bike with 16-inch wheels, and rode away without the outriggers when she was 4 years old! An amazing, and joyful, sight to see such a tiny little girl on her solo flight!)

The road in front of the house was oiled gravel. (We lived on the edge of town.)  And yep… I can remember taking off, a bit tenuously at first until I got in the groove and suddenly realized I was DOING IT!  Riding off, up that road, my face in the wind!  I was king of the world!

When I’m thinking about it, I still get a similar feeling when I’m bicycling today, many years and many, many miles later.  The bicycle – such an ELEGANT form of transportation! There’s something liberating about propelling one’s self, that just cannot be matched in, or on, any motor vehicle. Or such has been my experience.

MORE TO COME... PLEASE CHECK BACK!

Email me - ( bikeboy (at) idahospud (dot) net )  (Sorry for no link - blame the spammers!)