WHY BIKE-COMMUTE?
When it's so effortless to get in the car and drive... why would anybody choose the difficulty of a bike instead?
Here's why I made that decision, and have never gone back. (Roughly in order of importance, for me.)
1) JOY (or MENTAL WELL-BEING).
A car is transportation. (Even if it's a Corvette or a Porsche... if you're sitting in a nasty traffic jam, fouling your spark plugs, does that matter?) The bike is more than that. There's the satisfaction of arriving on my own power. There's the satisfaction of being independent of car expenses, gas, etc. The exercise gurus talk about "endorphins" - those chemicals that are naturally secreted by glands in the body - that give a sense of well-being and euphoria during and after exercise.
I don't know about all that mumbo-jumbo, but SOMETHING gives me a sense of well-being and euphoria on most bike-riding occasions. (Conversely... there's the joy of NOT dealing with traffic jams, looking for a parking spot, fluctuating gas prices, etc., that motorists so willingly accept as the price for the "freedom" of driving a car. Man, am I joyful NOT to deal with all that!!)
I watch the people in their cars, scurrying about, jockeying to be first in line, racing their engines, drumming their fingers on the steering wheel, mumbling and gesturing at each other. (Even "normal" people seem to become stressed-out, competitive jerks when they get behind the wheel.) Who wants THAT? I'm generally approaching serenity as I ride the bike... enjoying being in touch with nature, riding past long lines of cars, trying to get to my destination without ever applying the brakes, feeling the warmth, or heat, or cold, or wetness... whatever.
2) ECONOMICS.
It's story-problem time, kids. (Who doesn't love story problems?!!)
A car costs 40 cents per mile to drive. (I choose that number arbitrarily. The IRS says 40.5 cents as of 2005; way back in 1995, the AAA said 41.2 cents... so I'm being kind.)
Bikeboy figures it costs 4 cents per mile to ride his bike. (That includes special bike clothes, as well as bike upkeep and repair, etc.)
If his round-trip commute is 8 miles, and he makes that commute 240 times a year, how much will he save by riding the bike all year? (Sure - you can use your calculator.)
3) PHYSICAL WELL-BEING
I can remember a time or two, back in 1986 when I first started riding again, when I was out on a fairly long ride (at the time) and was so tired that I had to get off and walk up a hill. (I was literally close to tears, out of fatigue and frustration.) I just couldn't pedal another 50 feet, up a hill and into the wind.
That, my friends, has not happened in a LONG time. And that was back in my prime - I'm an OLD GEEZER now!
I'm a firm believer in "use it or lose it." Mental AND physical. I know people - some younger than me, some a little older - who have lost a good deal of their physical ability. They kinda just shuffle or limp around. May be arthritis. May be an injury. Or it may just be too much on-the-couch behind-the-power-steering-wheel push-button remote-control lifestyle.
Criminy! What will it be like when the kids of TODAY are 60 years old? Mom drops the little dumplings off at the school, and they ride their electric-powered scooter to the classroom, 100 feet away! They get picked up after school and transported home to an afternoon of sitting on the sofa, playing Nintendo and eating Cheetos.
I dread the day when I can't keep up with my kids! Regular cycling helps postpone that day.
4) SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
(Hopefully this won't sound like socialistic babble. I'm all for each person making his own transportation choices, for his own reasons... this is just part of MY reasoning.)
Do you ever check the Air Quality Index? I do, from time to time. It annoys me when, like the Terrorist Alert, it goes to yellow or orange or whatever, and they tell me I can't burn my wood stove anymore, and old folks and people with asthma have to quit breathing until it settles back down. (They also suggest that carpooling would be nice... but it's only a vague suggestion.)
(I also believe in each person making his own home-heating choices, for his own reasons.)
Well, on those days, it gives me some comfort to know that I am not contributing to the bad air by my choice of vehicles. (Well... okay... I breathe heavily when I ride up hills, and I'm probably spewing the dreaded Greenhouse Gas - CO2 - into the atmosphere.)
More importantly (because it takes place 5 days a week, all year 'round), when I observe the traffic jam both morning and afternoon, and hear the every-10-minute I-84 Gridlock Radio Report, it's somewhat satisfying to know that I'm not contributing to THAT mess. When they have to add a couple lanes every few years... it's not on account of me.
Email me - ( bikeboy (at) idahospud (dot) net ) (Sorry for no link - blame the spammers!)
