|
These reasons for riding a bike are not given in order of importance, nor could they be.
1) CYCLING IS FUN.
There are important characteristics that cyclists (bike people, if you prefer) most always share: a love of adventure,
a strong whiff of self-sufficiency (self-reliance), a strong desire for good healthy exercise, a love of Nature and the outdoors,
and tendencies to 1) waste less, 2) pay less attention to money, 3) not worry about impressing others, and 4) seek the humble
pleasures of life.
2) CYCLING IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO KNOW A DIFFERENT WORLD.
Is there anything more pretty than a ride late at night with the stars overhead and, from time to time, a falling star?
Is there anything more enchanting than riding after dark with your headlight lighting up the swirling and falling snow?
Is there anything more deeply satisfying than sitting next to a lake or stream, beside your tent, bicycle, and stove,
and eating the food you caught and/or gathered?
Is there anything stranger than exploring a cave you discovered by the side of the road, using your somewhat dim bicycle
light?
Is there anything hairier than traveling through a dark tunnel on your bike when you can't see either wall or the ceiling?
Is there anything more exulting than to be cycling in the clouds in the high mountains and to see the patches of green
and the toy houses below?
Is there anything more humbling than a flat tire during a heavy rain with no shelter?
Is there anything more nostalgic than to be cycling down a road on a long bike trip and suddenly recognize where you are
from childhood memories?
Is there any greater satisfaction than to return to the place where another trip had ended, and go on?
Is there anything more powerful than to realize after building up all summer that you can cycle all day and climb any
mountain without getting tired?
Is there anything more wonderful than to turn your daydream into a reality?
I never lift weights, I never condition my abs, I never stretch, I never diet, I seldom see a doctor, I just walk and
ride my bike. My weight increases only when I am riding less than 100 miles a week. Cycling keeps me lean, fit, healthy, and
happy.
3) CYCLING IS ECONOMICAL.
A bike doesn't have to cost much. Unlike a car, a chrome-moly bike will outlast the owner, and few parts will ever break
or fail. Some parts will wear out: the tires, the chain, the cogset, the sprockets, the brake pads, and the bearings. The
wheels will fatigue. Replacing the tires is the greatest maintenance cost. When I had little money, I was able to keep my
costs to about a penny a mile by using tires and chains from discount stores and rear cogs from a flea market. My costs are
greater now; I have paid $2,000 over ten years and 50,000 miles (4¢ a mile), but I still have my two bikes and gear in good
condition.
On the other hand, the average car cost about $6,700 a year. These costs break down to $2,883 for depreciation, $724 for
insurance, $696 in financial charges, and 9.3¢ a mile for fuel, maintenance, and tires, for a total cost of 45¢ per mile.
For some reason, these government figures don't include repairs, parking costs, or taxes. Nor do they consider the earnings
necessary to save $6,700. Nor do they include a host of hidden costs, indirect costs, and costs passed on to others. If all
costs are included, the total might be as great as $1.25 a mile.
An unmarried cyclist living in the South can live quite comfortably on that $6,700 a year. An apartment costs $350 a month,
utilities (gas, electricity, phone, Internet, and water) $100, and food $100, leaving $100 a year left over for miscellaneous
expenses, such as bike tires. Because of being a cyclist, I can save half of my income while I'm working, or I can afford
to take a year off to go back to school or to write.
Some people have said that a cyclist has to buy special clothes or eat more foods. First, no special clothes are necessary,
with the exception of a rain suit in place of an umbrella. Second, if the cyclist does buy special clothing and shoes, those
items take the place of other clothing and shoes the cyclist would have to buy anyway. And cycling clothing lasts just as
long as any other. Cycling clothing does not have to be expensive either. As far as eating more, I only eat more when on a
long trip; then, I just add more rice or pasta to my diet.
4) CYCLING IS ECOLOGICALLY SOUND.
Each person that rides a bike rather than drives a car is helping to save our planet. Our civilization has been burning
huge quantities of coal, natural gas, oil, and their byproducts, thus pumping carbon dioxide into the ecosystem. Living creatures
absorb most of this carbon, but the excess accumulates in the atmosphere. The result has been 1) a longer growing season,
2) more hot days, 3) more rain, and 4) greater drying. Predicted but not proven results are: 1) more frequent violent storms,
2) drought, famine, and the destruction of forests, and 3) the flooding of coastal cities. Of all of our fossil fuel uses,
automobile travel is the least defendable.
The amount of carbon dioxide which motor vehicles produce is enormous. The average car in the US burns about 650 gallons
of gas, producing eight tons of CO2 (total production is 20 tons per person). Although fuel economy has increased to 19 mpg,
travel has reached 1.6 trillion miles a year, so (adding truck usage) we burn 338 million tons of gasoline and 246 million
tons of diesel and other fuels each year. The world consumption of oil has now increased to 3.2 billion tons of oil, thus
10 billion tons of CO2 are produced yearly from oil alone.
But 3/4rds of the automobile trips in the US are for distances of less than ten miles, and over half are for distances
of less than five miles. By riding my bike on errands, to work, for weekend recreation, and on summer vacations, I have greatly
reduced auto use, and I have had a better life.
5) CYCLING IS ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND.
Ronald Reagan used to announce for GE, "Progress is our only product." People are often so committed to this
ideal of progress that they fail to see that "progress" has been very destructive. We have sold our birthright and
have little to show for it. Our forests have been stripped cleaned, our farms are badly polluted, our children are abandoned
and carry guns, our cities have become slums, our countryside is a maze of freeways, our lives are empty, taxes and meaningless
expenses eat up our salaries, the balance of trade and national debt have reached insane amounts, and our heroes are constantly
in trouble over sex and drugs.
Henry Thoreau, speaking 150 years ago, foresaw the problems our civilization was headed towards. He did not attack change
("When one man has reduced a fact of the imagination to be a fact in his understanding, I foresee that all men will at
length establish their lives on that basis."), but he pointed that we were not happy ("The mass of men lead lives
of quiet desperation."), that we had the wrong goals ("Our inventions are want to be pretty toys, which distract
our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which it was already but too easy
to arrive at."), and that we expected a free lunch at some point ("Men have an indistinct notion that if they keep
up this activity of joint stocks and spades long enough that all will at last ride somewhere, in next to no time, and for
nothing.") .
The solution, both for us as individuals and as a nation, is to quit following the piper and to rearrange our priorities.
True improvement is not always outward ("The kingdom of heaven is within you"). We have to learn to value people
over property, Nature over luxury, love and affection over sex and money, and meaningful experiences over financial success.
While I recognize that riding bicycles can't solve all these problems, I think that cycling can help people begin making healthy
changes in their own lives. Cycling, by itself, can be a good alternative to massive traffic jams, a million injuries and
42,000 deaths a year, high insurance costs, double bypass surgeries, high taxes, and mile after mile of sterile, God-forsaken
asphalt.
I know that my own move back to the bike was the best decision I ever made.
Bicycling.com Personal Trainer
|
