Top 10 Reasons to Ride Your Bike…Everywhere
By Greg Berry
Filed Under Green Living |
First, I must preclude this Top 10 with a note about my cycling experience. I’ve been bike commuting for all of my professional life, and before that all during college, and before that I was an early convert to mountain biking. In short, I’ve spent my whole life on a bike and I think it’s the coolest thing going. Why, you ask? Well…
10. No Traffic
Well, this one kind of depends. I commute on bike paths almost the whole way. I bought my home with this in mind, but not everyone has that as a criteria. Either way, at least you’re not contributing to evil traffic, and hopefully you can avoid it altogether.
9. Enjoy The Outdoors
As a culture, we have gotten so completely disconnected from our natural environment, it’s frightening. On your bike you can hear the birds, breathe the outdoor air. See the clouds and decide for yourself whether or not it’s going to rain. Beyond reconnecting with the outside world, cycling is completely emissions-free!
8. Critical Mass
Calling all rebels and rabblerousers…Biking is political protest. If you didn’t know about Critical Mass before, you do now. It’s happening monthly in cities all over the country. Come join us, it’s a blast.
7. Community
Once you start bike commuting regularly, you’ll notice that you see the same people out there. You’ll meet someone from your neighborhood you didn’t know before. And you’ll develop camaraderie that doesn’t come from watching the same TV show.
6. Relax
We all spend too much time rushing around. There’s reason for me to believe that humans weren’t meant to go so fast all the time, hence jet lag. When you’re only moving as fast as your body can make you go, there’s a better sense of groundedness.
5. Africa
Bikes are transforming Africa through incredible programs like Project Rwanda, Bikes Not Bombs, WorldBike, and Bamboo Bike Project.
4. Energy
With the arrival of Peak Oil, rising gas prices, and various wars overseas, perhaps we don’t need to use quite so much petroleum for our daily commute.
3. Guaranteed Exercise
I hate the gym. I have a family and run two companies. By bike commuting, I guarantee a baseline of weekly exercise that keeps me healthy.
2. It’s Cheaper
Not only don’t you have to pay for gas, but fixing a bike is a lot less expensive than fixing a car.
1. People Smile At You
When’s the last time you saw an attractive automobile driver approaching and exchanged smiles with them? Happens every day on a bike.
Posted on May 22, 2008 |
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4 Responses to “Top 10 Reasons to Ride Your Bike…Everywhere”
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any idea what the national fuel savings would be if we Americans who were physically able to do so, got on our bikes, say 50% of the time for all trips under 2 miles?
Perhaps an Arctic Refuge worth?
Perhaps a wars worth?
Here in Boulder the majority of the eco lifestyle living people I know all have cars and they all seem content to jump in them for any and all of their trips around town. Apparently convenience trumps conscience (at least for those who can afford the pain at the pump)…..
In Los Angeles, biking around safely really depends on what neighborhood you live in. West Hollywood, Culver City, Mid-City and Downtown are all places where the traffic exhaust and aggressive driving techniques could make great intentions go wrong. We really need more safe biking paths in this city.
Critical Mass is a great monthly event that helps make this statement clear. We also recently celebrated Earth Day by blocking off Wilshire Blvd. for a Car-Free Day.
These are the bike paths we have so far…http://www.labikepaths.com/
It is great to see this finally catching on. If you want to see the epicenter of the carfree movement with lots of great tips and statistics on living car free, there is a website: http://www.carfreelife.org
They have a bill of rights that they are shopping to the cities and major governments around the world to recognize the rights of 5 billion pedestrians and cyclists who are carfree. That is a world majority.
There are a lot of people out there embracing the positive aspects of this lifestyle change instead of focusing on the perceived limitations.
Hey guys,
Great points.
I also love Xtra-cycle — http://www.xtracycle.com/ — for their SUB (sport utility bicycles), now called long-tail bikes. (Let’s talk to these guys about selling through eCoMkt!)
Jenn, I know how scary it is to ride in LA — the epicenter of our car-based culture. But the thriving bike messenger and bike commuting scenes in NY and SF can provide us all with some major inspiration — those communities have been thriving for three and four decades now, and inspire urban cyclists worldwide.
On the other (third? invisible?) hand, there’s China…