Reply #7: If it weren't for cars, I'd ride my bike to the store. [View All]

I bought my property because it is adjacent to bike trails. I ride about 20 miles a day. But now that I don't live in the city, riding on the road is impossible. So when I go to get groceries, I drive a truck. And not just any truck. I have a truck that pulls a backhoe. 9000 pounds of monster four wheel drive diesel. Granted I fill the tank once every six months. But if there weren't cars, or if there were a separate place to ride where the jerks didn't have the opportunity to mow me down, I'd have a little trailer behind my bike. It's slow. But I commuted 11 miles each way for nearly ten years on a bike. It was great. Except for the cars.

But take a look at the bike forum on DU. The first page consists of posts from two years ago. It's that slow. We want immediate gratification. But people don't have the slightest clue how great a bike is. You can feel the air, the sounds, smells, and friendship. It's far more like being part of a community than the stampeding of a car. But just look at how many people aren't driving. No one. It's a disease. I can count the number of times a neighbor comes and goes per day. Work, school, kids, lunch, travel... A never ending stream. We need to consolidate, do more with less. And be more patient. And work a little harder. Pushing a pedal may seem harder than pushing a gas pedal, but it's highly rewarding, and it doesn't kill.