Feb 02 '06 - 588 W - Vote Good + 8 :: Bad - 8 Why Bike To Work?
Published February 2, 2006 by C.I.C.L.E.
The San Louis Obispo County Bicycle Coalition recently sponsored a "Why Bike to Work" essay contest, and many persuasive entries rolled in. If you're still not convinced that adding a lil' bike commute to your life will benefit you and your community, then perhaps some of these essays will help change your mind.
First Place Essay
by Alexander Asper-Nelson
Why ride a bicycle to work, or anywhere, instead of driving? Math.
• A new car costs about $20,000. A new bicycle costs about $450.
• When a car breaks down it can require lengthy, costly repairs, often
exceeding the value of the car. When a bicycle breaks down, the cost is
rarely beyond that of a new tire or chain, and folks at the local bike
shop will often fix it for the cost of the materials.
• A car requires insurance, registration, and a valid California
license. A bicycle requires the sense of balance that god gives
eight-year-olds.
• Car lanes are 12 feet wide. Bike lanes are about 2 feet wide. Consider the savings in asphalt alone.
• Gas prices are about $3.09 a gallon, while water bottles average
approximately $1.07 with tax. And many people in cars drink bottled
water anyway.
• Bicycling releases adrenalin, endorphins, and hormones, resulting in
a sense of energy and well-being. Driving releases carbon monoxide and
pollutants, resulting in greenhouse gases and skin cancer.
• Road-rage abounds. Bike-lane rage is as yet unheard of.
• Cars require airbags, safety restraints, seatbelts, anti-lock brakes,
and dozens of other safety mechanisms. Bicyclists are required to wear
a helmet if they are under the age of 12.
• Driving too much results in eye-strain, backaches, migraines, weight
gain, and highway hypnosis. Bicycling too much results in sexy calves
and thigh muscles.
• To date, no one has ever been involved in a deadly alcohol-related hit-and-run on a bicycle.
• Drivers who fall asleep at the wheel result in 20,000 accidents a
year. Bicyclists who fall asleep simply fall down.
• Most people drive to work and bicycle on weekends to relax. In fact,
some people drive elsewhere on vacation in order to bicycle there. This
seems like an unnecessary extra step.
• Between traffic, circuitous routes, one-way streets, etc., it takes
about 15 minutes to get from one end of San Luis Obispo to the other by
car. On a bicycle it takes about 20. Which is about the minimum amount
of aerobic exercise you’re supposed to do anyway.
• In fact, the Surgeon General has determined that 20 minutes of
exercise 3-4 times a week increases life expectancy up to 30 years. So
then, with this 60 hours of exercise a year spread over those 30 extra
years, you lose only 75 days to that exercise, leaving you 10,883 you
wouldn’t have otherwise.
• Finally, bicycling takes less real “energy” than any other form of
transportation. From walking to air travel, in terms of caloric cost (a
calorie literally being a unit of energy-producing potential equal to
the amount of heat released upon oxidation, whether that fuel be in the
body or from gasoline, electricity, or any other fuel source),
bicycling is the absolute most efficient means of transport that has
ever been invented. Anywhere. Ever.
So hurrah for bicycles. And share the road. We bicyclists take up 1/6 as much of it as you do.
Alexander
won first place in the Essay Contest answering the question: “Why Bike
to Work?” sponsored by the SLO County Bicycle Coalition. The other
winning essays are posted at www.slobikelane.org.
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With benefits like these, who needs gasoline?
Drew (Email) (URL) - February 05 '06 - 06:22
Great essay.Just one concern: bike lanes should be no less than 5 feet wide, so the essay’s statement that “bike lanes are about 2 feet wide” can be counterproductive for those of us who are attempting to educate city officials about the need for safe and secure bike lanes (i.e., 5’ wide bike lanes).
Dan (Email) - February 10 '06 - 16:13