May 22 '06 - 786 W, 5 I - Vote Good + 9 :: Bad - 8 Bike to Work Day: Communities and Sustainable Life
Published May 22, 2006 by C.I.C.L.E.
Contributed by C. Wess Daniels :: Gathering in Light
Thursday, May 18th was Bike to Work Day. The city of LA
and its surrounding suburbs participated in various activities and
sponsored prizes in hopes of 
encouraging people to ride their bikes to
work more often. I participated in Pasadena's Bike to Work Day and
their sponsored events. Cyclists met in front of the central library
from 7-8:30 A.M., ate a continental breakfast, had tune-ups done on
their bikes, received door prizes and had their names put in various
raffling drawings.
I can't say whether the event was a success or not, and I am not sure
whether it really matters to make such a claim. There were about 50
people there when I was there and everyone seemed to have a really
great time. But when I consider how many people work in Pasadena
alone, even if 100 people showed up to the event, I am not so sure it
would be considered a “success” if you're a numbers person; fortunately
I am not.
There are two things I can think of that make things like this a
success: considering the “first time riders” and building a community
of support for current 
bikers. There were a number of people who rode
their bikes into Pasadena for the first time. One woman from my work
place, Fuller Theological Seminary, rode her bike from seven miles out
for the first time. We celebrated such a brave ride. Hopefully she
will ride again; hopefully many of the first-time riders will have the
determination to keep it up.
My co-worker's seven mile ride seemed more sustainable than some of
the other first-time riders; a couple of gentlemen who work for the
City of Pasadena rode in from Simi Valley (43 miles) and another
supposedly came from Irvine (55 miles). Getting people to ride for the
first time is great because it helps them see that it really can be
done and hope that its “not so bad.” But having people ride from 50
miles out, though a triumph in one sense, is just not sustainable. The
next time these guys ride their bikes to work will be next May.
It seems to me one of the main points of sponsoring a “ride to work
day” is to encourage more people to ride their bikes regularly; we are
looking to encourage sustainable lifestyles. If we are truly concerned
about this, then we need to consider whether we should be working so
far from where we live. If I have to train for months in order to ride
my bike to work one day a year, I may be living outside the
“sustainable lifestyle” boundaries. In addition to this we factor in
the credible threat of global warming and the continual uncertainty of
gas prices, and it seems even less “responsible” to live such
long-distance lives.
There was another aspect that was successful in Thursday's events:
building a community of people who are interested in living sustainable
lives (and letting people know that a community already exists). This
is something websites like CICLE.org and other advocacy groups
seek to do. Anytime a supportive 
community group is assembled for
causes like peace, sustainable living, and human rights, we are meeting
with success when we encourage more people in these practices and build
supportive communities. This is because movements like this need
support; they are, after all, seeking to live against the grain of
American consumerism and individualism.
If we propose to care about the planet, and I'd say all of creation,
then we have to be willing to sacrifice some of our own “rights” and
luxuries to accomplish our goals. Days like “Bike to Work Day” remind
us that we should consider ways in which we can simply our lives.
Living this kind of life is not only difficult, its increasingly
inconvenient. I was thankful to be with people trying to rally
together and help one another remember our reasons for advocacy.
C.Wess Daniels is a first time contributor to C.I.C.L.E. You can read more of his articles at his blog Gathering in Light.
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Mr. Daniels,
I would respectfully disagree with your opinion about bicycling equalling sacrifice and inconvenience. Sacrifice is the last thing I think about when I ride my bike. I have had my life profoundly changed for the better by cycling. I would argue that car-based travel is full of more inconvenience and sacrifice – traffic jams, pollution, detachment from civic life, high capital costs to participate in the economy, etc.
We live in a civilization that has forced certain lifestyle options on us. There is more to this than simply biking. There are massive subsidies for suburban home construction, highways, and tax laws that favor the development of bix box stores that destroy small scale commercial uses in convenient, walkable, locations.
Biking, to me, is about regaining many of the things that we collectively lost to the industrial age. I bike because it makes my life richer (not more inconvenient)!
ubrayj02 (Email) (URL) - May 26 '06 - 17:57