Why I ride

Published 2012-03-09
  1. It’s fun. 
  2. The first thing my wife  ever said to me was “do you know any good bike rides?”
  3. It saves money.  (My family saves $6000 a year with one less car.)
  4. Um, because it’s fun? 
  5. It’s good exercise.  (My daily commute burns 600 calories — enough to offset 2 beers and a donut.)
  6. No hassles  with parking, traffic jams, or road rage.
  7. My kids  love it.
  8. It connects me to my community, neighborhood,  and city.
  9. Duh, because it’s FUN. 
  10. Save the Earth,  blah blah, zero emissions, blah blah, carbon dioxide, blah blah blah.
  11. And did I mention the fun? 

I cannot overemphasize the fun.

If cars ran on tap water and emitted pure sweet oxygen; if I never needed exercise; if I could drive from door to door with zero traffic — I would still ride my bike to work.

Because it is fun.

I can stop for muffins at my favorite bakery. I can make impromptu sprints against hipsters. Or I can go really slow and chill out. Every day I get a sweet descent that makes me want to say “wheeeee!” This morning a pugnacious hummingbird tried to pick a fight with me. Last night I watched the moon rise.

My commute is a bike ride through the woods. 

That’s why I ride.

I wrote this screed (mostly) about 3 years ago, and dredged it up again today.

This morning Jessica Roberts tweeted a link to Why Cyclists are Breaking Up With Environmentalism.:

Rob Sadowsky, executive director of the cycling advocacy group Bike Transportation Alliance, said his group has done focus groups with around 70 people and asked what entices them to bike. Biking for environmental reasons and economic reasons were consistently at the bottom of the list, he said. At the top: Spending time with family and getting exercise.

This is totally no surprise to me.