Getting to a date or appointment using alternative transportation requires commitment, daring and in some areas a rebellious soul willing to put life and limb in peril for defying the automobile culture. Biking to work, biking to a date, biking doesn't use fossil fuel or create carbon emissions. I love my bike and used it as my chief transportation during graduate school for my 6-mile-one-way commute.
Tucson, Arizona has bike lanes and is a very positive environment for bikers. Unfortunately I'm not in Tucson any longer. I am geographically challenged for biking because I live thirty miles from a big city and nine miles from a small city. I don't bike every day, but even in cold weather I make an effort to use my bicycle as much as possible.
Even when the law demands sharing the road with bikers, automobile drivers see bikes as a nuisance. I advocate that bikers must obey the laws of the road - stop at stop signs, obey traffic lights and drive defensively.
I recently used my bike to meet for a presentation on organic olive oil. When I was putting on my helmet and preparing to leave, a man walked up to me. "You do know the price of fuel is dropping so you don't have to bike to save money."
As if the cost of fuel makes it OK to use more fossil fuel. I didn't feel like having to defend my right to choose to bike though. "As long as I bike I'm healthier and the size of my clothing doesn't go up." So, maybe I didn't play fair by verbally assaulting his spare tire, but sometimes well-meaning advice just makes me rebel more.
Biking is a viable option for alternative transportation. Until our culture relies less on automobiles though, anyone making the choice will either find the need to defend the choice, ignore the critics or get out there and promote biking as excellent alternative transportation.
THE END
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