An evolution of sorts…..
Something striking happened Monday afternoon. It took me a while to put my fingers on it, but when I finally figured it out, I realized that I’m gaining a new mindset.
When I first started riding, it was really because my early teen son was expressing an interest in cycling (unfortunately, his didn’t stick!). After buying that first bike, I realized how much fun cycling was! At about the same time, I really started getting interested in fitness and started what ended up becoming a pretty big change in lifestyle that is really based around physical activity.
The first bike...on the Katy Trail, Sept., 2002
Eventually, I got to the point where I was riding a lot, and Pam noticed that I started getting grumpy if I didn’t get to ride my bike. I loved it, but I could tell that in addition to the pleasure I got from riding, I was also feeling the endorphins kicking in. If you don’t believe you can be addicted to exercise, believe me…it’s possible. I guess there are worse things to be addicted to!
On Monday I had to drive because I had an appointment across town at noon, and it even ended up being a pretty nice day. On the drive home, I found myself feeling guilty because I had to drive instead of commuting by bike. I knew it was silly, but it really kind of bothered me!
I really don’t think I’m politically motivated, but Pam and I have kind of evolved into a fairly conservative, “green” lifestyle. We spent the money to put really energy efficient windows, furnace, a/c, and appliances in our house, and we do drive a Prius. We try to be good stewards of what we’ve been blessed with, and I’ll admit that I’m “frugal”! While I still basically ride for fun and exercise, I’m now feeling that commuting by bike is a responsible outcome of my lifestyle, and it’s a lifestyle that I would like to see others adopt.
Andy, over at Carbon Trace mentioned a web site that I found interesting this afternoon. It’s Stimulus Bike, and while it seems to be pretty politically motivated, I think there is value in it. There is some information about what has been proposed for the next economic stimulus package, and an interesting survey about what people might do with it. As far as I’m concerned, the Bike Commuter provision in the last bailout package was a lot of bark with not a lot of bite. I’m not particularly interested in what I can get out of it, but if something tangible can be done to get a lot of other folks moving toward a lifestyle like mine, I think this country will be a lot better off in many ways. Think about it…..
God Bless….
TW
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January 13, 2009 at 8:24 pm
I don’t even have to think about it….AMEN!!!
January 13, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Thanks for mentioning my site! I’m not usually a very political person, but I felt like there was an opportunity for money to be better spent this time and wanted to advocate for that.
Sometimes you just have to drive. I share a car with my S.O. but she walks 5 minutes to work and I bike ~20 minutes to work, and the car only gets used for grocery trips (we live on a big hill and I haven’t worked up to carrying bags of groceries yet) and long trips for visiting friends and family. It’s very rare when I need to use the car, so I feel pretty awkward when I make that choice. But I feel that my use of cycling, buses, and the carshare program I work for justifies being a motorist on those rare occasions. We can only do our best, and it sounds like you are doing very well to make that happen. Happy riding!
-Andy
January 14, 2009 at 3:58 pm
What you’ve described here is exactly the evolution that’s possible if we’re able to encourage people to do the 1-mile Solution. After about fives years of using my bicycle as basic transportation, I don’t even want to be in a car.