Save the World. Ride a Bike.

(This is a post I did for the Idaho Drinking Liberally Website http://idahofalls.drinkingliberally.org/ )

This blog entry title may sound trite but it is something I honestly believe. Hear my case please. There are a few issues that most progressive liberals care deeply about. We pay attention to the candidates' stands and voting records on these issues: energy independence (that would negate the need to declare war on oil-rich nations), health care, the environment.

Energy independence First some facts. All gas stations in America have Middle East oil as a significant proportion of their source crude. According to the Dept. of Transporation, the average fuel efficiency of our US automotive fleet is 22.9 MPG for a passenger car and 16.2 for a 4X4. A barrel of oil contains 42 gallons and makes about 19.5 gallons of gasoline. US gasoline consumption of 320,500,000 PER DAY, which works out to be 3,700 gallons per second 24/7. Every year America's oil consumption increases. US has 5% of world population yet we consume approximtely 45% of the world's gasoline. Most amazing of all is that in spite of all these readily available statistics and the ever-increasing price per gallon (which, by the way, adjusted for inflation is dirt cheap, so quit complaining) US demand increases every year. These statistics are a bit dated (2005) and were found on http://www.gravmag.com/oil.html

Save the world, you say? Yes. Every time you ride your bike or walk in leiu of driving you deprive Exxon of a portion of your portion of its $1,300 per second profit. As well, you relieve the US of the need to purchase approximately one barrel of oil for every 20 miles you ride. This is no small hill of beans, so to speak. If every able person in the US walked or rode his/her bike once per week instead of drive it would be a substinative effort and the effects would be apparent in the oil industry's bottom line.

Health Care An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is an appropriate metaphorical adage when talking about America's health in light of the fact that obesity is at an all time high. The dire health issues related to being over weight are constantly in the news and there is no denying them. It is also a fact that a higher percentage of people without health care are over weight. This is related to poverty and lack of education, of course. 1 out of 4 adults and 1 out of 5 children in the US are obese. We diet, swear-off, give-up, binge and purge, make resolutions, fast, obsess, lipo-suck our colletcive thighs, join gyms and are still miserably fat. Hmmm. How can this be? I could not find any statistics that can directly supports my notion that riding a bike instead of driving will absolutely, positively keep you thinner. BUT on my recent trip to Belgium where about 75% of the population walk, ride bikes and don't own cars I saw nary an obese person. Even plump was scarce. Go figure.
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Environment This should be a no-brainer, yet people, even liberals, are not changing their habits en masse when it comes to driving. Sorry, more facts. I see a lot of Honda Accords on the road so I will pick on this car. A 2006 Accord gets about 26 MPG and produces about 6.5 tons of CO2, based on 12,000 miles per year. We Idahoans tend to drive a lot more than that; no light rail lines or bike paths to speak of, everything is far away. Another environmental disaster that does not get nearly as much press is the hundreds of thousands of miles of petroleum based pavement laid down each year for the infrastructure needed to support our auto habit. Not to mention the accompanying habitat destruction inherant in the process. Hey, bike paths don't even need pavement, crushed stone will suffice. AND one of the many environmental bonuses of riding your bike is that you will buy ( i.e. consume) less stuff (since it is more difficult to carry and it is likely miles out of the way) , thus you will produce less garbage, thus you will be more environmentally sound.

It just so happens that these are all what I would deem quality-of-life-issues. What could improve the peace and harmony of the world more than the cessation of the constant whine of the combustion engine? I suggest that the time is now to make other arrangements for the future of our transportation needs and that the humble bicycle should play a crucial role. I am attaching the link of a video that shows that it is not a far-fetched, unrealistic dream I have. There is a bicycle culture alive and thriving in other parts of the world. They've got a good thing going and so can we. http://www.vimeo.com/472819

(Disclaimer: I vouch for none of my statistics. I simply googled the subject and picked what looked like the most objective sources. In other words I ignored the "green facts" presented on General Motors and Exxon sponsored websites. Call me paranoid, but they seemed like dubious sources.)

Submission to Healthy Planet Magazine

Walking the Talk
It's likely that if you are bothering to peruse a periodical called Healthy Planet you consider yourself an environmentally minded citizen. The truth of the matter is that if you have not seriously reconsidered the matter of your own personal transportation and its consequential carbon footprint, then you are more talk than walk. But the good news is that you are the perfect candidate for my Ministry on Two Wheels (or feet or even public transportation, if you must).

The solution, or at least part of it, is called a bicycle. You probably have a couple wasting away in the garage. It's not as hard as you think. It will save you a ton of money and your body will thank you with amazing results. Start small. If a trip is less than a mile or so, I beg you, try riding. It's fast, fun and easy. If you are diligent about it, you may become a convert .

Look, if any of us has been awake or even half conscious, we know, via every possible news outlet, except of course Fox, that we are swimming in carbon emissions. The USA's love affair with the culprit internal combustion engine on four wheel MUST change. Many people seem to know this intellectually but I see very few of us actually doing anything about it. Is it because, god forbid, it puts us out of our comfort and convenience zone?

Having come here from eastern Idaho, I see St. Louis as a bastion of progressiveness. Hey, everything is relative you know. We have an extensive metropolitan public transportation system that includes light rail lines, some bike lanes and an educated, politically aware populous. Why aren't we taking full advantage?

Think you can't do it because of the kids? Think again. They are the generation that will be left cleaning up the mess their predecessors have made of the environment. The least we could do is point them in the right direction. We could open their eyes to a different way to live; one that is more attuned to human's relationship with the natural world. Besides, I can't think of an easier way to combat childhood obesity.

There is a need for a paradigm shift in the way we think about getting around town on a daily basis. At first a change will feel foreign and uncomfortable. Then it will feel empowering and healthy. Let the change begin with me.

BIO: Wendy Russell
Wendy and family are temporary residents of St Louis, returning for their 2nd academic school year. She has logged 1,350 miles of commuting on her bike since September and has given up her membership to Ballys. Her 7 yr old son is closing in on 600 miles. She maintains a blog on issues of sustainability at www.idahodirtbagtravel.blogspot.com

It's All About the Bike

As a child of the 70s I, of course, had the mandatory Schwinn single speed ( purple) purchased at the Schwinn Bicycle Store. It was used to get to and from my best friend's house a mile away and to go down to the Aquilla State Park store for candy. Besides that it languished in the garage.

Bicycles have been an integral part of my life since the late 80s when I first saw a "mountain bike". I was working as a crew member for Alvei http://www.alvei.com/, a 100 ft. sailing vessel that was being brought down to Portugal from where it was purchased in Norway. The captain owned a mountain bike that he kept in the hold. It would be pulled out when we arrived at various ports and made available to crew members for the purpose of tooling around town and running errands. It had 15 gears and big knobby tires that were perfect for jumping curbs. When I got back to the states I immediately started saving my money.

My first mountain bike was a used $200 Cycle Pro but I quickly upgraded to a $400 Nishiki Colorado. I was living in a cabin in the woods of New Hampshire and did not own a car so I needed a good bike for going up steep hills and over rough trails.

I vividly remember my first trail ride with my girlfriend and roommate who had recently scored a job at the local bike shop. After poring over the local topo map we discovered a network of trails that would take us into town in a circuitous fashion. Perfect. It had just rained. The trail was extremely slippery and technical. The ride resulted in a spectacular crash that left us both laying mid-trail in a bloody heap laughing our asses off. I was hooked.

Within months I had again upgraded, this time to a $1,150 hand-built Fat Chance http://www.firstflightbikes.com/1990_Fat_Chance_CC.htm. You must click on this link and admire this bike. It was the bomb! It was a work of artistic craftsmanship. Unfortunately Fat City Cycles is no more, having gone the way of too many hand-built, frame makers and small, locally owned bike shops; it gave way to the corporate giants of the industry. That same year I took my first bike tour, riding from Oslo to Trondheim Norway, a distance of 250 kilometers, by myself and loaded down with enough gear to keep on peddling to the Arctic Circle and perhaps beyond.

Bicycles have figured prominently in my relationship with my husband. In 1991 Tony had just moved to town and showed up for the Wednesday night group ride of the shop at which I was employed. He was impressed with my bike. I was impressed that he had a real job and a brand new Subaru wagon in spite of his almost prepubescent appearance. Our first date was to the Bike Nashbar factory outlet. Our first vacation together was riding our bikes from Ohio to New Hampshire. We got married at Elk River Touring Center http://www.ertc.com/ , a mountain bike touring center in West Virginia owned by some friends. The post-nuptial ceremony activities included a mountain bike polo match and a 3 hour group ride through some of the sweetest single track WV has to offer. We were teammates for 11 consecutive years at the 24 Hours of Canaan/Snowshoe in West Virginia until we finally moved too far away to be able to drive to the race.

Bikes and bicycling have been an important part of our child rearing philosophy. Ben was off training wheels at 3 1/2 yrs old, rode his first 20 miler at 5 1/2, went to more mountain bike races than I can remember and on his 10th birthday was somewhere in the hills of central Pennsylvania, having agree to accompany me by bike halfway to New Hampshire from Ohio. He no longer rides but I imagine he will as an adult. Owen was on his own bike at 4 1/2. Our anti-car rhetoric has really taken root in him. He usually prefers to ride places in order to NOT use the car. He has really embraced the party line, as opposed to Ben who thought it was stupid to ride our bikes when we had a perfectly good car sitting in the driveway.

It is only natural that, as we reluctantly settle into the aging process, our recreational passion is evolving into a form of advocacy. I know that someday bicycles will be an important component of the global solution to the mess we have made of our natural environment due to our addiction to the automobile, petroleum and all its byproducts. It will not always be just a fringe group, represented by the likes of our family, friends and relatives, who takes up cycling as a way of life. It will take a seismic shift in what we deem acceptable in the geography of transportation but I am beginning to feel the tremors of change in the most unlikely of places. Idaho Falls, a place where the word "progressive" is never used in the same sentence as the town's name (unless it is preceded by the words "not even remotely"), actually has a nascent organization devoted to promoting non-motorized transportation. WOW. Way cool.